Chapter 30
Brunch
Ella
Ryan couldn't have picked a better brunch spot. The atmosphere was warm and relaxing even though the place was crowded. We got our table right away, and Ryan looked at me across the table and smiled. I noticed the gap in his teeth that wasn't there last night.
“Hey! You're not wearing your implant!” I said excitedly.
“I left it out for you. You said the missing tooth was kinda cute, didn't you?”
“I sure did.”
“Still think it's cute?” He simpered, showing off his smile in all its imperfect glory. “Or should I pop the implant back in?”
“Leave it just the way it is.”
He chuckled. “You're strange. I think I look like a hobo without it.”
“No, you look like a hockey player.”
“I thought you didn't like hockey players?”
“But I like you, and you're a hockey player, so leave the tooth out just for me, okay?”
He nodded, looking pleased. “Sure thing, Ella.”
Our food came—Ryan was right, this place was delicious, and it was really a perfect date. We made each other laugh and shared all the intimate stories and secrets that are reserved for the people you truly care about and trust.
Brunch was so lovely, in fact, I nearly forgot the fact that I was leaving soon, or that Ryan had to cut into our last day together to attend some mysterious team meeting at the rink. But alas, those two things hung over us like a cloud on a sunny day.
Soon, our food was gone and Ryan paid the bill, and then we were back in his car riding towards the rink again. The cabin was eerily silent, and I knew that Ryan was nervous and had no idea what to expect.
“Will Lance be there?” I asked him.
“I don't know. Maybe.”
“For real, Ryan, what did Shea tell you over the phone?”
“The GM has a trade lined up. Looks like I'm going to Vancouver.”
I gasped—I'd started to buy into the fairy tale that Ryan and I could maybe make something work. Boston to New York wasn't a terrible trip by any means. But,
“Vancouver?” I repeated, aghast.
That was different. That was a much longer flight. That fairy tale, that unlikely picture of 'us' as destined lovers started fading in my mind. Ryan might have meant it when he said he liked me, but how could we ever expect to survive a distance like that, when we barely knew each other?
“Yep. Vancouver.” Ryan took his eyes off the road long enough to give me an ironic smile. “Last night he was saying Winnipeg, because it's the coldest city in the league. But Vancouver … that's the furthest hockey city from New York.”
“Lance … I hate you … I'll never forgive you for this …”
“Well, just for the record, I'm not traded just yet. Who knows, if they wait long enough, the deal might go sour and I could end up somewhere else. Hopefully some place closer to the east coast.”
“What's the hold up?”
“Shea's trying to get everyone together before the trade goes down. Me, Lance, the GM, and him. He says he wants to talk the problem over first and see if cooler heads could prevail.”
“Yeah?” I asked, with a sudden injection of pure hope in my voice.
But Ryan shook his head. “It's a nice thought, but I wouldn't count on it. I like you and I'm not backing down, no matter what.”
“Ryan …”
It seemed so romantic, but so tragic at the same time. Wasn't there some way we could continue on, without this being such a big deal? But no … he'd tried to do it that way, and I helped turn it into the disaster that it was now.
I squeezed his manly arms. “I'm sorry I didn't just go along with this in secret like you wanted.”
“No way. Don't apologize for that. It wouldn't have worked out between us. Your way—the truth—is the only shot we've got.”
I stared at the handsome athlete. This was really him. The guy I'd been waiting for.
***
We arrived at the rink just in time for their meeting.
Ryan parked the car and switched off the engine. With a deep breath, he turned to me. “Might be better if you stay in the car. If they see you with me, we might unleash hell all over again.”
I shook my head. “No. I want Lance to see me so he knows I'm serious. If he thinks he can throw a tantrum and get you traded to Vancouver, then I want him to know he's saying goodbye to me, too.”
He took my hand. “Thanks, Ella. That means a lot to me.”
So we walked, hand-in-hand, and made our way into the arena through the staff-only entrance. We took an elevator to the top floor; a long hallway led to a set of mahogany double-doors: the Brawlers GM's office. Ryan knocked and a gray-haired middle-aged man in a business suit answered.
“Hello, Radar,” he said.
“Morning, Mr. Tremblay. This is Ella Couture. Ella, this is our GM, Mr. Tremblay.”
I smiled at the older man and shook his hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“Likewise,” he said politely, although he wore a pained smile, as if he were saying, but boy I wish the circumstances were different!
We entered the GM's office. Lance and Shea were already seated inside. When Lance saw me, he shot up from his chair. “You guys can get started. I need to have a word with my sister.”
Lance whisked me out of the office and into a press box overlooking the arena's empty, blinding white sheet of ice.
“So I take it you didn't go to a hotel last night like you said you would,” he mused. “You probably ran home to Radar, didn't you? I heard you guys had brunch this morning, too?”
“It's none of your business what we did.”
“Well, I hope all that quality time together was worth it, because he's about to be traded to Vancouver.” He stared at me, shaking his head with disbelief. “I can't believe you're actually standing here right now.”
“I'm here because Ryan took me to brunch this morning, and he was going to take me to the airport for my flight. Unlike you, who lured me to Boston all because you had some selfish interest in mind, spent the whole weekend with your girlfriend, and would rather throw me in a cab and be rid of me than spend actual time with me.”
“Whatever. You shouldn't have come here with Radar, end of story. If you thought you could show up and change my mind, you're wrong. You're only adding to my embarrassment, that's the only thing you're doing.”
I folded my arms angrily. “Is that what this is about? You don't care about me or my feelings at all. You just think it's embarrassing that your little sister might like your teammate.”
“Damn right, I think it's embarrassing. He used you, Ella. And you think you like him? Don't make me laugh.”
“I do like him. And he likes me.”
Lance rolled his eyes. “So I've heard.”
“Actually, he said he loves me.”
“He said he lov—” Lance couldn't finish the sentence. A rage boiled in his eyes, his fists balled and his forearm trembled, and he leaned in the direction of Mr. Tremblay's office. “I oughtta go kill the bastard.”
I grabbed him by the shirt, dug my heels into the ground and kept him from going.
“I feel the same way about him, Lance.”
“Bullshit. You've known each other for three days. You don't love him, you're just high on emotions. And he only told you he loves you so he could get in your pants, just like I did with Qu—” For the second time, Lance failed to finish his sentence.
“Excuse me?” I laughed, but it wasn't a funny ha-ha laugh. “You were about to say, just like you did with Quinn. Weren't you?”
He swallowed. “Well, uh. I mean, if that was true in the first place, then maybe that's what I did.”
“You're such a liar, Lance. For once in your life, just be honest with me.”
“Ugh. Okay, yeah, I said it. Happy? That's what guys like us do, Ella. We lie to get what we want. And that's why I'm trying to protect you from Radar. He's just like me.”
“Thanks, but I don't need your protection. And no, he's not like you at all.”
“You don't even know him, though. And you definitely don't know him like I do. I told you he's a player, but I didn't tell you the sort of thing he's into. Ella, I could tell you something about him that would make you sick to your stomach.”
“Like what?”
“He's into some weird shit. He asks for something very specific from every girl he gets with.”
“You're talking about his panty collection?”
Lance's jaw dropped. “He—he told you about that?”
“Yeah.”
“How? Why?”
“He showed it to me, Lance, because he wanted me to know why I didn't deserve to be with a guy like him.”
Lance was speechless. He hemmed and hawed and scratched at his head. “That's … surprising, actually … I only found out about it because I snooped in his room and found it … he got so pissed at me … even more pissed when I told our teammates …”
“Well, that doesn't surprise me, Lance. He seems pretty ashamed about it.”
“Then why the hell did he do it in the first place?”
I huffed. “I don't know why he did it, Lance. People are complicated. Life is hard and it makes people do strange things. The point is, he told me about it, thinking it'd scare me off forever.”
“And?”
“It didn't, obviously. It just made me like him more. He's honest with me, Lance. More honest than any guy I've ever known.”
“But just last night, you were saying he made you lie …”
“Yep. But then he felt horrible about it and came clean to you to set things right with me. He didn't have to do that, you know. He could've gone on with his life and you never would've found out that we'd done anything. And before you even start to think it: he didn't set things right just to try to get with me, because he kept saying he didn't deserve me.”
Lance clutched his head between his hands. “I'm so confused. This isn't like Radar at all.”
“Maybe you've never seen this side of him before. Maybe he means it when he says he loves me, Lance.”
His brow furrowed. “But it's only been three days?”
“I know. And when I think about it, believe me, I think it's a little crazy, too. But sometimes, Lance, you meet someone, and the heart just knows. From the second I met Ryan, I felt a pull to him—even if I didn't want it to be there.” I paused. “It's like how you feel with Lindsay, right?”
That love-struck, dopey grin that he reserved for any mention of Lindsay returned. “I mean … the first time I saw that round, thick fuckin' ass? Yeah. I knew.”
I slapped my forehead. “Nevermind …”
“It's the same thing!” Lance protested.
“Listen, Lance,” I said seriously, “let's put everything else aside for the moment. I don't know what's going on with this trade stuff, but if you have any part in it, I'm asking you to try, just try to work this through with Ryan before you do something crazy. Please? Just talk to him? Remember, he's your best friend. I know you're angry now but if you cut him off forever, you're not going to realize how much you miss him until it's too late.”
He looked at me, sighed, and finally relented. “Fine. I'll talk to him.”
“Thanks, Lance.”
We hugged.
“I love you,” he said.
“How can you say that!” I gasped. “It's only been 22 years!”
“Damn it, Honey Badger!”
“Just kidding. I love you too, Lance.”
We headed back to the GM's office.