Chapter 20 - Relationships
Luke had let himself in again – Emma could tell by the delightful smells filtering into her bedroom from the kitchen area. Bacon for sure, and she couldn’t be sure of what else. Pulling her hand away from Ryan’s with quiet care, she gave him a brief look before heading towards the door. It seemed like they were going to need to have a conversation at some point, but she’d rather not open that can of worms with Luke still around.
Pausing only long enough to put her contacts in, Emma headed out to the kitchen and was surprised to discover they had an extra visitor as well – one of the canine variety. She saw Luke turn towards her and grin while she was getting down on her hands and knees to pet the dog. “And who is this handsome fellow?” She asked as the dog rolled over for belly rubs.
“You already know my name, dearie. But the ball of fluff goes by Ourson. And if you want to be his new best friend...” Luke paused and tilted his head towards the plate of bacon beside the stove.
Chuckling soft, Emma grabbed a piece of bacon from the plate, breaking it into smaller pieces and holding it up in the air for Ourson. “Who’s a good boy? You are! Oh, yes you are!” She got Ourson to practically dance for the bits of bacon and had a sincere smile on her face when she finally settled down at the table. “So, what are you going to do with handsome here when you’re at practice?”
Luke turned around and immediately started batting his eyelashes in Emma’s direction, causing her to roll her eyes even as she continued to grin. “I was hoping my darling cousin and his better half would be willing to watch Sir Fluff while I am at the rink.”
“His better half?” Emma questioned with a raised eyebrow.
“Did I use the expression wrong?” Luke furrowed his brow as he brought several plates to the table – one with cinnamon rolls, another with the bacon, and the last with a variety of eggs. “Girlfriend, yes? Thought that was ‘better half’.”
Emma raised her eyebrow again but didn’t answer, instead choosing to break up another piece of bacon and toss it to the dog perched at her feet. After spending a few minutes loading up her plate for her own consumption, she asked him, “Ourson need any walking or anything special?”
Luke gazed at her for a long moment before filling his own plate and soon answering, “Maybe a walk, but he’s already been on a run with me this morning, and will get another one this evening. He’ll let you know if he needs to use the bathroom.” Emma nodded then dug into her food, content to eat and occasionally sneak a bite to Ourson and not encourage any further conversation into her ‘relationship’. But Luke wasn’t done yet, and as she was about to dig into the scrambled eggs, he added softly, “Listen. I want to apologize again for bringing my Aunt and Uncle over unannounced. That wasn’t fair to you.”
“It’s fine.” Emma said shortly, looking up long enough to give him a look that all but dared him to challenge her on that statement.
Sighing, Luke nodded and stood, leaning down to pet Ourson before turning back to Emma. “I’ll come retrieve him this evening. You two…three…have a good day.” Without another word, he exited through the hallway door, Ourson’s eyes following him until he was out of sight.
“Guess it’s just you and me, pup.” Emma murmured as she slid Ourson another hunk of bacon.
“And me as well.”
~*~
Emma gazed in his direction, but wouldn’t completely meet his eyes. “Your cousin outdid himself this morning. Me thinks he was trying to butter us up to watch cutie pie.” And again she leaned down to pet Ourson, just as he’d watch her do since he’d gotten up some minutes before.
“And he meant his apology. He still feels horribly about making you uncomfortable. Just like I feel horrible about going to Gabi’s last night and leaving you here. I should have woken you up to see if you wanted to go. I didn't want to make you feel like you were obligated to come to make me happy.” Ryan told her softly as he masterfully maneuvered into the room on the crutches, all too much practice making him a pro on them. At least he’d be free of them within the week, per the Doctor, and potentially the brace at the same time.
“It’s not a big deal.” Emma started softly before Ryan growled at her in interruption.
“The hell it isn’t. You were upset, you responded by shutting me out. And I had to find out about the pictures and that you got in trouble at work because of me from a third party? That’s not a good foundation for a relationship, babe.” Ryan stared at her across the table, not the least bit surprised when her instinctive reaction was to try and move away. He reached across the table, grabbing her hand before she could get too far. “Talk to me. Please. If you’d like me down on my knees begging again, then dammit, that’s what I’ll do.”
Emma gazed down at his hand then up at him, face full of confusion and perhaps even sadness – Ryan was still trying to learn to read her emotions. “When did we become a relationship? I’m not objecting to a relationship; I’m just not understanding when things changed.”
Tilting his head thoughtfully, Ryan finally told her softly, “I’m not sure we ever formally went about it. I guess I’ve been looking at you as mine since that kiss.” He paused and dragged his thumb along the backside of her hand. “Maybe that wasn’t fair of me, to put those types of expectations on you.” His voice got softer, shyer. “Would you want to be my girlfriend?”
Biting a bit on her lower lip, Ryan could see the turmoil in Emma’s eyes, and he wondered why this was causing so much strife – but this time he would at least get an answer to that question. “I have never had a boyfriend before. So, I might need some guidance on expectations myself.”
Tugging on her hand until she was close enough for her to sit on his good leg, Ryan wrapped an arm around her waist and rested his forehead against her shoulder, his voice just as soft. “I’m not all that experienced myself. So maybe we stumble through this together? I just know that when you’re by my side, things feel right.”
Nodding her head a bit, Emma admitted, “I don’t sleep well when you’re not here.”
Managing a smile at her words, Ryan gently chastised her, “You also don’t sleep well when you scurry into bed right before I get home.”
Blinking, Emma pulled back from Ryan a bit to gaze down at him with eyes filled with curiosity. “How…”
Leaning over to kiss her knuckles once more, Ryan told her softly, “First, your laptop was still warm. Second, you reached out for me as soon as I was within arm’s length. And lastly, you flinched when I told you that I knew about the work shit.” He paused then tilted his face upwards so he was looking at her once more. “Want to tell me what happened there?” As Emma once again gazed down into his eyes, Ryan could see that she was fighting herself hard – this much talking about what went on in her life was not something she was comfortable with. Softer still, he told her, “It’s important, babe. The foundation of a good relationship is communication, honesty, and trust. If this is gonna work, you need to trust that I’m not going to hurt you.”
Even with his words, Ryan could still see the doubt, the hesitation in her eyes. Finally, after several long moments, she began to speak softly, almost too soft to be heard. “When I was given this assignment, the only real rule was that I was not to ‘fraternize’ with the players. So, we for sure weren’t supposed to become friends, let alone a couple.” Emma paused again and gave him a small smile. “But I realized that night that I cared about you a lot more than I was supposed to. When you so astutely pointed out that I was jealous of a couple of high-schoolers.” Leaning down a bit so that her forehead was against his, she continued. “Kissing you though? So worth it. Especially the look on your face after the fact.”
By this point she was laughing soft and Ryan couldn’t resist sliding his hand along her ribs to tickle her, joining in her laughter when she started to squirm and giggle harder. “I’m never going to live down my dazed and confused face, am I?”
“No, perhaps not.” Emma answered between giggles. “But, work wise. I was told to not be so public about my private life. I argued that you’re not an active player and that these restrictions wouldn’t be in place if I was male instead of female.” Again, she paused, and then asked, “You guys don’t have any rules in place like that, right?”
Ryan’s eyes widened a bit at her words, thinking at first she was asking if he could date male reporters, until he realized she was actually talking about him being able to fraternize, period. “I don’t believe we’re supposed to date team employees without specifically discussing it with the GM, but beyond that, no, anyone is fair game. Which is a good thing for Luke, or he’d be out of a job right now.”
Emma nodded then groaned soft. “That reminds me. Back to your room tonight. Quieter in there. I don’t like hearing every move he makes.”
At that, Ourson barked at their feet, and they both laughed.
“Or every sound he makes, either!”