“I know. This business makes it hard to trust people. Then when trivial things like what I had for dinner becomes headline news, it really messes with your head.”
“Well, I solemnly swear that I will not divulge that information to anyone. I’ll take it all to my grave!”
“Yeah, I guess you’re pretty trustworthy. You wouldn’t even tell your best friends that you puked your guts out last night,” he teased.
“No,” I corrected. “I wouldn’t tell my best friends that you puked your guts out last night.”
“Speaking of puking… how are you feeling? Is the toast doing the trick?”
I nodded my head and took a sip of ginger ale. “I’m starting to feel better, thanks.”
“Good,” he said as he playfully tossed a pillow at me.
I faked like I was going to toss the pillow back at him, but instead I just set it down next to my leg.
His eyes flickered between looking at the pillow and looking at me. With a quick lunge, he curled his body down on the couch. It seemed like he purposely fiddled with the pillow until it was in the perfect position under his head but mostly on my thigh. His feet hung out over the edge.
Our eyes met and I instantly felt his pull. I couldn’t resist it any longer. Without even thinking, I softly ran my fingers through his hair. His eyes closed and he sighed as I touched him.
He took my other hand off his shoulder and laid it across his heart.
Chapter 8 – Reflections
“Tar – hurry up, they’re going to replay it!” Ryan yelled from the couch. I was refilling my water at the refrigerator in the kitchen.
“Watch this! Watch! The idiot is going to light the dynamite and then he doesn’t run. I can’t believe they are showing this on TV! Wait… it’s going to blow him back like thirty feet. Oh! Oh! And boom!” he echoed.
I winced after seeing some moron fly through the air from sheer stupidity. I resumed my spot on the couch; Ryan adjusted the pillow on my thigh and pulled my hand back to his chest.
“I wonder how long he was in the hospital after that one,” I asked, leaning more of my body onto him so I could stroke his hair again. We were so comfortable together.
“This is the bad thing about television - three minutes of show and eight minutes of commercials,” he groaned.He was just about to turn the channel to something else when his phone chimed in his pocket. He looked at the number before accepting the call.
“Hey Pete! Yeah, she’s feeling better.” His eyes looked up at me and his hand reached for my forehead.
“We were just watching Mega Explosions. You’re watching it too? Oh my God, did you see that guy? What an asshole! What did he think was gonna happen?”
While he was lying across my lap, I was secretly reveling in the fact that Ryan and Pete were getting along so well. I had always hoped that whoever I was with would get along with my friends. My ex-fiancé Thomas and Pete never saw eye to eye. There was always tension between them.
I should have taken that as a warning sign right from the get-go, but I tried to make everyone happy while being quietly miserable inside.
But Ryan and Pete seemed to be in perfect synch right from the start. A huge smile crossed my lips.
“Here, Pete wants to talk to you.” Ryan handed his phone to me.
“Hey sweetie, how are you feeling?” Pete asked.
“I’m feeling better, thanks. I’m still achy though. Ryan made me toast and it helped to take my headache away.”
“Oh, Ryan made you toast, did he?” he teased.
“Yes… and your point?” I snickered.
“Nothing. I’m just happy for ya. And I’m glad that you’re feeling better. Tammy wants you to call her tomorrow. You two need to iron out the final menu for Sunday so we can get the food on order.”
“Okay, I will. But I don’t want any seafood from Sheckys. I’m pretty sure it was the lobster tails that made us sick last night. I got sick right after eating it. I mean it tasted all right, but within a half hour or so we were both violently ill.” I looked down at Ryan and combed my fingers through his hair.“
I don’t want any seafood from wherever those tails came from!” Ryan confirmed loud enough for Pete to hear.
“All right, I’ll tell her that. Well I’m sorry you weren’t feeling good, but it sounds like you’re on the mend, so… hey, can I talk to Ryan again?” Pete asked.
“Yeah! Sure.” I was momentarily surprised by his request.
“Yeah Pete, what’s up?” Ryan sat up to talk. “Yeah, I am, why? They play at eight on Sunday; I was hoping to watch it.” He started chewing on his fingers again. “She is? Are you are freaking kidding me?” His eyes shot over to mine. The way he reacted made me wonder what they were talking about.