Текст книги "Love Unscripted"

Автор книги: Tina Reber

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“Thanks,” I replied flatly. “What can I get you?” I was getting impatient.

“How about your phone number?” he yelled back to me as he was almost lifting his body onto the bar. I noticed that after he spoke he looked

back at his buddies so they could acknowledge his bravery.

I looked down and smiled as the embarrassment made me blush. My golden rule was not to date random customers, especially the ones who

were assholes.

“Thanks. I’m very flattered,” I replied with a half-hearted smile. “But sorry, the only thing you’re going to get from this side of the bar is alcohol.”

My eyes flickered back to Ryan, who was sitting there staring at me with a smug grin on his face.

“Oh, come on!” the young man pleaded with me. I just shook my head no.

A few men sitting at the bar teased the poor guy. “Ooh, shot down in flames! Ouch!”

I gave them a disapproving look.

“What do you want to drink?” I asked again, trying to be more cordial. In reality, he had ten seconds to reply before I was going to move on to

the next customer.

“Three lagers,” he finally yelled back.

Ten drink orders later, I was making a whiskey sour for a female customer when I noticed one of the actresses, Francesca LeRoux, descend

upon Ryan. Francesca was young, leggy, super thin, with straight, long brown hair. She looked like a model. She was leaning on Ryan’s shoulder

with her arm around him, whispering in his ear.

I happened to be looking when she ran her fingers over Ryan’s hair. He winced and tilted his head away from her touch. I could tell it bothered

him. Why does that bother me? There was something about the way she touched him that irritated me.

A few moments later Ryan moved back to the table with her to rejoin their group. He sat down in one of the side booths, but there were so many

people around them that my view of him was obscured.

“What did he say to you?” Marie asked. She was going out of her mind with curiosity.

“I gave him a beer. He said thanks.” I shrugged. “That’s it.”

“You had Ryan freakin’ Christensen at your bar and you didn’t talk to him?”

“Marie, what was I supposed to say?” I was not into having this conversation with her, so I walked away.

Ryan stayed at the table with his group, although I was trying not to keep tabs on his whereabouts. Three bulky security guards hovered around

them, keeping the general population at bay. I saw a few women manage to squeak through and get an autograph, and I wished that they would just

leave him alone.

I wondered if the way he ran his finger back and forth underneath his nose to scratch was another nervous tick, but he started to sneeze again.

He must be getting a cold.

As I was filling another drink order, my mind contemplated over what the big deal was to get someone’s signature on a piece of paper. Was it

simply the act of stopping him from whatever he was doing to make him acknowledge another human being’s presence?

I signed my name several times a day – mostly on checks to pay the bills – but it wasn’t like the Power Company was on my doorstep flirting or

screaming my name to get me to sign the check.

I watched as he scribbled his name on the bottom of some girl’s shirt. What would possess these girls to want him to write on their clothes with

permanent marker?

I did notice one thing though; some of the girls that stepped up to bug him ranged from quite pretty to very attractive, but they all seemed to be

forms without faces to him. He didn’t even really look at them. It was like he too was in business mode.

“Hi!” shouted a male voice that snapped me out of my private thoughts.

I looked up to see a nice looking man wearing a suit jacket over a nicely pressed button-down shirt. Thick, dark hair… slight dimples in his

cheeks… no wedding ring on the hand that rested on the bar.

“Hi. What can I get you?” My eyes adjusted to this new handsome man.

“What do you have on tap?” he asked, flashing an alluring smile at me.

I listed the ten different drafts that I had on tap and handed him a menu of available bottled beer just in case.

“Hmm, you’ve given me too many options. What do you recommend?”

“Well that depends,” I responded, “on whether you prefer a darker, full bodied beer or a lighter, pale ale.”

He leaned further onto the bar. “You’re not making this easy for me. Why don’t you pick one? I’m sure I’ll like anything you choose.”

I walked away smiling and grabbed a new glass along my way. I tapped one of the more popular ales and slid the glass across the bar to him.

“Mmm, that’s good!” He grinned and winked at me. “You have excellent taste!”

His compliment made me laugh. He wasn’t the first man to tell me that.

“My name is Mark. What’s yours?”

“Taryn,” I replied, wondering if he was going to pay for the beer I just served him.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Taryn.” Mark smiled and held out his hand to me.

I didn’t want to be rude, so I shook his hand.

“Your hand is soft,” Mark complimented.

“Thanks,” I said warily, attempting to end our handshake.

Before I knew it, the slick man clamped his hand around mine, trapping my hand in his. I tugged back against his grip, but he was stronger than I

was. My smile quickly faded as I didn’t like the hold he had on me.

“Did anyone ever tell you how beautiful you are?” he crooned. His free hand started petting my wrist and forearm in the same manner that you

would pet a housecat. My stomach twisted in a knot.

I tried to pull my hand free but he maintained his hold.

“Let go of my hand,” I stated calmly, in an almost teasing fashion.

“I can’t. Not until you tell me why I’m so drawn to you,” Mark pondered, like it was my fault that he couldn’t control himself.

I tugged several times while he attempted to lamely flirt with me, but I could not break his grip.

“Let. Go. Of. My. Hand.” I emphasized each word.

I looked over his shoulder, surprised to see Ryan standing right behind him. His beer was in one hand and the fingers of his other hand were

tucked in his pocket; his narrowed eyes were fixed on mine. Next to him was one of his bodyguards.

“Oh Taryn,” Mark flashed his best smile at me, “I can’t let you go! Since you were so good at picking out a drink for me, I think you should pick

out a restaurant for me to take you to.”

“I don’t think so,” I replied coldly, tired of his game.

“Oh, come on, sweetie. Don’t be like that!” His tone made me wince. He trailed his presumptuous finger over my wrist.

Ryan looked at my new admirer and back at me; his face was showing his concern. I shook my head ever so slightly, hoping Ryan would heed

my warning. I didn’t want any trouble.

Two young women approached Ryan and attempted to get his attention. One of them grabbed his arm. Ryan immediately raised his elbow,

obviously displeased with their forward behavior and intrusion. He almost spilled his beer. I could see he didn’t like people touching him either.

I repeated myself, raising my annoyed voice at Mark. “Let go of my hand. That’s three dollars for the beer.”

“Come on – you should go out with me! We’ll have a lot of fun, I promise.” His tone dripped with coercion, but he finally released my hand.

“No. That will never happen. Three dollars, please.”

Ryan held up his hand to the girls and I thought I heard him say, “please, not now” to them. His bodyguard immediately intervened.

“Just take a chance! I know you felt something just now when I held your hand. There was a connection there. Don’t deny it!” Mark pressed.

Ryan was glaring at him now. His anger was evident.

“Sorry. I didn’t feel anything,” I stated flatly, keeping all emotions out of my tone. This guy was beyond being an asshole.

“You hurt my feelings,” Mark pathetically pouted.

Marie was watching me out of the corner of her eye too; we always looked out for each other. We had been friends since junior high, and we

worked the bar together for so long, we had the creep signal down pat. I pulled the bar rag out of my back pocket and dropped it on the floor.

“Who’s your new friend, Taryn?” Marie yelled over to me.

“Oh, this is Mark,” I stated loudly as I pointed at him. “He wants to take me to dinner, but I just really want him to pay for his beer. It’s such a

dilemma!”

Ryan chuckled ever so subtly.

My new admirer finally got the hint. He peeled three ones from his folded money, tossed it on the bar, and turned in a huff. He almost bumped

into Ryan as he fled his spot at the bar.

Ryan smiled at me before raising his glass to take a sip of his drink. I flashed my eyes between Ryan and the open seat, hoping that he would

get the hint. He didn’t disappoint.

“Can I refresh your drink for you, sir?” I said in a proper yet joking tone as I snatched his glass off the bar.

He laughed slightly and nodded his head. I set his glass in the sink and tapped him a fresh beer in a new glass.

“Can I also interest you in doing a shot of one of the smoothest tequilas you’ll ever have?” I set his new beer in front of him.

“Definitely interested,” he stated directly, his piercing eyes locked on mine.

I reached up to the top shelf behind the bar and wrapped my fingers around a clear bottle with a round, silver stopper.

“What is that?” he asked, trying to read the bottle.

“Gran Patrón Platinum tequila.” I poured two shots.

“Here’s to… psychotic fans!” I cheered, raising my shot glass in the air.

He tapped his glass into mine and we both tossed the shots back into our mouths.

Ryan reached in his pocket and pulled a wad of money out, but I shook my head at him.

“No. Put your money away,” I whispered as I collected the empty shot glasses.

He frowned at me. Instinctively I scowled back at him. Then, like a two-year-old, he stuck his tongue out at me! I casually rubbed my middle

finger across my eyebrow. We both started laughing.

When I glanced back up at him again, Suzanne Strass, the other actress who followed him into the bar, was hovering around him. She

whispered something in his ear; whatever she said made him roll his eyes and purse his lips. He didn’t look happy with whatever she said.

Without saying a word, he got up and moved back to the table with his original group, where he stayed for the rest of the night. They had several

additional rounds of drinks and seemed to all have a good time. I noticed Suzanne trying to hide as she swayed back and forth to the music. Ryan

sat facing in my direction, and every once and a while he’d stare at me until our eyes met.

Ryan’s blue eyes were hypnotic and I couldn’t help but smile every time one of us was caught staring. He was extremely handsome, but there

was something else. He didn’t hold himself in high regard; he just wanted to blend.

Ryan’s eyes held mine for an extra moment. He smiled at me, tilted his head slightly, and then proceeded to unbutton his top shirt. I was curious

as to why he was undressing in my pub. I couldn’t look away.

He patted his hand on his chest and stretched back. That’s when I noticed he was wearing my blue T-shirt under everything else.

I chuckled to myself; no longer could I contain my big grin. He raised his eyebrows a couple of times and winked at me.

It was almost one o’clock in the morning when his group got up to leave. Ryan stood there staring at me while he put his jacket on. He left out a

sigh then turned and headed for the door. And just like that, with no words, no goodbye, he was gone.

Fortunately when the celebrities left so did most of the crowd. The pub was trashed. We went through most of the bottles of beer I had stocked in

the coolers as well as most of my liquor reserves. Bottles, glasses, and empty pitchers covered most of the tables.

“How freaking crazy was that?” Pete shouted as he helped collect the garbage.

Marie had tray after tray of dirty glasses lined up on the bar top, but despite the huge mess that awaited clean-up, she was still smiling from her

celebrity encounter.

“I cannot believe that they came here!” she giggled. “I’m still jittery!”

I smiled at her. Ryan and his friends were just people who wanted to have a good time tonight too.

“One thing is for sure – Ryan Christensen couldn’t take his eyes off of you!” she teased me.

I groaned at her for pointing that out.

“And don’t you roll your eyes at me either!” she reprimanded.

I let out a big sigh while visions of Ryan flashed through my mind. We did stare at each other a lot tonight.

Why did he try to protect me? I started washing dirty glasses trying not to think about it, but I was failing miserably.

Chapter 4 – Games

“You made the paper,” Tammy announced, tossing the Monday local section of the Seaport Times newspaper in front of me. My dear friend

Pete was holding Tammy’s other hand. He pulled out a chair so Tammy could join me at the big, round table in the middle of the pub.

I was so glad when Pete put that engagement ring on Tammy’s finger. He loved her so much and she surely made him happy. Tammy was a

sweetheart and a great friend.

“We did?” I asked as I paged through the newspaper to find the article.

“Yep, you’re on page two,” she replied.

“Where?” I didn’t see an article.

“There, the picture.” Tammy pointed.

I studied the photo of people standing outside my front door. The caption read “Local night spot Mitchell’s Pub had a long waiting line Saturday

as visiting celebrities were reported to be inside.”

“That’s it?” Marie asked as she read over my shoulder. “No story?”

“Whatever. I’ll take the free advertising,” I joked. “And speaking of long lines… here, this is for you.” I pulled two envelopes from my pocket and

slid one to both Pete and Marie.

“What’s this?” Pete asked, peering inside the envelope. He counted it out. “This is five hundred bucks!”

“Well, we had a monumental Saturday night and I wanted to share the profits with you. You both worked very hard and I wanted to say Thank You

in more than words.”

“Thanks!” they both said in unison.

Marie’s husband Gary tried to grab the envelope from her.

“Hands off, mister!” she yelled, smacking his hand. “I busted my ass for this!”

“Yeah, Gary! Keep your hands off that money!” I scolded him. “Marie needs all of that. Maybe that way she’ll be able to stay in the game longer

tonight.”

“Oh, I see!” Pete bellowed. “You think you’re going to win this money back tonight, do you?” He grinned at me.

“That’s right! We’re upping tonight’s bets from quarters to dollars. And the sooner you shuffle the cards, the sooner I’ll be rich,” I teased him.

“Marie… while you are over there, can you grab a bowl for the pretzels, pretty please?”

“So we’re not playing for quarters?” Pete’s face fell.

Tammy nudged him in the arm. “I’m pretty sure Taryn is joking.”

Marie was digging in one of the cabinets behind the bar when the telephone rang. “Good evening, Mitchell’s Pub.”

I looked over at her, confused by her actions. “Don’t answer that. We’re closed, remember?”

“No, I’m sorry. We aren’t open tonight. The pub will be open tomorrow at one o’clock. Sure, hold on a minute.” Marie held the phone to her

shoulder. “Taryn, phone call.”

“Who is it?” I whispered at her.

She shrugged her shoulders, not bothering to ask. ”I dunno.”

“Hello?” I answered.

“Taryn? Hi, it’s Ryan. How are you?”

“Good! And you?” Why is he calling me?

“I’m good. I was just wondering if you were open. Cal and I were looking for something to do and I thought about shooting pool,” Ryan rambled.

“Well, actually I’m closed on Mondays,” I said regrettably.

“Oh, what are you up to then?” he asked.

“I’m just hanging out with a few friends. On Mondays we play poker.”

“Did you say poker?” It sounded like he didn’t believe me.

“Yeah,” I laughed nervously. “We play every Monday.”

“That sounds like fun!” Ryan stated.

I could hear another male voice in the background asking Ryan to explain.

“Playing poker,” Ryan spoke to someone else.

“Oh hell yeah!” the voice in the background replied loudly and enthusiastically.

“So I guess this is the part where I ask if you want to join us?” I snickered.

“I don’t know. Are there a lot of people there?” he asked worriedly.

“No, just four of my friends. That’s it.”

“Just four? Do you mind if we come over?” He sounded hopeful. “We’d love to play; we need to get out of the hotel.”

“No, I don’t mind. That is as long as you don’t bring your psycho fans with you. By the way, we play for money.”

Ryan laughed in my ear. “You’ll have to sneak us in then. We can come through the alley.”

“Hmm, sounds like you thought about this already,” I accused him.

“Maybe,” he shot back. “We’ll be there in a half hour.”

“Who was that?” Marie asked. Her eyes narrowed in on my face.

I sat back down at the big table and ran my finger around the rim of my beer glass.

“That was…” I took a deep breath. “Ryan.”

“What? You mean like Ryan Christensen?” Marie just about shot out of her chair.

“Yep.” I was fighting back a smile.

“And?” She glared at me.

“He and someone named Cal are going to be joining us tonight.”

Tammy lurched onto the table, almost spilling her drink. “Cal? Cal Reynolds? You mean the actor Cal Reynolds who played Charles’ brother

Randolph in Seaside?”

“Who’s Charles?” I asked.

“Charles! You don’t know who Charles is?” Tammy shrilled at me.

I slid back further in my seat and shook my head. She sort of scared me for a moment.

“Charles is the character that Ryan Christensen plays in Seaside!” Her expression made me feel stupid, like I was missing a big chunk of

common knowledge.

“Okay, if you say so. He said Cal, so if that’s the same Cal, then yes,” I replied.

“NO freakin way!” Tammy yelled. “They are coming here?”

“Calm down, Tammy. They were here Saturday night. Well, Ryan was but I don’t think Cal was. Anyway, listen, it’s no big deal, okay? They’re

just regular people.” I tried to get her to come down from the clouds.

“You all have to be cool about this. I don’t want to hear any of you gossiping about them being here either. You have to promise. PROMISE!” I

shook my finger at them. “They just want to play poker with us so everyone just relax.”

Marie’s eyes were bulging in her head. She knew I was holding back.

“All right Taryn, spill it! What the hell is going on here? Ryan Christensen just showed up here randomly Saturday night and now like it’s no big

deal that he’s going to be joining us for poker?”

“I met him the other day,” I reluctantly confessed with a sigh. “The boy that came in here Friday night had a message from Ryan. He sent him to

ask for my cell number.”

“That makes sense now,” Pete replied.

“What?” I thought Marie’s head was going to dislodge from her body. “He asked for your number?”

“Yes, all right?” I said a bit defensively. “But I didn’t give it to him. I guess that’s why he showed up here on Saturday.”

Marie was shaking her head violently. “Ryan freakin’ Christensen asked for your phone number and you didn’t give it to him? Am I hearing this

correctly?”

I just shrugged and rolled my eyes.

“Are you out of your mind?” Marie screamed at me while pulling on her own hair.

“I have my reasons.”

“What? What reasons could you possibly have? One of the hottest guys on the planet wants your phone number, but you have reasons? This

shit better not be about Thomas, because I’ll kick your ass myself!”

“No, this has nothing to do with Thomas. Ryan is a celebrity for God’s sake! He’s only in town for a couple of weeks. What do you want me to

do? Just lie down for him because he is famous?”

“I would,” she said, but the look Gary gave her made her back track her comment. “I mean if I was you, I would.”

“Well you should know me better than that. You of all people.” Her judgment of me hurt. “Look, he’s a nice person, and if he wants to be friends

while he’s in town, I’m okay with that. But I’m not going to have my heart smashed again, by anyone. And I’m certainly not going to delude myself

into thinking that he is going to pursue a relationship with me!”

My own words stung. I stood up from the table and hurried to the bathroom. I did not want to continue this conversation. Good enough for lust,

but not good enough for love flashed through my mind like a scrolling electric sign.

Marie and Tammy followed me to the bathroom. The second Marie was through the door she pulled me into a hug.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered in my ear. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“It’s all right. I upset myself.” I stared over her shoulder at the tiled wall as she squeezed me.

“Ryan is really, really nice. He’s funny and kind and… he is the kind of guy I could easily fall for. But I can’t. I will not allow myself to get caught up

like that. He’s a celebrity! He has girls standing in line for him.”

I had to look away. Once again I found myself becoming interested in a man who was unobtainable.

“Oh, Taryn,” Tammy said while rubbing my back, “he obviously likes you! Why else do you think he’s coming around? Don’t be so hard on

yourself. You are a gorgeous, awesome woman. And you don’t know what the future holds.”

“I know why he’s coming around,” I muttered, knowing that he’s a man with needs. “If he wants to be friends – fine, and if he wants to play poker -

that’s fine too. But please, please don’t make a big deal about this, and don’t pressure me about him either. You two are my best friends, and if you

love me and care about me, then you will understand that I don’t want to get used or hurt again. And I’m not interested in a one-night stand.”

“Okay. We understand,” Marie said, letting me go. “Ryan freakin’ Christensen, huh?” She looked completely astonished. “Are you sure you

don’t want to have him just for one night and then tell us all about it and maybe take pictures?”

I smirked. “No, absolutely not.”

“Hey, it was worth asking!” she teased.

Twenty minutes later I met Ryan and Cal at the back door to the pub. They arrived in an ordinary SUV, and as soon as the car stopped, the two

men leapt from the vehicle and darted into my open doorway.

“Hey you!” Ryan greeted me with his crooked smile. “Taryn, this is Cal.”

“Hi Cal, it’s nice to meet you,” I said politely as I held out my hand. I had never seen him before so there was no celebrity association in my mind

when meeting him. He was just another regular person to me.

“Hi Taryn! It’s really nice to meet you too.” Cal grinned widely at me then flashed his eyes and raised his eyebrows at Ryan. I spotted the guy

head-nod acknowledgement. “Ryan tells me you have a nice place here.”

“Thank you!” I replied. “Please, come on in, we’re playing out in the pub.”

Ryan and Cal followed me out of the kitchen. Cal gave Ryan a teasing shove. I guess I passed the friend test.

Everyone introduced themselves and my friends were somewhat contained in their emotions, although I can’t deny they were star-struck. It’s not

every day you have famous people hanging out with you. I poured a beer for Ryan and Cal and danced my way to the large circular table where we

would play.

“I love this song!” Pete grabbed my hands and started to dance with me. We shuffled our feet for a few moments until he spun me under his arm

in the direction of my usual poker seat.

“You two are crazy,” Tammy squealed.

Ryan sat down next to me; he nudged me with his elbow before flashing me a smile.

“You know how to play Texas Hold-em? We play for money,” I whispered to him.

He nodded at me and stuffed his hand in his front pocket, pulling out a wrinkled wad of mixed bills. I grinned at him. His casual disorganization

amused me for some reason.

“Well, since you’ve made me extremely wealthy tonight, Taryn, give me two hundred in chips.” Pete tossed his money across the table. “I’m

feeling lucky!” he said, rubbing his hands together briskly.

While I was counting out Pete’s chips, Ryan was trying to straighten out his cash pile mess. He must have had almost a thousand on him; I saw

several hundred-dollar bills when he organized them. Good thing those obsessed fans didn’t reach into his pockets!

Pete was singing along with the song that was playing; he made me laugh with the way he bobbed his head back and forth.

“Hey Pete,” Gary called across the table, “who sings this song?”

“Michael Bublé!” Pete answered proudly, knowing that he had the right answer.

“Well maybe you should let him sing it instead? What do you say to that?”

“Wait for it… here comes the horns.” As soon as the trumpets started playing in the song, Pete chucked his two middle fingers at Gary with

each beat.

I could see Tammy and Marie itching in their seats. Both of them kept gazing over at Cal and Ryan, like they were dying to ask them questions.

Tammy started to open her mouth, looking at me for my approval. I hoped my displeased expression would be enough to deter her. Oh please don’t

ask them anything.

Tammy held up her finger. “Just one?” she mouthed at me. “One tiny one?”

I let out a deep sigh and rolled my eyes to the ceiling.

Ryan looked at me, concerned. “What’s wrong?”

“My girlfriends are dying to ask you questions… no doubt about your movie, but I wish that they would just leave you be,” I said with humor while

trying to let them know that I was a little annoyed.

“Can I ask you just one question about Sea…?” Tammy started.

“I knew it! I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist!” Pete laughed. “What is it about this freakin’ movie that’s like crack for you women?”

“I’ve been trying to figure that one out myself,” Ryan admitted. He looked at me and smiled.

“Don’t look at me! I have no idea,” I defended.

“Yeah, you didn’t even know who Charles was!” Tammy laughed as she pointed at me.

Ryan was still grinning as his eyes locked on mine.

“I still don’t know who Charles is,” I admitted.

“I’ll tell you what it is – all women love dangerous bad boys and that’s what the movie is about,” Tammy stated.

“Yeah, I guess there’s something sexy about some guy who wants to kill you,” Ryan muttered.

I gathered that was not the first time he said those words out loud just by his body language.

“Hey Marie, get me another beer or I’ll kill you,” Gary muttered. Marie smacked him hard in the arm.

“What? I’m just trying to be sexy for you!” he pointed out, pushing his glasses back up his nose.

“What’s your question, Tammy?” Ryan asked, still laughing from Gary’s remark.

“I was wondering if the one scene from book two, where Charles finds Gwen bleeding in the cave, is going to be in the movie?”

Marie moved to the edge of her chair. She obviously wanted to know the answer to that one too.

“Yes. It’s a pretty significant scene. We’ve already filmed it,” Ryan answered.

Marie and Tammy looked like they were going to explode from excitement. Pete was shaking his head; he thought the whole conversation was

absurd.

“Oh Pete, you don’t understand. Charles finds Gwen barely alive in a cave after she’d been shot. And he’s supposed to kill her too, but instead

he takes his shirt off and wraps it around her to stop the bleeding. And then she looks at him and begs him to kill her so the pain would stop, but he

says he loves her too much to let her die…” Tammy gushed like she was going to cry.

“And?” Pete asked. “Does she die?”

“Of course not! He,” she pointed at Ryan, “saves her.”

I glanced at Ryan; he was sitting forward in his chair with his head bowed. He appeared to be slightly uncomfortable with the conversation.

I leaned over to him, wrapped my arm around the back of his chair, and whispered in my worst British accent, “I see you’ve managed to get your

shirt off.”

Ryan looked over at me and laughed lightly. “It’s a rock monster; it doesn’t have any vulnerable spots,” he replied. He grinned widely and leaned

even closer to me, bumping his arm into mine.

Everyone else in the room was oblivious to our movie line references. It was like we had our own secret language.

“And what about…” Tammy started again but I cut her off with a wave of my hand.

“Please, Tammy,” I pleaded while Ryan and I were still leaned close to each other. “Don’t bug him.”

Ryan quickly ran his finger under my chin, apparently pleased that I defended him. It felt like my skin burst into flames when he touched me.

“How long until you guys are finished here?” Pete interjected quickly.

“We’ll be here for another six weeks and then we have a break around Thanksgiving,” Ryan replied as he playfully kicked the back of my foot.

His little tap made me smile.

“Cal, I understand you’re married to KellyAnn Gael, is that right?” Tammy asked.

“Yes. We just had our sixth wedding anniversary.” Cal nodded proudly.

“Is your wife here in Rhode Island with you?” Tammy continued.

“Not yet, but she’s flying in on Saturday with our daughter, Cami. I just found a house for us to rent nearby.”

“I remember watching your wife when she was on Just Neighbors. I loved that show! How old is your daughter?” Tammy asked.

“She’s almost four – and quite a handful,” Cal said. “I miss them.”

“It must be hard when you’re away from your family. But it’s nice that she’s coming out here to see you,” Tammy said.

“Yeah, it’s hard, but we make sure that the time and space that we’re apart doesn’t divide us,” Cal said as he looked at Ryan and me.

With no one the wiser, Ryan stretched his leg and rested his foot so it was touching mine. As much as I wanted to move my foot, I couldn’t. Why

did he have to smell so damn good? I took a deep breath to clear out the haze he caused in my brain, straightened up in my chair, and moved my

foot away.

We played poker for almost two hours. Everyone was having a good time laughing, drinking, and picking on each other. Ryan and Cal were just

two friends having a good time with the rest of us.

“Last round and then I think we need to take a break,” Pete announced as he dealt the cards.

I kicked Ryan back in the foot. He had kicked me too many times under the table when I wasn’t paying attention and I owed him one.

Gary looked at his cards and folded immediately. “Couldn’t you just deal me two good cards instead of that shit?” he ribbed Pete as he

scratched his moustache.

I looked at my cards. Pete dealt me a ten and an ace – both hearts. “I raise four dollars,” I said as I tossed in chips. I had two high cards in the

same suit… not bad to start with.

Ryan peeked at his cards. “Call,” he muttered. I felt his foot tap mine.

“Call,” Cal said, tossing in his chips.

Pete was taking his good old time looking at his cards. While we waited, I stretched back in my chair and tapped Ryan in the back of his calf