“Excuse me?”
He points a finger to my foot. “You can barely walk on crutches. You won’t make it up four flights of stairs, so unless you plan to stay with a friend or want me to carry you up them every day, the elevator is your option.”
The corners of my lips tip up as I remember flashes of my dream. Then they twist into a frown as I realize he’s right. There’s no other way to get to and from my apartment once I go back to work. I hate when he’s right. His smug little smile as I work it out adds to my irritation.
“Fine.”
“You mean, thank you.” He takes the now empty plate from my hand.
I blow a piece of brown hair out from my eyes. “Thank you, Ryland.”
“Ry, remember?” he chastises me from the kitchen.
I’m thankful. I really am. Ryland and I’ve come a long way since our first meeting. It’s more than I hoped for. With anyone else I'd maintain the acceptable amount of grateful, but there is this piece of Ryland that sets me off. His presence conflicts mine. In the kitchen the man in question flicks at the list of rules still stuck to my fridge and turns back to me.
“If you didn’t want to rent this place out, why did you offer it so cheap?” I ask as I prop myself into a better position against the couch arm.
“What makes you think I didn’t want someone to live here?” He takes his place back on his side of the couch.
“Really?” My eyes widen in disbelief. “Have you read the list of rules you make people sign?”
He laughs, but it’s humorless. “My dad. He didn’t want one of my places to sit empty. Kept making suggestions he and my mother could move out here. I needed a renter quickly, but I wanted a nice quiet tenant. TheCommandmentswere my way of ensuring I wouldn’t be annoyed in my own home.”
Now it’s my turn to laugh. “A thousand bucks for this place in the heart of the city? There isn’t a rule alive to keep someone away from a deal like this. People would sign over their first born to live here.”
“Yeah, I figured out my mistake when the real-estate company called with an agreement within an hour of its listing.”
“Did it work?”
“Finding a tenant that doesn’t annoy me?” He raises an eyebrow and cocks his head to the side in complete dispassion. "No.”
“Trust me. You’re a real peach to live with too.” The insult slips out and I immediately feel bad. He brought me breakfast…… and a coffee table. I look up to offer an apology, but catch Ryland suppressing a tiny grin. He’s not upset as I expected. “The lease. Did your dad stop asking?”
“Yeah for a while. Then they kicked me off the team and now he has a new list of worries.” He smiles and stares at the wall like he’s lost in a memory.
“What happened?” I question when I can’t think of a single reason to smile over being kicked off his soccer team.
He sighs and leans back getting comfortable or settling in for a long story. I’m not sure which. “It was a long time coming. I’ve been trying to get kicked off the team for years. It took forever.”
I lean back in shock. “You wanted to get kicked off?”
“It’s a long story.” He adjusts his green basketball shorts. “Short version. Obreski, our goalie, mouthed off and called me a nickname he knows I hate. Shutting him up was the final straw for our coach. Worth it.” He’s smiling again.
“What’d he call you?” I imagine a list of horrible names bad enough for Ryland to throw a punch or however he “shut him up.”
Ryland stares at me for the longest minute known to mankind, maybe deciding if I’m worthy of his story. “You ask a lot of questions.”
“You suck at answering them,” I retort.
He tries to smooth his hair back, but it’s so short it doesn’t matter. It must be a tick from when he had a longer cut as in so many of his pictures online. “Fine, I'll tell you.”
I wait, but he doesn’t start until I wave a hand in his direction to hurry him up.
“He called me Ryland the Rhinoceros. It’s a stupid name from when I played in high school, Ryland the Rhino.”
His serious face makes me snort at the nickname. “Yeah I can see that.” Ryland’s huge. Even in a room of soccer players, I imagine he towers over them. His body isn't weight lifter big, but his chest proportions fit with his overall build, adding to his size. Plus, he’s bossy. Rhinos are bossy. Probably.
I lift my head expecting him to laugh with me, but his face is tight. His lips are a straight line and any earlier humor from our conversation left his eyes over the last minute.
