“He wasn’t cool? What happened?” Simone asks.
Aspen rolls her eyes tipping her head at Simone. “He chewed his popcorn too loudly.”
Simone laughs. “You’re too picky. Trey would eat steak at every meal and he’s always clanging his knife against the plate like he's worried it might get up and walk away if he doesn’t finish it in time. It’s one of those quirks that become cute after a while.”
I shudder at the thought. How someone as sweet and kind as Simone ended up with the bossy and unsmiling Trey, I’ll never understand. And they’re happy too. It’s odd. I could never date Trey. He’d open his mouth and we’d kill each other on the first date.
“It doesn’t matter. I like my boys pretty, not athletic.” I toss my empty French toast container on the coffee table. "I want them to take me to the country club.”
Amanda sits her closed container next to mine placing her fork on top. “Have them take you for a ride on their boat?”
“Show you their dinghy.” Aspen laughs at her own innuendo until she chokes on a bite of French toast and starts to sputter.
It does enough to lighten the mood once we’re sure she won’t need any of us to perform the Heimlich maneuver.
Back under control, Pen kicks her feet up on the coffee table pushing one of the empty containers out of her way. “You think that now because that’s what Cody would have done. But is that really you? Or was that you being what Cody wanted? You need to decide what you want before you settle down again. What type of guy do you picture waking up to every morning for the rest of your life?”
A picture of Ryland and what he might look like waking up in the morning flashes through my mind. His short hair wouldn’t be tousled much after a night of sleep, but he’d have heavy eyes as he woke slowly, ready to go out for his morning run. Regardless of what position we woke up in, he’d reach over and wrap an arm around me snuggling his face in my neck and placing a kiss on the back of my shoulder. I break out a grin at the thought.
Aspen nods at me once as if she sees the scene too. “See. Whatever you’re thinking of right now, that’s who you need, and I bet it wasn't Cody.”
She’s right, but I refuse to get gushy with her. I’m not one to sit around and wax poetically about a man. My grin falters with my next words. “It doesn't matter. Ryland is a playboy. Even if I was into athletes — which I’m not — I'm more of a football player kind of a girl. A sport I know something about.” I don’t admit the research I’ve done on soccer the last week. “Taylor Swift probably has a song written about him.”
“We all have pasts, but it’s the present and future that matter.” Aspen gives me her patented best friend look saying she knows more than I want her to about the situation, but changes the subject to what we’re going to do later in the day.
My earlier fantasy with Ryland breaks up their conversation in my head, and I wonder if those free undies he gets are boxers or briefs. Maybe he sleeps naked?
The guy who started out as my jerk of a landlord turned out to be a really nice, complex guy with problems and issues like us regular folks. He’s funny, sweet, nice, thoughtful, and let’s not forget the great smile. He doesn’t project a certain image every second of the day, especially when he’s at home lounging on the couch. Is Ryland someone I could see myself waking up to every morning?
My heart screams yes, but my brain continues to remind me I’ve only known him on a personal level a week. There’s so much I don’t know. Does he rinse the dishes before he puts them in the dishwasher? Is he a vodka or tequila drinker? Does he brush his teeth before or after eating breakfast? These are important pieces of a person.
And is Simone right? Am I too picky? Maybe none of those small things matter. Maybe it’s about your commitment and she’s right. If you truly love a person, you learn to love the quirks you’d find annoying in anyone else.
Damn it. I have more than a crush on Ryland. I definitely like him like him. This is not good. He’s still the guy accustomed to dating super models, and one day he’ll go back to England or another soccer heavy country. Sure I may picture him as someone I'd love to wake up next to, but he’s picturing a lingerie model.
Plus, he hangs up the phone before you say good-bye. That’s a negative.
If I’m ever to get over this… thisthingI feel toward, Ryland I need him to mess up. Get a girlfriend or something. Worry starts to build at the thought of him dating. If I need Ryland to show his jerky side again, there’s one guaranteed way. A whole list of them actually. They’re hanging on my refrigerator door.
It’s time to break a few rules.
