My lips thinned. I had half a mind to chastise him—but for what, I wasn’t really sure. We’d always had a bit of friction between us, so it was hard not to automatically fall right into that, even when there was nothing to argue about. “Your flight get in okay?”
He nodded, swallowing back a rough breath before straightening up again. “Yeah... long as hell. But I made it.”
The elevator dinged, the doors parting for a small group of people to leave before we climbed in ourselves. I jammed my finger against the button for Eva’s floor and settled myself back against the wall behind us. Ryan let the bag slip from his shoulder—an overnight duffle—while doing the same.
“How is she?” he asked.
“She isn’t awake yet. Still has an IV and an oxygen mask on, but the doctors are confident she’s going to be okay.”
He visibly sagged in relief. “Good. That’s... That’s good.”
All right, maybe it was the softie in me who had recently been seeing the light of day more often now that I had Brandon back, that gave me the half a mind to reach over and clap the man on the shoulder. Ryan wasn’t a bad man by any means, clearly caring very deeply about his daughter and soon-to-be wife.
Whatever beef existed was between us and didn’t need to affect anything else.
Holding up the bag, I pulled out the stuffed plush. “Found this in the gift store for Eva. Figured she’d like it.”
When I handed it over to him, he snorted. “That’s... definitely something she’d be into.”
“I had a feeling.”
He squeezed it a few times in his hands, a frown slowly creeping over his face.
I opened the bag up for him to drop it inside, then offered it to him. “You should give it to her.”
While his brow quirked, he took the bag anyway. “Not wanting to play hero today?”
Ialmostrolled my eyes. “That’s not what I came here to do, Ryan.”
He looked like he was about to argue with me, most likely to accuse me of whatever ridiculous bullshit he’d been cooking up in his head the entire flight over here, but then stopped himself at the last moment.
If this were any other time and I wasn’t just coming off of a mind-blowing, and frankly, life-altering, phone sex call that had me actually contemplating imploding my entire life and moving back to my hometown at the mere possibility of my childhoodbest friend being interested in taking things to the next level, I’d probably be telling this man off before we got up to Eva’s floor.
That being said, it was also quite obvious that Ryan was under a lot of stress at the moment. It wasn’t like it was fun news to get in the middle of a work trip that his daughter was sick enough to be brought to the hospital and was currently hooked up to a bunch of machines that were five times the size of her.
“Sorry,” he finally mumbled. And then he sighed. “I’m sorry. I know you’re here to—I’m being an asshole.”
At least you’re finally admitting it.
“I’m not here to steal your place, Ryan. I came because she called and you weren’t answering your phone.”
His lips pressed together. “I know.”
When the elevator slowed and the doors chimed open, I pulled myself away from the wall and stepped out into the hallway. He followed after me, tugging his bag back up onto his shoulder and hooking the one I’d given him around his wrist.
“Listen,” he said, moving away from the doors. “What I said on the phone to you. It was wrong. I know you’re only here to support Carrie because she asked you to. I know neither of you would do anything behind my back.”
“No offense, Ryan, but if I wanted to keep her, I would have. We had a good life together.”
“Then why didn’t you?”
I paused before answering.
It was a genuine question, not one asked out of malice of contempt. If I were in his shoes, I’d be curious, too. Carrie was an incredible woman; beautiful, highly accomplished, and came from a long line of wealth that would make most people’s jaws drop.
She was a total catch and Ryan was damn lucky to be marrying her, as was I at the time.
Being comfortable in a marriage wasn’t the same as being passionate. Loving her like a companion wasn’t the same as loving her like a partner. Keeping us both trapped in a marriage while trying to justify my very surface level feelings wasn’t fair. Not when I knew she could be with someone better, more affectionate and doting.
