If she loved me… there was no way those feelings went away that fast. She could be pissed at me, but we would figure it out. We had to.
I showered in record time and had all my shit in my bag when Michael and I came face to face as we left the locker room. His jaw tightened, and he looked me up and down for a second before he shocked the hell out of me and put his hand on my shoulder.
“Look, I love my sister more than anything, and if you’re good to her, we will never have a problemoffthe ice. On the ice, you’re my teammate, no matter what. I need you to know that. If I’m the reason Ry doesn’t have a chance at… love,” he said, his face twisting into a grimace. “I’ll never forgive myself.”
“I won’t hurt her, ever.”
He took a deep breath. “I do believe you. It’s still fucking weird to imagine, but we’ll figure it out. Just take care of her. Our circle is small, and it seems you’re already in.”
“I love her too.” As soon as I said the words, my body sparked back to life. The truth of them, the severity of them, didn’t send me into a downward spiral of self-doubt. Ryann wasn’t like my ex, or former best friend, or my mom.
Loving her would make my life a million times better.
Michael nodded twice before looking toward the ceiling. “Figure your shit out with her. If she misses another game because of you, we won’t be having this casual of a talk.”
“Yes, sir.”
He liked my answer. He grinned, let go of me, and headed toward the twins. This was the best scenario I could’ve imagined. Michael didn’t have to like us being together, but we had his support, and I had his promise.
He led with dignity and passion, and I trusted him. He said nothing would change on the ice, and I believed it. The biggest thing holding me back frombeingwith Ryann was erased and that meant I had to find her ASAFP.
As soon as fucking possible.
My dad waited for me outside the locker room, and I gave him a huge hug before apologizing a million times. “I can’t hang out. I have to find Ryann.”
His answering smirk told me enough. “You get your head out of your ass?”
“Dad, you’re supposed to be on my side.”
“I am. And that means telling you when you’re being an idiot. That girl loves you. I could see it the day I met her.”
That stopped me. “Wait, really?”
“Yes. She watches you with an expression that makes me happy to see. Either you didn’t realize it, or if you did, you were in denial. You two are made for each other. Enjoy it, kid.”
“Maybe we can get pizza again soon?”
“Of course. Go fix this with Ryann and let me know how it goes.” He took a breath and said, “Love you, J.D. No matter what.”
“You too.”
His words were in direct relation to the fact I told him I might talk to Mom. It wouldn’t be often, but once every couple weeks. Just to see how she was doing. To tell her about my life. We could start slow and see what happened.
He supported me without blinking, and once she’d agreed to let me know before coming to games, I relaxed.
It gave me time to prepare to see her, and honestly? I wanted to talk to her with Ryann by my side.
Jonah: Where are you?
Jonah: Ry, please. I need to talk to you. It’s fucking important. I’m so sorry.
No response.
If this was punishment, this sucked. But she wasn’t petty and didn’t play games. Did something happen? My stomach tightened with guilt at knowing I did the same thing to her and it was ten at night and if she wasn’t home or at work… where would she be?
I checked the apartment before getting a little desperate. She had a few friends but rarely went out with them because like me, she was more introverted and hesitant to trust.Fuck.I loved her so much. I needed to feel her against me and smell her and kiss her.
I about pulled my hair out of my scalp when my phone dinged.
