by Jean Oram
“I mean it,” Levi said, meeting his gaze. “I don’t know her well, but it appears the two of you have more in common than you and Priscilla ever did. I like that Carly’s independent and ready to fight you. You’re a match in that regard.”
“She’s really nice,” Jackie said. “Smart, too.”
“I know.”
Ryan felt a change in the air around him, and he sat straighter, trying to figure out what was different. He scanned the room, and there was Carly, a few feet away, her cheeks flushed from being outdoors. The sun had set hours ago, and it was chilly out there. He stood up as she approached the table.
“Are you cold?”
She shook her head, placing a hand on Ryan’s bicep. “I’m sorry. Am I late?” She was watching him for the answer, even though the other eight people at the table were happy enough to offer a reply.
“Not at all,” he said. “Why don’t you grab yourself a plate, and I’ll scare up a chair for you.”
As one, his family all started scooting their chairs over, making room beside him for Carly.
Approval. A chill ran through Ryan as he thought about all the ways things could go wrong.
8
When Carly returned from the food tables with a filled plate, she discovered a spot had been saved for her beside Ryan. She squeezed in, her chair legs hitting Karen’s, who was on her right. Ryan’s knee pressed against Carly’s left, then moved away before she could figure out how to make it a permanent condition.
As conversations took place around them, Ryan asked, “Was talking with Honorée helpful?”
She grinned, thankful for the introduction. “I learned so much. She invited me to join an online group where people share what they know about Texas soil and its unique growing seasons, pests… everything!”
Carly had taken out her phone and joined the group during the conversation. It had been energizing, and she wanted to kiss Ryan in appreciation for sending her, once again, in the right direction.
“Are you happy with how today’s game went?” she asked.
“Yeah, I think so,” he said thoughtfully, taking the last of the meat off a chicken leg before discarding the bone onto his empty plate. “I’m hoping the four of us can look over the stats and discuss what you saw.”
Carly hadn’t been prepared for how busy Ryan would be after the game. As soon as the field began to clear after the win, the media had descended like locusts on a particularly tasty crop.
During the game Ryan had been in charge, as usual, barking commands, but calmer than normal. It was as though he’d shifted, trading emotions with the players. Back home the games had been easy, and the boys had been relaxed, needing Ryan’s energy and determination to stay engaged. But here, Ryan had become serene, giving them what they lacked as they fought through what was likely their toughest game of the season thus far. She had found it sexy, watching him stride up and down, talking into his headset, in command and control. There was something so honest and raw about him she couldn’t help being drawn closer.
“Has Ryan always been so independent?” she asked the table at large during a break in the chatter.
Jackie rolled her eyes. “He’s the hardest man to get your hands on in all of Sweetheart Creek.”
Carly placed a hand against her chest and said innocently, “I haven’t found him to be like that at all. He’s always asking me out on dates.”
Everyone laughed uproariously, and Ryan tried to crease his face into a frown, though his eyebrows and lips didn’t seem to want to cooperate. His leg pressed against hers, warm and sure.
“Come on, Ryan. It’s okay to smile,” she said sweetly. “It’ll only hurt the first few times.” His family laughed again and Ryan shook his head, casting his eyes to the sky as though needing to summon patience.
“She’s tough on you, man,” Brant said. “I like her.” Carly’s heart warmed at the approval.
“Listen to your family, Ryan,” Jackie said. “Let this one catch you.” She winked at Carly, who felt her face heat. She hadn’t intended to cause his family and friends to gang up on him about their relationship status.
“We’re fine. Really,” Carly insisted.
“Ryan used to listen to us,” Myles said thoughtfully.
“The last time he listened to us was when we told him where to cross the flooding river,” Brant said.
Maria’s face paled. “That drive from the farmhouse to the creek was the longest of my life.”
Brant rubbed his head. “I can’t count how many times my head hit the cab ceiling on that ride across the pastures. I’m lucky I didn’t get a concussion.”
“I told you to put on your seat belt,” Maria chided mildly.
“Y’all know why I no longer listen to you,” Ryan said, an edge to his voice that caught Carly’s attention. He leaned back in his chair, one arm draped behind Carly’s shoulders and his free hand on his hip. “You know if I’d crossed where I’d wanted to, along the top near the outcropping, I would’ve been fine.” He said to Carly, his expression solemn, “I almost drowned, thanks to listening to these guys.”
She held his gaze until he looked away, trying to piece together what must be another puzzle as to why Ryan was so fiercely independent. And why she found him so intriguing.
After supper, Carly stepped outside the school gym to stretch her back, walking up and down the hallway. Through the window in the outer door she could see a few people out by the bus in the parking lot, preparing for the ride home.
The Wylders didn’t seem to have any reservations about suggesting she and Ryan should get together. Their banter was light and fun, but it was also a nod of approval, and she’d noted a glimmer in Ryan’s eyes as his gaze had lingered on hers a few times.
He was thinking about it.
And so was she.
Despite their pledge not to get serious, it felt right to take things a step further. Their friendship and trust had grown naturally in such a brief period. Did she actually need to be stronger before she entered a real relationship?
Her gut told her she could be a work in progress with Ryan, and that things would still turn out okay. He wouldn’t take advantage of her, and he wasn’t going to sweet-talk her into something she didn’t want. Ryan Wylder was much more likely to walk away than to manipulate her into choosing something that wasn’t good for her.
She toyed with her gold wedding band, circling it around her finger as she gazed out at the blustery evening. She’d put it on after the failed business deal as a reminder to stay strong and independent, but now it felt like a barrier preventing her from moving into her new life. It was a reminder to be distrustful, to close a circle around herself. And the more time she spent around the Wylders, the more she realized that wasn’t what she wanted or needed.
She’d also seen the way people’s eyes sometimes caught and lingered on the ring, before darting to Ryan. They thought he was getting close with a married woman.
She tested the ring to see if it would still glide over her knuckle, and felt the air stir as someone approached her from behind. She slid the ring back into place, knowing without turning that it was Ryan. His fingers brushed against her hip as he moved past and opened the door. His Torpedoes ball cap shadowed his face under the entry light as he tipped his head and murmured, “Let’s go for a walk.”
“Aren’t we leaving soon?” A gust entered the warm hallway, bringing with it a brisk, damp cold suggesting it might rain tonight.
“I could use a distraction,” Ryan said, those lips of his curving into a sweet smile.
She automatically followed him as he moved through the doorway. “What kind of distraction?” All that hinting about the two of them getting together had kissing on her mind.
“Where are we going?” she added moments later as he led her across the parking lot toward a green space with a walking path lit up by small lights.
“I just need a few minutes to think,” he finally told her, his hand slipping into hers.
Her heart lifted at the implication that she was part of his safety zone, someone he could walk and think with. She gave his warm hand a squeeze. The wind was brisk, and while her coat was cozy, her ears were being nipped as the two of them made their way toward the trees.
“Have you ever assumed something, but then doubted yourself?” Ryan asked.
“Well, I assumed I’d never want to date you, and yet here I am,” she teased.
Ryan blinked once, as though processing her joke.
“I was kidding. We’re not dating.”
“We’re not?” He glanced down at their linked hands.
“Are we?”
“I’m not sure anymore.”
“Don’t think what everyone was saying in there matters to me.” She waved her free hand toward the school, where his family was still gathered. “We made an agreement and I’m fine with it.”
“What if I’m not?” He’d stopped walking, pausing under a gigantic oak, its broad trunk protecting them from the wind. Their hidden spot was sheltered and private.
“I almost drowned in the creek behind our ranches.” Ryan’s eyes held a faraway look, and he shivered as though reliving the moment. “Myles jumped in and saved me. He could’ve drowned. I would have if he hadn’t come in after me, and then Cole fished us out downstream. I wanted to cross the creek along a ledge of rocks we’d built before the flood. We’d crossed there many times, and even with the floodwaters rushing over the rocks, I knew I could do it. They convinced me to take a muddier route, but I slipped and got swept downstream.
“My brothers were wrong about the creek, but they were right about Priscilla.” Ryan turned to her, his light blue eyes almost navy in the near darkness. “And I think they’re probably right about other things.” He gazed down at her, his face hidden in the shadows.
“About me?”
“Yeah.”
Unlike Ryan, she didn’t have family telling her he was the real deal, but her heart and mind were certainly rooting for him.
“And what does your gut say?” she asked, thinking about the conversation she’d overheard him have with Blake during the bus ride.
“It says you’re all right.”
“Just all right, huh?” she joked. “So, does that mean we’re dating?”
“We’re doing something here, and if you don’t want to hide it any longer…” He shrugged.
“You’re very romantic, you know that?”
He let out a chuckle. “I’m sorry. That wasn’t romantic at all, was it?”
“Yeah, but I get it. Remember?” She shifted so her body was snug against his. “I don’t need flowery prose to tell me what you’re feeling. I just need your refreshing, brutal honesty.”
“That’s about all I have.”
“Then we’re perfect.” She slid her arms around his neck, her mouth close to his. “And since we’re adults, we can do whatever we want.”
9
During the afternoon semifinals game Ryan felt someone grab his sleeve, pulling him aside as he headed to the locker room for the halftime chat with the team.
“I’ve got to talk to the boys,” he said to Carly. Since it was halftime and players weren’t changing, females could enter the room. He gestured impatiently toward the closed door. They were behind by a touchdown and if they lost today that was it for the season. He wanted to go all the way to the end.
“I only need a minute, and what I have to say might affect what you tell the team.” Her eyes were bright with excitement as she held up the stats tablet for him to see. She was wearing the same outfit as she had at the quarterfinals, and looked so beautiful she stole his breath away.
Ryan nodded to Myles, who closed the locker room door, giving Ryan and Carly a minute alone in the concrete chute that led off the football field. She began tapping on the tablet and Ryan stood behind her, looking over her shoulder. As he leaned closer, he wondered how, miles from home, she still smelled like hay and fresh air. She smelled like her ranch, like his, like home. She smelled like the place he’d fought against for so long due to his fears and his need to be self-sufficient. The place he knew he could always turn to if he needed to. A place filled with people who loved him.
Was his family right about Carly? And if they were, where did the two of them go from here?
He was thinking about it too much. Carly was happy to take things one step at a time, and so was he. He needed to get out of his head and just live and watch what unfolded.
“You see what I mean?” she asked, pointing to the tablet. She had switched from the usual stats application to one where she could draw with her finger. The screen was covered with X’s and O’s, circles and lines as she presented a possible new strategy.
“You think Hernandez should toss short and take the field ten yards at a time?” The other team would catch on, but the Torpedoes might make it farther than they were with their long passes, which gave their opponents enough time to intercept. Despite their training, his boys just weren’t fast enough to outpace this team. Carly knew it, saw it and didn’t have the ego and pride invested like he did. She was willing to consider a strategy he’d discarded as not being complex enough for a game this late in the season.
“Hernandez is good at bluffing the other team into thinking he’s going to pass one direction,” Carly said, switching back to the stats app. “They also know he prefers the long glory throws. Meanwhile, we have that short player who acts like he’s afraid of the other players—what’s his name?” Not finding what she was looking for in the stats application, she tapped back to her drawing, pointing at a position on the field where a quick pass could be received by whoever happened to be there.
Mix it up. Be unpredictable.
He liked it. A lot. And it would use the diversity of strengths he and Myles had focused on building into their team.
“Deitz. He could catch it,” Ryan said, getting excited, then lowering his voice in case anyone was eavesdropping. “Deitz isn’t fast and hates being tackled, so they won’t expect it. But he can spin his way out of a block or a tackle like nobody. What if Hernandez throws right, toward the sidelines? Deitz is left-handed, and his blocker probably isn’t. He could reach out, curl his body around it and even step out-of-bounds if need be. Or he could run. I’d be happy with any yards we can beg for at this point.”
Carly gave him a smile so warm it made his entire body feel good as they stepped into the locker room. Unable to resist, and not caring who might see, he cupped her jaw and tugged her in for a quick kiss. At least he intended it to be quick, but as her generous lips touched his, their mouths softened and he found himself in a long, sensual kiss. The catcalls from the team began, but he didn’t stop kissing her. And she didn’t stop, either.
When they finally broke free, Carly’s eyes were wide with surprise. “What was that?”
“Nothing.”
“What happened to being open and honest with each other to the point of brutality?” she said under her breath, staying close to him near the doorway, as though afraid they might get bombarded if they moved any farther into the locker room.
“Okay, so it was something. Did that embarrass you?” Her fierceness and the annoyance in her steady stare amused him.
She gave him a firm look.
“Sorry. I couldn’t resist kissing you. I love it when you talk football.” He released her, raising his hands in surrender. “We’re still ourselves. We’re not getting married. You have your life, I have mine, but now we’re public.”
She slowly released a puff of air, still looking uncertain, so he lowered his voice to an intimate level. “Maybe I want to kiss you whenever and wherever I like.” He linked her hand with his and held it up between them, admiring the contrast of light and dark as their fingers entwined. “And anyway, we are dating, right?”
She studied him with those serious brown eyes for what felt like the longest moment of his life.
They’d never come to a real conclusion about dating, had they? Was a ki
ss like that unfair?
“I think I can live with that, but next time, maybe refrain from kissing me in front of the team,” she said finally. She was trying unsuccessfully to school her happy expression.
Ryan shook his head when he realized she’d been yanking his chain the whole time. She didn’t mind taking their relationship public, and maybe his bad-luck go-round with Priscilla had simply been so he’d recognize it when something good like Carly came his way. He liked that idea.
Carly made her way over to Jackie, who was standing near Myles. He was struggling to keep the team’s focus on him, and Jackie’s nose kept crinkling with glee whenever she looked at Ryan or Carly.
When Ryan went to join his brother in front of the team, he caught Carly’s grin. He wanted to eat the distance between them with large strides and kiss her again.
Jackie, unable to contain herself, yelled, “I’m three for three with matching up Wylder brothers.”
Ryan sighed and rolled his eyes, while Myles struggled to hush the team again.
Wait. Ryan frowned in thought. Just because he and Carly weren’t hiding their kisses any longer didn’t mean they would be a serious couple like Laura and Levi, or Karen and Myles. This wasn’t even Jackie’s doing. How could she take credit for their relationship? They had been kissing before Jackie had brought Carly onto the field under the pretence of helping with player statistics so she could work her matchmaking magic.
“Coach!” Blake called. “Did you see the signs?”
“The signs?” He glanced at Carly.
“In the stands.”
“Oh, right! Yeah. Cool, huh?” Sweetheart Creek had turned out for today’s game in droves, and right at field level a long line of white T-shirts with red letters spelled out Sweetheart Creek Torpedoes. It had to have taken a fair amount of coordination to claim those twenty-six seats in a row.
Ryan checked his watch. “Okay, listen up. Carly noticed some things out there that I want you to try.” He glanced at Myles, hoping he wouldn’t mind a mix-up.