As if he could sense Naomi’s curiosity about his own family, Ryan carried on. “She and dad split up pretty amicably,” he explained. “We were lucky that way. There wasn’t any fighting or bad-mouthing. Just two single parents for a while, until mom met her soulmate.”
“And how was that for you?” Naomi asked curiously. It wasn’t something that had happened to her dad yet. Maybe it never would. She knew he was very cautious because of what had happened with her mom. Naomi herself very rarely thought about her soulmark. She had met so many Ryans. She had dated a few, even. The fact that she couldn’t see the mark on her hip meant that Naomi just... didn’t care.
Soulmarks seemed a lot less important when you didn’t know what they looked like.
“How old were you when she met her soulmate?” Naomi added after a moment. Age would no doubt be a factor in how Ryan might have reacted to it.
“I was seven,” Ryan answered. “They didn’t get together right away. It can’t be easy, dating when you’ve got two kids, even with my dad and my uncle being around to babysit in the evenings.”
Ryan paused. Naomi gave him some time to put his thoughts together. “I took it better than my sister did,” he answered. “At first, I mean. She’s fine with Jack now. Back then, she was a lot more wary of someone trying to make himself part of our lives. I just thought that mom seemed happier when he was around. And I liked that he had a cool car.”
That made Naomi laugh. She liked the idea of kid!Ryan being okay with his mom’s new boyfriend because he had a cool car. “Your sister’s older, then?” Naomi guessed. It seemed like the sort of issue an older kid would have. Then again, her experience with kids of any age was fairly limited. Not having had any siblings herself, Naomi didn’t have those sorts of experiences to share.
“She is,” Ryan confirmed. “She was eleven. I think she felt like she had to pick a side between my dad and this new man in mom’s life.” Ryan sighed. “I probably made it harder,” he admitted. “I’d go on and on at dad about how cool Jack was. I didn’t know enough about relationships to realize he might not want to hear it.”
That made sense. Naomi might not know a lot of seven-year-old boys, but frankly, even some of the grown men she knew wouldn’t have thought of things in that light. “Anyway, it all worked out,” Ryan concluded. The simplicity with which he summed it up made Naomi laugh.
“Should we go and look at this greenhouse before it gets dark?” Ryan inquired.
It was a deliberate change of subject, but Naomi could understand why. They were getting to know each other. The topic of Ryan’s relationship with his dad was something that perhaps was a bit too deep for a first date. Admittedly, she had to laugh at Ryan’s question.
“Literally any time of the day is dark for me,” she pointed out, the amusement clear in her voice. “But yes,” Naomi confirmed. She was almost done with her food, so they could definitely go to the greenhouse. Naomi hadn’t quite expected Ryan to genuinely be interested in seeing it. That was nice, too, to realize it hadn’t just been an excuse to come over to her house.
“I hadn’t thought of that,” Ryan admitted. This time, Naomi was pleased to note, he sounded more ready to laugh at himself. “I guess if there’s any garden to go and look at in the dark, it’d be yours.”
He put his cutlery down. He’d finished his food faster than Naomi, which wasn’t exactly surprising. “You can show me around it in the dark,” he teased. “I’ll trust you if you tell me that what we’re walking past are carrots and tomatoes.”
“No offense, Ryan, but I feel like I’d have to tell you which one’s a carrot plant and which one’s a tomato plant even if you could see them,” Naomi pointed out. Naomi definitely didn’t mind doing that. She thought it sweet that Ryan even wanted to see her garden. Naomi hadn’t blamed him for using that as an excuse to see her.
They finished the dinner with a few more jokes here and there. It was an easy conversation. Naomi found it enjoyable. Ryan wasn’t... he wasn’t quite what she had expected. There was still a lot of bravado. It was a kind of front that Naomi imagined could be explained by having spent most of his life around other men.
There was more to Ryan. Naomi looked forward to figuring that out.
After dinner, she showed him the garden. Ryan really had no idea which plant was what. He listened to Naomi’s explanation with genuine interest. Naomi had teased him about how he’d be picking up gardening soon. Ryan had laughed. Naomi felt pretty pleased with herself for being able to make him laugh.
Despite what Naomi had hoped for, the evening had finished without a goodnight kiss - or more! But Ryan had asked her out again, so Naomi definitely took it as a positive.
Getting to know Ryan better was an exciting prospect.
And maybe after that, kissing could occur.
Chapter Three
It had been a long time since Ryan had ended a date without at least a kiss. Maybe that was why he couldn’t seem to get Naomi out of his head in the days following their date. Ryan wanted to kiss her. She was gorgeous and funny. Ryan liked how she said things straight out without any messing around.
After training, between games, Ryan’s mind kept drifting to when he could see Naomi again.
There was only one problem. Ryan wasn’t really sure how you planned a date for someone who couldn’t see. Usually, Ryan met women in bars. Very occasionally, he might invite someone out for the traditional dinner and a movie. That obviously wasn’t going to work, not when Naomi wouldn’t be able to follow whatever was on screen.
It hadn’t taken Ryan too long to come up with an alternative. Naomi had felt comfortable inviting him to her place for dinner. Ryan felt pretty confident she’d appreciate a return invitation.
Unlike Naomi, Ryan didn’t cook. He could, when he had to. His repertoire of recipes was far more functional than it was impressive. Besides, it was so much easier just to order in.
At a prompt from Naomi, Ryan walked down his drive to meet her Uber. “Hey,” he greeted, beaming as he pressed a kiss against Naomi’s cheek. “No Dougie?”
“No.” She shook her head as Ryan took her arm to help her towards the house. “Since we’re not going out, I don’t need his help. And, well, I didn’t want him to shed all over what I’m sure is very nice furniture you own,” she admitted just as they reached the house.
Ryan laughed. Naomi wasn’t wrong, it was very nice furniture. “I wouldn’t have minded,” Ryan promised. He’d enjoyed having Dougie around, especially at Naomi’s. “I can’t have a dog myself, I was living vicariously through yours,” he teased. “Next time, you should bring him. If he sheds, I’ll just hire someone to come and do a deep-clean.”
He didn’t miss the way Naomi’s eyebrows lifted at Ryan’s confident assertion there’d be a next time. He would’ve smirked, except that Naomi couldn’t see it even if he did.
“Do you want me to describe the house to you?” Ryan asked as he led Naomi down the hallway toward the big, comfortable living room.
“Sure, but I don’t promise not to still run into a chair or a table,” she told him with a grin. “The Uber driver assured me it was a huge house,” she added a little teasingly. “Don’t worry,” Naomi said before Ryan could worry. “I didn’t tell him who lived here.” Ryan doubted it mattered that much to the driver anyway but he appreciated the effort.
Once he’d helped Naomi out of her jacket, she turned slightly towards him. “Have you lived here for long? You’ve been with the Howlers for quite a while now, right? I remember my dad being very excited when they traded you in,” she commented with a laugh.
“I’ve lived here for two years,” Ryan answered, “but I’ve been with the Howlers a lot longer than that.” He guided Naomi to the big windows, his hand lingering against her arm. He knew she couldn’t see the view, but she’d still be able to feel the winter sun on her face through the glass.
Gazing around the room, Ryan wondered how best to put it all into words so Naomi would get an actual sense
of what it was like. “I used to live closer to the rink,” he said, “but this place has more garage space.” He grinned. Ryan loved his cars. The sacrifice of it taking slightly longer to drive into work was more than worth keeping them safe in a locked, heated garage.
“This is the living room,” he said. “There’s big windows all along one wall, and a huge TV. Loads of seats, because I like having people over to watch sports. There’s a couple of beanbags. Those only get used when people are too drunk to stand up.”
Ryan hoped his description was helping Naomi get a feel for what he was like. “I told the interior designer that I wanted it to be comfortable, and not too fancy,” he added.
“Sounds nice,” Naomi commented. Ryan noticed how she didn’t pull away from how close he stood to her. “Do you often have people around, then?” she asked. Ryan hadn’t necessarily thought of it in those terms. He supposed he did often invite the other guys over.
“Yeah,” Ryan confirmed. “It’s a big house, it feels kind of empty if I don’t get a group of people into it at least once a month.” He was joking, obviously. There was a kernel of truth to it. The house did feel big - maybe almost too big. A party pushed that feeling away, at least temporarily.
Guiding Naomi to the couch, Ryan grinned as she settled herself against the mound of cushions. “This is the best seat in the house,” he promised her.
“Best seat in the house! Well, don’t you treat your dates well?” she teased.
“Do you want a drink?”
“Yes, a glass of wine would be lovely.” Naomi nodded. Once he’d established she’d prefer white to red, Ryan disappeared off to the kitchen to get each of them a glass. On his return, he helped Naomi with where the glass was and where she could set it down before taking a seat next to her on the couch. If, perhaps, it was slightly closer than absolutely necessary, Naomi didn’t object.
Feeling the warmth of her arm against his every time he shifted, Ryan felt pretty confident. Even without Naomi being able to see him, she had said she’d felt there was a connection.
Over Naomi’s shoulder, the sun was sinking towards Madison’s skyline. It really was a great view. Even though that hadn’t been why Ryan had bought the house, it was a nice bonus. “What’s your favorite thing about living here?” Ryan asked.
It was only after he’d said the words that he wondered. “Have you ever lived anywhere else? For college, maybe?”
“No,” Naomi shook her head. “I went to a local college. It was easier since I could live at home,” she explained. “Partially because of the money but also it was just easier. I know Madison pretty well, so I know where I can go, where I can get support if I need to.” It made sense. Ryan supposed that Naomi’s worldview must have been very different from his own.
As if sensing the thought process, Naomi smiled. “You’ve moved a lot, I’m guessing? Is that hard? Obviously, you’ve been in Madison for a while now, but... I don’t know. I’ve traveled a bit. I struggle to imagine living far away from my dad or the friends I’ve made here.”
It was unexpectedly sweet. Ryan could imagine it would be hard to leave now that Naomi had established her own charity in Madison. “I moved a lot when I was a rookie,” he confirmed. He gave a shrug, his shoulder brushing against Naomi’s. “Sometimes it happens that way. If you’re the newest person, even if you’re good, you get traded.”
Ryan wasn’t the newest person on the Madison Howlers anymore. He hadn’t been for some years. It was still no guarantee he wouldn’t have to move again.
“Lara moved away for college before I did,” he pointed out. “She’d send me postcards and photos of all the places she went. I think that made me want to get out and explore.” Even if Ryan hadn’t wanted to, he knew hockey would’ve been enough of a reason.
“What do you do when you’re hanging out with your friends?” he asked. “I assume it’s not just training and video games.”
“Not just that, no. I am very bad at video games,” Naomi joked before returning to Ryan’s question. “We go out. I think we’ve reached the age at which you eat out a lot,” she laughed. “I’m often busy on the weekends with charity events, so evenings end up being the only times I have the time to spend with them,” Naomi explained.
Reaching for her wine, Naomi took a sip. “Also, a lot of them have kids, which kind of limits what we can do. Sometimes it’s just going to the movies, honestly,” she shrugged.
Kids were not a thing Ryan often thought about. None of the Howlers had any children. Not yet. Part of Nilssy’s reason for retiring had been that he and his girlfriend wanted to settle down, get married and have kids.
It made Ryan feel almost like the walls of life were pressing in on him. He wasn’t old enough that he had to think about retirement yet. One day, he would be. What would Ryan have to turn his mind to once his career was over?
There was no soulmate match in Ryan’s future. Knowing that, how could he expect to ever settle down?
He turned to Naomi, pushing the thoughts away and focusing on her. “I wouldn’t have thought the movies would be much fun when you can’t see what’s going on,” he said. “Don’t you get frustrated?”
“A lot of places now offer audio description to go along with the movie,” Naomi explained. “It’s probably not as exciting as watching all the things on the screen, no, but... it lets me join in, you know?” Except Ryan hadn’t known. In fact, he had discounted the movies being an option for their date because Naomi couldn’t see them. That made him feel kind of guilty.
Even if she couldn’t see him, Naomi seemed to sense it. Maybe it was the tension in his muscles or something. She moved her hand to brush over Ryan’s. “Just ask, okay? I promise not to be offended if you don’t know something, but don’t decide for me, alright?”
“I can do that,” Ryan agreed. It was more effort than Ryan usually went to. But then, Naomi was very different from the kind of women who usually threw themselves in Ryan’s path. He wanted to make more of an effort. He felt a much greater need to impress her. Maybe it was just that she couldn’t be swayed by his looks. It made Ryan want to give her something else.
“Have you dated a lot of guys who decide for you?” Ryan asked. The way Naomi had said it, it felt a little like something she’d had to say before. “I promise, I’m not just asking because I don’t want to be the only asshole,” he teased. Maybe that was a little bit the reason. Honestly, Ryan was curious about what Naomi’s experiences had been like, and she had said she didn’t mind questions.
“I don’t date people who decide for me,” Naomi replied as a matter of fact. “But it’s certainly something I have experienced. People tend to presume that they know what I can and cannot do because I’m blind,” she explained. “But the truth is, unless you ask me, you can’t know what I want or what I can do.” It made sense, of course.
Ryan could even relate a little bit. Something like transfers was out of his hands. It affected him but he didn’t get to choose and that was not a nice feeling.
Naomi gave Ryan’s hand a squeeze, drawing his attention back to her. “Are you asking me about my past relationships?” she asked. He could hear the teasing in her tone. “All you have to do is ask.”
That hadn’t quite been what Ryan had meant. He laughed anyway. “Good to know,” he assured. It was reassuring, being told he could ask questions and Naomi wouldn’t be offended. It was a lot easier than trying to guess what she might or might not like.
“I didn’t mean to ask about boyfriends or anything,” he explained. Ryan knew that was a terrible topic for a date as early as this one. “I was more curious about what your experience of dating has been like.” He grinned. “My sister tells me that everyone has at least one funny dating anecdote.” That seemed a lot less serious than asking about Naomi’s past relationships.
He shrugged. “I can’t really imagine what it’s like to date when you can’t see the person you’re dating,” he admitted. “I guess it’s weird for a lot of the same re
asons anyone dating is weird. But probably some different ones, too.”
Naomi hummed at that. It put Ryan at ease. He kept half-expecting to step over the mark, to say the wrong thing. The more he spoke to Naomi, the more it proved that he could just ask her whatever. Just like she had said. It was... strangely refreshing.
“On the other hand, I can’t imagine dating someone when I can see them,” she said with a grin. “I suppose I have a few awkward date stories. I once went on a date with a guy who got there drunk, then drank even more on the date and hit on the male bartender at the bar we are at. That was a pretty weird night,” Naomi offered.
She took another sip from her glass. Ryan watched as Naomi’s tongue darted over her lower lip to catch a drop of wine. It made him want to lean in and kiss her. She spoke before he could make up his mind to put thought into action.
“You said your sister told you this. Does that mean your dating experience is much more limited?”
Ryan paused, eyes darting to Naomi as he tried to decide exactly how much to say. Naomi’s colleagues had told her about Ryan’s dick pic. He figured if she’d mentioned coming to his house, someone was bound to tell her about Ryan’s reputation. Hiding it would just make things weird.
“I don’t date much,” he confirmed. “I get laid plenty, but that comes with a different type of awkward story.” He laughed. “A woman once stole my iron. I never did figure out why.”
He shrugged slightly. “I don’t have a lot of friends outside of hockey. I don’t get to hear the normal dating stories, except from Lara.” Hockey players had plenty of funny anecdotes around women, but they tended to be fans rather than dates.
“Are you asking about my relationships?” Ryan asked, turning Naomi’s own question back on her.
Naomi laughed at that, giving a small shrug with her shoulder. Ryan couldn’t help but think how lovely she looked. More than that, Naomi also looked hot. Her smile was sweet but his eyes slid down to Naomi’s breasts. The laughter shook them in a way that was hard not to look at. He averted his eyes almost immediately, almost about to apologize. Then Ryan realized she wouldn’t have seen that happen.
Empty Net (Madison Howlers Book 3) Page 4