Chapter 12
"So explain this to me again: it's my fault that you're a couple now?"
Lucy thought it would be fun to finally let her friends know that she was, well, doing something with Ryan McCloud. But what exactly that something was was still a bit hazy. Andy had just called them a couple and Lucy had to quickly hide her apprehension of hearing them called that by someone. A couple? Maybe. They were having sex again and they did have sex this summer. There was also definitely more than just sex to all of this. She did like Ryan after all. It wasn't like a basic booty call or something. But it also didn't seem to be much higher on the scale than that. So was it just a crush with sex? It kind of made her head hurt to think about it and Andy's question just made it worse.
"Yeah, it's kind of your fault," Ryan teasingly told him.
She looked up and smiled at Andy, who still looked a bit dumbfounded by the whole situation. That made Lucy even more thankful that Ryan was still sitting next to her right now. Because Sydney was smiling and giddy across from them, too excited to even ask more than a few simple questions. Lucy knew that wouldn't last long. She knew there would be an intense talk from Sydney in her future, but for now, her friend just looked happy to have another couple to brunch with.
Andy, on the other hand, was asking too many questions. Quiet and reserved Andy would occasionally become less quiet and reserved, something that Lucy noticed happened more and more as his relationship with Sydney developed. She pulled him out of his shell, which was a good thing. Well, a good thing except for now.
"So if I hadn't suggested that you needed a mental health vacation, and I hadn't suggested that you take that vacation next door to Lucy, you wouldn't have started dating?"
Sydney rolled her eyes and started poking at her scrambled eggs. "Andy, stop interrogating them. Let them be for now."
Andy scoffed. "Ryan didn't let it be when I was dating you."
"And when you broke up with her." Ryan waved his fork in their general direction. "I fixed that."
Lucy smiled and cut off another bite of her omelet. She always loved hearing Ryan brag about the fact that he was the one that brought Sydney and Andy back together. He didn't brag as much about the fact that he was the reason they broke up. Well, the real reason was a stupid misunderstanding that just happened to occur in Ryan's apartment when Andy mistakenly assumed that Sydney was hooking up with one of his players behind his back. So Ryan had to come through with tickets for the game that night so Sydney would have an excuse to bring them back together.
He also threw in a parking pass and some vouchers that Lucy used to get some nachos. Wait… whenever Lucy went to a game with Sydney last season using Ryan's tickets, he always added some vouchers so she could eat nachos. Had he just been doing that to be nice or because he randomly got those when he got the free tickets from the team? He didn't actually purposely do that for her, did he? No, this was Ryan. He wouldn't think about something like that. Who was she kidding?
"Hey, so we were going to head down to the riverfront for a walk after this," Sydney said, breaking Lucy out of her thoughts. "You want to come?"
"Yeah, right," Ryan said. "I still have preseason training. If I don't go to the gym today, the Pirates' trainer is going to kick my ass later."
Sydney turned and gave her fiance a smile. "You can let Ryan out of his work out today, right?"
"First, don't give me that look," Andy said.
"What look?" Sydney asked innocently.
"Listen, I've known you the longest so I know you're an awesome, low maintenance girlfriend," Lucy said. "But when you really want something, you give Andy this look."
Lucy gave Ryan a look that was supposed to mimic Sydney's "I want something" look. She knew she nailed it when Ryan's eyes went wide, his face a mix of fear and reverence, and he had to look away.
"See?" Lucy gestured towards the hockey player, who quickly turned away, realizing he had been called out. "You give Andy that look and he has no choice but to give you what you want."
"That doesn't happen," Sydney replied incredulously.
Andy turned to get the waiter's attention, and also so he wouldn't have to look at Sydney. "You kind of do," he told her.
The waiter showed up and put the check down on the table, and Lucy watched as Ryan and Andy both reached for it at the same time.
"Sydney, tell Ryan that I'm picking up the check for brunch with the same face you just had."
"Ryan, let Andy pick up the check."
Damn, that look was potent. Sydney wasn't even sleeping with Ryan, but he did as he was told when he saw her face, relinquishing control of the check so Andy could pay it.
"I don't have a look," Sydney muttered.
Lucy smiled and shoved the last bite of home fries in her mouth. This was a good distraction. She didn't need more questions about her relationship with Ryan or more requests for information or more thoughts about what the hell was going on between them.
Instead, she just slid out of the booth they were sitting in, letting Ryan grab her hand to lead them out. It didn't matter that her hand had been swallowed by the huge sleeves on his jersey, it was still nice. But seriously, what was up with these sleeves?
She followed behind the group as Andy went up to pay at the register, watching Sydney glance over her shoulder at them, a stupid grin on her face. Maybe this whole telling their friends wasn't the greatest idea after all.
