Chapter 19
Lucy stared at Sydney's apartment door, wondering why she was even here.
It had been more than a month since she had walked out of Ryan's apartment, and she hadn't talked to him since. Sure, there were times when she wanted to pick up her phone and send him a text. There was the night he got a goal in San Francisco — his first of the season — and she wanted to congratulate him. There was the night he was smashed into the boards pretty hard in Denver and Andy had to jump up from the bench to help him off the ice. She thought about checking in and making sure he was OK. Instead, she settled for reading the local news site the next day to find out it was just a bruise on his arm.
Then there was the tweet. Yes, she still followed his Twitter feed. There was nothing wrong with that. But there was the night a few days before the season started when he posted a tweet asking for advice.
"Hey, guys! Need your help for this season," tweeted @mccloudhockey. "I'm trying to read more books on road trips. Any suggestions for mysteries and thrillers? Don't want something too serious."
There were a few fans who gave him sarcastic responses. "Don't strain your brain with books." Or "Pick up a book about how to play real defense, hoser."
She had to admit that she laughed at the "hoser" comment. By herself. In her apartment.
But then there were some good responses. "Da Vinci Codeis fun but not too serious." Or "Have you tried James Patterson?" Ryan actually responded to that one with a "Yes! But tell me your favorite," with a little smile emoji. People suggested Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes, and he responded by asking for specific books.
Lucy almost sent a tweet in response to the Agatha Christie request. "Try the Hercule Poirot series.Death on the Nileis totally a book you would like."
She had it all typed up and was about to press the "Tweet" button. But then she remembered it was probably a bad idea. She shouldn't be reading Ryan's tweets like this. She shouldn't be scoffing at some of these book suggestions or even liking the ones that she thought he would enjoy. And she definitely should not be writing a tweet in response to his request for book suggestions. That was just a little too much right now. She also didn't want to encourage him only to have him start texting her again about books.
I figured out who the killer was before the cops did!he proclaimed in a text one night back when they were still dating.
OrDid you make sure your front door was locked before you climbed in bed?he once asked.Serial killers don't like confrontation.
What?she replied.
Sorry, reading another serial killer mystery. There's a lot of them.
That was then followed by several racy texts that made her forget all about her front door. She wasn't sure if sexting was mature or not, but she enjoyed doing it with Ryan so she wasn't about to include that in her list of reasons to get some space between them.
Sexting. That was another thing Ryan did well. Also on that list was sex, looking hot and knowing the best bars in town.
But there was also the face he made when he was concentrating on a book or the way he always made it a point to ask her about her day when she showed up at his apartment. He actually talked to her and had dinner with her and seemed interested in what she was doing at work. And she liked hearing about his hockey life. She was a Detroiter after all. But to hear him talk about skating or a game with such passion was really refreshing, especially after she first saw him this summer when he was taking that loss so hard.
She took a deep breath and checked her watch. It was six o'clock and she was in front of Sydney's door. No more time to stand there staring at the gray paint over analyzing a relationship that she decided to end. Instead, it was better to just knock on the door of her friend's apartment.
Sydney opened it with a big smile. "Well, hello." Then her smile faltered a bit as she took in Lucy's work attire. "Please tell me you brought different clothes."
"Got out of work later than I expected so I came straight here," Lucy explained. "Can I raid your closet?"
Sydney's smile returned. "Of course." She ushered Lucy in, closing the door behind her. "I know you don't like purses so let's find you something with pockets first."
See? This is what Lucy liked about her relationship with Sydney. Her friend knew how much she hated purses. Was that something Ryan knew? No, so it was OK that they weren't seeing each other anymore. Or at least that was just another excuse Lucy was going to come up with to make herself feel better.
A half-hour later, the two of them were ready to go see a hockey game. Lucy was trying to ignore that part of the night since she stepped off the elevator and headed to Sydney's apartment.
The team was already off to a good start for the season. They won a few games on their long West Coast road trip, and then picked up another one for their home opener. Things were going good aside from that bruised arm for Ryan. So when Sydney called and asked Lucy if she wanted to go to a hockey game, Lucy didn't hesitate to say yes. Sure, she would see Ryan, but that would be fine. They had to test out this "We'll still be friends" thing, and friends support each other. So Lucy was going to a hockey game in Detroit to support her friend.
"You want to drive?" Sydney asked her as she zipped up her black boots.
"Sure. Do you have a pass or do we have to find a lot?"
Sydney gave her a knowing smile. "Ryan gave me his tickets so we have a pass."
"Oh, good. That was nice of him," Lucy said as casually as she could.
"There's also some food vouchers in there. Ryan said they were for nachos and also said, 'I never understood why Lucy eats those things.'"
Lucy gave her a tight smile, trying to casually play it off like it was no big deal that Ryan knew she liked nachos and had been giving them food vouchers for Lucy's nachos for the past two seasons.
