They spoke for half an hour before she told him she was going to bed. He’d left the call by saying he’d talk to her soon.
Lisa hadn’t expected Ryan to call again right at ten p.m. the following night.
She’d just finished a show, her heart all soft and fluttering, happy her drama had a happy ending. Some finished giving her K-trauma, leaving her in a funk for days, mourning fictional characters as if they were family.
“Did I wake you?” he started.
“No. I rarely sleep this early unless I’m sick. Where are you?”
“I’m sitting in my garage, just got home from work.”
“You really have turned into a hard worker, Ryan. I feel oddly proud of you, to know you achieved everything you wanted in life.”
“As long as it’s not parental pride,” he scoffed. Yeah, that would be a little weird to feel maternal over a man she’d seen naked.
Oh, that was a mistake even to let her mind flit across because now her memory cell wanted to unlock that treasure chest and roll around in images of Ryan.
Absolutely not, she warned herself, gritting her teeth and digging her nails into her short-clad thigh to stop that train before it left the station.
She figured he was entering his home after hearing him unlock a door. “Um. How long have you lived across the street from Nina?”
“The house came up for sale two years ago, and I snapped it up.”
“Huh. Around the same time, I bought my house. Isn’t it weird we didn’t bump into each other until Nina and Tomb’s renewal?”
“I guess we met each other again when we were meant to.”
Lisa’s heart thumped at the easy way he said it.
“Do you believe in those kinds of fated moments? That surprises me.”
“How so? Because I’m a rough biker?”
Lisa chuckled and wiggled her newly painted toes. “Now you’re stereotyping yourself. I didn’t say that. It’s just a surprise to hear a man say things are happening at the right time.”
“What else could it have been? You’re friends with my closest friends, yet we’ve never been invited to meals at the same time. I’m always at their house.”
“Did you ever hear my name?”
“I knew Nina was hanging out with a new chick called Lisa. And your face came to mind, but it always does if I hear your name.”
Really?
Why was she blushing, knowing that?
“But I didn’t associate her new friend with you. I never thought you’d come back to town. The last time I checked, you were in Washington.”
Now the floor nearly fell out from underneath Lisa.
“Y-you checked up on me? Why? When?”
“It was a Facebook announcement of your engagement.”
“Oh.”
Lisa experienced ten kinds of awkwardness while the line remained silent for a minute.
“I never imagined you’d look for me, Ryan.” She whispered, hearing her own heart thudding in her chest. Even mentioning those days carried risks.
