“Nope.” He popped thepand picked up his beer. Noticing it was empty, he asked, “You want another?”
“Sounds good, thanks.”
He signaled to the bartender for another round. “If you want to do something, I’m open to ideas,” he said after ordering, picking our conversation back up.
My smile felt a little lopsided, my brain pleasantly fuzzy. “Honestly, I’m happy to chill and laze about with you, ogling you behind my sunnies.”
Our beers were set in front of us, and as we said thanks, Ryan peered my way. “Behind your sunnies, huh?”
“Yep, it’s what gets me through the day.”
Loud laughter to the right of the bar caught my attention. A small group gathered, mainly young blokes, but it looked like a couple of young women mixed in with their group. They laughed again, loudly, but there was nothing obnoxious about the sound.
I smiled over in their direction, saying, “Did you have that, a group of friends to go on holidays with?”
“I’ve been on a couple of weekends away with Sutton and Jayden. At college I was broke, so worked every chance I could get, including holidays.”
The thought made me sad. “Do you sometimes wish things were different?” I didn’t expand, figuring the implication was there.
He shrugged and leaned his elbows on the bar, picking at the beer label. “There’s been more than a time or two I regretted how things played out. But I’ve finally reached the point where I’m happy. You’re the main reason for that.”
My heart melted at his words. While sadness hovered just under the surface for Ryan, I chose to hold on to the here and now. “You make me happy too,” I said, lowering my voice.
Affection flushed his features. Opening my mouth to suggest we should head back, I slammed it shut when a man appeared at Ryan’s side. A large grin was plastered on his face, and he looked ready to pee himself.
The slow turn of Ryan’s head in the direction of the young guy, who seemed barely legal to be in the bar—or at least back in the US—was enough to make the guy’s eyes widen. Comically so.
“Oh my goodness. You’re him. I’m so sorry to disturb you, Mr. Ryan, uhm... Mr. Broadwater—” Flustered, the bloke stopped abruptly, his face turning crimson.
Rather than releasing my snort, I formed a gentle smile and nudged Ryan.
“Ryan’s fine,” my man answered, his voice impressively normal. “There something I can do for you?”
The guy nodded, face still red, and I wasn’t sure he’d breathed at all since appearing. I willed him to take a breath and almost suggested as much, but thankfully, he gasped, sucking in air.
“It is you. Oh, holy nutballs. It’s just, I know you’re here relaxing, and I totally shouldn’t, but you are freakin’ incredible. The last game at the end of the season… I swear, I almost had palpitations. My boyfriend… he’s over there”—he waved over his head but didn’t pause for anything—“well, he adores you even more. He begged me not to ruin your night, but seriously, you’re Ryan freakin’ Broadwater.”
This guy was pop-you-in-my-pocket adorable.
Ryan remained frozen at my side, quite possibly overwhelmed by the enthusiastic greeting.
“Anyways, I’d love to buy you a beer. You don’t have to talk with us or anything.” His eyes went wide, and a new flush of red filled his face. “But yeah, a beer, just for being incredible.” He finally paused, and there was an eerie quiet before Ryan cleared his throat. “Uhm…”
“We’d love to have a drink with you. But Ryan’s buying,” I offered helpfully. And that was how we ended up drinking with six twenty-one-year-olds, here celebrating Simone’s birthday, courtesy of her very generous parents, apparently.
Dean, the young guy who’d first approached, was not only a hoot, but he wasn’t lying about being a hard-core fan. But it was his boyfriend, Kieran, who pink-cheeked admitted to being the real wearer of that mantel.
We’d had a couple more beers, but I’d refused the shots. Honestly, I got handsy when I drank hard liquor. It wouldn’t be my drunken escapades that outed Ryan Broadwater to the world. And a drunk grope-y version of me could quite possibly do that.
“How long have you guys been dating?” I asked. Dean and Kieran were a cute couple, and on the surface looked like polar opposites.
“Just over a year now,” Dean answered, and I could almost see the love hearts in his eyes. “We met in a study group. Truth is, he was a bit of a dick at first.”
Kieran called, “Hey.”
“Am I lying?” Dean fired back, all sweetness and sass.
With a roll of his eyes, Kieran admitted, “No,” earning a chuckle from the whole group.
