The Right Move (Windy City, #2)

by Liz Tomforde

He places a hand on the back of my head, ushering me to lay on his shoulder once again. “I guess it’s a good thing I’m rich then.”

Ahhhhhh

“My room, please.” “No.” “Ryan, I’m still mad at you.” “Okay, you can be mad at me all you want while you sleep in my bed.”

“Do you want your bra off?” A smile spreads across my closed lips. “Well, if those aren’t the six sexiest words in the English language strung together.” I open one lid to peek at him. He’s shaking his head at me, but that kissable mouth is tugged up on each side. “I think that fever of yours is going to your head.”

“Ryan,” I call out, stopping him in the doorway. “Why are you doing this?” “Because I like taking care of people. You, especially.” He closes the door behind him.

Ryan’s brows are creased with concern as he watches me struggle. “Let me do that, Blue.” I give in without a fight. Ryan ushers me to sit on the ground in front of the chair he has in the corner of his room. He takes a seat behind me, legs spread on either side of my body. Gently, he begins to brush my hair.

Im melting

Softly, Ryan uses the pads of his fingertips to guide my head to lean against his opposite knee so he can brush the other side of my hair. Ryan doesn’t make me feel like a burden. He doesn’t make me feel like I’m too much.

“Indy,” he whispers from behind me. “What you offer in a relationship, as a friend, a woman, a partner, by simply being who you are is more than enough. And if someone can’t see that you’re everything, then it’s them who's missing out. I know you’re faithful. It’s one of my favorite things about you, but there has to be a limit. Some people don’t deserve your unwavering loyalty.”

“No one has ever taken care of me,” I squeak past the lump in my throat. “Thank you, Ryan.” He halts once again, so finally, I look over my shoulder at him. “What?” He shakes his head, resuming his task of untangling my hair.

I’m certain the fever must have stolen my filter when I ask, “Are you faking it?” “No, Blue. I’m not faking anything.” Then I feel his fingers slip into my wet hair, separating the strands into three equal parts. “Are you braiding my hair?” “Yes.”

“You’re a fucking gift, Ind, and I cannot believe I made you feel anything less than that. I’m so sorry. I truly am.”

“I don’t know how to be casual with you, and that scares the shit out of me. I’m trying to. You’ve made it clear you don’t have anything left to give, and at the same time, I’m still so fucked up from things that you don’t even know about.”

Alex may have drained the old me, but the real me, I have plenty left to give. And I think I’d like to give the real me to Ryan if he wants it. I think he’d treat my heart with kindness.

But when Stevie called to tell me Indy was too sick to stand, I wasn’t thinking about my competition or the game at all. I was thinking about the blonde across the hall who I’d give up almost anything to take care of.

He’s strength personified, and I hate seeing him in a moment of weakness.

The doctor begins his spiel, but I accidentally tune him out when I feel Ryan’s hand reach for mine that’s dangling next to his bed. Looking back, I watch him thread our fingers together all while keeping his attention focused on his doctor. I give him a slight squeeze of encouragement before concentrating once again.

He pulls me down towards his lap, and I take a seat across it. His hands drape over me, holding me tight as if he can’t stand the thought of me trying to leave the room again. “Why’d you come to the hospital?” he asks softly. “Because you were hurt.”

“I was there to see you. Believe it or not, I don’t give a shit about your boss, and I couldn’t care less who you are to anyone else. To me, you’re…well, I don’t know what you are, but you’re…important. You as a person, not the player, are important to me.”

“You know what happened, but you don’t know the full story. Her name was Marissa. We met at the end of my junior year, and I fell pretty quickly for her, but she didn’t want people to know we were together, so we kept it a secret. To be honest, I liked that. My team had just won the national championship and people were starting to see me as the star basketball player and less as a normal guy. I noticed that people around me were wanting to get a piece of me before I entered the draft. But Marissa…” I shake my head.

“I remember this guy kept eyeing me in the waiting room, but I had brushed it off at the time. More and more people were starting to recognize me in my everyday life, so I chalked it up to that. I was bouncing, Ind. I was so fucking excited and nervous and happy and scared. Every emotion you could imagine feeling in that moment, I felt. A nurse came and got me once the baby came. She was healthy, Marissa was healthy, but as soon as I walked into the delivery room, something was off. “Marissa could barely look me in the eye, but I was too overwhelmed to think much of it until she handed me her daughter, and the second I held that little girl, I knew she wasn’t mine.”

My heart....

“Marissa knew it too and I don’t know what caused her to do it, but she spilled every detail right then and there. That guy in the waiting room? Yeah, that was her real fucking boyfriend. It was his kid. He was in on the whole thing. Our so-called relationship was all a scheme. They both played me, and she was trying to get knocked up. They were just trying to get eighteen years of child support out of me.” I laugh in disbelief, hearing how absurd the words sound out loud as I recall that day four and a half years ago. “She was never afraid of the limelight and her parents weren’t religious. She didn’t want anyone to know we were in a relationship because she was playing me the whole fucking time.”

“You bought this place to start a family.” She slaps a palm over her mouth. “Oh my God, my room is painted yellow. That room was supposed to be—” “I fucking hate that room.”

Oh im sobbing

My apartment”—I motion around—“was a fucking mess. Why do you think I’m as much of a clean freak as I am now? There was a two-year time span I was living in filth because I didn’t have the mental capability to find the energy to clean it. I was in a never-ending loop of darkness, and not a single soul knew that after a game was over their precious golden boy of basketball was going home and living in misery.”

“Because it doesn't exist. I haven’t had someone come into my life who wasn’t just looking for what they could gain from me. Use me. Take advantage of me.” Until you, I want to add. Until you walked into my apartment and flipped my world on its head, unraveling every notion I had convinced myself of. Erasing every belief I once held. “Oh,” she chokes out, blinking rapidly. “Okay.”

“I might have a little thing for your best friend.” “Ha!” she bursts out a laugh. “Good God, Ry. Want to try that again?” I roll my eyes. “I might possibly be a little bit smitten by the blonde living in my house.”

“I want her, Vee. I don’t know where she’s at or what she’s even capable of feeling after everything she’s been through, but I’ll take whatever she can offer.” I look over to her as she continues driving, concentrating on the road. “Would you be okay with that?” I can see a faint tilt of her lips. “You don’t need my permission to be together.”

“But you should lock it down. Have you seen that woman?” My sister teases. “The entire hockey team is in love with her.” “Okay. Okay. I don’t need the reminder.” “I’m just saying. Get a move on it, buddy. You already live together, and I want another sister-in-law.” “Dear God,” I huff out a laugh. “I’m never telling you anything. You have no chill.”

Indy hangs up the phone. “Why does my mother sound like your new bestie?” I pop my shoulders. “Mothers love me.”

She eyes me suspiciously but doesn’t catch on to the fact her mom and I are as comfortable as we are because I’ve chatted with her parents more than a few times since I first met them over a video call in this very kitchen.

Not to mention, I thought I’d have her alone so I could convince her not to move out. All night long. With my tongue perhaps.

Ahhhhhh ryan!!!!

“Will you trust me with this?” she begs. “If they get here and it’s too much for you, I’ll kick them out, but I think this could be great. I bought you all new dishes and silverware, so we have enough for everyone. Well, you bought them. I used your credit card, obviously.” A tiny smile spreads across my lips. “Obviously.”

I’ll most likely be a ball of anxiety, having so many people in my safe space, but for her, I’ll try.

She chuckles, but before she goes back to chopping vegetables, I catch the sad smile fall on her lips. I want to kiss it off her and tell her she’s not allowed to go anywhere. Not when she fits so right here, when she makes it feel like home, but the knock at my door keeps me from doing so.

He ignores me, focusing back on the stunning blonde. He gestures between the two of them before silently mouthing, “You and me. Call me.” She giggles and it’s my favorite sound.

“You’re going to get us to the playoffs and I’m going to help you.” Leon takes a self-assured breath, nodding his head. “Then,” I continue. “In a month, I’m stealing my spot back.”

From behind, I trap her body with mine, bracing my hands on the counter in front of us. “Are you doing okay?” she whispers. “I’m doing great.” Tilting her head to look at me, her lips almost brush mine. Her eyes dart to my mouth but before I can say “fuck it” and kiss her, she turns back to the food, giving it her full attention.

Ahhhhhhhh

Covering her hand with mine, I still her movements. “Come eat with me.” “I can’t yet. I need to get more food and drinks out.” “Everyone is happy. Take a break and come eat dinner with me.”

Sitting next to Indy feels good as it always does, but tonight as she chats with my team, there’s a sense of pride flowing through me that they believe she’s mine. She could be. I want her to be. Need her to be the more I watch how effortlessly she goes through life unguarded.

She’s not just a happy-go-lucky girl with no perception of the terrible parts of life. She doesn’t shit rainbows or believe in unicorns, but she feels everything. Every emotion good or bad and for that reason alone she’s a breath of fresh air in my life. She’s living and I both admire her for it and am envious beyond belief.

There was a shift last night as she sat in my lap, listening to me spill the worst part of my past that I rea...

Now he has an absolute smoke show living in his house. I want an Indy walking around my house.” “Watch it,” I bite out. “The girl’s got her MBA and she’s funny as hell.”

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH

“My house is much bigger than Shay’s. You’re more than welcome.” Fucking shit-disturber. “She’s not going anywhere.” I say the words to Dom, but keep my eyes on Indy as they come out. She won’t look at me. It’s too right, having her here. This is where she belongs, with me, in this apartment. And if she thinks for a second she’s moving out, she’s out of her goddamn mind.

Screaminggggggg

All I know is that apartment is filled with him, and it’s suffocating. How much I want him is suffocating. How much I care about him is suffocating. How much love I have for that man after only a few short months is suffocating.

Call me dramatic, but last night’s realizations messed me up. Ryan has lived through a pregnancy with a woman he thought he loved, anticipating their future and family. He spent nine months loving a child that wasn’t his. How do you come back from that? It’s no wonder he’s guarded and untrusting.

“Happen to see a mouthy blonde tonight? Mile-long legs and a banging brain?” Ryan asks his sister and Zanders. I can hear the smile in Zanders’ tone as he talks to his fiancée. “I love this for us, Vee. Watching your brother squirm like a love-sick puppy. Mushy motherfucker.” “Fuck you very much.”

“There’s the runaway.” “Hi.” Eyes soften. “Hi, Blue.” Zanders squeals from the couch like a teenager.

Zanders is me

His hooded eyes look down at me, bottom lip sliding between his teeth. “Can we finish our conversation now?” I swallow, audibly, and with a simple nod. “No one has ever come into my life without just looking for what they can gain from me,”

“Until you.” Backing up, my shoulders hit the wall where Ryan brackets his hands above my head, caging me in, and ensuring I hear his words. “Until you walked your colorful, messy, and extremely tempting ass into my apartment. I’ve never once felt taken advantage of by you. In fact, if you remember, I was the one who didn’t want you paying rent. I don’t give a fuck if you don’t need to save money anymore, you’re not leaving.” “That sounds very kidnap-y of you.” “Don’t tempt me.”

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

“We have an audience,” I whisper, nodding towards the couple of eavesdroppers on the couch. “Good. They can watch for all I care.” Ryan

“So, are we done with the whole bullshit conversation about you moving out?”

“But I spend a lot of your money.”