Dropped Gloves (Five for Fighting #5)

by Amber Lynn

  “I know you said that there were already some dents when you got it, but I’m kind of concerned about the trees and buildings in the area. It looks like that car has been run into about everything that’s ever come across its path.”

  Ryan was hoping a little humor would lighten the mood Lisa was in, and it seemed to work as a small chuckle escaped her lips. He leaned up against the car as she opened the door and bent in to grab her purse.

  “There have been dents added since I’ve owned it, but I haven’t been in the car for a single one of them. Apparently people think if there’s dents, there need to be more. I assume we’ll be taking your car, since your distaste for mine is pretty clear.”

  “I hope you don’t mind. I feel a little more secure in the fact that we’ll make it to the airport if we take mine.”

  Lisa straightened herself back up and resituated Pepe in her arms. A black purse had appeared on her left shoulder.

  “I warned you last night that our financial situations are vastly different. I’m not even going to ask you to come up to my apartment while I throw stuff in a bag. You’d probably realize just how wrong we are for each other and take off, leaving me without my car.”

  They didn’t have time for him to remind her he didn’t care about money differences. Instead, he rolled his eyes and shut the car door so they could head towards the parking garage his car was sitting in.

  “I’ll jog your memory of what I’ve already said on that subject later. Right now, it’s more important that I remind you that you should probably get ahold of your boss at the diner sooner rather than later. Personally, I don’t mind supporting you while you work on your music, but I know you have the need to do everything by yourself, so keeping your job is important.”

  Ryan had to make a call himself, but it wasn’t as time sensitive. He wasn’t exactly sure how his decision would go over. He just hoped it proved to Dylan he wasn’t messing around when it came to Lisa. She needed him, he was going to be there for her, and no one was going to stand in the way of that.

  “I figured I could do that on the ride over to my place. It’s a little hard to make a call with Pepe filling my hands.”

  No comment on his offer to provide for her. Ryan hadn’t expected one, but a big part of him wished she would’ve jumped at the chance. At the same time, if she did, she wouldn’t be the woman Ryan was falling in love with.

  “Okay, I just know your mind is far from here, so I don’t want you to forget.”

  “Thank you. And thank you for getting me moving. If you weren’t around, I probably would’ve sat there for at least an hour just crying. I don’t remember ever freezing up like that before, but my mind just kept going over what might happen. I kept imagining getting off the plane and looking at my phone to find a message that he’d died.”

  “Shh,” Ryan whispered as he pulled Lisa in closer to him. “I’m not a doctor and I’m not there to get a good sense of what the situation is, so I can’t promise anything, but I will pray to every god known to man on our way there that he’ll be okay.”

  Lisa sighed. “Since we’ve both strayed away from any kind of faith, I’m not sure how much our praying will help, but I’m game for anything.”

  “Maybe someone will see it as a way to bring us back to church every week and grant our request.” Ryan didn’t have anything really reinsuring to say, so he’d fallen back to the idea of praying for something. It’d never worked for him before, but anything he could do to try to comfort Lisa was worth it.

  By the time they made it to his car, Lisa’s face wasn’t quite as blotchy, but her eyes clearly told the story that she’d been crying. Ryan knew he wouldn’t be able to change that anytime soon. He wanted to more than anything, but only seeing her dad awake and well would take the tears and redness away.

  That was the reason Ryan really ended up taking charge to get them to Nebraska as soon as possible. Since he couldn’t make her happy, he had to do everything in his power to make a real smile return to her face. Once everything was back on its axis, then he could break the news that he was fairly certain he was in love with her. He’d have to deal with her laughing in his face, but he didn’t want to hide his feelings.

  Chapter Ten

  Lisa travelled in a fog. She tried to keep up with everything Ryan said from his spot glued to her side, but she had trouble getting her thoughts to shut off. If she didn’t have Ryan guiding her around, she wouldn’t have made it very far. He got them on the plane, which somehow ended up being a direct flight, and as promised he had a rental car there waiting for them.

  They were about five miles from the hospital when her head finally found the need to think about the things going on around her. She looked in the backseat of the car to see Pepe settled into his carrier on the dark leather seat. Even with Lisa only partially paying attention, she had picked up that the dog had been unbelievably calm during their hurried journey.

  “I should probably call Mom and let her know we’re here.” Ryan glanced over and smiled as he heard Lisa’s words.

  “That’s a good idea. You feeling any better?” He reached out and caressed the side of her face with one of his big hands. It was impossible for Lisa not to lean into the warmth his hand provided.

  “I’m scared, but hopefully I’ll have some answers here in a few minutes.”

  Lisa hadn’t let her phone leave her hands. While on the plane she couldn’t receive calls, but it made her feel better to hold the small electrical device. She had been willing it to ring and someone on the other end tell her everything was alright.

  “That’s the hospital over there, right?” Ryan asked.

  They could barely see the top of the building because the sun was going down and it was still a ways away, but the GPS on the dash had a pin in the building Ryan pointed at. Lisa took a deep breath and nodded her head.

  “That’s the one. I know I’ve mumbled thank you about fifty times since you sprung into action this morning, but I don’t think you know how much what you’ve done really means to me.”

  It was impossible for Lisa to actually articulate what she was trying to say, so Ryan would have to be some kind of mind reader to even have a clue. The idea that he could read her mind wasn’t that farfetched. He seemed to know her every need and took care of it.

  They’d known each other a week, and he knew her better than past boyfriends she’d spent months with. When they’d first met, Lisa didn’t think they had a chance of ever talking again after their clunky dinner, but Ryan seemed committed to something, and Lisa was along for wherever that ride led.

  She knew eventually she’d get hurt. She was already in love with Ryan, at least that's how she classified the emotions welling up inside her. It wasn't something she'd ever felt before, so they were hard to define. Ryan made her feel safe and like he honestly cared about her, and he wasn’t only concerned about what she could do for him. It wasn’t like she could do a lot for a guy who flew first-class and drove fancy sports cars.

  Someone was sure to come along and change his feelings towards her. He could say he didn’t like the supermodel type, like her coworker Rachel, but someone like him didn’t end up settling down and marrying someone like her. It didn’t make sense for him to, so she was already preparing for the worse and trying to harden her heart for the inevitable. His caring nature was making that hard to do.

  “I’ve always thought it was right to ease whatever pain you can for someone you love. I know it’s not the right time to say something like that, but I figure you better know before I accidently tell one of your relatives.”

  “That you love me?” Lisa was a little confused about his comment, and she couldn’t keep the confusion out of her voice. It was one thing for someone like her to think she’d fallen in love with him, but for him to already think he loved her was a little crazy.

  Lisa knew her face was marred with a dumfounded look. When Ryan took his eyes off the road to look at her, there wasn’t a lick of confusion on his face. He k
new what he was saying and there wasn’t a question in his mind that he meant it. At least that was what Lisa read in his eyes.

  “Of course I love you. It feels like a giant truck has been running over my chest as I’ve sat back and watched as you’ve dealt with the news about your dad in your own way. It’s been so hard for me not to step in and just hold you in my arms and try to shield you from everything.” Ryan paused for a second to look back at the road. Seeing he was still in his lane, he looked back at Lisa. “Worry and grief isn’t something we went over last night, so I’m stuck trying to figure out how you deal with it and see where I can fit myself into that.”

  “You call getting me here as fast as humanly possible sitting back and doing nothing? If it wasn’t for you, I’d be stuck in an airport somewhere instead of being minutes away from getting answers.”

  Ryan pulled into the hospital parking lot as Lisa realized her statement about calling her mom hadn’t gotten very far. She was afraid the news wouldn’t be good, since she hadn’t heard anything in hours. She thought it may be better to walk in not knowing than knowing and falling to pieces on her way in.

  “But I can’t erase the pain you’re feeling, and that is driving me crazy. I can take care of getting you here and keeping an eye on Pepe while you’re dealing with the thoughts clouding your head, but I can’t make everything okay.”

  Ryan parked in the closest spot near the emergency room doors. Lisa figured that was as good a place as any to go in, so she didn’t question his parking decision. He had given her enough to think about with his words.

  “I don’t want you to make everything okay. I mean, it would be nice if you could, but that’s not something I expect from you.”

  “But it’s something I want to do for you. I’m afraid something is going to happen and you’re going to shut me out. I know we’ve only known each other for a week, and really only known each other a few hours, but I already don’t want to lose you.”

  Lisa had run out of tears a few hours into their flight, and she didn’t think they’d had a chance to reproduce. That was the only reason they weren’t starting down her face again.

  “How in the world have you not been married?”

  It was a topic they had already talked about, but Lisa still couldn’t believe he’d never had a serious relationship. According to him, he’d never even lived with a girlfriend.

  “I told you last night that I’ve never felt a connection with someone. I know tons of guys who don’t care about that, but when I get married, I want it to be to someone who feels right. Not just because we’re compatible because society thinks we should be.”

  Yes, he had said those exact things, but Lisa had trouble believing them. Part of the reason she thought she had trouble getting any kind of record deal was because she didn’t have the right look, and she wasn’t willing to change. If agents thought she needed to be skinnier and add highlights to her hair, surely the man sitting next to her wanted her to change something. The only thing she’d ever changed was her attempts to sound more country, and Lisa didn’t figure that was something that magically drew Ryan to her.

  Lisa looked away from the eyes trying to convince her she should believe them and looked up at the daunting hospital in front of her. She hadn’t really thought about what her family would think about Ryan. The only boyfriends she’d ever brought home were from their small town.

  “We should probably head in. I just want to get a quick update and see if there’s anything I need to do before we run Pepe over to my parents’ house.”

  It was a little chilly outside, but not cold enough that Pepe would catch doggy pneumonia from being in the car for a few minutes. Lisa hated leaving him, but they passed the hospital on the way to the farm and she couldn’t just drive by.

  “If you think you want to stay longer, I can take Pepe wherever you want me to. I’ll probably need some keys or something, but I don’t think I’ll get lost with this thing.” Ryan tapped on the GPS.

  “We’ll see how it goes.” Lisa wasn’t really sure how well the device worked when you got into the backwoods around the farm. After a few minutes with her family, she figured she’d need a reason to get a little air.

  The pair got out of the car after she told Pepe a few times they’d be right back. Ryan was quick to make it over to her side of the car and wrap an arm around her shoulders. It was amazing how she fit right into his side.

  “I hope you know that even though it still feels crazy to me, I love you too.”

  Ryan kissed the top of her head and she could feel him sigh. “It’s not crazy at all. Someone told me a story just the other day about a guy falling in love with his wife before he even met her. Now that’s crazy.”

  Lisa laughed, mainly because she’d heard the story before and knew who he was talking about. She thought that maybe when things calmed down, and Lisa was sure she and Ryan weren’t just saying the L word because of the chaos going on in her life, maybe, just maybe, she’d thank Casey and Dylan for the meddling. She also wanted to ask what in the world Casey saw in Lisa and Ryan that made her think they were the perfect match, because on the surface, Lisa still didn’t see it.

  Once they made it into the hospital, Ryan started directing her away from the emergency room and into the main hospital. When she looked at him skeptically, he just smiled.

  “I’ve been in quite a few hospitals. Layouts aren’t really that different. Why don’t you call your mom and ask her where we need to be?”

  He winked at her when he mentioned a vague number reference associated with hospitals. Lisa wanted to know how many of those visits were for him, and how many were serious visits. They’d touched on his various injuries over the years, all of which made Lisa worried about how hard he played. She didn’t want to be one of the girlfriends who sat in fear every game, but it was going to be hard for her to not worry.

  It wasn’t the time to bring the conversation back up, so she followed the suggestion of calling her mom. Her phone was almost dead, but it had enough juice to make the call. Her mother answered on the first ring, a reaction Lisa was unsure how to initially take. She clearly wasn’t with Lisa’s dad if she could answer the phone, so he probably wasn’t awake. At the same time, Lisa was happy she answered the phone because she didn’t want to have to call one of her siblings.

  “How close are you?” There was a hint of excitement in her mother’s voice, and Lisa started immediately trying to decipher what it could mean. It was easier to just continue the conversation, but it was hard not to start jumping to conclusions.

  “We’re here. We just need to know where to go.”

  “We?” Lisa had called back to verify she was on her way, but she hadn’t given any details. It wasn’t long after their first call, so nothing had changed in her father’s condition.

  “Yeah, a friend came with me. What floor are you on? We’re at the elevators.”

  Ryan had already hit the up button. He had a hesitant smile on his face as he waited to hear where they were going.

  “We’re on the fifth floor. I’ll be at the elevators waiting for you.” Her mom didn’t give any kind of update before she hung up, causing Lisa to stare down at her phone.

  “A friend?” Ryan questioned as the elevator doors opened.

  “Well, we haven’t really defined the right words to use, so I thought friend was best for the moment.”

  Lisa got on the elevator and hit the button marked five. She knew Ryan wasn’t really upset she hadn’t elevated his status, but she felt a little defensive of her split decision.

  “I think you can go with boyfriend. I haven’t bought a ring yet, so saying fiancé would probably need even more explanation.”

  A snort escaped Lisa, because that really was putting it lightly. If she’d come home with a ring on her finger, her whole family would’ve flipped out, even if the guy wasn’t a heartthrob like Ryan. She wasn’t sure how serious he was about the fact that he’d basically indicated he thought they were on the r
oad to marriage. She didn’t really have a chance to get some clarification as the doors in front of them opened and her mother’s smiling face greeted them.

  A smile had to be a good sign, and just seeing it let Lisa breathe a little easier. Her mom’s eyes were only on her for a second before they darted over to the large man with his arm draped around her daughter.

  “Is he awake?” Lisa asked before the questions about Ryan could begin.

  Her mom nodded, but didn’t take her eyes off Ryan as the pair stepped out of the elevator. “He woke up about an hour ago, but the doctors say he needs to rest. They’re a little more upbeat now that he’s regained consciousness, but they’re being cautious. Who’s this?”

  Lisa had reached up to grab her chest as she heard the news, while Ryan squeezed her closer to him. She’d been so worried, and granted she still was, but waking up was a major development. She wanted to hear more information about her dad, but her mother wasn’t liable to do a lot of talking with her eyes bugging out of her head.

  “This is Ryan. Ryan, this is my mother, Jean.”

  Ryan reached out his free hand to shake. “It’s nice to meet you, Jean. Lisa has told me a lot about your family. I know I’m an outsider, but I have to tell you it is great to hear your husband has woken up.”

  The older woman, whose blond hair was just slightly turning gray at the roots reached out to take the large hand offered to her. Lisa imagined Ryan had to restrain his strength when he shook most people’s hands. They hadn’t ever shaken hands, but Lisa had felt the power in his arms, so she knew he could cause injury.

  “It’s nice to meet you too. You’ll have to excuse my shock, as I wasn’t really sure what to expect when Lisa mentioned having a friend with her. I definitely wasn’t envisioning you walking off the elevator with her.”

  Lisa didn’t take the comment as a dig against her. If it was any of her siblings saying the words, there was a better possibility that it would’ve been derogatory, but her mother wasn’t that way. She was just confused about the man holding her daughter.