Blinking for a long moment, wanting to deny it but knowing his face completely gave him away, Ryan gulped hard and tried to make his voice as steady as possible, telling his teammate, “That may be the case.”
Nodding and taking several long strides closer to Ryan, Trent leaned down and pressed his lips to Ryan’s, in a kiss that soon took the goalie’s breathe away, full of teeth and tongue, and leaving the faint taste of copper on his lips when they finally separated.
When Trent pulled away, he nodded his head a bit and turned to exit the bathroom, leaving Ryan leaning against the sink area with his head spinning.
Chapter 23 - Aftermath
Chuckling soft when the drunken mess of Ryan was handed off to her by a surprisingly sober Luke, Emma gave her boyfriend a light kiss then shook her head, still grinning all the while. “You are such a lush; let’s get you into bed.” But before she took him out of the kitchen, she offered him some ibuprofen and water, murmuring softly, “That should help the hangover.”
Nodding his head appreciatively, and leaning on her far more than he normally would, Ryan let Emma lead them off to a bit of a stumbling walk towards the bedroom, not even protesting when she sat him on the edge of the bed to start stripping him down. He leaned into her hand when she stroked his face, turning his head slowly to kiss her palm and give her a tired smile.
“You boys had fun tonight,” she noted with a chuckle, finally getting him completely undressed and tossing all his clothes into the laundry bin before following and stripping as well. Nudging and almost tugging him up the bed, Emma finally got Ryan settled against their pillows and turned towards him, brushing her lips against his, feeling him respond immediately in a slow kiss that found their tongues exploring each other’s mouths.
She knew he was too drunk to get into anything too serious but that didn’t stop her from returning his kisses, nipping at his lower lip at one point and only a bit surprised at the taste of copper on her tongue. Luke’s story in the locker room one post game about his cousin liking to try to open bottles of beer with his mouth when he was particularly plastered came to mind. Chuckling again, she eased her tongue over the split skin, continuing to trade kisses with him until she could feel him falling asleep, waiting until he finally drifted off to place one extra gentle kiss against his forehead.
“What am I going to do with you?” Emma whispered, running fingers through his hair and watching him restlessly sleep.
There was no doubt he was going to be feeling this night come morning light!
~*~
Just a little past noon, after Ryan had disappeared upstairs, mumbling something about needing to have a conversation with his cousin, Emma got a text from Trent, asking if they could chat somewhere. Curious, but willing, she advised that she’d head over to his place, and made the few minute trek over, finding that her wary-eyed friend had returned, leaving her to wonder why.
“I’m sorry.” Were the first words out of his mouth, and when she only raised an eyebrow curiously in his direction, he groaned soft, mumbling, “Please tell me he told you.” And when she only continued to peer at him, Trent stood and began to pace the confines of his living room, soon turning and telling her softly, “I kissed Ryan last night.”
Laughing immediately, the mental image from the hockey game still fresh in her mind, Emma teased him, “How many brain cells did that concussion rattle, you goof? I saw your not-a-kiss last night, remember?” But when Trent’s only response was to lower his eyes, Emma stared at him, asking after several long beats, “You’re not talking about that kiss, are you?”
“No, I’m not, and I thought by waiting this long, he’d have told you himself.” Sighing, and dragging his hand down his face, but turning to gaze at Emma, shoulders squared back just a bit, he continued softer, “Last night, at Luke’s party, we kissed in the bathroom. I didn’t mean for it to happen, but I couldn’t stop it, either.”
Staring at Trent for the longest time, the fury building but not yet evident on her tongue, she asked, “You’re telling me that you, and my boyfriend, cheated on me, with each other? Am I understanding this correctly?”
Taking a deep breath, Trent nodded, whispering to her, “It was only a kiss. A hard one, fighting for control that left us both with split lips - but it was only a kiss. I never meant for you to be in the crossfire, for you to get hurt.”
Snorting as she rose to stand, Emma couldn’t keep back the venom from her voice, “You’ve shown yourself to be pretty good at hurting me, so why stop now? Anything else you want to tell me?”
Shaking his head but leaving it hung a bit, Trent merely told her again, “I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, well, I’m sorry that I made friends with a flaming asshole. You can stay the fuck away from me, you prick. At least now I know why you weren’t interested in me.”
And before Trent could even utter a word, Emma had stomped out of his apartment, heading back to her own and who knows what awaited her there.
~*~
Ryan had just arrived back at the apartment when Emma stomped in and he stopped dead in his tracks at the fiery, angry look on her face. “Babe?” He asked questioningly, “What’s wrong?”
“Wrong?” Her voice was eerily calm even though her eyes were glowing almost silver. “What’s wrong is that I found out that you spent last night making out with your teammate. And you didn’t even have the balls to tell me yourself. I had to find it out from him. Deceitful bastard.”
Mouth agape at realizing that Trent had obviously come clean to Emma, Ryan couldn’t even summon words immediately, couldn’t even try to explain that he’d been trying to figure out just how and what to say to Emma about the situation before she was lacing into him again.
“Get out. I don’t want to see hide nor hair of you in here when I come back. In fact, I’d be content if I never saw you again. And to think I thought I was starting to fall in love with you, and this is how you treat me? I hope you and he have a wonderful life together. Two assholes that deserve each other.”
And much like she had done to Trent some minutes earlier, Emma stomped out again, this time heading for her car, with no set direction in her mind. All Ryan could do was watch as her car peeled out of the parking lot, a solitary tear rolling down his cheek.
~*~
Though it for sure wasn’t her intention, Emma soon ended up at the Malone household. Sometime over the course of her drive the tears had started, and by the time she pulled into their driveway, her eyes were so swollen she could barely see. Still, she stumbled up to the front door, pressing the doorbell and hoping and praying one of them was home.
She was lucky – within a minute, a sleepy looking Devin took one look at her tear-streak disheveled appearance and tugged her inside without a word, wrapping his arms around her tightly. “It’s okay, little one, you’re safe now.” He assured her, and that was all it took for whatever fragile hold Emma had on her emotions to dissolve.
Clinging to him, Emma sobbed like she couldn’t remember doing since that horrible day she’d found out her Grandpa had unexpectedly passed. Except this was almost worse. She knew someday she’d lose her Grandpa, but she’d never expected Ryan or even Trent to betray her like this. Still, Devin held her tightly, periodically rocking her a bit, just trying to soothe her.
When the sobs finally started to subside to hiccups and gasping breaths, Devin asked softly, cautiously, “What happened, little one?”
Taking a deep breath, Emma prayed for the strength to keep her voice steady long enough to explain. Still, her voice was raw with emotion when she answered. “He kissed someone else.”
Emma was grateful that Devin didn’t ask her which he she meant, and instead just ran his hand down her back for quite a while, thinking through on her words. When he finally did speak again, he surprised her by asking more questions. “Was it a teammate? Some random guy he met at rehab? Who do I need to kill?”
And the way that Devin was presuming that Ryan had cheated on her with another man made the last
penny finally drop. While she’d all but accused Trent of being gay when she laced into him, it never occurred to her that the same could be true for Ryan. Which meant…
The last cognizant thought she had before her world blacked out was wondering if this ordeal could get any worse than it was.
Chapter 24 - What's Real?
“Don’t you dare even fucking think about coming over here.”
Ryan sighed as he paced around Luke’s apartment, his cell phone pressed against his ear while he tried to convince his sister to let him see Emma. “We were both drunk. It was sudden, unexpected - not necessarily unwanted - but Christ, it was just a kiss that meant nothing.”
“It never should have happened in the first place, Ryan. God. I can’t even begin to tell you how disappointed I am in you right now. You were raised better than this!”
Sighing again, Ryan shook his head and paced towards the kitchen so he could look out the window to where Emma’s car normally was parked - where it hadn’t been since she’d kicked him out earlier that afternoon. “I love her, Gaba. I can’t have it end like this.” He finally told her softly, turning back away from the window and staring blankly into Luke’s living room. He couldn’t even think of this place as his anymore – his home was downstairs, with Emma.
He could hear an argument of some sort in the background, despite Gabi’s efforts to muffle the phone. Devin wasn’t happy and Ryan had the sense he’d need to avoid his brother-in-law for the foreseeable future if he wanted to keep his face intact. After a few more minutes of the bickering, Gabi finally came back on the line and completely threw him with her next question. “Why didn’t you tell her you were bisexual?”
“Why does that matter?” He almost growled back at her. Again, Ryan could hear Devin’s angry voice in the background and he wondered just what the hell was going on over there. “Gabi??”
“Well, because you’re such a dipshit, and Devin didn’t realize you’d be stupid enough to keep something that important from her. His first assumption when she came over here sobbing was that you’d found someone male to cheat on her with. And that’s the point when it finally sunk in and she really realized that you kissed a man.”
Closing his eyes and sinking into Luke’s couch, Ryan could only groan soft. How was it possible that this situation could have gone from bad to worse? It took him several minutes, but he finally told Gabi softly, “I was afraid once she found out, she’d want nothing to do with me. That she’d be disgusted and want a ‘real’ man.”
“Idiot.” Was Gabi’s immediate response. “Last I checked, and granted, that was when you were still in diapers, you were a real man. A boy at that point, but still. Your attraction to both sexes doesn’t make you any less of a man. Now, that foolish stunt that you and Trent pulled? That might make you less of a man. But you dumbass, she loves you. Not for whatever you two might do in the bedroom, but for your heart, for your character, none of which is affected by if you’re attracted to men as well.”
“Does she still love me?” Ryan asked quietly, almost afraid of the answer.
“I think so.” Gabi answered just as soft, again having a conversation with Devin in the background before she came back on the line. “Give her time, Ryan. Right now she’s hurt, she’s confused, and she needs to work through this. I’ll be by in a bit to pick up some of her stuff. She’s going to be here for at least the next few days. We’ll talk more then.”
“Thank you.” He paused for a long moment and then all but whispered to her, “Take care of her for me, please.”
“You know I will, Turtle.”
~*~
Quite a few hours after Emma had arrived at the Malone household, she awoke in a strange room. It took her several minutes before the events of the day finally came back to her – how and why she’d ended up in this house, why she’d fainted dead away.
It was hard to comprehend how much 24 hours could change everything. She thought her life was damn near perfect, she thought she had the damn near perfect boyfriend.
Only to find out she’d been living the perfect lie.
Finding out that her best friend and her boyfriend had thought so little of her as to make out behind her back was one thing, but then to find out Ryan didn’t even like women? Emma just couldn’t understand how he could pretend to care so much. Had he been playing her all along? Had Gabi and Devin been in on it?
At the last thought, Emma sprang up out of the strange bed and went searching for her hosts, wanting answers to at least some of her questions. Soon, she found Devin – but not Gabi – sitting on the porch swing in their backyard, an open bottle of beer beside him. He looked up when she entered the backyard and patted the spot beside him on the swing.
Instead of joining him though, Emma advanced to the edge of the swing; arms wrapped around herself to try and keep warm, and asked him softly, “Did you know?”
Devin eyed her curiously, frowning a bit before he questioned back, “Did I know what? About his drunken escapades? No because if I had, I’d have given a royal ass whooping for hurting you so badly.”
Shaking her head a bit, Emma looked away from Devin and all but whispered, “No, did you know he was gay?”
“He’s not gay.” Devin replied immediately. “And if I made you think that, I’m sorry. He is bisexual, and I’m still angry at him for putting me in the awkward position of being the one to inform you of that.”
Brow furrowed, Emma finally edged onto the swing and rested her head on Devin’s shoulder, feeling his arm wrap around her protectively. “I’m sorry if this makes me sound naïve. But what’s the difference between him being gay and being bisexual?”
“It’s okay little one.” He told her softly before he answered her question. “Gay, would mean he would only be interested in or attracted to other men. Bisexual means he’s attracted to both men and women. That either could satisfy him, if you will.”
Emma closed her eyes and just thought on that for the longest time, still trying to make sense of everything that happened. If Ryan was indeed bisexual, did that mean he was attracted to her? That was a part she was having a hard time getting past – was his attraction to her ever real?
“Yes. I think it was.” At Devin’s voice, Emma looked up sharply, staring at him with wide eyes. “You were mumbling under your breath. Questioning if what you had with him was real. Despite the fact that I’d like to wring his fucking neck for hurting you, I do believe he genuinely is attracted to you, as I told you many months ago.” He paused, then turned towards Emma and grabbed her chin, tilting her face up so they were looking at each other eye to eye. “And before you get any doubts in that pretty little head of yours as to where my allegiances lie, he may be my brother-in-law, but you are my little sister.”
Managing a small smile at that sentiment, Emma nonetheless pulled her face away from Devin’s hand and rested her cheek against his shoulder again. “I’m just so lost right now, Dev. I don’t know what’s real, what’s fake.” She paused and sighed soft, adding, “I’m just glad we hadn’t had sex yet.”
She could feel Devin bringing his palm to his face before he teased her softly, “And now who needs the brain bleach?”
The small smile grew a little bit more at his teasing and she even managed to chuckle a bit. “Bet you never thought that would be a problem.” As she trailed off though, the smile slid off her face as her mind once again raced, wondering if her sex life – or lack thereof – would ever be a topic of discussion again. Feeling the tears come to her eyes again, Emma pressed her face more against Devin’s shoulder, repeating to him again in a whisper-soft voice, “I just don’t know what’s real anymore.”
“Time will ease the hurt, little one. That’s all I can tell you.”
She could only hope he was right.
Chapter 25 - Not Ready to Give Up
Every day for the last week, a single carnation had been delivered in Emma’s name to the Malone household. There was never a note attached, never anything indicati
ng who the sender was – but they all knew it was Ryan.
Emma had neither seen nor spoken to him since she had kicked him out that day. And though his tender gesture of sending her favorite flowers was beginning to thaw out the ice in her heart, she was still afraid of putting herself back out there to him again. She still felt betrayed, still wondered what other secrets he could be keeping from her, and she wasn’t sure just how long that wariness, that doubt, would continue to last.
And though she would have loved to hide out in the Malones house forever, life dictated otherwise – the Blizzard had another home game later in the evening and whether she liked it or not, she would need to attend and cover the event. And while she didn’t expect to have to deal with Ryan there, she knew she’d encounter Trent at the end of the night. Normally it had been her habit to interview him, as one of the more articulate members of the team.
Would Trent have told the team of the make out session he and Ryan had? Would they think less of her, treat her less professionally than they had up to this point? She didn’t know, and she wasn’t particularly eager to find out, either.
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