Game On (25 page)

“I didn’t come here for a lecture.” He held
up the envelope he’d found on his desk. “Where’s Bri? I need to talk to her.”

“You think I’d tell you, even if I did
know?”

“Look, I’m not in the mood for-” Ryan
clenched his jaw when Evan shoved him, causing him to stumble backwards.

“You think I give a shit about what kind of
mood you’re in?” He shoved him once more for good measure before Ryan pushed
back. “I knew Bri was too damn good for you.”

Zeroing in on his biggest insecurity hurt
more than a punch would have. Ryan tried to convince himself that Evan was so cynical
because of the blow life had dealt him recently, but it still hurt to know his
brother thought so little of him. “You can believe what you want,” Ryan said.
“Brianna’s the one I have to convince, not you.”

“It’s too late for that,” Evan said,
re-claiming the big chair behind his desk.

His brother may look relaxed, but Ryan
could tell by the tense set of his shoulders that he would be ready to lunge
across his desk at the slightest provocation. “If you’re talkin’ about this…”
He crushed the envelope in his fist and tossed it in the wastebasket next to
the desk. “There’s no way I’m acceptin’ her resignation.”

“Too late, I already have.”

“You what?” Ryan shouted, closing in on
him. “Are you crazy? What the hell were you thinkin’?”

“I could ask you the same question,” Evan
said, refusing to blink. “What were you thinkin’ when you took some other woman
to bed? I was with Erika almost six years and I never even thought about
sleepin’ with anyone else. You and Bri haven’t even been a couple six days. You
have your first fight and you head to the nearest strip joint.” He rolled his
eyes. “That’s so typical of you. When are you gonna grow up and earn the trust
of a woman like Brianna?”

Ryan hated to admit that his brother was
right. If he was a different man, someone like Evan, people wouldn’t rush to
judgement so quickly. But with Ryan, people naturally assumed he’d screwed up
because making mistakes and begging forgiveness seemed to come naturally to
him. Instead of trying to defend himself, Ryan decided to admit his failings
and ask for his brother’s understanding. “Look, I know I’m not perfect. I’m not
like you or dad or Josh or…” He started pacing as he struggled to find a way to
make Evan understand how much this meant to him. Stopping mid-step, he turned
to face Evan. “I didn’t do what she thinks I did, bro. I swear to you, I’m not
lyin’ about this. I just need a chance to explain.”

Evan frowned, as though he was trying to
decide whether he could believe the desperate appeal. “Why should I believe
you?”

“Because you know how it feels to be where
I am.” He curled his fingers around the back of the chair positioned in front
of Evan’s desk. “You know you would give anything, everything, for one more
chance to make things right with Erika. That’s all I’m askin’ for here, Ev.
Just one more chance to make things right with the woman I love. Please, you
gotta tell me how to find her. I called and stopped by her apartment, but she
wasn’t there. Did she tell you where she was goin’ when she left here?”

Evan sighed and tossed the silver pen he’d
been toying with. “Try her parents’ place. She said something about leavin’ the
cat with them.”

Ryan’s heart started to beat harder and
faster as he processed the implications. “What’re you talkin’ about? Where the
hell did she go?”

“I don’t know. She said she needed to get
away for a while.”

“A while?” Ryan knew he was yelling loudly
enough for the people in the outer office to hear, but he didn’t care. “What
the hell does that mean? Is she gone for days, weeks, months…” His hands
started to shake when he saw the look of pity cross his brother’s face. “Tell
me the truth. Is she comin’ back?”

“I don’t know, Ry. Her parents should be
able to tell you what her plans are.”

Ryan crossed the room and reached for the door
handle.

“Ry?” Evan said, stopping him in his
tracks.

“Yeah, what is it?”

“Good luck. I hope you two can work things
out.”

“Does that mean you believe me?” Ryan
asked, holding his breath. He didn’t know why, but it was important to him that
his brother knew he would never cross certain lines.

“I believe you, but you’re right. It’s
Brianna you have to convince.”

Ryan sat in front of the Cooper house
wishing he could get the information he needed some other way. He knew he would
have to face Josh sooner or later, but he would have liked a little more time
before having to explain himself to Brianna’s father. Seeing the disappointment
in Josh’s eyes would in many ways be worse than seeing the disappointment in
his own father’s eyes. Luc had always expected him to screw up, but Josh always
expected more from him.

It pained him to know he’d put himself in
the position of having to beg forgiveness for a crime he hadn’t committed, but
he’d gladly get down on his knees if that’s what it took to make Bri believe in
him again.

He bounded up the stairs and raised his
hand to ring the doorbell, but Josh was already there, in his face, with
murderous intent in his eyes. “I guess you’ve talked to Bri,” Ryan said,
anxious to plead his case. “Whatever she thinks she saw…”

“Get your ass in here,” Josh ground out,
his words barely above a low hiss. “I oughta kick your ass for what you did,
boy.”

It would have seemed like an empty threat
coming from most men Josh’s age, but with his years of martial arts training,
Ryan knew Josh could take down men twice his size and half his age with one
hand tied behind his back. “You have every right to be angry…”

“Don’t patronize me,” Josh said, stalking
through the house until he reached his main floor study.

Ryan had no choice but to follow, even
though he knew Bri’s father was leading him to the room where he displayed his
impressive gun collection. “You’re not thinkin’ about takin’ one of those bad
boys out, are you?” he asked, hooking a thumb toward one of the locked glass
cases.

“I might if I thought I could get away with
it.” Josh reached for a cigar and left the open humidor on the desk, tossing
the lighter on the desk beside it when he lit his cigar.

Ryan was surprised when Josh nodded his
head toward the humidor, inviting him to join him. He hadn’t expected civility,
especially after his chat with Evan. He declined the cigar with a shake of his
head before sitting down on a leather guest chair. “I’m sorry,” Ryan said,
deciding it was best to lead up to his explanation with an apology.

Josh drew from the cigar before setting it
in a crystal ashtray on the desk. “Sorry you broke my little girl’s heart,
sorry you lied to me, sorry you got caught, sorry you fell for someone else?
What exactly are you sorry about?”

Ryan knew Josh had every right to demand
answers, but he couldn’t think past finding out where Brianna may be. If she
was leaving town, she could be at the airport by now, ready to board a plane in
her haste to get as far away from him as possible. He couldn’t let her go
without a fight.

Brianna’s cat, Coco, sauntered into the
room as though he owned the place. He brushed against Ryan’s leg, demanding his
attention. Ryan rubbed the cat under his chin, which always earned a contented
purr. “Where’d your mistress go, buddy?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Josh said, grinding
the cigar out in the ashtray.

Ryan risked a smile at the familiar action.
Luc had been trying to sell Josh on the appeal of a good cigar with a glass of
his favorite scotch for years, but Josh had never become the connoisseur his
father was. “Why’d you light it if you didn’t want it?”

“It was that or a drink. I tried workin’
out after Bri left. Hell, even hittin’ the heavy bag didn’t help.”

“Not even when you pretended it was my
head?” Ryan smirked, half-expecting Josh to lunge at him across the desk for
having the nerve to bring levity to a situation that involved his daughter’s
heartbreak. Thankfully, he just rolled his eyes.

“If it was that easy, I’d still be down
there poundin’ the hell outta that thing.” Their eyes met and held for endless
seconds before Josh finally said, “I can’t tell you how disappointed I am in
you, Ryan.”

Those words cut Ryan to the quick, because
Josh had never admonished him like that before. He’d lectured him plenty of
times about the stupid choices he’d made, but he never told him he was disappointed
in him.

“I’m sorry that I put myself in the
position of givin’ you and Bri reason to doubt me.” The cat jumped in to his
lap and he mindlessly stroked his soft fur. “I love her, Josh. I’ve never felt
this way about anyone, I swear to you.”

Josh sat down in the leather chair behind
his desk and said, “Maybe you’d better tell me about this woman.”

“She’s a waitress at Whiskey’s. Last night
was the first time I met her…”

Josh leaned forward and narrowed his eyes.
“Go on. I’m listenin’.”

“I didn’t get mixed up with her, and I
don’t intend to.”

“Then why did Bri tell me-”

“Yeah, she walked in on us in bed together,
but-”

“She what?” Josh roared, getting to his
feet.

Ryan realized he’d said too much a moment
too late. “Bri didn’t tell you she walked in on us, did she?” He squeezed his
eyes shut, wishing he had the good sense to know when to keep his big mouth
shut. “What did she tell you… exactly?”

“She told me she
saw
you with someone
else. That’s it.” Josh paced back and forth, clenching his fists at his sides.
“I can’t believe she walked in on the two of you in bed together. No wonder she
was a wreck when she came by here earlier.”

“I need to set the record straight,” Ryan
said quietly. “I didn’t have sex with that woman. I swear to you, I didn’t.”

Josh stopped pacing long enough to glare at
him. “Let me get this straight. You were in bed with the woman, naked I
presume, but you never slept with her. Is that what you’re tryin’ to tell me?”

Ryan set the cat down at his feet and stood
to meet Josh, eye-to-eye. “You’ve known me my whole life. You’ve told me a
dozen times you think of me as a son.”

“That was before…” Josh’s eyes shone and he
muttered a curse. “I can’t believe you would do somethin’ like this. What the
hell were you thinkin’?”

“I admit, gettin’ drunk and puttin’ myself
in that position was stupid, but I didn’t have sex with her, Josh. You can ask
her if you don’t believe me.” Josh didn’t respond, and Ryan was getting
desperate. “I’ve never lied to you. Not the time we stole booze from your
liquor cabinet or took your brand new truck out for a joy ride. Aiden and Evan
were terrified to tell you the truth, but I came to you, looked you in the eye,
and told you what we’d done. Remember?”

“Yeah, I remember.” Josh swept a hand over
his face. “That’s why this is so damned frustratin’ for me, Ry. I’ve always
seen somethin’ in you the rest of the world doesn’t get to see. I’ve told your
old man a hundred times that he’s lucky to have you for a son… that he doesn’t
give you enough credit.”

It humbled Ryan to know that Josh had gone
to bat for him with his father. This is a man he would be proud to call his
father-in-law, if only he could make Josh and Brianna believe that he was worthy
of her love. “I appreciate that.” Ryan released a gusty sigh. “I would never,
ever disrespect Bri that way, you gotta know that.”

Josh regarded him carefully before he
responded. “You don’t know how much I wanna believe that. I want you to be the
man I always believed you were.”

“I am that man,” he said quietly. “I had a
chance to forget my problems in another woman’s arms last night, but I didn’t.
You know why?”

“No, but you better tell me, and it best be
what I want to hear.”

Ryan could tell by the rigid set of Josh’s
shoulders, he wasn’t ready to let go of his anger just yet. “Your daughter and
I haven’t even been together yet…” Ryan tried to tamp down his embarrassment.
Josh was the last person he wanted to talk to about his sex life, especially
when it involved the man’s daughter, but he knew it was important he share the
whole story if he expected to make up for the mess he’d made. “I can’t even
imagine bein’ with anyone else.” He stuck his hands in his pockets, wishing he
could sneak out of the room as freely as the cat had. “It’s been months since
I’ve slept with anyone.”

Josh chuckled before coughing behind his
hand to mask it. “You’re tryin’ to tell me
you’ve
abstained for months?
Why do I find that hard to believe?”

Ryan shrugged. “It’s the truth. I haven’t
been with anyone else, even when I could have been, because your daughter is
the only woman I’ve wanted for a long time now.”

“Seriously?” Josh asked, his eyebrows
raised. “Even before Bri knew how you felt about her, you weren’t hookin’ up
with other women every now and then just to-”

“No, I wasn’t.” He sighed. “It didn’t feel
right because those women weren’t her.” He started pacing the same path Josh
had, needing to work off some excess energy. “She’s the one I want. The only
one I want.”