Daydreams of Her by Cherrydarling - 07/13/2012

Description: 'Sexy Daydreams'

“You have a beautiful cunt” I tell her.

I watch her face blush as my words enter her ears. Squirming in her seat, I think my words have turned her on. I wait to touch her. As strange as it sounds, I am nervous to do so. I sit closer to her. I breathe in her smell. Sweet like flowers mixed with her own aroma. I lean into her and nozzle her neck. Her hair falls on my face and, that smells just as good. Her skin is so soft against my lips.

I lay her down on the couch we are sitting on. Just letting my nails run over her. Soft sighs, and light moans fill my ears. My face still deep into her neck, as my hand travels on her chest, down to the edge of her shirt. I place my hand on her stomach, itching up till my hand reaches her bra. I graze my hand over her breast, her nipples are hard.

“I want to make you cum” I whisper in her ear.  

“mmmmmmmmmm” is all I heard back.

Using my fingers to pinch and tease her nipples. Her legs start to spread a little, and I wrap one around my legs. I put my hand in her bra to feel her skin against my hand. Her skin feels touch under my touch. I start to move my hand lower until it reaches the top of her jeans. Before I got to the bottom her hand on top of mine, she moves my hand and undoes her jeans for me, like unwrapping a gift. Sliding my hand in, oooohhhh you dirty girl!!! She isn’t wearing any panties. I can feel the heat of her even before my hand reaches her sweet spot. Softly running my hand over her pussy, I can feel the hardness of her clit under my hand.  She is wet.

Trying to spread her legs more for me but, her jeans keep her confined. This excites me more. Sliding my hand all the way down, my whole hand is now covering her sweet cunt. Rubbing my middle finger up and down her lips, her wetness covers me. My finger goes in when such ease, and she arches her back. Grinding my hand into her, and kissing her neck, biting her neck.

“oh, oh my, please don’t stop” she said breathlessly

Working the palm of my hand on her clit, I insert another finger. She is soaking my hand and, I want to taste her. In and out, I can feel her pussy squeezing my fingers and bucking onto my hand.

“OOOHHH yes, I am going to cum!!!” She screams….

Flooding my hand with her sweet cum, I slowly slide my hand out, and bring my fingers to my mouth. Like candy she tastes like..

“You taste like sugar” I say in her ear.

“oooohhhhh my, now my turn” she says…..

Rhythm & The Blue Line, Chapter Seven by PennLady - 01/04/2012

Description: Good news, bad news, and parents.

© 2011 All Rights Reserved


Four weeks later, on a Friday in the middle of January, Ryan was at work but all of her attention was on Lara.

"We got it?" Ryan kept her voice down as she gripped the phone. "Are you sure? Are you serious?"

"I know! I know!" Lara all but squeaked. "I'm sure, I'm so sure! I just talked to him and they mean it. Once we calm down, we need to find a lawyer. Trout said his dad will know someone; he'll ask tonight."

"Trout is so very handy, and connected." Ryan grinned. "Oh, my God. I can't believe it! Have you told the guys yet?"

"Well, I tried to call you first but you weren't at your desk and I didn't want to leave a message. So I called Nate and told him. He's going to tell Mitch; God, I wish I could see his face. Both of their faces." Lara laughed and Ryan couldn’t stop from joining her.

"This is just the absolute best news. Oh, my God." Ryan slumped back in her chair, euphoria leaving her drained. "Tell me again what he said."

Lara obliged. "He said he thought we had great stage presence, that our music was what they wanted, and he wanted to work out the details as soon as possible."

"Wow. This is just . . . amazing." Ryan couldn't believe it. The A&R guy that had been at the 9:30 Club had talked to them for a few minutes, then gone back to wherever A&R guys go. There'd been no word for a while, and they'd all decided that it was probably a bad sign.

Ryan had been bummed about it, but determined to keep going. Besides, other good things had happened, like all the YouTube videos people had posted from the show, and even a mention in the "Names & Faces" section of The Washington Post. That was due to so many members of the Caps being there, but Ryan didn't mind.

"I know. 'Wow' about covers it." Lara took a breath. "I know it will all sink in later, but right now it's like I'm just riding a wave or something."

"I know the feeling." Ryan closed her eyes and smiled.

"I think Trout was as excited as I was," Lara said. "He was all but bouncing off the walls. Hey, what do you think Brody will say?"

"I don't know." Ryan gave a short laugh. "I was just thinking that now I have someone to tell that will care, and who isn't in the band. It's such a novel concept." She was looking forward to telling him, to maybe some sort of celebration. Previously she'd only had Evan to tell, or friends like Annette.

"So, how serious are you guys?" Lara asked, half-teasing.

"Oh, I don't know." That was a tough question, and one she'd been avoiding thinking about. She felt herself getting more attached to Brody all the time, and it seemed mutual. They were both avoiding talking about it, she thought. On the other hand, if things were going well, maybe they should keep not talking about it.

"Come on, Ryan, talk to me."

"It's going really good." Ryan shrugged. "Really. I mean, I'm not sure I would have even bet we'd still be going out at this point, but it's nice. He's nice."

"From a few hints you've dropped, it seems like he's way past 'nice,'" Lara said.

"Well, that's all you're going to get from me, nosy."

"That's not fair. I've told you a lot more than that about me and Trout."

"And yet, somehow, I remain your friend."

"Oh, fine. Let's try another question: has he met your parents yet?"

Ryan made a strangled sound. "Not yet. I know, I know, it'll have to happen. Sometime. I guess."

"Ryan, are you kidding? They'll love him!"

"Yeah, I know. They'll probably adopt him. Maybe we can work an exchange, and his family can adopt me." She'd met Brody's family over the holidays and they'd been great. His parents had been the opposite of hers, pleased with and proud of all their kids, no matter what they did. It had been a kick to see Brody with his nephews, and the family had been thrilled to hear that Brody's sister, Carla, was expecting.

Brody's family had been a marked contrast to her own. Christmas had gone as it usually did. Her brothers came home for the semester break, and she even went back on Christmas Eve to stay the night. Her mother liked to have them home for Christmas, and Ryan counseled herself that it was only one night.

The actual holiday had been about as she'd expected. Her father and JT dominated the day and the conversation with football, Evan had hung out with them, and her mother had dropped none-too-subtle hints about Ryan meeting "someone special." Ryan had bolted back to her apartment at the first opportunity.

"An exchange like that would work," Lara said, drawing Ryan's attention back. "Then you could still go out. Because, I mean, if only one of you got adopted, that'd just be too weird."

Ryan laughed. "It would at that. I guess I'm glad we are where we are, then."

"Still, he'll have to meet them sometime."

"Yeah, I know. They know I'm seeing him; Evan let it slip not long after the gig at the 9:30."

"He let it slip? Were you hiding it?"

"No, not really. I just didn't want to deal with them. Dad has no interest in whether I'm dating, and Mom thinks every guy I see is husband material."

"I know, but you guys have been going out for a while now. He's got to meet them sometime."

"I know, I said I know. He came back from a road trip last night; maybe I'll get it out of the way this week."

Lara laughed. "I love how you make this into some major chore."

"With my parents, it is, and you know it." Ryan glowered at her desk.

"Okay, okay. Look, I have to go. I'll catch you at home later, and we'll have to see about this lawyer thing. I still can't believe it!"

"I can't either." Ryan's happier mood returned. "But we have to do it right, so we'll take it slow and talk to the lawyer and everything."

"Absolutely."

They chatted for another minute and said good-bye, then Ryan looked at the clock. An hour and a half left. She laughed at herself; she felt like a kid waiting to be let out of school.

She hoped Brody would be around, or at least awake. The team had just gotten back from a swing through Columbus and Detroit, with a stop down in Nashville before heading home. Brody had sounded beat when she'd spoken to him earlier. Still, he didn't have to be awake for long, just long enough for her to tell him about the tour.

It was odd to know she'd missed him—missed him a lot—while he'd been gone. Somehow, she hadn't expected to, but she'd found herself going to call him just say hi, or thinking about him before going to sleep and wishing he was with her. She guessed it was mutual; he'd called every day, and some days more than once. If she couldn't answer, he left messages that made her laugh.

What was she going to do? She hadn't had many boyfriends before, and none of those relationships had gotten to this point. She'd never felt this serious about anyone, and if she wanted to know he felt, she'd have to ask. She wasn't sure what answer she wanted.

Ryan shook her head and tried to focus on work.

x-x-x-x

The incessant buzz of his alarm clock usually had Brody up right away, but this time it took him a good ten seconds of flailing before he found the button to shut it off. The team had played the night before, eking out an overtime win against Nashville, and he'd almost fallen asleep in his clothes when he'd gotten home. He lay in bed a while longer before opening his eyes.

His day had so far consisted of going to sleep, waking up and trying to get oriented, then sleeping again. He dragged himself into a shower and felt more awake afterwards, or at least like he'd had enough sleep. There was a game the next night, but he knew he'd be back on track by the next morning.

The first item on his schedule was to see Ryan. He had a vague memory of talking to her that morning, and hoped he'd been coherent at the time. She'd laughed, he was pretty sure, and he took that as a good sign.

She'd been on his mind the whole trip. No previous girlfriend had ever occupied his mind like that, and it was weird; he'd made sure not to tell anyone, not even Bax. He understood guys like Cole and Obie having women on their minds; they were married. Tolya and Sara were pretty serious, so he got that, too. He wasn't sure if he and Ryan were at that point.

He pondered that as he dressed. Maybe they were. He hadn't planned on that, but he knew things didn't always go as planned—such as the pass he'd made in the last game. He'd intended it for Tolya, but it had been picked off by the Nashville forward coming out of the penalty box. Said forward had come within a hair of scoring, but the Caps' goalie, Risztak, had managed to get his glove in the way.

The phone ringing interrupted his thoughts, and he was glad for it, since his thoughts were all muddled anyway. He smiled when he saw it was Ryan.

"Hey, how's the rock star?"

"Good, actually. Really good." She sounded excited. "Listen, I'll be leaving work soon. Could I come see you?"

"Sure. Wait, what time is it?"

"It's, um, a little after five. Sorry, did I interrupt something?"

"No, no. I'm just trying to get myself awake. Would you be up for meeting somewhere? I need dinner, you need dinner, and I don’t have anything here. I cleaned stuff out before I left."

"Can I talk you into take-out, or ordering in?"

"Yeah, no problem. Everything okay?"

"Oh, yeah. I just don't feel like going to a restaurant. Mostly I don't feel like dealing with people. It's been one of those days at work."

"Am I not people?"

"You're the only person I'd like to see."

Brody smiled at that. "That's nice to hear. Sure, why don’t you come up here whenever you get back? I missed you, you know."

"Okay. That sounds good. I missed you, too."

"All right, then. I'll be here."

"Thanks, Brody. Bye. See you in a while."

He put the phone in his pocket and went to the kitchen drawer that held the take-out menus. Maybe they could try Indian. He hadn't had that in a while, and thought Ryan would probably like it, or at least be willing to try it. She made up for her inability to cook with her curiosity about new foods. He was flipping through the menus when the phone rang again; he answered without looking at the display.

"Have to work late, sweetheart?"

There was a pause and then a man's voice said, "Not tonight, baby."

Brody groaned. "Hi, Rick. Sorry."

"What was that all about?"

"Ryan called a few minutes ago to say she was leaving work, so I thought she was changing plans. What's up, man? Or did you just call to hassle me?" Brody wandered into the living room and sat on the couch.

"No, you just gave me an opportunity to hassle you."

Rick was teasing, but there was little humor in his voice. Brody frowned; something wasn't right. He got a nervous feeling in his stomach. Had something happened to their parents? To one of Rick's kids? "Is everything okay, Rick?"

"Well, yes and no. I mean, I'm fine and so are Amy and the kids, but . . . oh, hell. Amy and I are separating. I just wanted you to hear it from me."

"Oh." Brody was silent for a minute. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, me too."

"So what happened?"

"It's not all of a sudden, if that’s what you mean," Rick said. "I don't know. It's one of those things where little problems pile up and then you have this huge mountain of problems that you can't get out from under."

"But everything seemed so cool at Christmas."

"I know, and I'm sorry. It wasn't completely an act, but we were trying to keep everything quiet. We were still talking and thinking about what to do. That weekend I told you Amy took her kids to her mom's? That was the real starting point. She said we needed time to think, and so she went there while I stayed home. I did have to work, but still, I needed to think about things."

"Did you guys try, I don't know—did you talk to anyone? A counselor or something?" Brody tried to wrap his brain around the news; Rick and Amy were one of the most stable couples he knew.

"Yeah, we tried, and we still are, but we thought separating at this point is best for everyone. Amy and I are so tense, and we snap at each other all the time even though we try not to. You can tell the kids know something's wrong, even as young as they are. I'm moving into an apartment this weekend; Dad and Josh are going to help me." Rick sounded resigned.

"But—but what was it?"

"It was a lot of things, I guess. We drifted apart some. I'm working a lot, I think that was the last straw. Amy works too, of course, and she was getting mad at me taking on overtime. And—never mind, there's just a bunch of other stuff on top of it and, well, this is where we are."

Brody sank back on the couch. He'd never heard his brother like this and wasn't sure what to say. "I'm really sorry, man. I had no idea."

"I know. Sorry. No one did; we wanted it that way. Well, Carla had a feeling, but you know how she is. Practically psychic."

"Yeah, I know."

"Look, Brody, I have to go. Thanks for listening."

"Not a problem. Call me anytime."

"Thanks. I'll send you my new address soon, and my cell and email won't change. Take it easy, and good luck, okay?"

"Okay, thanks. And seriously, call me if you need to."

"All right. Later, kid."

Brody closed his phone and sat on the couch, staring at the wall. He wasn’t sure any family news short of his parents divorcing could have surprised him more than this.

He'd never thought about Rick and Amy having problems. If he had, he guessed, he'd supposed they had them just like anyone else. He would never have considered they had anything serious enough to lead to separation. It was lucky, he thought, that he and Ryan didn't have problems like that.

Would they? The idea brought him up short. Rick said part of his and Amy's problems came down to his work schedule. Rick's work schedule was nothing compared with Brody's; Rick worked the occasional overtime, but at least he could come home every night. Rick didn't travel for days at a time for work like Brody did.

Ryan had never complained about Brody's traveling, but would she?

x-x-x-x

Ryan knocked on Brody's door, bursting to tell him about the tour. Word had gotten around, and she'd gotten congratulatory calls from Annette and others, but it wasn't quite the same. She was about to knock again when he opened the door.

"Hey, come on in." Brody held the door open for her.

"Thanks." Ryan's excitement dropped a few notches. Brody looked and sounded far different than he had on the phone earlier. "You okay?"

"Sure. What's up?" He closed the door.

"I, um, I have news."

"Yeah? Good news?"

"Yeah. We got picked up for the tour." She couldn't stop a grin.

"Hey, that's great."

Ryan was taken back at his muted reaction. "It is. Ah, Lara called today and told me. We're all pretty excited. I'll be anxious and all in a few days, but for now it's kind of wild." Her own enthusiasm was down considerably.

He nodded. "That's fantastic."

"Thanks." Ryan felt deflated; she could see he was preoccupied and his smile looked forced. "So, how was your day?"

"Okay. Just recovering from the trip."

"You did sound tired when I talked to you earlier."

He shrugged. "It's the downside of all the travel. Sometimes your internal clock just gets all messed up and it takes a little bit to reset it. I'll be good tomorrow."

"That’s good." Ryan blanked on what to say next. Brody sounded so flat, unlike himself.

"You up for some food?" Brody didn't hassle her on her eating, another wrong note.

"Sure. And, maybe a movie or something?"

"Yeah, maybe. How does Indian food sound?"

"Like something new and different. I've never had it before."

"How'd you manage that? There are tons of Indian restaurants around here."

She shrugged. "I don't know, just never came up I guess. My parents think ethnic food begins and ends at Chinese. With the band, we tend to do that or Thai or pizza."

"Want me to help you pick from the menu, then? Some Indian stuff can be pretty spicy."

"Sounds good."

They sat on the couch and went over the menu. After Brody placed the order, Ryan reached over and put a hand on his arm. "Are you okay?"

"Hmmm?"

"It looks like something's on your mind. Is anything wrong? Do you want me to go?"

"No, no. I'm sorry. I just—I got some bad news after I talked to you before."

"What happened?"

"My brother called. He and his wife have decided to separate. It's just a huge shock. I mean, Rick and Amy." Brody slumped back onto the cushions. "I can't believe it."

"Oh, wow. I’m really sorry."

"Yeah, me too. Rick said they were keeping it low-key, and they're going to see a counselor, but he's moving out."

"Do you think they might get back together later?"

"I don't know. I mean, I hope so."

Ryan didn't know what to say; she felt as though everything was off-kilter. Brody was the one who knew what to say, who always had a joke to cheer her up. She didn't think she'd ever seen as upset as he was now.

"It's just so hard to believe." Brody was incredulous. "They seemed to have it all and be handling everything really well. I mean, I know it can't be easy with both parents working; it wasn't easy for my parents. But they did it, so I guess I figured Rick and Amy would, too."

"They still might, though."

Brody shook his head. "I don't think so. Rick sounded like he thought it was over. I keep thinking how Bax has his family in Boston, but they seem okay. If Bax and his wife can keep it together, with all the traveling and separation, how come Rick can't, when he doesn't have to do any of that?"

"It's tough, but everybody's different." Ryan thought for a minute. She'd talked with Bax a few times when she'd met Brody and his teammates after games and he seemed like a good guy. "Bax is older and has a different perspective on it. Maybe your brother and his wife just need to get some perspective."

"Maybe." Brody didn't sound convinced.

The food came and Brody suggested she try the chicken biryani. "It's probably not as spicy as what I ordered," he told her. "Might be good to start slow."

Ryan nodded and took a bite. It was good, but it was hot. "Water, please," she said as she gulped air.

Brody gave her a small smile and handed her a piece of naan bread instead. "Here, try this. And take some of this for the rest of it." He gave her a small container.

She ate the bread, then took a deep breath and chanced a drink of water. "Okay, better. What's in that?"

"Plain yogurt. It'll help cut the heat like sour cream does with Mexican food. Water spreads the heat around, so you're better to drink milk or have something like this."

"Good to know." She tried another bite, this time with the yogurt. "Yes, much better. Man, if this is spicy, I don't think I should try what you have."

"Well, there's plenty of yogurt if you get adventurous."

"I think I've had enough adventure for now."

They ate in silence for a while. Ryan decided she liked it enough that she might try it again, provided there was an ample supply of naan and yogurt. When they were finished, she helped him sort through the leftovers and clean up. Brody was quiet during the whole process, and Ryan was stumped on what to do.

"Look, I can go if you want," she said.

He turned and put a hand on her shoulder. "No, I'd like you to stay. Besides, we haven't had dessert yet."

She smiled. "That sounds great. But it can be simple. I'm good with cookies."

"Please. Like I'd give my girlfriend mere cookies." He scoffed and sent her into the living room. A few minutes later he came out with two bowls and handed her one. "See, it's cookies and ice cream."

"My favorite."

"Nothing but the best. Here, a toast to Imaginary Grace and the tour." They clinked their spoons together. "I really am happy for you, Ryan, and the others. I'm sorry if it seems like I'm not; I'm just not great company right now.

"That's okay."

Brody found a movie and they watched as they ate. Ryan couldn't concentrate on the movie. She wondered if she should bring up meeting her parents, or if she should wait. The problem with waiting was that she knew if she didn't do it now, she'd continue putting it off and then the waiting would become as bad or worse than the actual event.

She ate the last of her cookie and glanced at Brody. He was staring at the television but she could tell he wasn't seeing it. It was too bad about his brother, she thought. She remembered when Lara's parents had divorced, and it had been pretty ugly, with Lara in the middle. She hoped that Brody's nephews made out okay; she didn't know if it was better or worse that they were younger than Lara had been.

Once more she debated asking Brody about meeting her parents. It's not like he has to go tonight, she thought. I'm just asking if he'd be willing at some point in the near future. That's not so bad. I hope.

"Hey." She nudged his arm. When he didn't respond, she did it again.

"Hmmm? Sorry, what?"

"I had a favor to ask, if you don't mind. Nothing that has to happen immediately or anything."

"Sure. Shoot."

"Would you be okay with meeting my parents? Sometime?"

He gave her a half-smile. "Sure, no problem."

Ryan felt panic rise despite his positive response. "I'm not trying to pressure you, just so you know. And I'm not trying to, I don't know, look for more of anything. I just thought it's been a little while and Evan said something to them and so Mom's asked a few questions and it'd just be easier if you met them." She was out of breath when she finished.

"Ryan, it's fine." He patted her arm. "I don't mind, really. Just let me check the schedule and we'll work something out."

"Okay. Thanks." She was relieved asking him was over; now she could focus on worrying about the event.

"You met my family, so it's only fair."

"I guess. Let's talk about something else."

He squeezed her arm and they went back to watching the movie. Ryan tried to remember what they were watching, but there was nothing too distinctive. Cars sped along roads, sometimes against traffic, and various things exploded in beautifully choreographed sequences. She couldn't have cared less, and every time she glanced at Brody, it was obvious he didn't either.

"We can turn this off," she said.

"What?"

"The movie." She turned towards him. "Neither of us is watching, so we might as well turn it off."

"Sorry. I guess you're right. I just can't focus."

"It's okay. As far as I can tell, there's not much worth focusing on."

Brody turned the set off. "I am sorry, Ryan. Rick's phone call really threw me."

"It's okay. I was just thinking I should cheer you up. You're usually the cheering me up, though, so it's a little weird."

Brody chuckled. "I hadn't thought about it that way."

"Well, let's see what I can come up with." Ryan made a show of thinking of what to do, which made him smile, and then she climbed onto his lap. He put his hands on her hips to steady her as she straddled him.

"That's not a bad start," he said.

"Good to know." She braced her hands on his shoulders and leaned down to kiss him. His fingers dug into her skin, but she didn't care; she liked to feel him respond to her. When he tried to take control of the kiss, she drew back and pressed her lips to his neck. He groaned in approval and she smiled to herself. She decided to up the stakes and rocked her hips against him.

"I think I'm feeling a little better." His voice was rough.

"Good. That's the idea." Ryan pressed her lips to his again and worked on unbuttoning his shirt.

Brody wasn't willing to be passive; he kissed her jaw, and then moved to her neck. After a moment he stopped, much to her disappointment.

"Wait. Why are you wearing this?" Brody reached up and put a finger in her collar and tugged. "This is totally in the way."

Ryan laughed. "It's a mock turtleneck, and in case you've forgotten, it's the middle of January. Even you have to admit it's cold out."

"Maybe. It's still in the way."

"Sorry." She pulled the shirt off. "Better?"

He shrugged out of his own shirt. "Much."

They both laughed as Brody lay back on the couch and pulled her on top of him. She combed her fingers through his hair as she kissed him again. He tangled his fingers in her hair and deepened the kiss. She jumped when he nipped a path down her neck, and couldn't help but rock her body against his when he cupped her breast. He rubbed his thumb over the soft material, drawing a soft moan from her as he went back and forth over the hard nub underneath.

Ryan decided it was time to advance things again, so she reached back and unclasped her bra. She laughed as she tried to slide it off without breaking their kiss. Once she'd managed, she sighed in approval as she lay back on top of him. She loved how he felt against her, warm and strong.

She drew back for a breath but Brody kissed her again and pressed his body against hers. Ryan dragged her nails over his chest as he moved his hips; she felt him hard and ready under his jeans. She reached down to undo his pants.

He hissed out a breath as her hand reached in and she stroked him with a steady rhythm. He stopped for a moment with his forehead on her shoulder and breathing hard, and she felt his heart racing like hers. He murmured something and hooked his fingers in the waistband of her skirt.

"What?" Ryan was still breathless.

"I said, thank God for skirts." He pushed down and stopped. "What the—what is this?"

"What is it this time?"

"This. Wait." He pushed at her shoulders and she raised up. He frowned. "You're wearing stockings?"

Ryan raised an eyebrow. "Let me repeat: it's cold outside."

"Jesus. Here I thought this was going to be easy with the skirt." He curled his fingers into the elastic waistband and began pushing the leggings down, working them over her hips as laughed. He got them off one leg and said that was enough before pulling her back to him.

Ryan repaid the favor by pushing his jeans down, and he lowered his hands to help, then slid one hand between her legs and let his fingers slide into her. She gasped and dug her nails into his shoulders as he teased her, bringing her close but not letting her come.

She was about to protest when he moved his free hand; he dug around to find his wallet and dropped it to the floor when he had the condom in hand. She sat up as he ripped the packet open and put the condom on, then moved so that she was over him. They both groaned as he slid inside. Ryan leaned down to kiss him once more.

His lips met hers, rough and urgent, and she let him lead this time. He began to move faster, and Ryan felt her body tighten and then she came almost before she was ready for it. She gripped him tighter, searching for his lips again as he grasped her hips and kept moving. Ryan tried to take a breath and managed a quick one before a second orgasm washed through her. This time she felt Brody tense as well, and then he dropped his head back as he came as well, holding her to him and breathing hard.

Ryan closed her eyes and rested her head against his chest. His heart beat slowed after a bit and the rhythmic sound lulled her almost to sleep.

"I, um, I guess we should get up," she said.

Brody's arms tightened around her. "Why?"

"I was thinking maybe I should go back to my place."

He shifted so he could look at her. "You don't want to stay here?"

"I do. I just didn't know if you wanted me to."

He laid back on the couch. "Yeah, I do."

x-x-x-x

It was almost two weeks later before Ryan could find a night clear of hockey and basketball games, not to mention a time where she had no rehearsal scheduled.

As they rode out to Chantilly in his car, and the weather was gray and damp, typical of early February. Brody glanced over at Ryan as she stared out the window and fidgeted, tapping her foot on the floor.

"You're not one of those people that steps on imaginary brakes, are you?" he asked.

"What?" She looked over at him, confused.

He smiled and shook his head. "I was just trying to see if you were nervous about my driving."

"Oh, no. Sorry." She fiddled with the fringe on her purple scarf. "Just nervous."

"I'll be on my best behavior, I promise."

"No, that's not it. I've told you that before."

"It'll be fine." Brody couldn't understand why she was so nervous about this. He could accept some general anxiety, but Ryan had been antsy about this for days.

"Yeah, fine. It'll be fine. Just don’t say anything about the band, and it'll be fine."

"Ryan, come on. I get that you're not doing what they expected, but they'll come around."

She gave a short laugh. "Yeah, right. I just haven't been patient enough for the past four or five years."

"Well, you know, in my family, when Eileen said she wanted to go in the Peace Corps, that didn't exactly go down easy for some of us."

"Brody, you don't get it." Ryan huffed in frustration and threw her head back against the seat. "My parents are not like yours. They aren't waiting for me to finish going through a phase. They think I'm being stupid, and that I'm wasting my time and my education, not that they thought much of that, either."

"Okay, I'm sorry." He reached over and patted her leg. "Let's forget about it. I didn't mean to upset you."

"I'm sorry." She took a deep breath. "Don't misunderstand. I'm not saying I was neglected or abused or anything like that. Not at all. My parents are decent people. But at the risk of sounding like a melodramatic teenager, they don't understand me. They never did. If it isn't sports, Dad's not interested. Mom's happy to be the fifties-era housewife and just goes along with him."

Brody nodded and dropped the subject. They pulled up in the driveway and Ryan stared at the house for a minute before undoing her seatbelt. Brody came around to open her door and she smiled at him.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more," she murmured. At his puzzled look, she explained. "Shakespeare, Henry V, Act Three. I was an English major. See, it comes in handy."

He chuckled and took her hand as he led her up to the house.

x-x-x-x

Brody sensed Ryan's tension all through dinner. She seemed to be waiting for something bad to happen, but he couldn't figure out what. Her mom was sweet, and insisted he call her Judy. Her father, Jim, was a big man, and it was easy to see the football player he'd been.

Judy made spaghetti with meatballs and garlic bread, and after dinner, they moved into the living room before having dessert. Judy brought out coffee for everyone and Brody thanked her as he took his and added some cream.

"So, I hear you've met Evan," Judy said as she sipped at her coffee.

"Yes, I did. He's a tall guy," Brody said, drawing smiles from Ryan's parents. "If he's half as good at basketball as Ryan is at her music, he must be something to watch." He felt compelled to say something complimentary about Ryan. The conversation over dinner had centered around her brothers, and he noticed that her parents hadn't said much to their daughter since they'd arrived. Nor had she said much to them; it was weird.

When he'd brought Ryan to meet his family, chaotic as it had been over the holidays, everyone had talked, sometimes at each other, sometimes over. No one had been ignored.

"Evan's the best guard to come out of his high school in twenty years." Jim thumped his hand on the table for emphasis. "The only problem is the NBA making him stay in school. He could be playing in the pros right now."

"Oh, sweetie, you know he'll be fine." Judy patted her husband's hand.

"College can help," said Brody. "I mean, I wouldn't trade my years at college for anything, really. It was a great time to make friends and learn from the coaches in a much less stressful environment." He didn't know what else he might say to bring Ryan into the conversation.

"But you got drafted, right? Before you graduated?" Jim prompted.

"Um, yes, I did. But I would have finished it out if I hadn't been drafted that year, and tried again the next." Brody felt a little uncomfortable with the questions, but saw no reason not to be honest.

"There, see." Jim gestured towards his wife. "Getting degrees is overrated."

"Now, Jim, you know some kids wait until after college to go pro," Judy admonished. "It doesn't hurt."

"I'd have to agree," Brody said. "College can be a big help. I know a lot of guys who got their degrees. One of my teammates was a history major."

Jim grunted into his coffee and silence fell over the group. It didn't last long before Judy spoke up. "So, Brody, how did you come to play hockey?"

"Good question," said Jim. "I would have thought you'd have gone for football at Michigan State. They're a big draw up there."

"They are, indeed. My younger brother went to Michigan State." Brody was at a loss; he'd never wanted to play football, even when he was little. Once he'd had a hockey stick in his hand, other sports held no appeal. Jim obviously thought football was the only sport that mattered. "I guess football just wasn't my thing. I played some baseball growing up, but hockey was what called to me."

Jim nodded but said nothing. Brody sensed Ryan tense more, and he wasn't even touching her. He tried to change the conversation and looked at Jim. "Ryan tells me you went to University of Maryland."

"I did." Jim nodded. "Had me a football scholarship. I played left tackle, and I was damn good. They put me in as a starter while I was still a freshman, and I was going to the NFL, everyone said so. I came this close." Jim held up a hand with his thumb and index fingers almost touching. "I had three teams interested in me. Then a play went bad, a guy fell on top of me and busted my knee."

"Sorry to hear that."

Jim shrugged. "It happens. I got over it. Had to leave school since I lost my scholarship, but I got a job in construction, worked my way up to site foreman. Good, honest work. You don’t need a piece of paper if you're willing to work hard.

"Now, JT—our oldest boy—he's even better than I was. He set the school record for tackles last season and he's entering the draft this year. If he doesn't go in the first round, I'll eat my hat."

"You don’t wear hats, dear," Judy said. Her smile and glance at Brody told him they'd had the exchange many times before.

"Figure of speech, hon."

They chatted for a bit more, with Jim recounting the various successes JT and Evan had had with their athletics. Nothing about Ryan, Brody couldn't help but notice. When it was going on eight o'clock, Judy said, "I know, Jim, why don't you show Brody the kids' trophies? Ryan, could you give me a hand with dishes, dear?"

Brody gave Ryan a quick smile before getting up to follow her father out of the room.

x-x-x-x

"Well, Ryan, he seems very nice." Judy nodded in satisfaction as she rinsed the plates and handed them to Ryan to load in the dishwasher.

"Thanks, Mom. I think so, too."

"Now how long have you two been dating?"

Ryan counted to ten to calm herself down; she'd been on edge all night but her mom wasn't asking anything unreasonable. Yet. "I met him in October, I think, but we didn't start dating until just before Thanksgiving. I guess it's about three months now."

"Why didn't you say anything? Or bring him to meet us sooner?" Judy admonished.

"I don't know. Just waiting for the right time. He had road trips, and you guys were going to JT's games." Ryan shrugged. "It was hard to coordinate a time."

"Oh, well, I guess you're right." Judy put away the leftover meatballs and sauce in the refrigerator, then moved to get the pasta. "So, is it serious? Come on, you can tell me."

"I suppose. We haven't talked about it." Ryan was cautious. Since she wasn't sure herself, she didn't want to give her mother the wrong impression.

"I mean, because he seems so sweet. He's polite, and he's certainly handsome."

"That's true, but it's only been three months, Mom, like I said."

"He feels like a keeper to me, sweetie." Judy gave her a knowing look. "I know a lot of girls wait to get married these days, but I don't think it's always a good idea to wait. Then you're older when you have kids, if you have kids." She made a tsking sound. "I'd like to be a grandmother sooner rather than later."

Ryan felt trapped. "Yeah, I know, Mom. Still, I don't think we're anywhere near that serious."

"Not yet, maybe," Judy said. "Things can happen quickly. And I know, I know, you want to make your music and everything, but you have to be reasonable. Not many people succeed in that business. You can always keep playing just for yourself, as a hobby."

"Right." Ryan wondered just how awful it would be if she left and hotwired Brody's car to go home. Or, since she didn't know how to hotwire anything, maybe she could swipe his keys out of his jacket. Her father would drive him home.

Her mother's voice pulled her out of her escape fantasy. "Oh, look, they're back. Let's get dessert." Judy pulled a cheesecake out of the refrigerator and put slices on dessert plates and set them around the table.

Ryan followed with forks and napkins, still considering escape plans. Then her father came in and gestured for Brody to sit down. He did, and accepted when Judy offered another cup of coffee. Ryan sat next to him, her appetite gone, and poked at her cheesecake.

"So, Ryan hasn't told me yet, but how did you two meet?" Judy sat down and reached for her coffee.

Brody told them how he'd been visiting Mark and met Ryan when he'd gone to leave and she'd dropped her groceries in the hallway.

"Oh, isn't that sweet? Just like you'd read in a book." Judy beamed.

Brody smiled and sipped his coffee. "I was just trying to be helpful. Then one night we caught up again and went out for dinner. Sushi."

Judy wrinkled her nose and Jim rolled his eyes. "Never could stand the stuff. Who in their right mind eats raw fish?" he demanded.

"It's not for everyone," Brody acknowledged, "but still, I like to try new things."

Ryan spoke up. "Brody cooks. He's good, too. You should try his enchiladas, Mom."

"Only if they're not too spicy. I've just never been one for spicy foods. Neither is Jim, are you, dear?"

"That's okay, there's plenty out there to try." Brody took a bite of cheesecake. "This is terrific, Judy."

"Thank you. Best I can get in a box," she said with a smile.

"Anyway," Brody went on, "I had to convince her, you know, to go out with me. It took a lot of work, but she gave in." He glanced over at Ryan, who gave him a half-smile and sipped at her coffee.

"Ryan always was stubborn," Judy said. "More so than either of the boys. I always said she got that from Jim's side of the family."

Jim grunted a non-committal reply as he ate his dessert.

Brody turned to Ryan. "Hey, have you told them about the tour?"

"Tour?" Judy was puzzled. "What do you mean, a tour?"

Ryan put her fork down and sat back. "The band—we've been picked up for a tour. It'll start in April."

"Is this like when you went around before?" Judy asked. "I never did understand that."

"No, this is different." Ryan cleared her throat. "The tour is sponsored, and we've been asked to join it. We'll be paid. This won't be like before, when we organized the dates ourselves."

Her father stared at her. "Will you quit your job like you did before?"

Judy looked dismayed. "Oh, Ryan, that's a big risk right now. Are you sure that's what you'll do?"

"What about your apartment?" her father objected. "How can you afford your rent if you're not working?"

Ryan shrugged and her voice was tight when she replied. "We're still working out details. I have a lot of leave built up, and some credit time, and I might be able to work out some unpaid leave. Lara and I have both been saving, and we could sublet the apartment. Plus, we are getting paid." Her knuckles went white around the handle on the coffee mug.

"I've seen Ryan perform," Brody said. "I think she and the rest of the band are great. They work hard and you can hear it when they play."

Ryan clenched her jaw as silence filled the room. Her parents stared intently at their coffee and it was all she could do not to storm out right then. Brody darted her a questioning glance, but she just shook her head.

As though someone had poked her, Judy popped out of her seat. "Oh, Ryan, I almost forgot—I have a box of things for you. We're cleaning out; you know how things pile up in the basement. I'll be right back."

They were quiet while she went into another room, then came back with a medium-sized cardboard box. "RYAN" was scribbled in black marker on one side.

Ryan opened the box and her expression darkened. She closed it without a word, all but biting her tongue off in an effort to keep calm.

"I think we'd better get going." Ryan flicked a glance at Brody. "I have to work tomorrow."

"Good idea. I have practice in the morning myself."

Ryan took the box and led the way to the door. They donned their coats and Brody turned to her parents.

"Thanks, Jim. It was a great dinner, Judy. I'm really glad I got to meet you both." He shook hands with each of them in turn.

"It was good to meet you, too, Brody." Judy gave him a bright smile. "We hope we get to see you again soon."

"Bye," said Ryan.

"Bye, honey." Judy gave Ryan a brief hug and a peck on the cheek. "I'll call in a few days. Remember there's your cousin's birthday party in a couple of weeks."

"Right."

They walked out to the car as Ryan's parents closed the door. Brody was surprised at that; his parents would stand on the front step and make sure anyone who was leaving got in their car and started the engine before they'd go back inside.

Ryan was quiet, and Brody struggled with what to say. Ryan's parents had not been at all what he expected, but he didn't think Ryan would want him to say that. They were her parents, after all; he knew if someone questioned his parents, he'd get defensive. He waited to see if Ryan would say anything, but she only stared out the window with her arms crossed in front of her.

"So, ah, your parents seem nice." That was a neutral enough comment, he thought.

Ryan gave a derisive snort. She stared out the window and her responses after that were laconic at best, and he wasn’t sure what to do. Aside from the awkward silences, he thought it had gone all right. They hadn't thrown him out, that had to count for something, right?

They drove in silence for a while until Brody couldn't take it. "So, what's in the box?"

"Nothing."

"You looked a little upset about it, so I just wondered."

"It's nothing. It's not important." Her voice was sharp.

"Okay, okay." He drew in a breath and glanced at her. "Ryan, are you all right?"

"Yeah, fine." She wouldn't look at him.

"You sure?

"Yeah."

"Okay." Brody gave up and said no more as they drove back.

Rhythm & The Blue Line, Chapter Six by PennLady - 01/06/2012

Description: Time for the big show.


© 2011 All Rights Reserved


The next morning, Ryan stretched and rolled over in her bed, but Brody wasn't there. She blinked awake and frowned, wondering how late it was and why he would have left. So far as she knew, he had nothing going on today. She took a deep breath, smelled food cooking, and smiled. She rolled out of bed and pulled on a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt, then ran a brush through her hair and went out into the kitchen.

"Hey. A person could get used to this." She leaned against one side of the doorway.

He turned and gave her a mock-stern look. "Don’t get too used to it. I had to run up to my place to get stuff to cook. Do you guys ever go grocery shopping?"

Ryan laughed and stepped over, then leaned against the counter. "Yeah, we do, every week or so. Lara eats at her mom's about once a week and usually brings back some leftovers. A lot of the rest of the time, she's with Trout. I think they share the cooking."

He took a moment to kiss her, then went back to the stove. "Okay, that explains her. What about you?"

She shrugged. "I manage. I know I do fast food more than I should. I try to get decent frozen meals." She held up her hands when he frowned at her. "Look, I'm not much on cooking. Can't help it. I do the best I can."

"Well, at least you make the effort on the frozen stuff. That’s not so bad."

"So glad you approve." She gave him a wry look and went to get a drink. "Look, see? Orange juice."

"That's mine. Help yourself."

"Really? It's yours?" Ryan stared at the carton. "I could have sworn we had some."

Brody laughed. "You did. It smelled terrible. I tossed it and brought some down. Come on, sit, this is about ready."

Ryan got out plates and silverware and put them on the table, then poured two glasses of juice and brought them over as well. She sat down and took a deep breath.

"Wow, that smells great. Much better than the Pop Tarts I'd planned on."

"You're saying that just to bait me, and I'm not taking it."

Ryan laughed. "Okay, you're right. Thanks, I do appreciate it. It'll be a good start to a long day."

"Yeah, I meant to ask." Brody took a bite of eggs and then a drink of juice. "What do rock stars do on show days?"

She shook her head. "I'm not sure what rock stars do. I'll meet everyone at the club around two or so and we'll set up and go through a sound check. Then we'll pretty much be free until the evening, which means I'll have to distract myself from worrying about it. There'll be two acts before us."

"I saw that on the club's website. Are they any good?"

Ryan nodded and took another bite of her food. "Yeah, they are. I think you'll like them both. We'll be there in time for those shows; it's just polite, you know? And we know most of them. It's a small world, so we want to help each other out. That should all start by eight-thirty, maybe nine if things run late."

Brody gave a low whistle. "So, when will you guys be on?"

"Ten-thirty, eleven, maybe. We're quite the night owls."

"Sounds like a lot of hurry up and wait."

"Yeah, some. Just how it works, though." She finished and pushed her plate away. "Thanks," she said as she sat back in her chair. "That was great."

"You're welcome, and glad you enjoyed it." He slid his plate over and leaned forward. "What will you do today after the sound check?"

"I don't know. I thought I might see Evan, but he said he's got homework and a basketball thing and then he has to go the anniversary dinner, so he's going straight to the club after that."

"What about Lara and the others?"

"I don't know. Sometimes we hang together, sometimes not. Depends on what's going on. Mitch has a girlfriend, but she's not so . . . she doesn’t like us much." Ryan paused. "Her name's Valerie, and she seems nice enough, but she always seems a bit distant or something. Anyway, Lara will be with Trout, and he'll be handling the sound, and then Nate, I don't know."

"I guess I'll just have to keep you company, then." He sat back and shook his head. "I don't see any way around it."

Ryan laughed. "You really don't have to. I'll be fine. I've done this before. Not as the headliner, but I've done it."

"Yeah, I know, but what the hell." He shrugged. "I do have to go to a video session, but that won't take long. Maybe I can catch up with you for the sound check. And . . . maybe I can help with a bit more stress relief before the show."

Ryan giggled, then giggled some more and couldn't stop. Brody gave her a quizzical look.

"Nothing, nothing, sorry." She waved a hand as her laughter subsided, although her shoulders shook with residual chuckles. "I was just thinking that Lara said a relationship would be good therapy for me. It looks like she was right."

"I feel so used." He pretended hurt, then grinned. "Not that I mind."

Ryan stared and fell into another fit of laughter. "I think you really are good for me, you know that?"

"Hey, I do what I can."

x-x-x-x

For a while, Brody put Ryan and the show out of his head; he had to concentrate on the video. He and his teammates watched as the coaches pointed out flaws in the team's play, as well as times they'd failed to take advantage of flaws in the opposition's. Brody ground his teeth when he saw footage of himself out of position, leaving a winger open for a pass that might have been a goal but for the goalie's fast reflexes on a kick save.

"Now, this isn't going to happen again," the coach said. He looked around the room. "There are half a dozen games before the New Year, and I don't want to see this happen in a single goddamned one of them. This is sloppy!" He slammed his hand on a table. "And we don't fucking play sloppy! Sloppy doesn't get you into the fucking playoffs. Sloppy doesn't win you the fucking Stanley Cup."

Murmurs of "Yes, Coach," came from the team, and Brody nodded in acknowledgment.

"Now, get out of here." The coach tugged at the collar of his shirt. "Go Christmas shopping or something, get any distractions out of your system, and then I want everyone's mind on the game tomorrow."

The players drifted out of the room in twos and threes. Mark came up and nudged Brody. "So, how are you going to spend your afternoon? Pining—I mean, waiting until the show?"

"Dick." Brody shot him a glance and fought a grin. "Where are you reporting?"

"Oh, I'm going to meet Hilary at—" Mark glared at him as Brody burst out laughing. "You're an ass."

"Hey, I'm not the one who's 'reporting' to his girlfriend." Brody chortled. "And if you really want to know, I'm going to go over to the club, try to catch them during the sound check."

"Now who's reporting?"

"Jackass." Brody elbowed him. "I thought it might be neat, and Ryan said it would be okay. Then, I don't know, we'll hang out. She said she's got time to kill before the show, and knowing her, if she doesn't have something to distract her, she'll just stress about it."

"Right." Mark grinned and nodded. "That’s your story and you're sticking to it." He turned to Baxter, who'd followed them out. "Hey, guys, you hear that?"

"Oh yeah." Bax laughed. "I'm sure he's got all kinds of 'distractions' in mind." He paused. "What are you going to do after the first five minutes?"

"You've been away from your wife too long, Bax." Body shook his head. "Get your mind out of the gutter, man."

"Okay, guys, I'm out of here." Mark walked over to his SUV now that they'd reached the parking garage. "I'll be at the show, Brody. Hilary, too."

"Me, too," said Bax.

"Cool." Brody nodded. "Ryan will appreciate that, seriously. I'll see you guys later." He waved and strode over to his own car and got in.

The others watched him drive away. Mark spoke first. "Must be serious."

Bax chuckled. "Oh, it's serious. Even if he won't admit it."

x-x-x-x

At the sound check, Ryan found herself more relaxed than she'd ever been preparing for a gig. It almost made her laugh. Jason's absence was liberating, and added weight to the others' argument that perhaps they shouldn't replace him. She still wasn't sure, but had to admit the idea was appealing, especially if it meant reduced stress levels like this.

She looked up and saw Trout, who was nodding as he adjusted levels on the sound board. Brody was up there, too, standing back so as not to get in the way. She'd seen Trout explain a few things to Brody as they went along, and wondered what Brody thought of it all.

They finished the song and Trout gave them a thumbs-up. Ryan and the others acknowledged him with waves, then turned to pack up the instruments. Mitch broke down his drums, and Ryan and Nate gathered up their patch cords and effects pedals before putting their guitars in cases.

"Wow. I can't believe it's here." Nate shook his head as he snapped the case shut on his guitar, then moved to do the same for his bass.

"I know, and I can't believe how relaxed I am. Mostly," Ryan said. Lara held Ryan's laptop while the latter put the keyboard in its case, then put away her guitar.

"Funny how taking the asshole out of the equation makes things easier," Mitch said.

Ryan laughed. "I thought the same thing. Maybe not in so many words."

"So, you think maybe we stay this way?" Nate looked over at her as they walked back to the dressing room with their gear. They put everything inside and then locked the door.

Ryan shrugged as they walked back out front. "I don't know. It certainly sounds good. I mean, I'm a lot less stressed about this show than I was before. Let's face it: not having to worry about what Jason will or won't do takes a big load off."

"That it does." Lara nodded, then grinned. "I bet there's another reason you're less stressed."

"No. No, no, no." Nate held his hands up and backed away. "I can guess where this is going and I don't want to hear it."

Mitch made a face. "Me, neither. Go have your . . . I don't know, girl talk sessions somewhere else. Where I can't hear it." He gave an exaggerated shudder.

Lara and Ryan traded amused glances.

"You guys are such wusses," Ryan said.

"Careful, I'll go get Jason back." Nate just managed to keep a straight face and the women burst out laughing.

"The hell you will." Mitch glared at him and punched his shoulder. "I'd have to hurt you, man. A lot."

Nate gave him a wry look. "Take a number. Allison is still pissed at me. Oh, which reminds me." He reached for a bottle of water and took a long drink. "Don’t be surprised if she and Jason show up tonight. She's got into her head that we're going to go down in flames in a big way."

"Is that so?" Ryan grinned. "Well, I think she'll be disappointed."

"Hell, yeah, she will." said Lara. "We're going to kick ass tonight, and that A&R guy will be begging us to join that tour."

"On that optimistic note, I'm out of here for a while, guys." Mitch grabbed his coat. "Mom said Maria was going to try to call on Skype, so I want to be there. Be back in plenty of time, though."

"How's she doing?" Ryan asked, and the others echoed her.

"Good so far." Mitch nodded. "It's quiet, for the moment. I did have an email this morning, and she said thanks for setting up the Facebook thing. The unit's been getting a kick out of the messages people have been leaving."

"Great." Ryan squeezed Lara's shoulders; her friend had done all the work setting that up. "Tell her we're proud of her and want her back soon."

"You're not kidding. I hope the deployment's shorter this time, but she's looking at a year, I'm sure." Mitch looked over as Brody came over to them. "Hey, Brody, what's up?"

"Not much." He shook hands with Mitch, then stepped over next to Ryan. "That was something. I had no idea what went on with the sound. I still don’t, but it was cool to watch Trout." Ryan looked over; Trout was still at the sound board as No More Trees, the second of the opening bands, set up for their sound check.

Before Ryan could say anything, she heard someone calling her name. She turned and saw Annette Kochanski, the drummer from the Trouser Minnows, coming in with part of her drum kit. Annette wore an eye-catching, if not eye-popping, outfit including torn fishnet stockings, short blue cut-offs, and a black camisole under a pink blouse. The Minnows would be the first act of the night.

"Hi, Annette."

Annette set her case down and they exchanged a quick hug, Ryan introduced Brody, and Annette said hellos to everyone else, then raised an eyebrow. "So, your guitarist got out quick again, huh?"

"Can't leave early if you don't show up." Ryan shrugged. "He quit."

"We fired him," Mitch clarified.

Annette's eyes widened. "He what? When?"

"Last week." Ryan explained what had happened.

"What a little shit!"

The others laughed. "Yeah, that's kind of how we felt," Lara said.

"Well, that tops our latest drama." Annette brushed her bangs back. "Michelle and her guy broke up and she was just impossible for most of the week. I'm hoping she channels it into the guitar tonight."

They caught each other up on the local scene, and watched as No More Trees worked through their sound check.

"Anyway, Lara, I'm glad we caught you guys," Annette said. "We wanted to ask if Trout could do our sound, too. He's the best, and the last time we were here, it wasn't great. Pretty please?"

"Yeah, Trout is the best." Ryan looked back at Trout, who was talking with someone on the club staff. "We keep Lara around for him, and vice versa."

"That's right." Lara tossed her hair back and grinned. "That was the plan. We're both indispensable."

"Annette, I can help you bring your kit in," Mitch said. "Then I have to be out of here."

"I can help, too," Brody added, and Nate echoed the offer.

"Thanks, that'd be great." Annette gave them all a grateful smile.

"Anyway, Annette, I'm sure Trout'd be happy to do sound for you," Lara said. "Just go on over and ask. He's already doing sound for No More Trees."

"Say hi to your parents and Maria for us, Mitch," Ryan said.

"You bet. Later, guys."

"Thanks, Lara. Thanks a bunch." Annette squeezed her hand. "Okay, let me talk to him and then I'll get all my stuff. Thanks, guys!" Annette grabbed her case and hurried over to the sound board.

Lara turned to Ryan. "So, what are you going to do with all your free time? As if I couldn't guess." She flicked a glance at Brody, who left with Nate and Mitch to help Annette with her drums.

"I don't know." Ryan shrugged, although it was hard not to smile. When Lara quirked an eyebrow, Ryan protested. "I don't. We haven't planned anything."

Lara shook her head. "You really are out of practice at the whole boyfriend thing, aren't you?"

"Not the whole thing." Ryan grinned and Lara widened her eyes.

"You, oh, you so owe me some talking time!" Lara smacked Ryan's shoulder. "You've been holding out on me."

"No, I haven't. You're just too involved with marine biology." Ryan laughed and turned to smile at Brody as he came back. "Hi."

Nate and Mitch called their good-byes and headed out, and Lara walked over to talk to Trout and Annette.

Ryan looked up at Brody after her friend left. "So, now what?"

"I have a plan."

"Okay." Ryan shrugged into her coat but didn’t bother zipping it, although she did wrap a purple striped scarf around her neck. "Lara's mom made it for me," she told Brody. "It's a good luck charm."

He smiled. "More original than a rabbit's foot."

"They always creeped me out when I was little." Ryan made a face as they walked outside. "I had images of all these little three-legged rabbits hopping around. I figured it wasn’t real lucky for them; how lucky could it be for me?"

Brody laughed as he led her to his car. "You never say what I expect."

"Just keeping you on your toes."

They got in the car and Brody eased into the flow of traffic. "So, you nervous?"

"Of course, some." Ryan nodded. "On the other hand, I realized how much easier it was without Jason around, so I'm not so bad. Yet."

"That's good. So, how much time do you have before you need to be back?"

Ryan pretended to be shocked. "God, Brody. Haven't you had enough?"

He shot her a glance and shook his head. "Not yet, but that's not what I'm talking about. Come on, I'm serious. How much time?"

Ryan looked at her watch. "Well, it's going on three. I need to be back by eight. What are you planning?"

"We're going shopping."

"Shopping? You hate shopping. I hate shopping. What kind of shopping?"

"You'll see."

An hour later, Ryan was in her kitchen staring at the array of purchases. Ground beef, ricotta cheese, tomato sauce, frozen spinach, noodles and more covered the counter. "Just what do you expect me to do with these?"

Brody took her by the shoulders and turned her to face him. "I told you. You, Miss Bancroft, are going to make a lasagna."

She shook her head; he'd told her that in the store and she still didn't believe him. "Brody, I'm not much of a cook."

"Yes, I know. However, this is pretty simple."

"Why do you want to teach me to make lasagna? And how can it be simple?" She swept her arm at the counter, indicating the array of ingredients. "Nothing made with this much stuff can be simple."

"For one thing, you can't live on macaroni and cheese alone." He shuddered. "For long, anyway, and if you insist on having that, I'll teach you a better way to make it. But for now, lasagna is a good place to start. It's easy, filling, nutritious with the spinach added in and you'll have leftovers. Besides." He brushed her hair back. "I can't be worrying about what you'll eat while I'm away on road trips."

Ryan smiled and clasped her hands behind his neck. "You worry about me? Aw. You big softie." She tried to cover up a sudden surge of feeling with humor.

He gave her a mock glare, then kissed her. "Yeah, I know. Don't let it get around. You ready?"

She took a deep breath. "I guess so. You sure we have everything here? Lara and I hardly ever cook."

"I checked, and we're fine. No more stalling. First, we brown the ground beef."

For the next hour, Brody showed her how to cook. It wasn't that bad, she realized. She could handle browning ground beef, and the rest was mostly mix and pour. She did like the no-cook noodles. Brody agreed they were a lot less hassle, but admitted that he preferred to cook the pasta when he had the time.

"So, tell me about these other bands." He said as they mixed up the ricotta cheese and eggs. "I have to admit I did a double take when I saw a group named Trouser Minnows, although Annette seemed very nice."

Ryan chuckled. "They're fun; an all-female punk-ish band. Nate dated their lead singer for a while, and she's really nice. They broke up, but it was one of those things where they just realized it wouldn't work. No hard feelings."

"And what about No More Trees?"

At that, Ryan laughed. "The full name is No More Trees on the Potomac. Remember a few years ago when Dan Snyder got rid of those trees along the river? He wanted an 'unobstructed view' from his mansion." Ryan rolled her eyes. "The guys got really ticked and picked that for their name. They're Redskins' fans and well, you know how they've been doing lately. We call them No More Trees for short." She gave the mixture one last stir. "Okay, now what?"

"Now we layer it in the baking dish."

"I'm going to make a mess," Ryan warned him.

"No problem. Messes can be cleaned." Brody was unfazed.

She listened and followed the directions, spilling only minimal amounts of sauce and cheese on the counter, and contemplating her feelings about Brody. He was fun, and she enjoyed that, but under all the jokes, she'd come to see he had a serious side. He would tease, but he never aimed to hurt. Even when he had tried to spin her mom's guilt trip the previous week, she knew it was to try to make her feel better, not to defend her mom.

She shook her head; however casual they'd meant to keep things, she wasn't sure she could for too much longer. Lara would have a good laugh over that, Ryan thought, along with a ringing "I told you so."

At last, it was in the oven, and Ryan huffed out a breath as she leaned against the counter and surveyed the mess. "I hope this is worth it," she said. "It's a lot less work to buy it frozen."

"This is better for you. And now comes the fun part." He wiggled his eyebrows.

"Oh, really?" Ryan turned towards him, one hand on the counter, the other on her hip. "And what's that?"

"Well, now that we've made a mess, and we're all sweaty . . . ."

"Yes?" Ryan bit back a laugh as he stepped closer.

"We're going to need a few things."

"Such as?"

"Some water . . . some soap . . . ." His body brushed up against hers.

Ryan laughed and slid her arms around his waist. "Sounds good so far."

"You think?" He lowered his head and nipped at her earlobe; she jumped.

"Yes, I think so."

He kissed her once, hard, then stepped away. "So, you want to wash or dry?" He held up a dishtowel.

x-x-x-x

Ryan's phone beeped as she and Brody walked to the club. She checked the screen and touched the icon to see Evan's text message. I had to promise to come to dinner with Mom and Dad next week. You owe me.

"Smart ass." Ryan shook her head with a smile and put her phone back in her pocket.

"Who is?" Brody asked.

"Evan. Oh, hey, I guess we're officially official, since you'll be meeting a family member."

He opened the door for her. "Yeah, but it's only your brother. You're starting me off easy."

Ryan laughed. "You'll thank me for it."

She took his hand as she wove her way through the crowd, saying hi to some familiar faces from other bands and other clubs. Nate, Lara and Mitch were clustered at one side of the bar, along with Lara's cousin, Ephraim.

"Hey, guys. Hi, Ephraim. Long time, no see." Ryan gave him a hug. "How was Corsica?"

"So cool, so very cool." He grinned. "I wish I was there now."

"Oh, stop rubbing it in." Lara smacked his shoulder.

"Hey. I am here to help you guys out, you know. That ought to get me a few less smacks."

Ryan grinned. Ephraim had agreed to help out and handle their merchandise at the show while he was in town, since Allison wasn't going to do it.

"Ephraim, this is Brody Lang. Brody, this is Lara's cousin, Ephraim."

The two men shook hands and exchanged greetings. Ephraim told them more about Corsica, making Ryan long for sun, warm sand, and palm trees. A few people stopped by, members of other bands and friends of friends, and all of them curious for the scoop on what had happened with Jason. Annette turned up again as well and hung around while waiting for her set to start.

Brody turned to Ryan. "I'm gathering no one thought much of Jason."

"Guess not. We'll just chalk it up to a lesson learned and move on."

"Annette! Annette!" A woman with platinum blond hair came up to the group. She waved at everyone and tugged on Annette's arm. "Come on, time to go."

"Gotcha, Cecily." Annette turned to the others. "Good luck everybody! Later!" She and Cecily disappeared into the crowd towards the backstage area.

"Those were some outfits," Brody commented. Annette had switched her cut offs for a bright green miniskirt, and Cecily's hair was outshone only by her metallic silver blouse.

Ryan laughed. "Those were pretty tame compared to some others I've seen them in."

"So . . . ." Brody studied her.

"What?"

"Do you ever wear outfits like that?" His expression was somewhere between teasing and hopeful.

Ryan smiled. "Guess you'll just have to stick around and find out."

x-x-x-x

When Trouser Minnows began playing, Brody was standing with Ryan in front of him, close enough that he kept one hand on her waist. He wasn’t quite sure what to make of the Minnows, although he gave them points for enthusiasm. Ryan would lean back every so often to point out people she knew in other bands, or tell him the name of the songs, and he'd take advantage to pull her a little closer. When she looked down at his hand, then up at him with a grin, he knew she'd caught on.

When the set was over, Brody saw Mark, Bax and Hilary on the other side of the room. He pointed them out to Ryan as he waved them over.

"Hey, Ryan!" Hilary grinned and then gave her a hug. "I am really psyched about this! You guys will be great."

"Thanks, Hilary." Ryan smiled. "I'm really glad you could make it."

"There'll be more," Mark said with a grin. "Lena and Obie will be here, and Tolya and Sara, and Bax is here, too. Mina and Drew will come but she had to work a dinner shift and so they said they'd come later."

"Excellent." Brody beamed. "Hey, everybody, come meet the others." He took Ryan's hand in his as they introduced everyone. Bax came over a moment later and took his turn.

"So, you're Brody's musician," he said as he shook Ryan's hand.

She gave Brody a questioning look. He put his hands up in surrender.

"Hey, Bax said it, not me."

Ryan smiled and shrugged. "Well, I guess if I'm his musician, he's my hockey player."

Bax laughed. "I like that."

They talked for a while, greeting Lena and Obie when they showed up, and then the lights went down and No More Trees took the stage. Brody cracked up at the lead singer's t-shirt, which was burgundy with gold lettering that read "Save the Redskins—Fire the Owner."

They finished to a round of raucous cheers and left the stage. Ryan turned to Brody and gave him a nervous smile; he smiled. It was the first sign of apprehension she'd shown all night. He was about to say something when a man's voice called her name.

"Hey, Ryan! Ryan!"

Her face lit up and for a moment, Brody felt an unexpected flash of jealousy.

Then she turned and grinned. "Evan!" She laughed as her brother gave her a hug, and Brody chastised himself for the feeling of relief that swept over him.

"Evan, Amira, this is Brody Lang. Brody, this is my little brother and his girlfriend." Ryan made the introductions.

"Little is relative, I see." Brody and Evan shook hands and Ryan groaned at the pun. "Nice to meet you, Evan. And you, Amira." He hadn't seen her at first; Evan was close to six-foot-five, Brody guessed, and she'd been standing behind him.

"Hi, Amira," Ryan said. "It's good to see you again. I'm so glad you could make it."

"I wouldn't miss it." Amira smiled. "I've been looking forward to it since we saw you at Maryland."

"Great. Oh, and by the way." Ryan turned to Evan and poked him in the shoulder. "Sending me a link to a song about a 'disposable pop star' is not funny."

Evan widened his eyes. "It was that one? I mean, I just saw it was an SR-71 song and sent the link."

"You knew damn well what you were doing, you brat. Do that again," Ryan warned her brother, "and I'll show Amira the pictures from your thirteenth birthday party." When Evan scowled, Ryan smiled in satisfaction and Brody coughed to hide a laugh.

He got a kick out of watching them teasing each other, so much like what he remembered from home. Neither Carla nor Eileen had taken any crap from their brothers, and it looked like Ryan didn't either.

"Hey, Ryan. Looks like it's our turn." Lara came over and grinned. "Come on, let's rock this town."

"Rock it inside out," Ryan replied with a smile, then turned to Brody. "Guess that's my cue."

He smiled, tugged on a lock of her hair and leaned down for a quick kiss. "Go get 'em, rock star." He watched her go and turned to Evan. "So, you come to all her shows?"

Evan nodded. "Not all, but I come when I can. It's a little easier now that I'm at college and on my own schedule."

"I heard your parents aren't real crazy over her and the music," Brody said. He was curious to find out more about that particular issue.

"To put it mildly." Evan rolled his eyes. "It's stupid."

"It is," Amira said. "They were great at Maryland the other week. How'd you even get away from that party tonight?"

"I told them I was meeting some guys from the team. And who knows, there might even be some here." Evan shrugged. "It was easiest."

Amira shook her head and pushed her dark hair behind her ears. "You know that's crazy, right?"

Evan looked uncomfortable and scuffed his foot on the floor. "I know, but trust me, it was the best way."

Brody felt bad for Evan; it wasn't easy to lie to your parents. Not that he hadn't gone with the odd misleading sentence himself as a teenager, but even then, he'd known his parents weren't that dumb. Evan was probably torn, Brody thought, wanting to support Ryan and knowing his parents didn’t approve. He was glad he'd never been put in that position.

"What do you think of it?" Brody asked. "I mean, about the band and all?"

Evan grinned. "I think it's fantastic. I told Ryan, I'm jealous. I wish I could do what I want without worrying what other people think."

x-x-x-x

Ryan and the others were quiet as they worked with Trout to set everything up. They didn't need to say anything—they'd done this so many times it was automatic—and Ryan had found she liked the time to try to clear her mind, or at least let her thoughts settle.

Tonight she wasn't having any luck with that, and so she stopped trying to force it. Instead she turned her attention to getting ready and going over the set in her mind. She frowned as thoughts of Brody kept breaking through; she wasn’t used to anything taking her mind off a performance.

"You okay, Ryan?" Lara asked. She waved at Trout as he headed out to take care of the sound.

"Hmmm? Yeah, I'm fine." Ryan slung her guitar on and adjusted it. "Just a little distracted, I guess. Nervous."

"About the show? Or someone else?"

Ryan began to protest, but didn't; Lara knew her too well and she was right. "It's weird," she told her friend. "I'm really glad Brody's here, but it's a little unsettling or something. I don't know. Okay, doesn't matter." Ryan grinned and tossed her hair back. "We've got other things to think about."

"Come on, people. No time for drama." Mitch grinned and they all laughed.

"Speaking of which, did anyone see Allison or Jason out there?" Lara asked.

"Yeah, they're out there." Nate huffed out a breath. "She made sure I saw her when she came in. Good God, how can I be related to her?"

"Maybe there was a hospital mix-up and they brought the wrong baby home," Ryan suggested.

Nate laughed. "I should be so lucky."

"Well, I'd say we have some incentive." Mitch twirled his sticks. "You guys ready?"

"Just about." Ryan made sure her guitar was plugged in, and the amp, and tested her effects pedals. Trout had already made his way back to the sound board.

Ryan looked down as her stomach took a tumble as she heard the crowd milling around. She'd just been with them a few minutes ago, but it hardly felt like that now. At last they were set, and she looked at her friends. "Ready?" When they nodded, she let out a slow breath. "Well, then, let's do this."

They went to their spots on stage and the lights went down.

Mitch sat behind his drums, counted them in and Ryan hit the first chord of "My Last Mistake," one of their new songs. It had gone over so well at the college shows they'd decided to change up and open with it. Her nervousness disappeared as the lights came up.

x-x-x-x

"They're good, Langer," Bax shouted over the crowd. "Really good."

Brody nodded and watched his musician up on stage. She looked fantastic and the band sounded great. He wondered once more if she knew how happy she looked when she was performing. The first song ended and Lara thanked the crowd before they moved on to the next one.

Ryan moved over to the keyboards, keeping her guitar on but sliding it around to her back, and Nate switched his bass for a guitar. A moment later Ryan started playing, a fast little riff that Nate picked up, and then Lara began singing. The crowd cheered in approval and Brody saw more than a few people sing along.

When the song was finished, Mark leaned over to him. "Hey, man. That whole guitarist thing Ryan was worried about?" Brody nodded and Mark continued, "Tell her not to worry about it."

"I know. They sound terrific, don’t they?" Brody half-shouted back.

"Better than the GW show," Hilary chimed in.

"What do you think, Evan?" Brody asked.

"Absolutely," Evan called back, and grinned. "Ryan always worries about stuff and then she figures out how to fix it, and it's usually better."

Brody had to agree. Ryan had explained, for example, that on a song like they'd just finished, where she took the keyboards and Nate played guitar, she would supply the missing bass line with the keyboards. She'd made it sound like no big deal, but to him it was impressive. It would be great, he thought, to tell her how all her changes had paid off.

They slowed things down a bit and dedicated "On the Far Road" to Mitch's sister and her unit and Ryan stayed at her keyboard. Then they sped up again with the next number and she went back to her guitar.

As far as he could tell, everything seemed to be going smoothly up on stage. He watched as Nate put a hand on her shoulder and leaned in to say something. Ryan nodded and patted Nate's arm, then went over to her laptop and tapped some keys. With a satisfied look, she brought her guitar back around front and nodded when Nate looked over at her. Brody wondered that was all about.

Whatever it was, it worked, and they went into the next song with no problems he could detect. He recognized the current number as "Skyline," and then they segued into the next song without a break, and the crowd cheered and whistled, Brody included.

Between verses, Lara said something to Ryan and the latter smiled and laughed, and Brody was struck once again at how perfectly at home she looked up on the stage. His sister, Carla, had once told him that he looked something like that himself when he was on the ice.

"You skate better than you walk," Carla had said. "You know what you're doing out there, and when you know what you're doing, you're happy."

And that was it, he thought, as he had when he'd first seen them at GWU. Ryan was happy up there, doing what she knew how to do.

There was a short break as Ryan the others downed some water and prepped for the next song. When it started, it took Brody a minute to recognize a guitar-heavy version of Modern English's "Melt with You," and then he laughed and clapped along with everyone else.

Three songs later, the set ended, they took a bow, and then walked off the stage.

Evan let out a whistle that had Brody covering his ears, and the crowd continued with the applause.

A couple of minutes later, the band took the stage again. They covered of Bad Company's "Rock & Roll Fantasy," and followed it with another original song. Evan leaned over to tell him it was one of the first songs Lara and Ryan ever written. When that was finished, they once again waved and left the stage, and once again the crowd cheered until they came back.

There was one more song, then it was over and the lights came up.

Brody talked with his teammates as the band packed their instruments away, glancing at Ryan from time to time, anxious to talk to her. He held back as he saw her working and talking to Annette, Manny, and others from the first two bands. There'd be plenty of time to talk later, he thought. She looked so enthusiastic, and in her element, and he said as much to Evan.

Evan nodded. "Oh, yeah. I mean, even I can see it's what she should do." He laughed. "I've met her after work a few times, and it's always a little odd to see her in an office. She looks so much more comfortable up there."

"You probably look like that on the court," Brody said with a grin.

Evan shrugged. "Maybe. Sometimes."

"Hey, Brody, we have to go."

Brody turned to find Mark and Hilary, and Drew and Mina right behind them.

"It was fantastic," said Hilary, and Mina echoed her. "Tell her we said hi and sorry we couldn’t stay, but I'm going to be falling asleep at work as it is."

Brody laughed. "No problem. I'm glad you guys could make it." Then began a series of good byes to his teammates, leaving him with Evan, Amira, and Annette from Trouser Minnows.

Annette's eyes were bright. "That was amazing, wasn't it? That's the best I've ever seen them. If they don’t get on that tour, that A&R guy is in the wrong business."

"Your mouth to God's ear," Lara said with a grin as she walked over.

Annette laughed and leaned in for a hug. "Where's your fearless leader?"

"On her way." Lara jerked a thumb back to the stage. "Manny's over there."

"Uh oh." Annette tsked. "Is he in the cuddly drunk stage?"

Lara nodded. "Oh, yeah. He tried to hug Mitch, even."

Annette burst out laughing. "Sorry to miss that."

"Lara, you were great," Brody told her when Annette turned to talk to someone else. "You all were."

"Thanks, Brody. And thanks for bringing us a cheering section."

"You didn't need me, but happy to help." He shook hands with Nate and Mitch as they came over, and chuckled as Ryan made a beeline for them, leaving Manny looking befuddled.

"Ryan! You were great!" Evan pulled her into a quick hug.

Amira did likewise. "You were wonderful!"

"Everyone knew it," Evan said, and then grinned. "Allison and Jason left after the second song, I saw them. Even they knew you had it in the bag."

Ryan laughed. "Thanks, guys. I'm so glad you came. It means a lot." She turned to Brody. "You, too." She stepped over and hugged him, and held on tight.

He squeezed her against him and kissed her cheek. "You were incredible."

She held on for another moment then let go, although she stayed next to him. "Thanks."

"So, now what?" Brody asked.

"Beer." Ryan took a deep breath. "I need a beer."

"I got it, Ryan," Nate said. "Bar was my first stop." He handed her a bottle, then held two more out for Lara and Mitch.

"Where's mine?" Evan asked, earning him a withering stare from Amira and an elbow to the ribs from his sister, which only made him laugh.

"I've never seen you drink a beer." Brody looked down at Ryan. "I don’t think I've seen you drink anything besides sake."

She shrugged. "I don't too often, but I deserve one now."

"Good show, guys," Mitch said, and they all clinked bottles. He took a long swallow, then rubbed the cold bottle on his forehead. "Damn, it was hot up there."

They talked a while more, with people drifting in and out of the group, until Ryan covered a yawn and looked up at Brody. "So, can I get a ride home? Or are you going to go on a bar crawl or something?"

He laughed. "I think I'm past my bar crawl days."

With that, they began taking their gear and instruments out to their respective cars, and it was after two a.m. when Brody drove out of the parking lot. Ryan leaned her head back and closed her eyes as he navigated the quiet city streets.

"You guys were terrific," he told her, and reached over to take her hand.

"Thanks." Her eyes stayed closed but she squeezed his hand. "I really am glad you were there. I don't usually have anyone there for me, you know? Well, Evan sometimes, but it’s not quite the same."

"I have to say, I don't think I've ever been at anything like that before. I mean, watched someone perform when I knew them. It puts a different spin on it."

Ryan gave a quiet chuckle. "Now you know a little how Hilary and all the other girls must feel, watching you guys play hockey."

"What do you mean?"

She turned and opened her eyes. "Well, you know, they worry. They watch you guys down there and worry when you get hit, and feel bad if you don't score, but there's nothing they can do but watch."

"Well, at least I don't have to worry about you getting hurt," he teased.

Ryan laughed and closed her eyes again. "No, I managed not to trip over any patch cords tonight."

"You say that like you've done it before." He guided the car on to 395, which was all but empty at the late hour. It was an odd feeling to be so alone on a road so often choked with traffic.

"Once. Managed not to hurt anything but my pride, although I had a pretty good bruise on my leg for a few days."

"Think you can get inside without tripping over anything?"

"Maybe. I'm pretty tired. Maybe I should sleep in the car."

Brody shook his head with a laugh. "No, I think we'll get you upstairs. Your place or mine?"

Ryan opened her eyes and gave him a baleful look. "If you think I'm going to do anything but sleep once I'm in a bed, you need to think again."

"I'm pleased you think I have such vast energy reserves, but I was referring to sleep myself." Brody took the exit and stopped at the light at the bottom of the ramp. "So," he said again, "your place or mine?"

"Yours," Ryan said. "You have better breakfast options."

Rhythm & The Blue Line, Chapter Five by PennLady 12/31/2011

Description: Brody makes dinner.

© 2011 All Rights Reserved

Ryan gave herself a mental shake as she got her guitar out. It was Saturday, and in seven days, they'd be headlining at the 9:30 Club. She thought she must be excited; she kept telling herself the butterflies in her stomach meant she was excited.

She chatted with Lara and Mitch as they got ready. Nate came in a few minutes later, and Ryan was surprised not to see Jason with him. Mitch and Nate started talking, and Ryan turned to Lara.

"Where's Jason?" she asked. "He and Nate usually come together."

Lara rolled her eyes. "Nate told me yesterday that Jason was coming with Allison. That's why Trout's not here. Well, that and he had to go help his dad."

Ryan nodded; Trout and Allison didn't mix well. "But he'll do the sound for us at the show, right?"

"Yes, relax." Lara chuckled. "He'll be there."

"Why is Allison coming?" Ryan couldn't blame Trout for staying away. Although she appreciated Allison's efforts with the band—she usually handled the merchandise sales at the band's gigs—she could only take Allison in small doses. She wondered how Nate had managed, as he was Allison's older brother. Then again, maybe that was why he'd moved into his own apartment right after high school.

"I don't know." Lara shrugged. "I guess she spent the night at his place or something."

"I'd say I'm surprised he's late, but I'd be lying, so I won't."

"If he showed up on time, I think I'd have a heart attack.

With that, Jason and Allison walked in. Ryan nodded and was surprised when Jason leaned his guitar, still in its case, against the wall. She waited, but when he made no move to begin setting up, she forced the issue. "Jason, what are you waiting for? You're late and we need get started."

"We need to talk about some things first." Allison stepped in front of Jason and met Ryan's gaze.

"We do?" Ryan didn't care for that. Allison wasn't part of the band.

Nate frowned. "Allison, what are you talking about?"

"It's not me, it's Jason."

Ryan stiffened but made an effort to stay calm. "What about Jason?"

"You need to make some changes. He's a fantastic guitarist, but you're holding him back and he's tired of it." Allison crossed her arms over her chest.

This time Lara spoke up. "So why doesn't Jason tell us what he wants?"

Ryan and the others turned to him. Ryan had no idea of what he might say, but she had a feeling it wasn't going to make her feel any better.

Jason stood and shrugged. "Allison's right. I opted to join you guys when you needed someone, but I'm tired of being kept in the background."

It was on the tip of Ryan's tongue to remind him that he wasn't a full member of the band yet. They'd agreed on a six-month trial period, and there were still six weeks left. She decided not to say anything yet.

"So what do you want, Jason?" Nate's voice was low, which Ryan knew meant he was pissed, even if Jason didn't.

"I want control of all the guitar parts. First off, that means I do all the solos from here on out. I'm way better than Ryan is, so I'm the one that should be out there."

Nate snorted, and Ryan grabbed Lara's wrist when her friend moved up to protest. She wanted to hear the rest.

Jason obliged. "Next, I get to say how long the solos last, not Ryan. And if I want to add something in on my own, it stays in, whether she likes it or not, and I get partial song-writing credit for it."

He'd want them to remove the brown M&Ms next, Ryan thought. "Anything else?"

"Yes." Allison gave her a spiteful smile. "If you don't agree, then Jason quits."

"Is that so?" Ryan nodded. Well, that made up her mind.

"Jason, what the fuck is this?" Mitch got up from behind his drums. "You're threatening to quit a week before our headlining gig? What the hell's the matter with you?"

"I'm just laying things out. The rest is up to you guys." Jason leaned against the wall, as though he had all the time in the world to wait for their answer.

"Okay." Ryan took a few steps back. As Nate, Mitch and Lara moved to join her, Jason scoffed.

"See, this is what I mean. You guys can't do anything without talking to her first."

"Shut up, Jason." Mitch glared at him, then turned to the others. "I don't believe this shit."

"Me neither," Ryan agreed. She felt calmer than she might have expected to, and put it up to the surprise. "So, what do we do?"

"I say we toss his ass out on the street, and her with him." Lara glared and then realized what she'd said. "Sorry, Nate."

"No worries."

"Mitch?" Ryan turned to him. "What do you think?"

"Do you even have to ask?"

She took a deep breath and looked at the other three. "So we're good with this? I mean, the gig is next Saturday."

Mitch snorted. "Are you kidding? Do you know how much we'd suck if we gave in to any of this? We'll be better off without him."

Ryan smothered most of a laugh. "Okay, then."

They separated and Ryan raised her voice. "Jason, we've talked it over."

He looked over, his expression smug and confident, matching Allison's. "So, what's it going to be?"

"We wouldn't want to 'hold you back.' You're out." Ryan kept her face neutral as Jason gaped.

"Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out," Nate added. His delivery was dry and Jason's face darkened.

"Nate, what are you doing?" Allison shot her brother an angry look. "You should be on our side; I'm your sister!"

"Don't remind me," Nate snapped.

"But you had a trial period! It’s not over!"

Ryan allowed herself a quick glare at the other woman. "Allison, he offered us two options. We took one."

"It's all right, Allison." Jason recovered from his surprise and affected a look of nonchalance. He grabbed his bag of gear, his amp and his guitar. "It's their mistake. Last chance, guys. Once I'm out the door, I'm not coming back."

Allison turned and glared at them as she walked to the door. "You guys are going to be pathetic next week. Good luck getting a replacement in seven days." She stalked out and Jason followed; the door slammed shut behind them.

Lara broke the silence that lasted a few minutes after their departure. "Oh, my God. Did he really think we were going to agree to any of that?" She was incredulous. "I mean, honestly, did either of them think that would work? Total, epic fail."

"I bet it was Allison's idea." Nate dragged a hand over his face. "She thinks he's the best guitarist ever and probably figured that with the gig next week, there was no way we'd say no." He looked at Ryan. "You know you're a better guitarist, right?"

She laughed. "Thanks, Nate. Part of me knows I should be upset about this, and I am, but really, I'm just relieved."

"I know what you mean." Mitch nodded. "Give it fifteen or twenty minutes; then we'll be plenty pissed off."

"Allison thinks if she comes in with all the drama, she'll cow people into submission." Nate shook his head.

"I'm going to leave any cow and submission jokes alone," said Mitch, prompting a round of laughter.

"We do appreciate your restraint," Ryan said once she could talk again.

Nate flashed a grin. "Now I could say something about Mitch and restraints. I was talking to his girlfriend the other day and—"

"No! Stop! TMI!" Ryan held up her hands. "Very funny, but we need to get serious. Time to revisit the arrangements we used last year, before Jason. You still have your guitar, right, Nate?

"We've done it before, Ryan. We'll be fine," Nate assured her. "And yes, I do. It's right over there; I left it here last week. I must have known something was coming."

"You know, guys." Mitch tapped a stick on his knee. "We've gone back and forth on this for a while. Do we really need a second guitarist? I mean, how many times have we gone through this?"

"He's got a point." Lara sat on one of the folding chairs scattered in the room. "We've done all right with just the four of us in the past."

"But when it works, when we have a guitarist that fits, I like the extra depth in the sound." Ryan dropped into another chair. "It gives us more options, more possibilities."

"I see that, but still, do we really need it?" Nate asked. "We sound fine as a four-piece, we all know that. I think I like us better that way; the sound is more basic, more stripped-down, more . . . I don't know. Honest, maybe."

"I'm with him." Mitch nodded. "Not to mention, it would save us the hassle of interviewing and auditioning and then trying out any more Jasons."

"Ryan, you're right, but the truth is, no one has fit since Alex." Lara cocked an eyebrow at her friend and Mitch and Nate nodded in agreement.

Ryan rested her elbows on her knees and dropped her head in her hands. Mitch had a point, and so did Nate and Lara; no other guitarist except Alex, Nate's roommate from college, had fit in with them. Since he'd left, they'd performed a number of times as a four-piece unit, and no one had ever complained. Was looking for another guitarist worth it, or necessary?

She looked up. "You guys all have good points. Let's put it aside at least for now, though, what do you say? We can talk about it again after the gig. It's not like we're going to find someone this week anyway."

"Sounds like a plan," Mitch agreed.

"Works for me," said Nate.

"Oh, hey! I forgot to tell you guys!" They all turned to Lara, who was bouncing with excitement. "I got a call back from a concert promoter just before I left to come here. They'll have an A&R guy in the audience!"

"Excellent!" Mitch beamed. "Nice work!"

"Way to go, Lara!" Nate hugged her.

"Wow." Ryan felt her anxiety level jump up several notches. "So we just lost a guitarist a week before our first headlining gig, at which there'll be an A&R guy in the audience."

"Yep!" Lara grinned. "Cool, huh?"

"Oh, yeah. Way cool." Ryan's stomach was in knots. "Okay, guys, let's get started."

x-x-x-x

Brody tromped into the dressing room after practice. It had been a good day so far, he thought. He'd talked with his parents and they were coming East for Christmas, along with a couple of his siblings. He hoped Ryan would have a chance to meet them. They hadn't talked much about it yet, but he assumed she'd be spending the day with her family. Still, with his family staying for a few days and coming to a game, there should be time for everyone to meet.

"Hey, Langer, big plans for tonight?" Bax called from across the room.

"Don't know yet." He threw his jersey into the laundry and stripped off his equipment.

"He needs to check with the little woman." Drew Stamenski laughed as Brody threw a knee pad at him. "Hey, man, it's okay. We all go through that phase."

"Fuck you, Stams." Brody grabbed a towel and walked back to the showers, grinning as he did.

No sense in letting Drew know he was right. Brody was planning on seeing Ryan later, but he didn't know when. She had told him she'd call at some point, when the band took a break from rehearsing. He'd finish his shower, get dressed, and give her a call before leaving if he hadn't heard from her by then.

When he got back and checked his phone, he saw there a voice mail message waiting. He dialed in and listened to a pissed-off and distracted Ryan.

"Hi, Brody. Look, things all blew up at rehearsal; Jason quit. So we have to go back and go over arrangements so we can go on with just the four of us. We'll never get anyone on such short notice. Maybe we won't even after. Anyway, I'm sorry, I'm not sure when we'll be done tonight so I'll have to take a rain check. Maybe tomorrow? After your game? Just call me. Damn. Sorry again. Bye."

Brody texted her a reply, telling her not to worry and to call after she was done, if she wasn't too tired. Then he got dressed, wondering what to do with the rest of his day, now that it looked like a large portion of it was unexpectedly free.

"Everything is okay?" Tolya Strelkov asked from behind him.

"What?"

Tolya shrugged. "You look upset, maybe? Is problem?"

"Oh, no. No." Brody shook his head, then thought for a minute. "Hey, Tolya, what do you do when Sara has to work and you aren't expecting it?"

Tolya gave him a wry smile. "I find something else to do."

"Problems already, Langer?" Bax looked up from his spot on the bench. "She stood you up? You're lost without her?"

"Shut up." Brody grumbled to himself; it looked like the guys were going to start giving him shit about dating Ryan. Although, at least this time he was in fact dating her.

"Come on, guys, go easy on him." Mark's eyes glinted. "He's not used to these serious relationships with intelligent women."

"Listen, asshole, Ryan just left a message that their guitarist quit, and their gig at the 9:30 Club is next weekend. They need to rework their songs because of it, so she's just working later tonight." Brody scowled at Mark, feeling only mildly guilty that he'd diverted his friend because Mark had come pretty close to the mark. Although he liked the casual aspects of this relationship with Ryan, he was surprised at how disappointed he was that she'd had to cancel on him.

Mark's demeanor changed instantly. "Seriously? He quit, this close to their show?"

"I don't know much about music, but that doesn't sound good," said Baxter. "They don't have to cancel or anything, do they?"

Brody shook his head. "I don't think so. Ryan didn't say anything like that in her message. But I guess if he's gone, they need to figure out how they'll make up for it. I have no idea how long that takes; she said she'll call me later."

"Okay, well, when you do see her, tell her I'm sorry and good luck. Hilary and I are still planning to be there." Mark slid his coat on and picked up his bag.

"Yeah, thanks." Brody waved as Mark walked off.

"So, band problems aside, how are things with your musician?" Baxter asked.

Brody considered as he gathered his things. "Pretty good, I think. I have to admit, going out with her is something of an experience. Never dated a musician before."

Bax chuckled. "Showing you the dark side of the music industry, is she?"

"Yeah, right." Brody fell into step with his friend as they made their way to the parking garage. "No, it's just . . . I don't know. It's nice going out with someone who has their own life, you know? Their own goals. The last real girlfriend I had before this, she way too needy. I mean, she had her own job and everything, but she wanted to be with me all the time." He gave Bax a knowing look as he unlocked his car. "Even I know our lifestyle isn't compatible with that."

"Points for you, kid." Bax clapped him on the shoulder. "Good to know you're not completely clueless on that front."

"I knew that time in college would come in handy."

"Your parents are proud, I'm sure. Now, let's go grab some lunch. Your treat; I bought the beer last time."

Brody killed the rest of the afternoon by having lunch with Bax, and then heading home to take stock for a grocery run. Even if he couldn't see Ryan tonight, he thought, maybe he could come up with something different for lunch or dinner the next day. One thing he'd discovered was that when it came to food, Ryan was more than willing to try anything he made. At the store, he picked up some odds and ends and, still undecided about what to make for Ryan, bought some chicken. Nothing like chicken for versatility, he thought.

As he unpacked at home he wondered what Ryan would do about food. He could just imagine her calling a bag of potato chips and a soda "dinner." He supposed he couldn't blame her. Having their guitarist quit so close to the gig had to require a lot of juggling. At least if the team lost a guy, or even a couple, to injury, they had other players to rely on to fill the gaps.

He reheated some leftovers for dinner and then flipped on the TV, pleased when he found Iron Chef America. It wasn't quite as good as the original, but he liked Bobby Flay and Alton Brown. As the chefs were busy plating their dishes, the phone rang.

"Hello."

"Hey, Brody. It's Rick."

"Hey, man." Brody smiled and turned off the TV. His oldest brother rated his full attention. "How's it going?"

"Quiet weekend," Rick told him. "Amy took the kids to visit her mom, so it's just me and the idiot box."

"How come you didn't go?"

"We're behind schedule. First there was a question about permits, and then there were two days of rain. We couldn't do anything, so I'll be working tomorrow. But we'd had the weekend planned for a while, so I told Amy to go without me. Only good thing about it is the overtime."

"How are the kids?" Brody found it odd to think that when Rick had been his age, twenty-six, he'd been married with a kid already. Now, at twenty-nine, Rick had two. Brody couldn't see himself with a pet, much less a child.

"They're good. Want to borrow them some time?"

Brody laughed. "What, you can't return them? Lost the receipt?"

"You should try it, man. I'm telling you—you think hockey's tough, try entertaining a two-year-old for a few hours."

"Sorry, Rick. I'm just here to be the uncle who buys cool toys."

"Slacker."

"Yeah, yeah. So, what's up? Everything okay with Mom and Dad?"

"Oh, yeah, fine. They're excited about flying out for Christmas. So are Amy and the kids. You sure you don’t mind putting us up?"

"Since you'll be in hotels, absolutely not."

Rick chuckled. "I knew there was a reason you kept that apartment. You have an excuse to limit visitors."

"Damn, I didn't think anyone had figured that out."

"That's why I'm the older brother. How about you? What are you doing home tonight? I thought you had a girlfriend now."

"I do, but she's busy tonight." Brody explained what had happened. "I feel bad, she sounded pretty ticked when she left that message. I was debating calling her but I don’t want to interrupt them."

"Wow, listen to you. Should I give you advice on engagement rings?"

"What? Because I feel bad that she's having a tough time?"

"Brody, you never let anyone else stick around long enough to have a tough time. You must like her."

"Of course I like her. I wouldn't have asked her out if I didn't. Jesus, why does everyone think I can't handle this?"

"Maybe because you've always made a point of saying how you didn't want a serious relationship for, like, ever? Maybe because at, what is this, something like six or eight weeks, it's the longest relationship I can remember you having?"

"Yeah, well." Brody scowled at the rug. "Sue me."

Rick guffawed. "Oh, come on, Brody. For all the shit you and Josh gave me when I was dating and engaged, I deserve a little payback."

"It's been four years!"

"Payback is always sweeter when they're not expecting it."

"You have always been such an asshole."

Rick laughed again and they talked for a while more, until Rick said he had to go meet a friend for dinner and call Amy before he left. After hanging up, Brody wandered out to the kitchen, thinking over the call with Rick and the earlier comments from Baxter.

Was six weeks the longest relationship he'd had? He pondered that; surely there had to be someone he'd dated for more like three or six months. He thought about high school, and then college, and realized that no, he hadn't. He'd been so involved with hockey outside of classes that he had barely given dating or girlfriends any thought. Sure, he'd known some girls and gone on dates, but Rick was likely right.

Bax had joked again at lunch that Brody had seemed to be at a loss after getting Ryan's message, and he was forced to admit that he was. Previously, he'd been fine if the woman he was seeing showed up, and fine if she'd had to change plans. Because, he told himself, that was the way he'd liked it and wanted it. Casual and easy, no pressure for anyone.

He was saved thinking any more about it when the phone rang again. He checked the display and smiled when he was Ryan's name.

"Hey there, rock star. How are you?"

"Hi, Brody. I'm okay. Pretty beat."

"You sound it. Where are you?"

"Just got back. I flopped on the couch and I'm not sure I want to move now."

"I have to ask—did you eat today? Anything?"

Ryan paused. "There was pizza at some point, but it's all a blur." When he grumbled, she added, "But there were vegetables! On the pizza. I swear. They were even green."

"You up for some company?"

"Aw, Brody, did you miss me? That makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside."

"If you're going to tease me, then no, I didn't."

"I'm sorry. I was going to say that it'd be really sweet if you missed me. No one ever misses me when I'm at rehearsal."

"In that case, yes, I missed you." He grinned.

"That really is sweet. I don't suppose you have any food up there? I mean, otherwise I'll have to see what I have in a box that I can maybe microwave and—"

"Stop! Jesus, stop! You're killing me."

"You're right. I'll just go for the ice cream."

"Ryan."

"What? It's organic. Lara bought it."

Brody went into his kitchen and started rummaging through the fridge. "Okay, now you're just doing that to annoy me. Do you want some food?"

"Yeah, I do, but I don’t have the energy to do much about it."

"Fine. I'll be down in a few minutes."

"Ha, my cunning plan worked." She laughed. "Brody, that would be great, but you don’t have to do that. Honest. I'll be fine."

"Oh, no." He grabbed a plastic container and checked his pocket for his keys. "You're not getting out of it that easy."

"Yes, sir."

x-x-x-x

Ryan laughed to herself as she hung up the phone. She did feel a little guilty about conning Brody into bringing her food, but she reminded herself that they had had plans, and he likely would have made dinner anyway. This was a simple matter of timing and location.

She sat for a minute with her eyes closed until she heard a knock on the door. With a groan, she dragged herself off the couch and opened the door. She had to bite back a smile at the exasperated expression on Brody's face.

"You know, I don’t deliver dinner to just anybody."

"Well, then, I'm honored." She closed the door after he stepped in and followed him into the kitchen. "I do appreciate it, really."

"Good." He set the container on the counter and put his hands on her shoulders. "Now, are you okay? You sounded pretty upset in your message."

"Yeah, I'm fine." Ryan leaned against him and smiled as he slid his arms around her. "It was just unexpected. I figured we'd have a nice, calm, run-through of everything—well, as calm as it gets with Jason—and then he comes in and . . . Oh, never mind. I'm tired of thinking about it."

"Fair enough. Come on, sit while I heat up the food."

"If I eat that, can I have the ice cream?"

"We'll see."

Ryan laughed, then kissed him. "Does that influence your answer?"

"It might." He gave her a sly grin. "Try again and I'll let you know."

"Okay, but just once." Ryan linked her hands behind his neck and pulled him down to make it easier to kiss him. It was so easy, she thought, to just relax with him. Already the weight of the day seemed to be easing off a little, so she shifted a bit so that she rested more against him.

He kept one arm around her and slid the other hand up until he cupped the back of her head, and tangled his fingers in her hair. She made an appreciative sound at that, and he smiled as he broke the kiss.

"Okay, I'm convinced. You can have the ice cream."

Ryan laughed and kissed him once more. "Thanks." She paused a moment. "Really, thanks. I missed you today, and I felt bad when I called earlier. I was looking forward to seeing you. I'm glad you came over."

"Well, I have to admit I missed you, too." He hugged her, dropped a kiss on her forehead, and stepped back. "I must have, or I wouldn’t have brought food."

Ryan sat at the kitchen table. "So how was your day? Less chaotic than mine, I hope."

"It was good. Coach wanted us to try a new power play strategy. Took a little time to adjust but I think we got it. Had lunch with Bax, then did some food shopping. I talked to one of my brothers. Mark says hi and good luck; I told him about Jason."

"Bastard," Ryan grumbled. "Prick."

Brody laughed and put a container in the microwave. "Guess you're still a little mad about that."

"Oh, just a little."

While the food heated, Ryan got herself a drink and she asked him about his conversation with his brother. The timer beeped a moment later and Brody pulled the food out. He grabbed a plate, arranged everything, and put it in front of Ryan. He found silverware and handed it to her, then sat down at the table himself. "Okay, so, tell me what happened."

Ryan gave him a wry smile and told him about Allison and Jason and what they'd said. Brody listened and joked around a little, but she appreciated that he understood how serious it was for her. She was quiet as she ate, and Brody talked about how his family was coming out for Christmas. He sounded as though he was looking forward to it and she envied him that.

"Thanks, Brody, that was really good." She pushed the plate away. "You're definitely the only guy to bring me homemade enchiladas."

"Not a problem. Want that ice cream?"

"No, not really." She stood and stretched. "Too tired."

"Hey, do that again." Brody came and stood in front of her. "That was nice."

She couldn't hold back a laugh. "Men. You're all the same."

"Just trying to distract you after a tough day." He grinned. "And it was nice."

Ryan laughed as they walked out to the living room. "I'll take the flattery." She rested her hands on his chest and smiled when his arms came around her. "But I'm done stretching."

"You're a terrible tease, but I guess I'll survive."

"Who's teasing?" Ryan grinned and stripped off her sweater.

Brody looked down at her. "Wow. I think I need to sit down." He dropped onto the couch and pulled her with him so that she straddled his lap. He traced a finger along the strap of her lacy, light blue bra. "Now this is nice."

Ryan bit her lip and shrugged. "Every so often I go and get something kind of girly with Lara."

"Nice choice."

Ryan shifted on his lap and he groaned, making her laugh. "I guess you like it."

"What's not to like?" He pulled her down for a kiss. When she rolled her hips against him again, he grabbed her waist to hold her still. When she parted her lips, he took advantage to plunge his tongue into her mouth. She responded by twining her hands in his hair and pressing her body against his.

They were both breathless when they broke the kiss.

"You sure about this?" Brody asked. He ran a finger along the edge of her bra and watched as she closed her eyes and took in a deep but shaky breath.

"Yeah, I am." She opened her eyes. "You?"

"Oh, yeah." He rubbed his denim-clad erection against her to prove the point. "Just checking."

Ryan took in a deep breath and bit her lip. "I'm healthy and safe. You?"

"Yes, ma'am. And prepared."

"All right then."

Brody tightened his arms around her, fusing his lips to hers. She curled her fingers into his shirt and responded with an urgency he hadn't felt from her before. He dropped his hands to cup her breasts, running his thumbs over the hard tips beneath the smooth material of her bra. Ryan responded by sliding a hand down between them and cupping him through his jeans. He let out a muffled groan as he thrust against her hand, unable to help himself.

"Like that, do you?" She smiled against his lips.

In answer, he unbuttoned her jeans and slid a hand inside. It was his turn to smile as she gasped. "Do you like that?"

"Yeah." She rested her forehead on his and bit her lip as she rocked against his hand. "I'd like a little more."

"I aim to please." He tangled one hand in her hair and kissed her again, harder and faster. This, he thought, was a much better end to the day than he'd had planned.

Ryan didn't say anything, just tugged his shirt out of the waistband of his jeans and put her hands underneath to begin working it off. Brody hissed out a breath as her hands moved over him; he loved the feel of her hands. He'd imagined they were strong and nimble, having seen her play the guitar, and he was right.

She worked his shirt up and he sat up so she could slide it off, then pulled her back with him, kissing her and savoring the feel of her skin against his. She shifted to adjust her balance and he groaned as she rubbed against his erection.

She broke the kiss with that husky laugh. "Sorry. Everything okay?"

"Yeah, fine." He kissed her again and with an efficiency that made her laugh again, unhooked her bra. "As pretty as this is, you don't need it." He pushed the straps down her arms and she slid them all the way off. She closed her eyes as he reached up to cup her breasts.

Ryan closed her eyes as Brody stroked his thumbs over her nipples. She splayed her hands on his chest, loving the feel of his muscles and how they tensed under her touch. She was glad she had followed her instincts and taken the initiative tonight. In fact, if he didn't move a little faster, she'd take it again. To prove the point, she pressed her lips to his and worked on unbuttoning his jeans.

"Hold on." Brody's voice startled her out of his thoughts.

"What?" She was surprised to find herself so breathless.

"Just, ah, just logistics." He guided her up on her knees so that he could push his jeans down although he dug into his pocket first.

It took more effort, and a fair amount of laughing, to slide Ryan's pants down as well, but she managed to get one leg free and then settle down against him. His groan was muffled as she pressed her mouth to his neck and applied pressure. His hand slid between her legs and she bit down on his shoulder as he stroked through the wetness he found.

When she had control of herself again, she reached down and wrapped her hands around him, stroking in a firm and steady rhythm.

"Okay, okay. Stop. Just for a second." Brody took a deep breath, then looked up at her and smiled. "You have excellent hands."

"Thanks." Ryan waited for her heart rate to get back to normal.

"Feeling less stressed?" he asked as his hands skimmed her sides.

"Some. You?"

"Well, it's a good kind of stress." He pulled her close for another kiss, then tore open the condom package and slid the covering on, anxious to get inside her.

Once ready, he put his hands on her hips and nudged her up, then shifted until he could lower her onto him. He pushed inside and savored the heat for a moment before moving to set a rhythm.

"You feel really good." He closed his eyes and dropped his head back on the couch. "Really good."

She murmured an assent and Brody kept moving, making approving sounds as Ryan moved with him. She drew in a sharp breath and her body tightened around him as she came, forcing him to grit his teeth to make everything last longer. Her body relaxed, and so did he, but a moment later he could feel her body start to tense and he gave up. He thrust faster, feeling his own body tighten, and a moment later he groaned as his own climax raced over him.

They were quiet for a while, getting their breath back, and Brody kissed her before nudging her back. Understanding, she stood and backed up a couple of steps. While Brody stepped into the bathroom, Ryan realized what a mess she must look like and stepped back into her jeans. Though on the whole, she thought with a grin, it was more than worth it.

"So, how was that for some stress relief?" Brody wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead.

"Pretty good." She leaned closer and looked up at him. "I was pretty angry today, though. I might need to do it again later."

"Later, we'll do things a bit more slowly." He nuzzled her neck and bit lightly on the pulse point, making her gasp.

"More slowly?" She swallowed. "Something wrong with what we did?"

"No, no. It's just that it can be even more relaxing if you take your time."

"Well, you said you were the relaxing expert." She gave that low, husky laugh that he liked to hear.

"You'll just have to let me show you." He nipped at her bottom lip. "In a little while."

x-x-x-x

Ryan sat at her desk, willing the time to pass. It was Friday and she was itching to get out of the office. She'd been distracted all day, thinking about the gig the following night. Plus, she wanted to see Brody.

She hadn't seen him since Sunday and smiled at the memory. They had eventually worked off enough stress that she had slept until after ten in the morning. Brody had been gone when she'd woken up, but he'd left a note and a ticket for that afternoon's game, telling her to come and noting that cheering on the team was yet another positive way to release stress.

Although her initial reaction was to decline, she decided to go. She could go to the game, or she could sit at home and worry about the gig. She had a good time: the Caps won the game, and she'd enjoyed chatting with the other women again. Afterwards, she and Brody had met up with Lara and Trout for dinner. By the time she'd gotten home, despite everything that had happened at rehearsal, she'd felt more relaxed than she had in a while.

After they'd gotten back to Brody's place, they'd made love again. Advance stress relief, he'd called it, since he'd be gone for road games and not back until Friday. She'd laughed and gone along with it.

She glanced at the clock and groaned. One more hour. She clicked on her work log to see which project she could make the most progress on. As she clicked on a file, her phone rang. She hoped it was Brody, but any break was welcome.

"Hello, Ryan Bancroft."

"Hi, sweetie. It's Mom."

Ryan groaned to herself; a call from her mom was not the break she'd hoped for. "Hi, Mom. What's up?"

"Oh, not much. I was just calling to remind you about Aunt Margo's party tomorrow. It's so wonderful that it's their thirty-second anniversary. So many people don't get that far these days."

Ryan closed her eyes and counted to ten. "Mom, I told you, I can't make it. We have our gig at the 9:30 Club tomorrow night. I've already talked to Aunt Margo and Uncle Pete both."

"Really? It's tomorrow? But, Ryan, it's their anniversary. Can't you come before your show?"

"No, Mom, I can't. I wish I could, but this was set up before the dinner was, and they understand." The last thing she needed, Ryan thought, was to be with her family before the gig. She could just imagine the "encouragement" she'd get.

"Ryan, really. I don't understand why you do this. It's not much to ask that you be there to celebrate an important milestone for someone in the family, especially after all the things they've done for us. For you."

Ryan ground her teeth and counted to ten once more. "Mom, I'm not 'doing' anything. I have previous plans, and people are counting on me. It's as simple as that."

"Your brothers are coming, so I don't see why you can't, at least for a while. It's bad enough that Evan has to leave early, but at least he'll be there for part of it. JT will be there for the whole thing, and you know how busy he is."

"JT's not performing tomorrow night. You know, if one of them had a game and it conflicted, you'd miss the party." Ryan chafed at the comparison to her brothers, JT in particular.

"Well, that's . . . that's different." Her mother sounded surprised.

"How? How is it different?" Ryan demanded.

"Ryan, please. It is different and you know it."

"Right. Look, Mom, I have to go. I need to get something finished."

"All right. I still think you should be there. Your brothers are making the effort, and you should too."

"Fine. Bye, Mom." Ryan didn't bother explaining why she couldn't attend; her mother wouldn't listen anyway.

At last it was time to go, and she all but raced out of the office. She turned on her iPod and punched up Queensryche's Operation: Mindcrime as she walked to the Metro. Nothing like drugs, prostitutes and political assassinations to take her mind off her problems. When she got home, she tried to put it out of her head. She went into the apartment and found a note from Lara that said she was at her mom's place and would be spending the night at Trout's.

Ryan shook her head. "I bet she did that just so I can't vent about my mom." Well, she couldn't blame Lara. Lord knew Ryan had done enough venting in the time they'd been friends. She flipped over the note, per Lara's instructions, and found some new lyrics.

Just came into my head, Lara had written. See if it shakes anything loose for you.

Ryan welcomed the distraction. She hung up her coat and went into her room to change into jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, then went out to see if there was any food.

Lara had made some chicken thing a couple of nights ago, and Ryan decided that would do. She put the leftovers on a plate, nuked them, and ate quickly. After she'd finished, she grabbed her guitar and Lara's note and sat down, noodling with no particular ideas to see if anything happened. After half an hour, she had nothing. When she heard a knock at the door, she put her guitar down and got up to answer it.

"Hi, Brody. Come on in."

"Thanks." He stepped in, closed the door and followed her back to the living room. "How are you doing?"

She threw her hands up as she walked back to the couch, and picked her guitar up again. "Just fucking great."

"Ah, I see."

"Sorry. I'm okay. Sorry."

"What's the problem?" He came closer and rubbed her shoulders. "Just nervous about tomorrow? You'll be fine." He took a step back and looked her up and down. "And I was right; you definitely look sexy with the guitar."

That made her laugh. "Well, thank you. But yes, I'm nervous about tomorrow."

"You'll be fine, Ryan. You even got in an extra rehearsal this week, didn't you?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know." The band had caught a break when Nate as able to switch shifts with someone and they'd squeezed in a rehearsal on Wednesday night. Even so, they were going into this without as much preparation as she'd like. She took a deep breath. "So, yes, I am stressed about tomorrow, but that's not all of it. My mom called me before I left work."

"Uh oh. What'd she say?"

"Oh, she tried to guilt trip me into going to a party for my aunt and uncle tomorrow night. For their anniversary." Ryan huffed out a frustrated breath. "I've talked to my aunt and uncle; they understand. The gig was set up before the party was. I told Mom that, but that's not good enough. Well, screw it." She put her guitar down again, then dropped onto the sofa.

Brody was silent for a moment, not sure what to say. His instinct was to try to provide a different perspective on her mom's remarks, but he couldn't, and he doubted Ryan would appreciate it.

"And you know what really pisses me off?" Ryan asked.

"What?"

"If JT or Evan had a game, my parents would miss this party without a second thought. And when I pointed that out, she just said, 'That's different.' Right, different." Ryan dropped her head back.

"What did you do?" Brody was a little uncertain as he sat next to her; he'd never seen her this upset.

"I just got off as soon as I could." Ryan shrugged. "I mean, I said good-bye and all. I couldn't take it."

"She probably didn't mean anything. She was probably just—"

"Brody, don't, okay?" She dragged her hands through her hair and turned to look at him. "I know you're just trying to make me feel better, and I appreciate it. But trust me, Mom meant it. It is different when it comes to my brothers, because my dad is all about sports, so my performance doesn't rate as a reason not to go."

"Okay, I'm sorry." He moved closer to her and put his arm around her shoulders.

She dropped her head to rest on his arm. "Not your fault. You'll see if you meet them."

"Oh, don’t worry. I know how to impress parents."

Ryan gave a short laugh. "That's not what I'm worried about. They'll love you. They just don't hold back on expressing opinions of my life choices."

"Ryan, try to relax." Brody tipped her chin up. "Getting upset isn't going to help."

"I know, but I can't help it. I'll work through it." She blew out a long breath. "Sorry, I'm not much fun tonight, am I?"

He laughed. "It's okay. We all have bad days, and you're stressed."

"You're right, I am." She turned to him. "And as my boyfriend, isn't it your job to help me de-stress?"

Brody stared at her, then saw the smile playing at the corners of her lips. "I guess it is, at that." He leaned in to kiss her and was pleased when he felt her relax against him. He rested his forehead on hers. "You're bossy, but in a subtle way, you know that?"

"Is that a problem?"

"Oh, no." He stood and took her hands to help her up. "No, I've found I like bossy women."

"Women?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Well, one woman." He snaked one arm around her waist and began walking her back towards the bedroom. "But I do like the one." With that, he wrapped his other arm around her and kissed her. Her arms came up and gripped his shoulders. As his tongue traced over her bottom lip, she opened her mouth and slid her tongue against his. He smiled into the kiss.

"Aggressive, aren't we?"

"What can I say? It's the stress." Ryan kissed him again and began unbuttoning his shirt. She pushed it open and raked her nails lightly over his chest.

"One day, we're going to have to do this when you're not stressed." Brody yanked her shirt over her head and made short work of her bra, then dragged her body up against his.

"Where's the fun in that?"

"Oh, I could have a lot of fun with that."

Ryan laughed, that throaty chuckle he was coming to love, and the rest of their clothes were gone in short order. Brody tumbled her to the bed, but then she pushed him to his back. He raised his eyebrow, then dropped his head back as she kissed his neck, and let out a surprised groan when he felt her mouth on his chest, then on his nipple. He jumped as her nails once more skimmed over his skin, but he liked it.

When she took him in her mouth, he flopped back on the bed. He'd meant, he was sure he had, to help her release her own stress. As she moved her mouth up and back down, he wondered if perhaps she preferred more active ways of getting rid of stress. Her tongue swept over the tip as she began to stroke him with her hand. That lasted less than a minute before he stopped her.

"Get over here." He pulled her up so he could kiss her and then rolled her over. "My turn."

Before she could react, he moved down her body. He licked and laved her nipples, then went lower, loving how she shuddered when he ran his tongue over her navel. Sliding further back, he paused to see what she would do; he didn't want to press her for anything she didn't want. When she reached down to touch his shoulder, he took that as permission.

She cried out and her hips bucked as his tongue glided over her sex. He grasped her sides and continued, teasing her with long, slow licks followed by quick kisses, then back. He varied his pace because he liked hearing the sounds she made. He kept her on the edge for a few moments, and then sent her over, waiting until she was limp before he stopped.

Ryan lay on the bed, wondering what had happened. She heard Brody moving and then he was over her. Although she liked how his body covered hers, she nudged him again until he was on his back, then swung her leg over him.

"Hey, that's nice." He reached up and ran his hands over her shoulders, her arms, and then her breasts. "Oh, that's nicer." He put his hands on her waist to guide her as she slid down, taking him inside her.

She was warm and wet and he wouldn't last long like this, he knew, but that was all right. Ryan leaned down and kissed him as she rolled her hips against him. She broke the kiss on a small cry as she came again. That did it for Brody; he captured her lips again while his hands gripped her hips and held her against him. He fell back with a groan. When Ryan collapsed on top of him, he wrapped his arms around her and rubbed her back.

After a moment, Ryan looked up. "Thanks."

"You're welcome."

She pushed herself up and chuckled at his mock efforts to keep her in place. A few minutes later, Brody threw on his jeans and Ryan grabbed an oversized t-shirt. She followed him out to the kitchen and wrapped her arms around him from behind.

"Good luck finding anything. I didn't have much time for shopping this week," she told him.

"A good chef is a creative chef. I'll manage."

As they sat down to watch a movie, Ryan curled up next to him on the couch. "I'm glad you came over, Brody. Thanks."

"You're welcome. Next time, though, either I bring food, or you come to my place. This was a serious test of my abilities."

Ryan laughed. "Deal. And I'll figure out some way to reciprocate."

"You know how I said you're sexy with the guitar?"

"Yes. So?" She gave him a wary look.

"I think you'd look even sexier if you were naked with the guitar."

She laughed and placed a quick but promising kiss on his lips. "Maybe someday."