Ryan covered a yawn as she walked into the hotel lobby. The show had gone well and she was beat. Tired enough, she had decided, to head back to her room while the others hung out somewhere. Her fatigue must have shown, since none of them had made more than a token effort to convince her to go with them. She pondered that in the elevator. It was unlike Lara to leave her alone these days. Ever since the day Lara had forced...

Brody was bored. He stared up at the ceiling, wondering just how bored he could get. It was the middle of July and no one was around. Mark was gone for the summer, Bax and his family had returned to Boston and Ryan was on tour. Last he'd talked to his parents, they'd suggested he come to Michigan for a while, but he'd said no. There was no reason, he told himself. He was not going to change his plans just because Ryan had...

"Did you have a good time?" Brody asked. "Yeah, I did. Thanks for taking me." Ryan smiled to cover the awkwardness she felt. It had been a nice evening, despite the undercurrent of tension between her and Brody. They'd been able to ignore it while with Bax's family but there was no hiding from it now. "Not a problem. I mean, Bax invited both of us and I don't mind driving." "Good." They fell silent as Brody drove. Ryan st...

Lara looked at Ryan over the top of her latté. "You guys fought over a tour again?" "Well, we didn't exactly fight," Ryan said with a rueful smile. "I got out before it became a fight. But there was definitely a difference of opinion." "What happened?" "I already told you. Brody got upset when he realized I would be gone the rest of the summer. Then I got upset and left. I just knew if I stayed and we kept talking, it wou...

Brody checked the lasagna while he waited for Ryan. He hoped she hadn't gotten stuck in traffic, although he figured she'd call if something like that happened. It seemed strange that the six weeks were over. The only thing wrong was that he wasn't still playing hockey. Not that he would be even if the team was still in the playoffs. He was improving and would try skating again the next week. Still, he chafed at the restr...

Ryan found herself with time on her hands. The sound check was finished for their next show and she'd had lunch. With a few empty hours in front of her, she considered a swim in the hotel's pool. Upon inspection, she rejected the idea. Green water was a nice decorative touch, but not something she wanted to swim in. She hoped Brody would call soon; she'd texted him a while ago but had held off on calling. When her phone r...

After watching Brody suffer his concussion, Ryan could not sleep. She laid in bed and dozed fitfully at best, giving up around seven a.m. She dressed quietly to avoid waking Lara and went for a walk. After close to an hour, she still was not ready to return to the hotel. She found a diner a block away and went in and ordered some coffee. When her phone rang, she grabbed for it. "Hello." "Hi, Ryan? This is Bax. Chuck Baxte...

Game five back in Washington was even more tightly-contested than game four in Montréal. Brody saw the puck sliding to the corner and charged after it. He caught a flash of white out of the corner of his eye, knew he had a step on the defenseman, and sped up as he focused on the puck. A few feet out from the boards he felt something slam into his back and then he crashed into the boards. He dropped face down to the ice. "...

Ryan downed the soda she'd ordered at the bar. They were in Hartford, Connecticut. She felt the stage fright creeping up but ignored it. Once they'd gotten through the first couple of shows, her anxiety had eased a lot, even if it hadn't faded entirely. Word was getting around about the tour as well. Old fans and new were posting to the band's Facebook page which was like free publicity as people reviewed past shows and n...

Brody hung by the blue line, waiting for his defensemen to get to the puck out of the corner. Time slowed as players jabbed at the puck, trying to free it from under skates and sticks. After what seemed like forever, the puck dribbled free and Bax snagged it and started up the ice. Brody followed him and saw Tolya joining the rush. They crossed the red line and Bax dumped the puck down the ice. Brody put on a burst of spe...

Brody opened the door and laughed when Ryan threw her arms around him. "I missed you, too." He hugged her with one arm while closing the door with the other. Ryan looked up at him. "I can't believe we live in the same building and haven't seen each other in almost a week." "Yeah, I know. Crazy." He put his other arm around her and leaned down to kiss her. She laughed against his lips when he straightened up, lifting her s...

Ryan ignored her cell phone and focused her attention on sorting through clothes to pack for the tour and clothes to store. "Hey, you going to answer that?" Lara stood in the doorway. "Nope. It's my mom. I know why she's calling and I'm done with being yelled at." "Ah, I see." Lara surveyed Ryan's room for a few minutes before observing, "This place is a mess." Clothes, papers and general stuff littered the bed and floor....

"Remember this place?" Rick clapped Brody on the shoulder as they entered the bar. "I don't know—wait." Brody looked around. "Is this the place you took me when I turned twenty-one?" Rick grinned. "The very same. Although I remember it as the place where you barfed in the parking lot when we left." "Thanks for bringing that up." "You're not going to do that again, are you?" "No. Jesus." Brody aimed a punch at Rick's shoul...

Ryan had just saved her work log when her phone rang. She answered, hoping it wasn't a last-minute request for anything. She was anxious to finish up and get out; Brody was going to pick her up and they were going to get one last, quiet celebration in before the tour and the playoffs started up. It was her supervisor, but luck was with her—the work was already done. Relieved, she sent the files and copied them to the shar...

March brought a lot of wind and rain, and Ryan felt like she'd walked through it all on her way home from work. She went into her apartment, hoping the quiet would alleviate her headache. It had been a hell of a day, but it was Friday and it was over. She tried to concentrate on that as she went to her room to change. Things were moving along for the band. They'd found a lawyer through Trout's father, and a manager; Ryan...