Brody was quiet as he sat on the team bus the next day for the ride up to New York, still mulling over seeing Ryan the night before. This was one relationship area he had no experience with—the post-breakup phase. In the past, when he'd broken up with someone, they had stayed broken up. There'd been no apologies. Bax dropped into the seat next to him. "Well, you look like a barrel of laughs. Someone kick your dog?" "Funny...

Brody leaned forward on the bench and glanced up at the clock. Less than three minutes left, and they had a one-goal lead over visiting Toronto. The refs blew the play dead and everyone sat back and took a breath as the broadcast went to one final television time-out. The coach grabbed a whiteboard with rink markings on it and outlined their next play. Brody nodded and climbed over the boards with his teammates. Mark was...

The night after meeting Ryan's parents, Brody was playing pool with Drew, Bax, and Tolya at an Arlington sports bar. He took his shot, missed, and stepped back for Drew, and told them about the dinner. "Her dad asks me if I ever played football, because obviously he thinks that's the only sport worth playing." Brody shook his head. "Jesus. So there I am, trying to find a nice to way to say, no, I didn't want to play the s...

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 brake...

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?...

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, w...

© 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'...

"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, a...

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 fo...

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 t...

Rhythm and the Blue Line Part 6 © 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 bru...

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 awakened, but he'd left a...

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...

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 shou...

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 tu...