“I knew I shouldn’t have left. That’s why I didn’t want to go downstairs.”
“She would have gotten to me sooner or later. She seemed hell-bent on getting her point across.”
He took my hand in his and held it to his lips. “Well, now you know exactly how I feel so it doesn’t matter what she or anyone else says. All right?”
I nodded in agreement.
“I told you I’m yours!” he reminded. “I knew you didn’t believe me! Do you believe me now?”
I felt silly for doubting him. “Yes!” I laughed out.
Ryan slipped his hand into my hair and held my face to his, kissing me passionately.
“Let’s go get you freshened up,” he suggested, rubbing his thumb under my eye.
“You know, if you were on set right now, you’d have a team of makeup artists touching up your face.”
“You speak from experience?” I muttered while reapplying some eyeliner. I already knew his answer.
“Yes, it’s true. I openly admit it. I wear makeup and lip color just about every day,” he stated in a joking fashion. “It’s quite emasculating, although I do like the way my skin feels afterwards.”
I could tell by his theatrical performance that he was trying to lift my spirits. Try as he may, I still knew Suzanne was down there, eagerly awaiting the result of her meddling.
“Wait, before we go, are you going to say anything to her?”
He sniffed. “I’m not sure yet. Do you want me to?”
“No!” I quickly answered. Fear of another confrontation drove my response.
“Are you sure?”
I knew he would defend me if I asked him to.
“Yes, I’m sure. I think it would be best to just leave it go.”
“Then I won’t say anything to her… here.”
Ryan stopped at the bottom of my stairwell. He pulled me in for a tender embrace and kissed me seductively. I couldn’t help but smile.
“That’s better!” He grinned. Ryan took my hand in his and pushed the door open.
I noticed that everyone was sitting separated; actors at one table and my friends were at another. Ryan set his plate down at the empty seat next to Pete. He pulled out a chair for me to sit down next to him.
“Tar, what would you like to drink?” Ryan asked, resting his hand on my back.
I attempted to get up and serve myself, but he leaned over me, holding me in place.
“A glass of wine, please?”
Marie was just about to take a bite of food in her mouth when she flashed her eyes at me. She smiled at Ryan’s actions.
“You okay?” she mouthed.
I nodded and smiled.
She left out a sigh of relief and shot a dirty look at Suzanne.
Pete stood up and held his glass in the air after Ryan took his seat. “I’d like to make a toast. To my lovely Tammy, for staying up until three a.m. making all this fabulous food, and to Taryn, for once again making the best steaks in Rhode Island! May we know how truly blessed we are having these ladies in our lives.”
Pete leaned over and gave Tammy a nice kiss. He was so in love with her.
Ryan leaned over and whispered in my ear. “I am truly blessed.” He kissed me tenderly.
Once everyone finished eating and talking, Ryan and Pete were like the entertainment committee. Pete started a poker game with Kat, Ben, Shane, and Tammy. There was a lot of hooting and hollering coming from the big table. They were having a good time.
Ryan and I played pool with Cal and Gary. Marie and Kelly were busy talking up a storm at the corner table in the poolroom. Kelly was a huge celebrity advocate for breast cancer awareness and Marie had recently lost her favorite aunt to the disease. They were deep into their conversation.
The sourpuss twins were off on their own, text messaging and calling people. That was until Francesca got brave enough to separate herself from Suzanne and joined the poker game. Sure enough, Suzanne made her way over to the big table soon afterwards. It was apparent that they were avoiding whatever room I was in.
Ryan never left my side or should I say, my back. No matter where I stood I could easily lean back and rest on him.
“Before I forget to tell you, I really like those boots,” he whispered in my ear. “You’re almost the perfect height.” He pulled my hip back so I’d bump him and get his point.
“Do you want me to wear them later?” I asked privately in a joking fashion.
“Would you?” he whispered. “Every time you lean over the pool table, I just about go out of my mind,” he snickered in my ear.
I turned to him and looked him in the eyes.
“Question… the first day, here, in the poolroom, were you looking down my shirt?” I whispered.
“Maybe, but only once or twice.” He wet his lips and smiled. “I liked the lace that was on the edge of your bra. But what really got my attention was when you were leaning into the cooler. Those jeans you were wearing – yum.”
He took a deep, sultry breath. “Although the ones you’re wearing now are definitely my new favorites. I’m looking forward to untying them with my teeth later.”
“Just don’t rip them! They were expensive.”
He shrugged and scoffed. “I’ll give you my credit card - go buy yourself a dozen more. Tearing those jeans off of you is worth every penny I have.”
I dismissed his comment and continued our private conversation. “What about the distracting belly scratch? What did that do for you?”
He looked at me and smiled bashfully while he chewed on his straw. “Do you really want me to answer that?”
“Yes!”
He hesitated before answering. “I spent a few moments thinking about violating you on top of this pool table. Sort of the same thoughts I’m having right now, but now my thoughts are more from memory and less from imagination.”
I heard something bump against the poolroom window, causing me to flinch from the sound. Since no one was near a window, it had to come from the outside.
“I think someone is trying to look in the window.” I peered over Ryan’s shoulder to see.
He grabbed my forearm and stopped me from getting any closer.
“Don’t,” he warned. “Just ignore it.”
“Ignore what? What’s out there?”
“Paparazzi and fans. We’ve already been informed by our security.”
“Do you have security outside?”
“Yes,” he answered directly.
I tried to imagine it, picturing all their bodyguards and drivers just standing around outside in the cold… bored, hungry, and waiting for the celebrities.
“Why didn’t you invite the security guys inside? They could’ve at least had some food.”
“No. Their job is to make sure we can relax and not worry about what they’re worrying about.”
“You’re going to be seen leaving here no matter what,” I muttered.
He ran his hand reassuringly over my arm. “Don’t worry about it.”
“But if you’re photographed leaving in the morning?” I asked. I didn’t care about me, I was worried about him.
He looked at me with a serious expression. “If I leave here tonight, the paparazzi might just think that I arrived first – alone, and that they missed me. If I leave in the morning, then the cat’s out of the bag.”
“What are you going to do?” It was his decision.
“I know what I should do. But what I should do is not what I want to do. If I leave in the morning, they are going to start following you.” He motioned his head towards the window.
“What difference does it make? You’ve been here twice, and now there’s a private party here. I’m sure the connection has been made.”
“If I leave in the morning, that’s it. It definitely begins. Are you ready for that?”
A few select words he said crossed through my mind: “I’m falling in love with you” and “girlfriend.” Then I thought about the freedom that I take for granted every day. I would no longer w
alk around the Earth in complete anonymity.
“If you really meant all the words you said to me on the roof, then yes, I’m ready.”
“Taryn, I just want to protect you. You know that, right?”
I nodded. I knew he didn’t want me to be hounded. But how long could he, or would he, keep me a secret? I guess a little disappointment showed on my face.
“Well, we don’t have to decide now. We still have a game to watch,” Ryan said, giving me hope.
I turned the channel to Sunday night football. The familiar background music started to play and a few of the guys mimicked the tones. It was funny.
“We’re going to watch American football?” Suzanne whined.
Ryan turned and spoke over his shoulder. “We could call a car for you if you don’t want to stay.”
I smiled inside. He was being nice, but he really wanted to get rid of her.
“I can call for my own car, thank you,” she snapped back. I was glad to see her use her cell phone.
I carried a fresh pitcher of beer over to the guys. They were all lined up at the table closest to the television.
“Gary, get your money ready!” Ryan teased.
I filled Ryan’s empty glass with beer. It looked tasty so I took a sip then handed it to him. He took a big gulp and handed the glass back to me.
“You get your money ready,” Gary bantered back. “I already have one of your twenties in my wallet; just waiting for another one. Maybe you should give that twenty to Taryn to keep warm for me.”
Ryan patted my leg. “Don’t you worry about this twenty. It’s nice and warm, and looking forward to having another twenty to be its friend.”
Ryan rested his arm on the back of my chair and whispered in my ear, “let’s do a shot.”
“Preference?”
“How about that tequila we had that one time?” Ryan answered. “Do you still have some?”
“Yeah.” I nodded. “I think there’s enough left in the bottle.”
“Well, let’s kill it. I’ll give you money for a new bottle. That stuff was good!”
Suzanne and Francesca put their coats on and then Suzanne announced their departure. Hardly anyone said goodbye to them. Kat yelled “see ya” very loud, but her tone was definitely more dismissive rather than a sincere goodbye.
I heard some screams coming from the waiting fans when they departed through my front door, but the screaming didn’t last too long. Since the screams were coming from females, the crowd outside was obviously waiting for actors, not actresses. My thoughts were that they were really waiting for one actor in particular to emerge.
I had suspected, and Ryan had confirmed, that the paparazzi were staked outside my building - waiting. But it was only then, when Suzanne and Francesca left, that the amount of paparazzi waiting became more apparent. The entire sidewalk and the full length of my exterior were illuminated by flashes from the cameras, completely lighting up the darkness outside my windows.
Once Suzanne and Francesca left, it was like everyone inside could breathe again. The men were getting loud, shouting at the football game, and the ladies had to yell just so we could have a conversation.
My attention focused back on Ryan when I saw him talking on his cell phone. He didn’t talk long, but whatever he heard pissed him off. He pounded his fist into the table. I watched as he leaned over and said something in Cal’s ear. Cal just shook his head in disgust.
After everyone did a shot of tequila, I sat at the big round table with the ladies to play some cards. Kat was getting tipsy; she was so cute to watch as she giggled to herself.
“I’m glad the psycho twins finally left,” Kelly announced. Her comment made me chuckle.
“Yeah, what’s up with Suzanne?” Marie asked. “She’s kind of like a bitch.”
“That’s an understatement!” Kat laughed loudly.
“It’s surprising; on screen she and Ryan have such amazing chemistry. I thought she’d be nicer,” Tammy said.
“That’s because Ryan has the patience of a saint!” Kat yelled in Ryan’s direction. “We should call him Saint Ryan from now on.”
Ryan looked over his shoulder and smirked at her.
“We all told him that if he’d just kill her already, we could go home. We even offered to bail him out of jail if he’d do it!” Kat joked. “Right Ryan? I’d bail you out of jail in a heartbeat, brother!”
“That’s why I check the clip in my gun before every scene.” Ryan laughed. “I’m so paranoid that one of you are going to slip real bullets in there one day.”
“And what about Francesca?” Tammy asked Kat. “She barely said a word to anyone.”
“That’s because Suzanne does the talking for both of them now. Sometimes we wonder if Fran is made out of wood and Suzanne has her hand up her ass making her mouth move,” Kat hiccuped.
Ryan turned around, laughing hysterically at Kat’s comment. He made a gesture like he had a puppet on his hand.
“Francesca has issues,” Kelly added. “At first she was really nice, but she developed this idolization of Suzanne, and then she became an evil clone.”
Kelly lowered her voice. “Fran is infatuated with Ryan, or at least she was. I don’t know anymore. We think since Suzanne was in a position to be close to Ryan, Fran started to mimic her - thinking it would attract Ryan’s attention. It developed into this sickness.”
“I’m still betting on the alien abduction theory myself,” Kat added. “One more movie, one more and then we are finished with them. I am so not looking forward to having to hit the promo circuit with them again. It’s going to be a freaking nightmare.”
“Well Suzanne said some harsh things to Taryn tonight,” Marie added. “It’s pretty obvious that she’s got a thing for Ryan too.”
I looked down at the cards in my hand, displeased that she mentioned it.
“Taryn, she was a bitch to you! I wanted to punch her. Now when I see the next movie, I’m going to wish Charles would let her bleed to death in that cave.”
I thought about Ryan having to go to work tomorrow. Would he say anything to Suzanne or would he just ignore it for the sake of keeping his job? I presumed he would just keep his cool and do his scenes the best he could. It wasn’t in his personality to invite confrontations.
I was glad he told me what he did when we were in the shower earlier this morning. He was honest with me. I wondered if anyone else sitting at this table knew about his slip in judgment when he slept with Francesca. If they knew, they certainly weren’t going to bring it up in front of me. Kelly and Kat were above that.
I looked up at the television and saw that the Steelers had possession of the ball.
“Excuse me, ladies. I have to see this.” I sat back down next to Ryan.
The quarterback had just thrown the ball for twenty yards and the Steelers’ receiver was on his way to the goal. I stood up to cheer; Ryan stood up right behind me.
“Touchdown!” we both yelled. Ryan held his hands up in the air; I clapped my hands into his for a mutual high-five. The place kicker got the ball between the uprights for the extra point. Ryan gave me another high-five and a quick kiss. He was so happy, and seeing him happy made me even happier.
I noticed I was the only female even remotely interested in the game, but it didn’t matter. I had everything my heart desired; great friends, new soon-to-be great friends, and the best man I could have ever wished for.
I stayed with Ryan until half time. The Steelers were winning, 21 to 7, Ryan was having a blast with the guys, and I was secretly entertaining thoughts of straddling him where he sat. The several drinks I had consumed further enhanced my naughty thoughts. I was feeling buzzed and completely aroused.
“Play me a song,” Ryan whispered in my ear.
I looked at him like he was crazy.
“What do mean, play you a song?” I grinned and looked him in the eyes.
“On your piano. Play something.”
“Why don’t you play me a song?” I ch
allenged. “My guitar is just up those steps.” I pointed to the door.
“Oh no! I asked you first! Come on, just one.” He stood up and pulled me off of my chair, practically carrying me like I was a football over to my piano.
I lifted the cover off of the keys and stared at them. I had no idea what to play. I played a few notes, hoping that a song would come to me while remembering all the songbooks I used to have.
I started to play a few chords and Ryan’s face lit up.
“Journey?” he asked.
I nodded and began to sing.
Soon I had a gathering around my piano, all of us trying to remember the words. It was amusing to hear them all sing off-key. Our rendition of that wonderful song ended horribly, since I couldn’t remember all of the lyrics.
“How about this one?” I played a few notes.
It was karaoke night in Mitchell’s Pub.
“Play that song you played that night,” Ryan requested coyly. “Please?”
At his urging, I played “You’ve got a Friend” again. This time I wasn’t nervous.
Cal took Kelly in his arms and started to dance with her. It was such a beautiful sight. Pete twirled Tammy under his arm, and Ryan leaned across the top of my piano, smiling at me.
I sang to him and him alone.
We were all having a good time singing and laughing, that was until the police sirens sounded and the red and blue lights flashed in front of my pub. I immediately hopped up off my piano bench.
“Pete!” I yelled.
“I’m on it,” Pete answered as he trotted out the front door.
I stood near the door waiting for Pete to return. It seemed to take him forever. I wanted to look out the window to see what was going on, but Ryan stopped me. Eventually Pete came back in but he wasn’t alone; two police officers were with him.
“Pete, what’s going on?” I asked, nervous that I had police in my pub. It had been a long time since I had cops show up. Usually they came after someone started a fight outside, but I had no idea why they were here now.
“Good Evening, Miss,” One of the policemen addressed me as he looked around at my guests.
“Good Evening, Officer,” I replied. “I’m Taryn Mitchell. I’m the owner here. What is going on?” Ryan stood dutifully behind me.