“Okay, I will. But I don’t want any seafood from Sheckys. I’m pretty sure it was the lobster tails that made us sick last night. I got sick right after eating it. I mean it tasted all right, but within a half hour or so we were both violently ill.” I looked down at Ryan and combed my fingers through his hair.“
I don’t want any seafood from wherever those tails came from!” Ryan confirmed loud enough for Pete to hear.
“All right, I’ll tell her that. Well I’m sorry you weren’t feeling good, but it sounds like you’re on the mend, so… hey, can I talk to Ryan again?” Pete asked.
“Yeah! Sure.” I was momentarily surprised by his request.
“Yeah Pete, what’s up?” Ryan sat up to talk. “Yeah, I am, why? They play at eight on Sunday; I was hoping to watch it.” He started chewing on his fingers again. “She is? Are you are freaking kidding me?” His eyes shot over to mine. The way he reacted made me wonder what they were talking about.
“Are you serious? Unbelievable!” He breathed out a long sigh. “That’s… really good to know.” He chuckled. “Thanks!”
Ryan had a huge grin on his face as he shoved his phone back in his pocket. I was staring at him, hoping that he would let me in on the conversation.
“So, Taryn… Pete tells me that you are a big-time Pittsburgh Steelers fan. Is this true?”
“Oh, yeah! And a huge Pens fan too.” I nodded.
“You like ice hockey, too?” He looked at me like I was lying.
“I love hockey,” I said with a big yawn, feeling sleepy and drained.
“You know I grew up near Pittsburgh, right?” he asked, waiting for my confirmation.
“No, I didn’t. You only told me that you’re from Pennsylvania or ‘PeeAye’ as you call it. Oh wait, you did tell me that you attended Pitt.” I yawned again. “So you like football too, I take it?”
He was just sitting there shaking his head in disbelief again.
“What?” I asked.
“Nothing,” he dismissed my stare, getting up to stretch.
I saw him glancing around, taking in the sights of my different belongings. He ran his fingers over my DVD collection and commented that I didn’t have any of his movies.
“Sorry, not a fan.” I shrugged, teasing him.
He leered at me.
“Wait a minute!” he said as he pulled a DVD from the shelf. “You do have a movie I was in!” He showed the cover to me. I honestly could not remember if he was in the movie or not.
“You weren’t in that movie!”
“Actually I am,” he stressed. “My part was supposed to be bigger, but I got edited down to only four speaking lines. I’m in the mall scene.”
Ryan started to reminisce about the beginnings of his acting career and how his life was almost normal back in those days. How he could go out in public and barely, if ever, be recognized.
“So how many movies have you been in?”
“This Seaside we are filming now will be my sixth; that’s including the small role in this movie.” He waved the DVD box in the air.
“First film was an indie flick called Forever Wanting More. It did so-so at the Sundance Film Festival but now it’s coming out on DVD – go figure. Then I played Ashby in Watchtower. I guess you could say that’s the role that got my name out there.”
“Wait, when did you go to California?”
“When I auditioned for Watchtower. I ended up sharing an apartment with Alan Schefler.”
It didn’t take Ryan long to see the confusion on my face.
“He’s another actor I met when we started filming. Did you ever see Watchtower?”
“No,” I said sheepishly, slightly embarrassed that I had never seen any of his movies.
He gave me a disapproving look. “Well, you didn’t miss much. I died a horrible death in battle. Then I did this timeless piece.” He put the DVd back on the shelf.
“While my scenes were being edited down to just about nothing, I started the first Seaside. I just wrapped on a film called Reparation a few weeks ago. Did you hear of that one yet?” he asked teasingly.
I felt guilty – that surely meant I must have looked guilty too. “I’ve heard of Watchtower and Seaside - does that count?”
“I may have to deduct a few points,” he informed.
Ryan resumed perusing my music selection, occasionally slipping out a CD to look at it.
“I wanted to buy this one,” he said, holding a jewel case up for me to see.
“You can borrow it if you’d like. I have it on my iPod.”
“Can I borrow this one too… and this one?” He started to make a pile in his hand.
I smiled and nodded at his choices, pleasantly surprised that we had the same taste in music.
“Cool… some new music for my iPhone.” He grinned. “Wait, the CD is missing from this case.”
“That one is in the player.” I pointed to the shelf. “Take it out.”
He nestled back into the couch and shoved eight of my CDs into his bag. Happiness fluttered inside me knowing he had a reason to come back.
He spent the next few minutes looking at me, then back at the TV, then back at me again – smiling the entire time. I wished I knew what he was thinking. He leaned over and grabbed the pillow, tucking it next to his leg.
“Why don’t you lie down for a while? You should rest.”
I was tired and lying down sounded like a good idea. I grabbed the blanket, pulled it up over my shoulder, and stretched my legs out on the couch. Now that the urge to throw up was gone, it felt good to relax. Ryan rested his arm on top of mine.
We were watching some program about ghosts, but I could tell that Ryan was looking mostly at me. He curled his hand and softly brushed my cheek. It seemed that he was almost frightened to touch me; his hand seemed so hesitant. I didn’t know if he was testing himself or me.
I could feel his confidence grow as he ran his fingers through my hair. We were definitely becoming more than friends. I was so relaxed by his touch that it was hard to keep my eyes open.
Ryan’s voice pulled me from the haze. He called someone to get a ride to the hotel. I wondered why he just didn’t walk.
“I’m gonna get going. I have to work tomorrow and so do you.” He gathered his things and I walked him down to the back door.
“Thanks for taking me fishing. I had a great time.”
“Me too.”
“I’ll call you tomorrow.” He wrapped his arms around my shoulders and pulled me in for a nice hug. His hand held my face as he quickly kissed my cheek. He didn’t linger. I was surprised that he didn’t try to kiss me. It appeared that he was conflicted. I could relate… the line between just friends and something more was definitely blurred today.