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Rhythm and the Blue Line Ch 15

"Ryan's turn to go to a game."

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The next night, Ryan was sitting with her guitar, deep into a song when she heard Lara come in.

"So, how's it going with the boyfriend?"

Ryan looked up to see her friend leaning against the wall, a gleam in her eyes.

"It's going fine, thanks." Ryan went back to her song and hid a grin, knowing the neutral response would drive Lara crazy.

"Oh, come on. There must be more than that."

Ryan pretended to think, then shook her head. "No, that's all." Lara made a frustrated sound and Ryan laughed. "Okay, what is it you want to know?"

"I don't know! Just . . . how is it going?" Lara walked over and sat on the couch. "You hardly say anything. Inquiring minds want to know."

"It's . . . it's pretty great," Ryan admitted. "Brody's a lot of fun, and he helps me de-stress. He also cooks a mean dinner."

"You do look more relaxed." Lara grinned. "With most other people, I'd say it's the sex, but with you, I'm sure it's the food."

"Oh, thanks. How would you know?"

"Because I know you." Lara sat back. "You don't jump into things. Even the band. As much as you've wanted it, and for as long as you've wanted it, you plan. So I'd hardly expect you to jump in the sack with Brody on the first date."

"Yeah, well." Ryan shrugged. "I won't lie. He's certainly made it clear he'd like that, but he doesn't seem upset that we haven't."

"Good. A guy who'd be upset about that isn't worth your time."

Ryan chuckled. "Thanks. Good to know my judgment is still intact."

"I never had a doubt. Okay, change of subject. You still coming to my mom's for dinner tomorrow?" Lara's mom always invited Ryan for Thanksgiving.

"I was planning on it. Is it still okay with her?"

"Oh, sure." Lara nodded. "She just wanted me to check. Mitch is coming, too, I think. His parents are out visiting Maria before she has to deploy again."

Ryan shook her head. "That sucks, having to go before Christmas. I guess it's good they'll see her now. Mitch didn't want to go?"

"He said he did but couldn't get the time off from work. And he saw Maria last month when she was here on leave, so that's something, at least."

Ryan nodded. Mitch's sister, Captain Maria Renatti, was a doctor in the Army and about to leave on her third tour of duty in the Middle East. The whole family was proud of her, and the band was as well, by extension. Ryan hoped Maria would be okay; she was a lot of fun and had been a big supporter of her little brother and his friends when they'd started, even helping them get one of their first gigs.

"We'll have to get her address," Ryan said. "Make sure we send care packages and stuff."

"You know, I was thinking we should add something into our Facebook page, too. I'm not sure what, but some sort of fan page for Maria and her unit. It's not much, but Mitch mentioned it a while ago and thought it would mean a lot to her." Lara tapped a finger against her leg as she thought about it. "Yeah, we can do something. I'll talk to Trout and poke around and see what's out there."

"Excellent idea." Ryan nodded. "Let me know how I can help."

"You sure your parents don’t mind you missing dinner with them?" Lara asked.

"They won't be home." Ryan set the guitar down, stood and stretched. "JT's last game of the season is in North Carolina, and Dad decided he wanted to make it a big trip. I can't get the time, and I don’t want to go anyway. Evan's going with them. They wanted to do the traveling tomorrow. Even if I could get the time, I can't say Thanksgiving dinner at a rest stop on I-95 sounds like a fun proposition."

"No, me neither." Lara shook her head. "Okay, well, I think Mom's planning dinner for about three, so don't eat a big lunch. Is that okay?"

"No problem. Can I bring anything?"

"Nope, Mom says she has it all under control."

"Knowing your mom, she probably does." Ryan smiled and sat next to Lara on the couch. "Your mom is a fantastic cook, and I don't know how she keeps track of all the details."

"I don't either. She wouldn't tell me." Lara laughed. "Says it's a mom secret that I'll learn some day."

"I'm not sure I buy that, and it makes her all the more impressive."

"It does. So, what's Brody doing for the holiday?"

"There's a team dinner or something, he said. They're playing in Nashville tonight, coming back right after." She shrugged. "I'm going to go to the game on Saturday, when they play St. Louis."

"Well, well, well." Lara gave Ryan a knowing look and squeezed her arm. "Going to a game. You must really like him."

"Oh, knock it off." Ryan swatted Lara's hand away, making her friend laugh. "It's his 250th game. He asked if I'd come and said some people would be getting together afterwards for a few drinks or whatever. He's been really good about the band, coming to the show and all, and so I feel like I should go. I mean, I want to, and it sounds like fun."

"You're so cute when you're trying to figure out a relationship. It's adorable, really."

"Shut up." Ryan tried to scowl but ended up laughing instead.

"I'm sorry," Lara said over her own laughter. "Seriously, I'm glad to see it's going well. I knew it would be good for you."

"Relationship as therapy? Oh, please."

"No, no. Not like that. You just get so wrapped up in the band that sometimes you don’t do anything else. It's good that you're seeing someone, because it forces you to get out and try different things."

"I'm sure Brody would love to know that he's forcing me into the real world." Ryan shook her head and wondered if Lara was right. Did Ryan focus on the band to the exclusion of everything else? She wanted it, though. If there was one thing she'd agreed with her father on, it was that if you wanted something, you went after it with everything you had.

"That's not what I mean, and you know it."

"You're right. Sorry." Ryan leaned her head back on the couch. "It is fun, but it is taking some getting used to. I guess—I know—I expected him to act like my dad, my family. But he's not."

"Told you so." Lara tapped her feet on the floor in a happy dance.

Ryan threw a pillow at her.

x-x-x-x

Saturday night came around and Ryan felt a little weird as she handed her ticket over to the attendant at Verizon Center. She had, as she'd told Brody, gone to a couple games after Mark had given her tickets. More often, she'd given the tickets to Nate or Mitch, although she and Lara had had a good time at the games they'd attended.

Aside from her brothers, she'd never gone to a game for anyone in particular, she thought as she made her way through the crowd. She had to admit to some ambivalence about this game. Her guard was up on the whole sports issue, but Brody had only asked once, and since he'd come to her gig, and was coming to the 9:30 Club, how could she say no?

Jesus, she thought. She was going to need therapy for this relationship.

Ryan followed the usher to the steps at the top of the section, then saw Hilary waving at her from the seats.

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Relieved to see a familiar face, she waved back and went down the steps.

"Hey, Ryan. Brody said you were coming. Glad you could make it. Here, have a seat."

"Hi. Thanks." Ryan followed Hilary a few seats in and they sat down.

"Here, let me introduce you. You remember Lena, right?"

Ryan nodded. She'd met Lena a couple of times; as she recalled, Hilary and Lena were best friends, and Lena was with another guy on the team. In quick succession, Hilary introduced her to Sara, Nancy, Mina and Meg. Ryan hoped she'd remember the names; it was tempting to pull out her phone and note them all down.

"Ryan's with Brody," Hilary explained with a grin. "Believe it or not." Ryan gave her a puzzled look and Hilary laughed. "Sorry, Ryan. That's a comment on him, not you."

"Ah." Ryan just nodded, not quite sure what to say to that.

"Never mind her." Lena touched Ryan's arm and gave Hilary a dirty look. "She just likes to cause trouble. Brody's a great guy."

"Yeah, he's not bad." Ryan grinned and the other women laughed.

Lena started to say something else but was drowned out by the roar of the crowd and the blood-pumping music that accompanied the team's entrance onto the ice. Ryan looked down and couldn't help a smile when she saw Brody skate out, zip along the blue line and then around the boards to warm up.

The first period moved at a quick pace, and the teams traded goals within the first ten minutes. Ryan winced when Brody took a hit into the boards, then laughed at herself when he didn’t even slow down.

With five minutes left, Brody's line was out, cycling the puck around the St. Louis defensive zone. Ryan realized she was on the edge of her seat, hoping they'd get another goal before the intermission, but couldn't make herself sit back.

Brody sent the puck towards the net and the goaltender kicked it out, straight to Mark, who sent it around to another Capital, who in turn threw it back at the net. Brody and his linemates drove to the net and collided with the Blues defensemen as they fought to get the puck over the goal line.

Ryan's nails dug into her palms and the other women shouted encouragement. They sat back with groans of disappointment when the goalie covered the puck and the ref blew the whistle.

"I can't believe that didn't go in!" Mina protested. "Unreal!"

"That goalie's no slouch," Nancy said, shaking her head. "It's going to be tough the rest of the way."

"He's good, hmm?" Ryan asked. She felt as though she should try to contribute, although she didn't know much about hockey beyond the Capitals, and little enough about them.

"Oh, yeah." Nancy nodded. "We even tried to get him in the off season, but St. Louis made a better offer. He was a runner up for the Vezina, too. The NHL award for the best goaltender," she explained to Ryan.

Ryan was saved having to think of a reply when play resumed. The Caps pressed again, but the St. Louis goalie held steady and the siren sounded to end the period with the score still tied. She slumped back in her seat, relieved it was over. The other women talked for a moment and then broke away for restrooms and food. Ryan waved off their offers and stayed in her seat, as did Sara.

"Enjoying the game?" Sara asked.

"Pretty well." Ryan nodded. "I'm not usually much on sports, but it's fun."

"Not much on sports? That must make things interesting."

"Oh, it's not so bad." Ryan shrugged. "It's not that I hate it, exactly. Just haven't had great experiences with it." To put it mildly, she thought, then changed the subject. "So, which one is yours?"

Sara gave a hearty laugh at that. "I hadn't though of it like that. It makes it sound as though they're a bunch of stuffed animals. And a lot of them are teddy bears, but they'd hate to hear me say that. Anyway." She chuckled again. "I'm seeing Tolya Strelkov."

"I'm going to need a score card for all the couples." Ryan shook her head. "I still don't know the team roster."

"I felt like that when I first started meeting everyone," Sara agreed. "But you'll get used to it."

Ryan laughed and they chatted as intermission wore on. Sara listed the couples on the team and Ryan wondered how anyone could keep it all straight. As the other women drifted back, she found out that Hilary had decided to go for her MBA and that Lena had recently gotten into a Master's program at GWU. Mina, a chef, had recently been promoted. Nancy and Meg were older and had children, and Ryan couldn't imagine how they balanced being moms with working and their husbands traveling so much.

"What do you do, Ryan?" Nancy asked.

"Oh, I—"

"Ryan's got a band!" Hilary interrupted with a grin. "And they're fantastic!"

"No kidding?" Lena said. "Wow."

The other women plied her with questions about the band, its name, their music, and Ryan was happy to answer. She realized she'd expected any conversation to center around hockey, and so the talk of jobs and family was a pleasant surprise. She told them about the 9:30 Club and the shows after that, and that she hoped they'd come. They all promised to check their schedules and then the lights went down for the second period.

Ryan let the other women's enthusiasm carry her along and she settled in for the rest of the game, trying to put her usual dislike of sports aside.

Brody's line came out for a face off in the Caps' zone and she noted his linemates, Baxter and Callahan. Mark was out on defense, as was Meg's husband, Curt Weldon. Callahan won the puck, and dropped it back to Mark as the Caps' got into position.

Mark carried the puck up to the blue line, then passed it up to Baxter. Baxter nearly lost it to the Blues' winger, but he managed to get enough stick on it to push it away and Brody grabbed it, heading up ice with Callahan.

Ryan leaned forward and clasped her hands. St. Louis seemed to be a little off-kilter, just a step or two behind the Caps. A couple of times she expected a penalty as they tried to knock Brody's line off the puck, but the refs didn't call anything.

Another check, another pass, and the Caps set up and began cycling, playing keep away from the Blues.

Baxter let a shot go, but it bounced off the cross bar. Brody scrambled to get it back to Callahan, who passed it on to Weldon. After holding for a few seconds, Weldon sent it on to Mark. Mark looked for an opening and Ryan heard Hilary urging him to shoot. Instead, he winged the puck to Brody. Brody make a quick shot, which tumbled around the crease before scooting back near one of the circles. Brody got it again and slid it to Mark, who slammed it home.

When the light went on, Ryan jumped out of her seat along with the rest of the crowd. She turned to Hilary. "You know, this is kind of fun," she shouted with a grin.

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Written by PennLady
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