A Reason (A Reason, Season, Lifetime Series) (3 page)

“Let’s direct some of that towards impressing me with what you can do with these weights. We’ll see where you’re at, and wha
t we need to work on.” Ryan says from behind me. I appreciate that he isn’t fussing about my tears. He isn’t treating me like some delicate girl who needs a guy to do everything for them. I’m just one of the guys who needs to be trained.

“Sorry I was a bitch about what you did out there. I didn’t know what was going on, but you knew they were coming to talk about it. Can we make a promise, that if I am trusting you with all of this, you trust me with being honest up front? About all of it. Straight forward punches, fight me like a guy, no pussy footing around me like a delicate girl? You could have said
, ‘Hey, someone’s coming so we need to be alone in here until they get here.’ Instead you acted all flirty and weird and pissed me off. Sorry about the gut punch by the way, how ya feeling?”

“Took my breath away, I’ll give you that. Is there any bruising?” Ryan lifted up his shirt, and I had to fight the urge to blush. His stomach was like what you see in the teen magazines. What do they
call that, a six pack? I start counting to see if there really is six.

“Emma, close your mouth please, and stop counting my abs before I forget you’re my best
friends’ girlfriend.” Ryan says in a husky voice, barely above a whisper.

I didn’t even realize my mouth was hanging open. I pull my tongue in behind my teeth, it had been licking the front of my teeth while I counted his
abs. A day from hell, and I am acting like a horny teenager? Well, I am a horny teenager, but still. I need to get busy with the workout and forget my attraction to this guy. I sit down and get my legs ready on the leg press.

“
Put it all the way up, big guy.”

“That obvious, huh?” Ryan says in a quiet voice, then clears
his throat. “All the way, you sure? That’s a lot of weight.”

“I’m a big girl, I can handle it.”

“You’re a tiny thing, little Bambi! If you can press that whole rack, I’ll be your slave for a week!”

“Okay, to start off with, what is up with little Bambi?”

“Bambi was a tiny little thing, the prince of the forest, but innocent and naïve. Bambi loved being nosey and learning about everything, but also needed to be protected. He grew up later on to rule the forest and protect those he loved, after he lost his mom and learned the hard way how hard life can be. Hearing about your life from Danny, and seeing how small and sweet you are, you remind me of Bambi.”

What am
I supposed to say to that? That is kind of sweet, and a fair analogy, I guess. “Okay. Secondly, care to shake on that slave wager? I press that whole rack, today, and you’re my slave for a week?”

Ryan bit
es on his lip, his green eyes holding mine, showing his perfect teeth, and damn if that doesn’t make me want to bite and suck on his lip myself. 

“Deal. You look to be what, maybe 110 pounds? You’re barely five feet tall. If you can leg press that rack, which is more than double your weight, you deserve a slave.”
He laughs, his green eyes lighting up and those perfect teeth making me feel things I should not feel for my boyfriend’s best friend.

I stand up, we sha
ke on it, and I sit back down. I’m a country girl. He was damn close about my weight, and I’m four feet eleven. I grew up surrounded by animals, trees, and a father who is an asshole. I like to climb trees or run away, fast and hard. I can ride a horse without a saddle, and I know I can leg press the whole rack at school. With a smile and a wink, I blow him a kiss, then grab onto the side handles on either sides of my hips. After I blow the kiss, his face went from cocky jock to shock. I push that entire rack all the way up, and ease it back down.

“Well, fuck me, I’m a slave for a week. Something tells me it’s going to be a week of surprises and I may enjoy it a little more than a slave should. You’re fucking amazing.” Ryan sa
ys loudly, with a laugh.

“Mr. Pierce, did I just hear you announce your detention for t
his afternoon?” Coach Webster comes into the weight room. Shit.

“It was my fault. We made a wager I couldn’t leg press the whole rack. I did and now he has to be my slave for a week. Can you just pretend you didn’t hear him just this once? Please, coach?”

“
You
leg pressed the entire rack?” Coach asks, looking at me like I was making up a story.
Ugh, men
. I wipe the smirk off of his face when I do it again.

“Wow, Miss Bellamy! I’m impressed! I would not want to be on your bad side if I’m anywhere near your legs! Okay, I’ll let the language slip, because the same words crossed my mind when I saw that. You’re excused. Have fun being her slave for a week, Ryan! That should be punishment enough for not believing a woman when she said sh
e could do something!” He walks away, chuckling loudly.

“Ready for your slave to escort you to class
?” Ryan asks me.

“
I’m in French next, with Ms. Bleu. Where are you headed?”

“I don’t know how you
hadn’t noticed, but you’re right next door to me. I’m in US History next period. I’ll walk you and carry your books, now that I’m your slave and all.” Ryan gives me a huge smile, a wink, and heads off to the locker room to change.

I am
so over my head. Between a boyfriend that is more like my best friend who I can’t stand to hurt, a boy I can barely function around if he smiles at me or looks directly at me with those green eyes of his, and a father I have to learn to fight, I’m going under and drowning. I have to push away the thought that the drowning would be worth it if I could look in Ryan’s eyes as I went under.

I walk
into the locker room and the girls are waiting to ambush me. “I played basketball for you, so what’s the story? I saw Danny show up and prayed to God he did not find you and Ryan making out or something! Ryan is fucking lickable, did you make out with him? Danny wasn’t crying when he walked out, so obviously you didn’t dump him!” Brenda is the first to ask the questions.

I pull
her and Lena to the side. “Ryan is just a flirt. I’m not dumping Danny, yet. God I never should have said I would go out with him, but he is like my best friend. He is so sweet to me, how can I just dump him? But I do need a huge favor. I need you to say I am spending the weekend at your house if anyone asks. If my father does actually call your house, tell him I’m in the bathroom. I’ll get you the phone number of where I’ll be so you can call me there and tell me I have to call him back. We don’t have caller ID so he’ll never know. Can you do that, please?”

Brenda looks
at me, trying to figure out more to the story. “I know you well enough to know this is serious. This isn’t just about a boy, is it? It’s your mom again?”

She knows
me too well. “Yes. She’s in surgery, he fucked up her face bad enough to need surgery. I’m getting away for the weekend, with Eva. We’ll be safe, and some people are going to try to help us so someday we can get out of there, or get rid of my father. Can you do this for me, please?”

“Ryan is a part of it though, isn’t he?”

“Damn you, Brenda stop being so nosey. I don’t want you to know too much. Yes. He’s going to help me learn to defend myself. I’m spending the weekend at his house, with his mom there, so stop looking at me like that. I’m going to learn how to defend, and how to fight against my father so someday I can stop him. Can I trust you with this?”

“You can trust me with anything. I love you and Eva. I’ll tell my mom, she already knows about what that asshole does to you. She’ll cover for us. I have Ryan’s number already, so I can call you if I need you.”

“How do you have Ryan’s number?”

“Girl you are not the only one with good taste around here. You may be hiding behind Danny, but Ryan is the hottest thing in this country town. He gave me his number once, we talked on the phone and tried to go out for a movie once. He just wasn’t into me.
He has been here for a year and he hasn’t seriously dated any girl here. There’s a reason for that.” Brenda kisses my cheek, we give each other a big hug, and I go to change.

I walk
out of the locker room a few minutes later, and Ryan is there with a few other guys. “Emma! You little shit! Tell us you did not leg press the whole rack! Now coach called us girls and said we have to pick up our game!” Curt says to me. Ryan is against the wall, laughing. Curt has to snap his fingers in front of my face to get me to stop staring at Ryan laughing.

“Sorry, ladies. I did. Ryan and coach saw it. I would be happy to show you ladies another day. Pardonnez
-moi, I have French class to get to. Tootles girlfriends!” I air kiss at Curt, who flips me off, and walk to Ryan.

Ryan bows
low to me. “Madame, your slave is ready to honor and serve you. Shall I escort you to French class?”

I curtsy
to him. “Oui, merci. Au revoire, mes Amis!” He makes a big deal of getting up from his bow, then holding his hand up high in the air. When I place my hand in his, he kisses it, looking me directly in the eyes. Oh Lord, the butterflies. This boy is my kryptonite. Everyone starts clapping and whistling, and we try to look very serious, while he escorts me to class. We are all headed mostly the same way, at least to the same hall, so they make a big deal about clearing the three steps from the gym up to the main high school hallway. They are all being loud and smart about making way for Queen of the leg press and her lowly slave. It’s kind of hilarious.

We ta
ke a right around the offices and are now facing the hall where I have French and he has US History. Ms. Rivers English class is across the hall. All three of those teachers come out when they hear the noise.

Ms. Rivers is laughing and claps
her hands together, looking pleased. The French teacher, as always, looks like something smells bad, but the US History teacher gets involved. He bows in front of us, addressing me as Queen and Ryan as King. The girls all giggle of course. Before I can correct him, Ryan kneels down on one knee. “No, not I. I am but a lowly servant to the Queen of the leg press. I shall serve none but her with all of my days. For now, I beg your Grace my leave. I must attend History, whilst you are taught the most beautiful language of love. For now, I bid you adieu. I shall but wait with baited breath to serve you when we shall meet again.”

My face i
s on fire, and to make it worse, he kisses my hand slowly while looking up at me with his green eyes that make me melt. I bite my lip, and just stand there while he kisses my hand and looks at me. All common sense is gone with one look from Ryan. I lick my lip, it is a little sore from biting on it, and Ryan’s gaze shifts from my eyes to my lips.

Ms. Bleu, the French teacher
, breaks our gazes when she grabs my arm and pulls me into class as the bell rings. I can hear everyone laughing in the hall still, as well as the students in here. One thing I forgot? Danny is in my French class. Yes, my boyfriend, whom I completely forgot about when I was with Ryan. I look up and he is sitting in the back of the room with his feet up on my chair. He motions with a finger to join him, not smiling at all.

I sit down and open
my text book. Luckily today we’re watching some French movie with subtitles. A few minutes later, Danny hands me a note.

What is going on with you two? I know he has a thing for you and wants to help you, but do you like him too?”

I sigh heavily. This is so not the time or place for this. So on the back of his note I write:
I will admit attraction to him. I won’t lie to you. Coach saw me leg press the whole rack, the guys went crazy about it and they made a funny little act out of it all. Since we’re starting this drama club, Ryan’s act was perfect timing to sell the drama club thing, don’t you think? Right now I am worried about my mother in surgery, and learning how to protect my mom and Eva in the future. I don’t have time for teenage drama when the next fight could mean burying someone I love. Life was simpler when you and I were best friends. Can we be best friends, or must everything be dramatic?

With a heavy heart I hand
the note back to him. It makes me sad that I don’t feel the same for him as he does for me. He is a great friend.

I see him read the note, and watch
his shoulders slump as he realizes what I was saying. We just aren’t meant to be a couple. He is my friend, and I need a friend. I need to learn to defend myself and fight to protect my mom and sister. We somehow get through the end of class, and Danny follows me out of class. Since we had made a presentation of walking to class, everyone is standing around waiting to see what happens next. It was the final period of the day, so everyone would be headed for the buses, other than the few who were staying after. Danny grabs my hand, and I didn’t fight him. Until he places it in Ryan’s hand. Ryan and I just look at him, I have no idea what to say. I didn’t write all of that because I wanted to date Ryan right now. I wanted less drama! 

Leave it to Danny to make this a singing moment. Our town is really small, we don’t have much entertainment, obviously. “
I’m happy for you, I’m really happy for you. I guess it’s over baby, it’s really over baby. And from what you’ve said, I know you’ve gotten over me. It’ll never be, the way it used to be. So if it’s gotta be this way. Don’t worry baby I can take the news okay. But if you see me walking by, and the tears are in my eyes, look away, baby look away
.” Danny turns and walks out towards the buses. I feel awful. I didn’t want to hurt him.