More Than Jamie Baker (Jamie Baker #2) (8 page)

“So what’s this surprise?” I asked, plopping down on his unmade bed.

He answered me with a deep kiss. Somehow I didn’t think this was his solution to my dilemma, but with Ryan you never know. I wouldn’t put it past him to believe that his kissing skills could solve any problem. Either way, I went with it. After seeing Carter, I needed a good kiss to clear my mind.

Just as Ryan pushed me back onto the bed, his roommate stumbled in wearing more sweat than clothes.

Makeout mood officially dead.

“Miller,” he said with a laugh. “I know you’re a new freshman and all, but I thought the do-not-disturb necktie on the doorknob was universal knowledge.”

“It’s all good,” Ryan said. “We were just saying hello.”

The guy flashed me a wide grin as I sat up. “Do you say hello to everyone like that, or is Miller just a lucky S.O.B.?”

The couple of times I’d been to Ryan’s dorm, I hadn’t met his roommate. Ryan had told me a little about him, though. His name was Sean, he was a sophomore, played tight end, and Ryan liked him. I could see why. He seemed as easygoing as Ryan.

I stood up and extended my hand. “I’m Jamie.”

“Oh, I know.” Sean laughed again and shook my hand. “Miller doesn’t shut up about you. He has the women on this campus all going crazy, but he’s devastatingly faithful. Did you know that the cheer squad came to visit him Sunday after he’d bailed on the game?”

“Becky told them about Mike,” Ryan explained. “I guess they were concerned about me after I left early.”

Sean snorted. “They said it was their job to cheer up their quarterback. The
entire
cheer squad was fawning over this shmuck, and do you know what he did? He took out your picture and told them all the story of how you guys got together—his bet with the guy in the hospital over winning a date with Becky. They were all swooning and he didn’t even notice.”

I shook my head. “Oh, he noticed. He does it on purpose, you know. Don’t let his boyish smile fool you. Ryan Miller knows
exactly
what he’s doing all the time.”

Sean laughed. “Well, it looks like he’s found the perfect girl to keep him in line. It’s good to finally meet you, Jamie.” Sean flung a towel over his shoulders. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to hit the showers.”

Sean flashed me one last bright smile and then jokingly tossed Ryan a necktie as he left the room. Ryan held it up with a suggestive look that made me laugh.

“Focus.”

“Right.”

Ryan grabbed a stack of magazines off his desk. When I realized they were comic books, I frowned. “Funny.”

“Think about it, Jamie. You have superpowers. You want to use them to help people, and you don’t want people to find out about you.”

“I don’t want to be a superhero, Ryan, and it wouldn’t solve my problem, anyway. It’s not like I can wear a mask all the time. What if I’m just walking around as Jamie Baker and another accident happens, like with Mike? I don’t know if you’ve noticed the lack of phone booths in the world these days. I can’t just run off and change my clothes every time some idiot crosses a street without looking.”

Ryan was trying to help me, but the more I talked about this the more I realized I was screwed. “Face it. The only way to really solve this problem would be to run off to the Canadian Rockies where the only living beings I’ll risk exposing myself to walk on four legs instead of two.”

I didn’t realize how worked up I was until Ryan took my hands and prompted me to take a long, deep breath through my nose.

“You can’t save everyone, Jamie. You did the right thing the other day.”

“It doesn’t feel like I did the right thing.”

Ryan pulled me into his arms, which is the absolute best place to be. He pushed my hair away from my face and then settled his hand on my cheek, forcing me to meet his stare. “Stop focusing on only the negative. Mike is going to be okay, and you weren’t exposed. Be grateful for at least that much.”

Ryan has this annoying talent of sounding firm and sympathetic at the same time. When he uses that gentle voice and stares at me with those understanding eyes, it’s almost like I feel grateful or lucky to be receiving a lecture from him. It’s why he always gets his way. The most exasperating part is that I can’t even be mad at him for always getting what he wants, because he always manages to make me feel better in spite of myself.

“You can’t save everyone, Jamie, but maybe if you were able to help
some
people, it might make up for the times you have to put yourself first.”

“You think saving someone else is going to make what I let happen to Mike okay?”

Ryan shook his head, but he was still smiling at me. “Mike is the only one responsible for what happened to him, and, no, I don’t think saving people would make the guilt you feel disappear. But I do think it would give you something to feel good about. It would give you something to focus on that you could actually control.” Ryan gave me a tiny smirk. “And we both know how much you love control.”

Ryan grinned and I kissed him. I was a lost cause.

“How is it that you can make even the craziest ideas make sense?” I asked.

Ryan’s face lit up. “So, you’ll do it?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know. This isn’t a game we’re talking about—it’s my life. It’s other people’s lives.”

“Lives that will only be better because of you.”

“Unless I screw it up.” I picked up Ryan’s stack of comics and scattered them across his bed. “There’s no way it’s as simple as it is in these magazines. And most of these aren’t even simple. You’re trying to turn science fiction into reality.”

“Says the girl who shoots lightning from her hands.”

Ryan laughed at the glare I gave him and kissed my hands. “Babe, in our world science stopped being fiction a long time ago, but we figured it out, didn’t we? Look at everything we accomplished last year. You gained control of your powers. You took back your life.”

“I know, but—”

“You have a gift, Jamie. Now that you have control of that gift, maybe it’s time to take it to the next level. Maybe it’s time for you to become more than Jamie Baker.”

I was terrified of putting myself out there for everyone to see—I didn’t think Ryan gave the supervillains of the world enough credit—but I was more scared that he was right. Mike’s accident had changed me. I couldn’t do nothing. Ryan was right about my control issues. If I was going to be exposed, then it was going to be on
my
terms.

“All right,” I finally said. “We’ll give it a try.”

Ryan lit up with excitement. “Really?”

“Just a
try
,” I warned. “Only if we can figure out how to do it. I can’t just go patrolling the streets hoping to see someone who needs help.”

Ryan waved off my skepticism. “Details.”

“Ryan.” He wasn’t taking this seriously enough.

“We’ll figure it out, don’t worry.” Ryan grinned again and swept me into his arms. “My girlfriend is going to be a real-life superhero,” he said, and then kissed me. “That is so hot.”

“Okay, now I get it.” I freed myself from Ryan’s grip and stepped back, my hands going straight to my hips. “Now I know why you’re so excited about this, but I promise you, it’s never going to happen.”

“What?”

Right. I wasn’t falling for the Ryan Miller Pout. Not this time.

“I’m not dressing up like Wonder Woman. Ever.”

Ryan’s innocent look turned into a frown. He grumbled “party pooper” at me, and I finally broke out into a real laugh.

“You’re going to have to wear some kind of disguise.”

“Disguise,” I said. “Not costume.”

“Uniform,” Ryan argued. “It doesn’t have to look stupid. I’m not going to make you don a cape and wear your underpants on the outside of your clothes. I’d settle for a nice spandex suit and some tall lace-up boots.”

“No! No spandex, Ryan. I am not kidding.”

Ryan grinned. “So, the tall boots are a go?”

“No!”

I rolled my eyes, but Ryan didn’t see it. He was busy flipping through one of his comic books. “Ooh. Trench coats are hot.” He flipped another page. “Or all black leather. You could totally pull off Scarlett Johansson in
The
Avengers
.”

“You know what? I think I’m going to leave you to your ‘research.’ Call me when you stop thinking like a guy and come up with something that will actually help me hide my identity.”

Ryan pulled his nose out of his comic, glanced at his clock, and then sighed. “Maybe you’re right. I have a lot of reading to catch up on. I don’t know how Coach expects us to get all our homework done between practice and our workouts and still have time to sleep. Forget a social life.”

“Wait.” I gasped. “Was that—did I just hear a complaint come out of
Ryan Miller’s
mouth?”

I was teasing, but Ryan’s expression turned serious. “You’re right,” he said with a shake of his head. “I’m sorry. I’m still adjusting to my new schedule, and I’m just cranky because I have to let you go home. Come on, I’ll walk you out.”

Ryan was quiet as he walked me to the front door of his building. I was surprised to see him so stressed. He’s always so calm and relaxed about everything that sometimes I forget he’s every bit as human as I am.

He’s gone through just as much as I have in the past week, worrying about both Mike and me, and having such a demanding schedule on top of it. I can only imagine what kind of pressure he’s dealing with that he will never tell me about because he wouldn’t want to worry me.

He’s just so strong. I don’t know what I did to deserve him, but I won’t let myself take him for granted. He does so much for me, and I need to return the favor. He’s right. I do need to be more than Jamie Baker. I need to be the best girlfriend ever.

This time it was me who pulled him in for a long, steamy kiss—public setting and all. The way Ryan responded felt almost desperate. It only confirmed that he needed me more than ever right now.

Feeling spontaneous for once in my life, I let my power slip out and superkissed Ryan until his hair was standing on end. When we finally had to break apart for air, I smiled and attempted to smooth his hair back down for him. It was a pointless effort.

“What was that for?” Ryan asked, recognizing that I’d given him my energy on purpose.

It was my turn to give him a cocky grin. “Just thought you could use a little superspeed to help you get caught up on all of your reading.”

“What about your no superkissing rule?”

I shrugged. “Maybe you were right about me being a little paranoid. Everything turned out okay when I did it the other day. You haven’t noticed any brain damage, have you?”

“Um…No…But…”

The expression on Ryan’s face made me need to kiss him again. He’d been shocked, but also excited and grateful. “You know how much I love you, right?” I asked, unable to make myself leave.

Ryan finally returned to himself and smirked. “Of course I do. I’ve known that longer than you have.”

It was true; he’d definitely figured out that I loved him long before I realized it.

“Oh, good. Then I guess I don’t have to keep saying it.”

I started to walk away, but Ryan snaked his arms around my waist and dragged my lips back to his. “Just because I know it, doesn’t mean I don’t like to hear it.” He kissed me again with renewed vigor. “Never stop saying it, Jamie. Ever.”

Again with the Ryan face. How could I refuse that? “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

“Good.” I finally managed to let go of him. “Now go inside and get your homework done Jamie Baker style, and then get a good night’s sleep.”

“I’ll dream about you,” he promised.

I considered his statement and then said, “Allowed. Just don’t dress me as Wonder Woman.”

“It’s
my
dream, Baker. I’ll dress you however I want.” His smile turned wicked. “Or maybe I won’t dress you at all.”

Ryan had given me a
lot to think about. He always treats my powers like they’re some kind of fun game. Even the time I zapped him so hard I nearly stopped his heart his response had been, “Awesome. Let’s do it again.” His intentions are always great, and I love that he is always so positive, but I’m not sure he really looks at the negatives closely enough.