Chapter One

“I promise I know him!” I stared up earnestly into the guard’s face. He looked down at me, seeming to have softened some.

“Do you know how much trouble I could get in if you’re lying?” His attempt to be stern quickly faded into what almost seem like a request for me to stop begging. I firmly stood my ground.

“Would I lie to you?” I asked batting my eyes at him. I toyed with a button on his coat while staring up at him.

“Alright,” he finally sighed, “let’s go.” He led me down the hallway to the room I had been dying to reach. “Stay here.” He opened the door and walked inside. I could hear his voice on the other side of the door. “Everybody decent? We’ve got a chick outside and she’s about to come in.” I heard muffled responses of “yeah” and then his footsteps padded back out to me. “You’re all set.”

“Oh! Thank you so much!” I stood on tip toe to kiss him on the cheek. He blushed a crimson and walked away. I prepared myself to enter where I have been waiting to go for so long. After a few deep breaths I pushed the heavy door. My footsteps sounded on the damp floor and as I turned the corner I could feel the heads turn to look at me. I didn’t want my surprise to be ruined, so I quickened my pace until I was where I wanted to be. Looking down on him I counted to three slowly in my mind.

“Remember me?” I questioned. He looked up and his jaw dropped as if he’d seen a ghost.

“I don’t believe it,” he said almost above a whisper. His blue eyes full of shock just stared at me. I quickly broke the tension.

“Ryan!” I shrieked jumping into his arms as he stood up. I could tell that he was still in a state of shock because it took him a little too long to respond.

“Riley,” he breathed into my hair as he began to hug me back. I could feel his arms tighten around my waist. It was something I hadn’t felt from him since we were younger. “What are you doing here?”

“I live here now!” I was almost bursting with excitement. Seeing him only made me realize how much I actually missed him.

“Here?” he asked. His mind took a while to register the notion that we were in the same city again. “In Pittsburgh?”

“You better believe it,” I smiled looking at him. The same exact Ryan. Taller than me still, with that curly hair that you were never quite sure if it was red or brown. Those blue eyes that always conveyed his emotions so well. That smile, that goofy, adorable smile. “I just bought a townhouse outside of the city and this was my first stop. I heard the game on the radio and decided to come over and see if I could get into the locker room. You need better security, by the way.” I winked at him and I finally saw the life come back into his face.

“Oh Riley, always the persuasive girl. Ever since we were little kids.” He laughed at me and then hugged me again. “I’m glad you’re back, we have so much to catch up on.” I nodded in agreement.

“Hey Bugsy!” I heard a shout from behind me. “You gonna introduce us all to that hottie your squeezin’?”

Ryan let me go and pulled me to his side, facing the rest of the locker room.

“Alright Max,” Ryan said, “this is my cousin Riley. Riley, the guys.” By looking around the locker room, I could see that I recognized most of the faces. I had always been into hockey ever since we were younger and I followed the sport closely. Pittsburgh was my favorite team, seeing as I was from the great steel city. As I watched the boys size me up, I could tell instantly what some of them were thinking. I was always good at reading people that way. For instance, I could tell that Max Talbot was just waiting to pounce and I could tell that Kris Letang seemed shy and nervous just looking at me. Even though I knew them all, Ryan introduced me to them, one by one, saving their captain for last.

“And finally,” he said with great dramatic effect, “the one, the only, Sidney Crosby!!” He held out his hand for me to shake and I got chills just from his touch. He smiled sweetly and I made a mental note of how beautiful it was when he did so. He released my hand and Ryan quickly pulled me back to his side. “Okay boys, shows over, everyone wanna get back to what they were originally doing?” There was a brief pause where no one did anything then finally they started putting their belongings away, preparing to go home.

I sat down on the bench next to Ryan and admired him. My cousin. The professional hockey player. The superstar. The same Ryan who I’d grown up next door to. He noticed me looking at him and I could feel the heat rising to my face. I quickly looked away and in my rush, dropped my cell phone and watched it slide across the floor. I walked over to pick it up and when I bent down, I heard a low whistle behind me. Max of course.

“Enough,” I heard Ryan’s voice cut the whistle of his teammate off. His voice was stern and I heard that edge of protectiveness he always used with me. Max just stared at him as I walked back to my place on Ryan’s right. I continued fumbling with my phone anxiously as the guys left one by one. After multiple “see ya laters” it was finally just me, left alone with Ryan.

“I really did miss you,” he said as he rummaged through his bag for a t-shirt. He still had his towel draped over his shoulder and was clad in only red gym shorts and sandals.

“I missed you too,” I said, placing my hand on his arm, so as to direct his full attention to me. He put down his bag and turned to face me.
“Come here,” he said. Like always, when it comes to Ryan, I did exactly as he says. I scooted over to him and draped my legs across his lap as I felt his arms around my shoulders. “This is just like I remember it.”

“Mmm me too,” I replied, while burying my face into his neck. He smelled of cologne and shampoo. I liked it. We sat like that for a moment or two before I looked down. “So many tattoos.”

“Oh yeah,” he said, “You haven’t seen them. I went a little crazy.” He laughed a little. The typical Ryan move he always did when he was nervous. I smiled and let my hands wander across his chest and over his shoulders. I felt that all too familiar buzz of electricity. He grabbed my hands and this was the first time I noticed it. He leaned in to kiss me and I pulled away. “What?”

“We’re cousins,” I said as I began to move away. He was too quick for me and tightened his grip.

“And that’s never stopped us before,” he replied, looking at me with that face he knew I couldn’t resist.

“When were you gonna tell me?” I asked, suddenly afraid of the emotion welling up.

“I’m sorry,” he said, looking down at his left hand. “I thought you would have known by now. I mean, everyone knows.”

“Everyone except me,” I made a motion to get up and was once again stopped.

“Listen,” he said, “I don’t care about that. It doesn’t mean anything to me.”

“Well it does to me,” I answered watching as he pulled the ring off and threw it in his gym bag.

“I have you now. I’ve missed you so much and all I want is you. Only you,” he spoke the words honestly, as if he meant every single one. I had no choice but to believe him. I looked up at him as he put his hand on my face. He leaned in to kiss me and this time I didn’t resist. I let him kiss me and I felt everything I had missed for so many years. His mouth moved in unison with mine and it seemed like not a single minute had passed since we shared that first kiss so long ago. He pulled away and looked at me with eyes that seemed to ask if everything was okay. I responded by kissing him this time and with more aggression. My tongue pressed for entrance into his mouth and he denied it. This was the little game he loved to play. I waited and tried again. Still nothing. Not only until the fourth time was my effort rewarded. It was always the fourth time. I wondered if he played that game with his wife, but I quickly pushed that thought away, hoping it was just something we shared. As our tongues explored one another’s mouth, I felt his hands on my waist, pulling me onto his lap. I obliged and was soon straddling him on the bench. His hands wandered up and down my back eventually resting on my lower back. His place of choice. Same old Ryan. I reached up with my hands and found my grip at the back of his neck. He told me once that nothing turned him on more than that. In an immediate response to my touch, he held me tighter and kissed me harder. That was exactly what I was hoping for. I toyed with the curls at the back of his neck, which only drove him wilder. He held me tighter still, which was a feeling I loved. In a swift motion, he pushed me over and was on top of me. He grabbed my hands and held them above my head, another classic Ryan move. I enjoyed this as his mouth moved to my neck, allowing me to breathe the air that I crucially needed. He was working on my neck, biting down harder and harder until I couldn’t stand it anymore and released a sigh of contentment. In response to this noise, he moved back to my mouth and kissed me like it was our first time. Realizing that we didn’t want to go any further right now, he gently pulled me up and onto his lap again. I rested my head on his chest and heard his breathing louder than ever. His chest heaved up and down in conjunction with mine.

“I missed that,” he said, still breathless.

“Oh, so did I,” I replied, trying desperately to catch my breath. As we sat there for a moment, our breathing began to slow and we came down from our high. He bent over and picked up the t-shirt he had dropped and placed it over his head. After gathering his belongings, he reached down for my hand and helped me up. Walking through the parking lot, we finally reached his car. He gave me a peculiar look as I leaned against the passenger side door.

“Drive me home?” I asked with a smile.