“Hey,” I say, feeling nervous for some reason. “Sorry about the wait, I wanted to change, and then Ryot was being clingy.”
“Oh, don’t worry, we know all about our men being clingy,” Kelsey says as she pushes my chair out for me. “You didn’t have to change by the way.”
“I was not about to sit here with you two in these nice dresses while I was in a bathing suit.” I take a seat and Lottie pushes a flight of wine toward me.
“We got this for you. Hope that’s okay.”
“That’s great.” I look between the two sisters. “Although, is there a reason you’re trying to get me drunk?”
Kelsey laughs and shakes her head. “Not at all. We just wanted to talk to you without Ryot. Get to know you better. We have time before the rehearsal tonight.”
“Oh, well, if that’s the case”—I hold up a wineglass—“cheers.”
“Wow, you really did use his flag as a blanket,” Lottie says as she stares at the Instagram picture Ryot took of the flag many years ago.
“That’s what happens when you mess with the wrong girl.” I finish off my fourth glass just as another flight of wine shows up.
“You are my hero,” Lottie says while handing me my phone back. “And I love that your love story has a strange beginning. I don’t feel so alone.”
“How did yours start?” I ask, realizing I haven’t spent enough time with these two girls.
Lottie dismissively waves her hand at me. “Oh, you know, just the old classic story of having to pretend to be his fiancée for a business deal.”
“What?” I ask with a laugh. “Seriously?”
“Yeah. We met on the corner of the street—not in a prostitute kind of way—and I was lost. He was stomping around trying to figure out his life, and we ran into each other. I needed help, he needed help, we struck a deal, and then, well . . . the rest is history.”
“Wow, that’s way better than how Ryot and I met.”
Lottie shakes her head. “No, I like your story, acting as a wing-woman for your girl and then ending up constantly bumping into this guy who never gave up on you. It’s adorable.”
“It really is,” Kelsey chimes in. “True love at its finest.”
“Yeah, true love,” I say with a smile, even though in the back of my mind, I feel like I’m betraying them, given what is really going on. But I’m not about to open up to them, not with Kelsey’s wedding tomorrow.
“How was it being married to a Major League baseball player?” Lottie asks. “Was it crazy? I can only imagine all the attention he would get, especially from women trying to claw their way into his life.”
“It was crazy, but also . . . fun,” I say, thinking back to when he was playing. “Since he was regularly gone on away trips during the season, we’d get creative to spend time with each other, which meant constant FaceTime dates and virtual sex.”
“Why is that so appealing to me?” Lottie asks.
“Because it’s a different type of intimacy. People who can make their partner come just through their voice truly understand what they need. Ryot was . . . God, he was so good at it. He wouldn’t have to do much, just say certain things to make it seem like I was there with him. And when it came to women . . . well, there was never a doubt in my mind who he belonged to. He let that be known very quickly. I was his. That’s it.”
“That’s so hot,” Lottie says.
“And Ryot seems like the best guy. Very outgoing and sweet, but driven. Huxley and JP are always saying the best things about him. They love working with him,” Kelsey says.
“He likes working with them as well.” A smatter of guilt hits me because he is a good guy. The best, actually. And I’ve never had to doubt where his love for me stood. It’s always been in my hands along with his heart.
“Are you liking California? Big adjustment from Chicago, I’m sure,” Kelsey says.
Maybe it’s the wine, or I’m feeling more comfortable with them, but I don’t curb the truth. “It’s not my favorite.”
“Really?” Kelsey asks, eyes wide.
“The traffic is the absolute pits,” Lottie says.
“Yeah, I guess I just wasn’t quite mentally prepared for the move, and my best friend is in Chicago. I was settled on living there. It was the first place that felt like home since my parents were both in the Air Force, and we moved around a lot.”
“Oh, I can see how that would be difficult,” Kelsey says in an understanding tone. “I wish the boys would have said something about you not fully loving California because we could have given you a good introduction. Have you been anywhere yet?”
“Not really,” I say. “With Ryot hitting the ground running as soon as he got here, it’s been hard to have any time to explore together.” As the words come out of my mouth, I realize that’s been one of the problems since we’ve moved. I’ve been stuck in the house, not really doing much, while he’s been running around. That’s one of the reasons I’ve had a hard time since we moved.
“Well, that’s the problem,” Lottie says as she sips from her wineglass. “You haven’t done the proper exploring. You need to stick with us, girl, and we’ll show you all the fun things California has to offer. For instance, we like to go for hikes on Saturday mornings. It’s in the hills, and we’ve found this secret path that leads to a clearing that overlooks this mansion with one of the nicest pools I’ve ever seen. And the owner, he loves walking around naked.” Lottie leans forward. “The penis on that man is exquisite. Granted, not as nice as Huxley’s, but it’s nice.”
“The staring at the penis thing was not my idea,” Kelsey says. “That was all Lottie.”
“Nothing wrong with some window-shopping, you know, in case Huxley ever crosses me.”
“He seems obsessed with you,” I say. “I doubt he’d ever cross you.”
“True.” Lottie smiles over the rim of her wineglass. “He is quite obsessed. Possessive. I love it.”
“Is that how Ryot is with you?” Kelsey asks. “It seems like he always needs to be touching you.”
I nod. “Yes. He is. Very protective. I didn’t have the best childhood, and he knows all about it, so I think he’s made it his mission to make sure nothing ever harms me again.” My body warms from the thought of how protective he has truly been. He’s protected me from me, from my thoughts and fears, from my past, from my mom, and from the media . . . Oh my God. “The Jock Report,” I say, trying to make sense of it all in my head, not easy after five glasses of wine. “He created that with Penn, to tell a true story, I just . . . wow.” I shake my head. “I just remembered when I was blasted all over social media once during his last season. Ryot was the angriest I’ve ever seen. He went around to all his social media accounts and posted about our love story and then told me how he wished he could control the narrative and not rely on the algorithm to show his posts.” Is that where The Jock Report stemmed from? I know he said it was to tell Penn’s and his story . . . but was it also because of me?