Chapter 7
I never thought things could get awkward between me and Ryan, but it happened right after that conversation.
We were both trying to act normal, to keep things the way they’d been. But something subtle had shifted between us.
Leaning against the floor–to–ceiling window at home, I felt a little down.
Ryan was great. He treated me so well. And I liked him. So why did being with him still feel far away?
While I was lost in thought, my mom suddenly called. The second I picked up, her voice practically exploded through the phone.
“Sweetie! Are you really dating Ryan right now?”
I quietly turned the volume down. “Yeah.”
She let out a dramatic breath on the other end. “Oh my god! Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
I pouted. “Would you have believed me?
“Besides, we haven’t really clicked yet, so I didn’t say anything.”
My mom was fired up.
“Haven’t clicked? Are you trying to hide things from me again?
“Sweetie, I only asked after doing thorough research this time, okay?
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“That Ryan–he’s been in love with you for ages! Like, head over heels! You think he’s not into you?”
I froze.
“What? Ryan? In love with me? For ages?”
My mom made a few proud little hums. “Yup.
“Your aunt ended up asking that nephew if he was supposed to set you up with how things were going between you two, and the poor kid looked all miserable and said his uncle forbade him from going, said he went himself instead. It scared your aunt and me half to death!
“Then I remembered what you said before and started putting the pieces together–it actually all fit!
“But we were confused. Why would someone like Ryan steal a blind date from his nephew?
“So we started digging around–called in some old friends, asked around….. It took forever, but we finally pieced it all together.”
I was stunned. “Pieced what together?”
“Sit tight, I’ll walk you through it.” My mom sounded completely smug.
“Your aunt said Ryan’s always been calm and distant all these years. The only time he seemed a little off was during the start of one college semester. Guess what? At the same time, you danced at the welcome party–blew everyone away!
“Later, when they took graduation photos, he kept two. One from his class. Guess the other one? It’s your class photo!
“The most solid proof? He’s had two figurines in his room for years.
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The girl one has letters carved under the base–OS. Aren’t those your initials? What are the odds?
“There’s more. His nephew said when Ryan heard he was gonna meet you for a blind date, his face went completely dark. Scared the poor kid.”
The more my mom said, the more shocked I felt.
With that many coincidences… maybe they weren’t coincidences at all.
Back in college, plenty of guys had a crush on me, but I only had eyes for Timothy. I treated everyone else pretty coldly.
If Ryan was one of them… I probably didn’t give him the time of day. And he still kept my class photo?
Thinking about the way he’s been with me… everything suddenly made
sense.
I always thought he wanted to marry me because I was a good fit, or because he needed to.
I never once thought.. maybe he actually liked me.
So when I started relying on him emotionally, I kept trying to rein it in with logic. I only approached him to distract myself, after all.
How could two people with no feelings fall for each other so quickly?
But if he came to me with real feelings from the very start… then what reason do I have to keep holding mine back?
It was like a fog lifted.
After hanging up with my mom, I felt an overwhelming urge to go find
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Ryan right away.
But for some reason, the man who always replied to my texts in seconds hadn’t answered my first message all night.
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