Play the Man Page 9

  Steven picked Nick and Jenna up at the exit of the hospital and drove them straight to Jenna and Ryan’s house, with Nick’s bag packed and in the trunk. Steven had written down everything that she and Ryan would need to know while Nick was staying with them. He gave that list to her but still verbally instructed her. “He can’t sleep for long periods of time. Let him sleep for about three hours, but then wake him up and keep him up for about an hour before you let him fall back asleep again. For the first two to three days, he should always have someone with him.”

  “Always?” Jenna asked, wondering how she was supposed to constantly supervise him.

  “I’m not a fucking baby. Stop talking about me like I’m not here!” he hollered from the back seat.

  “Yeah. Well, not for everything,” he clarified. “But you should be around him with at all possible times. No physical exertion, but no mental exertion, either. Just let him relax. We’ll reevaluate him after two days and see how he is. Really, Jenna, we can’t thank you and Ryan enough for doing this.”

  “It’s not a problem,” she said, turning around and checking on Nick. She couldn’t tell if it was just because of the darkness, or if his pupils were really dilated from the concussion instead, but his dark eyes looked black. “Nicky would do this for me, wouldn’t ya, Nicky?”

  “You betcha, Jenna. I’d do anything for you.”

  She smiled, laughed, and turned back around in her seat to see Steven pulling up to her house. The lights were all on, and they could see the figure of a man moving around upstairs, in what Jenna knew was the guest bedroom. When they pulled into the driveway, she eased herself out of Steven’s car and opened up the trunk, grabbing Nick’s bag.

  “Let me take that,” Nick said, grabbing the handles of the duffel bag and trying to take it from her. He didn’t do so aggressively; he did it protectively and lovingly, wanting to be affectionate toward her. Like a boy offering to carry a girl’s books to class for her.

  “No physical exertion, remember?” she laughed, tugging back and trying to retake possession of the bag.

  “A man should never let his lady exert herself at all,” he quipped back.

  Jenna ignored his choice of articles in his statement, not registering that he said his rather than a. She answered smartly, “I’m the one supposed to be taking care of you, Nicky. So let me take care of you.” When she said that, Nick let go of the bag, and he closed the trunk as she began walking toward the front door. He smiled, watching her move even though it was moving away from him. Ryan opened the door, and Nick’s smile was replaced with a scowl as Jenna greeted her fiancé with a kiss on the cheek and Ryan took Nick’s bag from her. Nick had been excited at the prospect of spending a few days with Jenna, but he had forgotten to incorporate the factor of Ryan in the equation. “Hey there. You’re still awake.”

  “Hey, babe. I made sure there were fresh sheets on the bed in the guest room. I didn’t know if you’d need any other help getting him settled in.”

  “That was really sweet of you. Thanks, Ryan.”

  “How ya feeling, Marty?” he asked, turning his attention to his teammate.

  “I was fine,” he grumbled, brushing past both of them and heading into the living room. Ryan looked at Jenna, wondering what was wrong with Nick, but Jenna just shook her head quickly and silently conveyed to him that she would fill him in on what to expect later. “How long do I have to fucking be here?”

  “Just until you’re back to old self,” Jenna replied, trying to sound positive. These mood swings were going to be tough to deal with, especially if they were going to be this instantaneous. He had been sweet, unselfish, and aiming to please just seconds ago in the driveway. “Why don’t I show you your room?”

  Nick nodded and followed Jenna up the stairs, and Ryan followed right behind him with his bag. The lights were still on in the guest room, and they all three walked in. Ryan set the bag on the floor by the door. “Here ya go, Marty.”

  “How long do I have to fucking be here?” Nick asked again.

  Ryan opened his mouth to tell Nick that he was repeating himself, but he stopped himself when Jenna have him a sharp glance. “Just for a few days, Nicky. Do you want or need anything? Otherwise, I guess you should get some rest.”

  Nick shrugged. “I’m fine.” In two swift motions, he stripped himself of his shirt and pants, down to nothing but his black boxer briefs. Jenna blushed and looked away, thinking that this was inappropriate. Sure, she had seen half-naked hockey players before and was used to being around them, but having one in her house—one who wasn’t her fiancé—stripped down to just his underwear, well, it just seemed... inappropriate.

  “You wanna put some pants on, man?” Ryan asked, the corner of his mouth curled up in a smirk, finding nothing but amusement in this situation.

  “Nope,” Nick replied, flinging himself onto the bed.

  “I’ll be back to wake you up in three hours,” Jenna told him, but he was already asleep.

  The alarm on Jenna’s phone went off. She had set the phone to vibrate and had slid it under her pillow, so, when it woke her up, it wouldn’t disturb Ryan in the process. After all, she had her hands full with Nick, and she didn’t need a cranky Ryan to add to her list of things to deal with. Or, she should say, she didn’t need an extra cranky Ryan.

  She yawned and rubbed her eyes, rolling out of bed and adjusting herself to make sure she was presentable. She didn’t usually sleep in this many clothes, but she didn’t want to be caught bra-less in front of someone other Ryan. Jenna tugged on her sports bra and then her shirt, and next pulled on the drawstrings of her cotton pajama bottoms, making sure that every layer was in its proper place. She didn’t bother knocking on the door of the guest room, because she knew it was going to be difficult to wake him up. This was the second time of the night she had to bring him out of his deep sleep.

  “Okay, Nicky. Wakey wakey!” she said loudly, flicking on the light before throwing herself on the bed. She bounced up and down on the mattress beside him and shook his shoulders. He grumbled something but didn’t rouse. “Up and at ‘em, Nicky!”

  “No, Jenna. Sleep,” he replied, waving his hand in the air and trying to deter her from waking him.

  “No, Nicky. It’s time for Go Fish! Get up, you big lug,” she continued, trying to agitate him until he was fully awake. It took several minutes, but he finally sat up and rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands. Jenna grabbed the deck of cards from the nightstand and began to shuffle. “One hour, and then you can go back to bed.”

  “Why are we playing Go Fish? Can’t we play something more fun, like strip poker?”

  Jenna laughed loudly before catching herself and clapping her hand over her mouth. She didn’t want to be too noisy and wake Ryan, but Nick would never make a joke like with normal mental capacity. “One bad hand, and you’d lose,” she giggled. “You’re already down to your BVDs.”

  “I’m a good bluffer,” he returned. “I’d have you naked in no time.”

  “Whatever you say, Nicky,” she laughed, dealing out the cards. Playing this game with Nick was very simple, because he kept asking her over and over again if she had a red two. That game ended in a few minutes, and then they progressed to Old Maid. When that got old, they tried Crazy Eights. The hour passed relatively quickly, but the lack of sleep was starting to wear on Jenna. When her alarm went off to signal that the hour was up, she collected the cards and slid them back into the box. “All right, back to bed.”

  “You should just sleep in here with me, Jenna. It’ll save you the trouble of just having to come back in here.” He lifted up the covers and waggled his eyebrows in a very un-Nick like gesture. “Come on.”

  Jenna tried not to laugh as she politely declined. It was awkward enough having to play cards with a man in his boxer briefs, but she couldn’t imagine having to lie down next to him. Maybe if he were properly clothed, it would be another story. Ryan wouldn’t care, but it just didn’t feel right to her. “I don�
�t think so, Nicky. Sleep well, and I’ll see you in three hours.”

  He pouted but lay back down in bed, his hands behind his head. “Good night, Jenna. I love you,” he said.

  She smiled. With the concussion, he was so open with his emotions. “You too, Nicky,” she whispered, shutting the light off and closing the door behind her as she head back to her own bed, never giving him the chance to clarify that he didn’t just love her but rather was in love with her.

  Jenna made sure that her next alarm was set to go off in another three hours, so she could wake him and go through the same routine yet again. Once that was done, she put the phone back under her pillow and curled up in bed. Ryan reached out and pulled her against him. “Is he okay?”

  “Yeah, just fine,” she yawned, resting her head against his chest. “This is starting to suck though.”

  “Do you want me to get up the next time and wake him up?”

  “You’d do that?” she asked, suddenly losing her interest in sleep. Jenna pulled back and looked up at him, gazing into his eyes that took on a gray color in the darkness.

  “Sure, why not? You’re right. He’s an important part of the team, and I should be helping out here, too, since I’m captain. There’s no reason for you to be doing all the work.”

  “That’s really sweet of you, Ryan. I appreciate it.”

  Neither of them spoke for a moment, and Jenna thought they were both going to drift off to sleep again, until he spoke up once more. “Do you think this will be what it’s like when we have kids? You know, getting up for night feedings?”

  She smiled so hard that it hurt her face. “Yeah, I guess this is what it’ll be like.”

  “I guess this makes for good practice, then, for when we have a baby.”

  Jenna curled up closer to Ryan, and they fell asleep like that. Even though they were no closer to getting married, Jenna felt reassured that he was looking toward the future, their future. Marriage and kids went hand-in-hand for her. It was still going to happen. Even if the wedding was a hiccup, they still had a long and fruitful life together in front of them.

  Chapter 10

  Ryan ran through everything in his head of what Jenna had told him to expect. He was used to seeing guys get concussions, but certainly not with dealing with said concussed guys afterward. She said Nick was going to be difficult to wake up—both in that he would be in a deep sleep and also that he wouldn’t want to; he was going to be confused, disoriented, and probably was going to think that Ryan was intruding on him in his own bed; and he may or may not be able to recall anything that happened that night.

  He flipped on the switch and blinked several times as his eyes adjusted to the light. Apparently, Nick was wide-awake, even if it took a moment for Nick’s eyes to adjust, too. “So I see you finally changed your mind and decided to join me. I knew you couldn’t resist.”

  “What?” Ryan asked, his voice still gruff from sleep. Okay, he was not expecting a comment like that from him. Ryan assumed that Nick thought he was in his own apartment, just like Jenna had mentioned, but Ryan knew Nick didn’t have a girlfriend... so who was he expecting to show up and get into bed with him? Nick must have been getting some action on the side that he wasn’t telling the boys about. “I knew you didn’t like to kiss and tell—”

  “What?” he snapped back, his temperament souring. “Ew, you’re fucking gross, Biggie. What the hell are you doing here? Get out of here!”

  “You’re in my house, Marty. You had a concussion, and—”

  “Where’s Jenna?”

  “I’m letting her sleep.”

  “Oh,” Nick replied. “Where am I?”

  “At my house. You’re staying here—”

  “Where’s Jenna?”

  Ryan let out a long breath. It was a difficult thing for him to keep his patience if he was just going to ask the same thing over and over again. Nick was usually the one with all the answers, never any questions. “Sleeping. She told me to play cards with you. What were you two playing?”

  “Strip poker.”

  Ryan laughed. First of all, Nick wouldn’t play strip poker. Poker, maybe, but not strip poker. Second, neither would Jenna. “Very funny, man. Good to know that all it took was a head injury for you to get a sense of humor. Let’s go play Xbox or something.” Ryan watched as Nick threw back the covers and pushed himself out of bed. “And put some damn pants on.”

  “Jenna didn’t mind,” he retorted.

  “I mind. You can sleep in whatever you want, but you’re not sitting on my couch in just your boxer briefs.” Ryan shook his head. Nick hated doing shirtless interviews, so it was out of character for him to be so... naked. It was even funnier that Nick was okay being so exposed around Jenna, too. Ryan was sure that Nick got a lot of tail, but he couldn’t imagine Nick being a strut-around-naked kind of guy.

  Nick looked around for a moment, not moving, until he finally asked, “Where are my pants?”

  Ryan chuckled and picked up Nick’s bag, which was by the door, right where he had dropped it earlier in the night. He threw it on the bed so Nick could dig around and find some clothes to put on. Once Ryan felt that Nick was dressed appropriately to sit on his furniture, they went down to the living room, and Ryan turned on the game console for a round of Halo.

  They played quietly, only occasionally yelling about capturing the flag as they played online against two strangers, neither wanting to be responsible for waking up Jenna as she slept in the room above them. When the hour was up, they turned off the game and headed back upstairs to bed, and Ryan had to point Nick in the right direction, because he almost walked into the wrong bedroom.

  Ryan made sure that Nick was safely in the guest room when he collapsed back into bed. He gently nudged Jenna until she was awake. “What is it, Ryan? Is something wrong with Nicky?”

  “No,” he replied, reaching his hand under her shirt. “He’s fine. But I was thinking we could get a head start on making those babies....”

  Jenna was still up at eight in the morning, just like every other day, even though she had been woken up so many times during the night for various reasons. And she was still tired, but she got out of bed anyway and stuck to her usual routine, taking her pills, showering, and then beginning a load of laundry while starting breakfast. Today, she had two growing boys to feed.

  Luckily, it was a Thursday, and she didn’t have class those days; typically, she would do some type of work with the other wives and girlfriends, either doing something in the community, planning fundraisers or activities, or some similar philanthropy. And then maybe some reading or studying for her classes in between whatever housework needed to be done. However, her focus had to be on watching out for Nick today. She was supposed to keep an eye on him; it was going to be perfect practice for when there were kids running underfoot.

  With one batch of waffles cooking, Jenna opened the door and checked for mail. There was the usual bill, the same old junk mail and sale ads, and also a notification from The Art Institute of Chicago for the featured exhibition of Caravaggio’s The Supper at Emmaus, lent to the Art Institute by the National Gallery in London, England. Although she was focusing her studies on more modern art, she loved the Baroque period as well. This was a great opportunity, and she had to go.

  “Waffles?” Ryan said, pulling her out of her thoughts. “Bacon and sausage? You never cook like this on a weekday.”

  “Well, I’ve got two of you to feed today, so I figured I’d might as well go all out. Why? Are you complaining?” she asked teasingly.

  “No. Although, I’ll admit I wish you cooked like this for me, and not Marty.”

  “Hey. For both of you. And me, too! I love waffles,” she laughed, removing the waffles and then refilling the iron with batter. “But he probably doesn’t get to eat like this unless he goes out, so I’m sure he’ll enjoy it.”

  “I wouldn’t say that,” Ryan replied, grabbing a hot waffle and taking a bite, which he immediately spit back out due to the high te
mperature. “He was so disoriented last night when I woke him up that he thought I was his lady-friend.”

  “Nicky? No way. If he had a girlfriend, she’d be taking care of him right now and cooking for him. Not me.”

  “I said ‘lady-friend,’ not girlfriend. A fuck buddy down the hall isn’t gonna make you breakfast after you get knocked senseless. Besides, Marty probably knows you’re a good cook,” he laughed, wrapping his arm around her and giving her a quick squeeze before heading out of the room.

  “Wait, Ryan,” she called out after him, making him pause and turn back. “I got something in the mail today, about an exhibit—”

  He groaned. “You know I don’t like art, babe.”

  “I know, but I’d really like for you to come with me. It’s not even for the entire exhibition. There’s just one painting I want to see, on loan from London. We can go out to dinner or something, make a night of it. Ryan, please.”

  “It’s art. You know I don’t get it.”

  “I’m not asking you to ‘get it,’ I’m asking you to accompany me for a night out. Just one night. We never do anything together anymore.”

  Ryan groaned again. Once the generalizations get tossed around, the claws inevitably come out. “Come on, Jenna. Don’t do this now. We go out and do stuff together all the time—”

  “That’s going to the bars after the games, with your teammates. Can’t we for once do something I want to do? It’s Caravaggio. It’s a once in a lifetime thing. I’m not asking you to take an avid interest in art, or even pretend to care. Just come with me. For one night. One night.”

  “Jenna....”

  “Listen,” she said, a little too smoothly and a little too calmly. “I go to all your home games. I do stuff for the team. I’m supportive of you. Please, Ryan. Can’t you just do this for me?”

  “Stop trying to guilt me into going.”

  Her voice rose in volume and intensity. “You’re right. Heaven forbid I think for a second that you can do anything I want you to do. Art exhibit. Wedding. You don’t care about any of the things I care about.”