About That Night

Grey leaned in. “You know this is the part of the father-son moment where I’m supposed to ask about this Ryla

Kyle set his drink on the ledge and shoved his hands in his pants pockets. “Yep. And now this is the part where I say thank you but that I think I’ve said all I want to say about her tonight. Which will conveniently be followed by the part where a waitress walks up and asks if we’d like anything else to drink, eliminating all further discussion on that topic.”

Just like that, there was a voice from behind them.

“Excuse me, can I get either of you gentlemen something else to drink?”

His father looked over his shoulder, saw the blond waitress standing behind them, and stared at Kyle in astonishment.

Kyle smiled. “I paid her two hundred bucks to come over as soon as I put my hands in my pockets. I knew you and Jordan couldn’t stay out of my business for long.”

ACROSS TOWN, RYLANN sat next to Jon at a wine bar a couple blocks from her apartment. It was the first chance they’d gotten to talk all day. After Kyle had left her standing on her doorstep earlier that morning, she’d unfortunately had no time to wallow in her sorrows. Instead, she’d gone back inside, told Jon that she would call him later, and left to get ready for her grand jury hearing.

Shortly after arriving at the wine bar, Ryla

“So I blew it, then. For good.” He ran his hand over his mouth. “I guess that’s the price I have to pay for being a selfish ass seven months ago.”

Ryla

He smiled wryly. “You always are.”

“This whole thing feels more desperate than genuine. You seem kind of lost.”

He swirled his wineglass, saying nothing at first. “I don’t know. I just feel like there’s something missing. Italy was great for the first couple months, but then the excitement wore off. I guess I thought that if you and I could get back what we used to have, at least that part of my life would feel right again.” He looked at her over the glass. “I am sorry, you know. We had a good thing going, and I ruined it.”

It was tempting to let him take all the blame. And, no doubt, he deserved a lot of it. But as Ryla

He cocked his head. “What do you mean?”

She sighed. “There was something missing. I don’t think either of us realized it at the time, and frankly, I’m still not sure I can put my finger on it. On the outside we seemed happy, but there had to be something wrong, right? Otherwise, you would’ve never wanted to leave for Italy without me, and I…would’ve tried to make you stay.”

He considered this, then gave her a half smile that was bittersweet. “And we both know how tenacious you can be when you want something.”

She laughed softly, acknowledging that. “Very true.”

They talked for a long time after that, about old times, Italy, and Ryla

“You’re going back to Rome tomorrow, then?” she asked.

Jon nodded. “Temporarily, at least. I took the week off from work, hoping that I’d be spending it with you.” He shrugged. “Maybe now I’ll use the time to figure things out. Decide what I want to do with my life when I grow up.”

“Whatever it is you’re looking for, I hope you find it,” Ryla

“You, too, Ry.” He touched her cheek in good-bye, then climbed into the taxi that would take him back to the hotel he’d checked into for the night.

Ryla

Once the cab disappeared from sight, she walked the few blocks to her apartment, her mind drifting back to everything that had happened that morning. Several weeks ago, she’d told Rae that she’d never once considered going to Rome with Jon because doing so would’ve been crazy, and she didn’t do crazy. But that wasn’t entirely true. These past couple of months, with Kyle, she’d been doing a lot of things that didn’t make the most sense from a practical perspective. For him, she’d been willing to bend the rules, to go against logic, and to simply follow her heart.

And truthfully, that scared her a little.

She’d guessed, from the moment that she’d met Kyle, that he could cause her all sorts of trouble. She’d sensed it from that very first smile. Once they’d reco

Earlier that morning, when he’d made the comment about her being embarrassed to be seen with him, she’d just felt…bad. While the sneaking around had been a little exciting, she knew he deserved better. But she’d been caught off guard when he’d forced her hand on the issue right then and there.

So now it was decision time. She could let Kyle walk out of her life a second time and preserve her perfect reputation as Meth Lab Ryla

Mulling this over, Ryla

I thought I’d fly by the seat of my pants for a change.

The only question left was just how far she was willing to take that.

Thirty-four

THE NEXT MORNING, Kyle sat at his desk at the downtown office of Rhodes Network Consulting, staring distractedly out the window at the view of the Chicago river.

When his cell phone rang, he blinked and quickly checked the caller ID, quelling a pang of disappointment when he saw that it was Sean.

He answered, and the two of them discussed the following week’s itinerary. Monday was the official start date for all company employees, which currently included Sean, Gil and Troy, two administrative assistants, and a receptionist. Judging from the volume of calls Kyle had already received since the Twitter a