"Time to get cooking."
At the sound check, Ryan found herself more relaxed than she'd ever been preparing for a gig. It almost made her laugh. Jason's absence was liberating, and added weight to the others' argument that perhaps they shouldn't replace him. She...
"A little bit of stress release"
Ryan laughed to herself as she hung up the phone. She did feel a little guilty about conning Brody into bringing her food, but she reminded herself that they had had plans, and he likely would have made dinner anyway....
"Ryan's turn to go to a game."
The next night, Ryan was sitting with her guitar, deep into a song when she heard Lara come in. "So, how's it going with the boyfriend?" Ryan looked up to see her friend leaning against the wall, a gleam in...
"Brody's friend questions his motives."
Three days later, on a game-free Tuesday night, Brody whistled as he flipped a zucchini pancake over. Mark eyed the contents of the pan warily. "What is that?" "A zucchini pancake with angel hair pasta and a few other things....
"Ryan finally tells someone about Brody."
A week later, Ryan was on the UMD campus. She walked over to the statue of the diamondback terrapin, symbol of the school's teams, and rubbed its head. The week had been hectic, including a tense dinner with her parents,...
"Negotiations pay off."
Brody debated what they might do now that the gig was over. It was fall, so a lot of places closed early. On the other hand, the weather was still decent, so he suggested they go to Old Town Alexandria....
"Showtime!"
Brody waited for Mark and Hilary near the Foggy Bottom-GWU Metro station. He was looking forward to the show and seeing Ryan perform. When he thought about growing up, he always remembered music in the background. Classical, rock, blues, even...
"Pre-show jitters."
Saturday morning Brody woke up and groaned as his leg throbbed. He'd gone down to block a shot in the game against Philly, caught the puck above his knee, and it still hurt. Given that, he'd talked with the coach...
"A little flak from their friends."
Brody drummed his fingers on his knee and bounced his leg as he sat on the team bus. They'd be on their way to Philly soon and few things got the Capitals pumped like a game against the Flyers, even...
"Lara advocates for Brody."
"Jason was a piece of work, wasn't he?" Lara shook her head as she drove them home. "He was." Ryan paused, trying to get a sense of Lara's mood. "No worse than usual, I guess, but he does get under...