Entwined - SF5 (14 page)

"Wanna go for a little run with me,
Pumpkin
?"

The warm, moist breath that caressed Jamie’s ear made her think of nothing but snuggling a little tighter against the speaker, and she decided to do just that. During the night Ryan had chased her to the very edge of the bed, where she now lay on her left side, dangerously close to being pushed off. Her partner’s heavy arm was draped around her waist, and as a sign of acknowledgment of the question Jamie grasped it and tugged until Ryan’s large hand rested comfortably on her breast. Letting out a very heavy sigh, she twitched her butt against Ryan’s lap and dozed off immediately.

Hmm…what to do? What to do?
Ryan thought, trying to resist the lure of Jamie’s warm embrace so she could think clearly.
Two more seconds of being wrapped around her like this, and I’m gonna be out like light. And the problem with that is what?
She smirked at her compulsive nature and cuddled up as tightly as she could, her own sigh rivaling Jamie’s as she joined her beloved in slumber.

"You are very bad for my discipline, you know," Ryan teased an hour later, while they were running up the first big hill on Noe.

"It’s Sunday, we don’t have to be anywhere until Mass, and we can easily go to the 11:00 if we miss the 9:30. What’s the problem, Honey?"

"No problem at all, Jamers. It’s just odd for me to be tempted to stay in bed. It’s something I am so not used to–that’s all."

Jamie cast a sidelong glance at her and asked, "You don’t mind, do you? I mean…"

Ryan saw the tentative look she was getting and reached out with a long arm to grasp the hem of her partner’s T-shirt. Pulling Jamie to a halt and immediately wrapping her in a hug, she promised, "Not only don’t I mind, it’s one of the most decadently delicious feelings in the world. Lying in bed with you in the morning is honestly the highlight of my day." She bent a little and tilted her head to offer a gentle kiss, which Jamie gladly accepted.

"I love it too," the smaller woman agreed, adding a tiny kiss of her own. "It makes me feel so warm, and safe, and loved. I feel like a little bear cub all curled up in her mother’s embrace."

Taking off again, Ryan mulled over her partner’s comments for a moment. "Bear cub, huh? Strangely enough, that feels apt. When I’m wrapped around you I feel kinda like a big brown bear protecting my precious cub."

"And when I’m cuddling you, I feel protective, too," Jamie mused. "We’re a pair, aren’t we?" She laughed gently, her eyes crinkling up in the grin that Ryan so loved.

"We are indeed," Ryan conceded, a devilish look coming over her as she grasped Jamie’s hand firmly and hung a hard right, careening down 21st Street, one of the steepest in the city. Once they started down the hill, their momentum propelled them all the way to the bottom, both women laughing riotously.

"Are you trying to kill me?" Jamie panted as they slowed to a jog when they reached the foot of the steep incline. "You know I can’t keep up with you!"

"It wasn’t up," Ryan’s innocent face insisted, "it was down. Why should that be a problem?"

"You big goof!" Her outrage was mostly faked, and the hard swat she gave to Ryan’s butt was entirely playful, but Ryan was clearly in an even more playful mood, and she began to chase Jamie back up the hill, trying to grab her for a pinch.

Halfway up, they passed a couple saying their goodnights, even though it was after eight a.m. The woman was mostly sitting in the driver’s seat of a shiny new, jade green BMW 325i convertible, with a man trying to resist being pulled into the driver’s seat--headfirst. His long frame was bent completely over, one bare foot off the ground as he struggled, and Ryan wondered how his equipment was going to avoid injury if the obviously determined woman had her way. They were kissing rather passionately, but it was apparent that this was a bit of a game, too, and Ryan gave a nod of approval to the woman.
Go for it, sister
, she smirked as they passed. Jamie had slowed noticeably, no longer able to maintain their chase, and as Ryan turned to check on her progress she took another look at the poor fellow who was being manhandled so effectively, nearly screaming when she realized that it was Brendan.
Oh my God!!! I guess he’s not thinking of joining the priesthood!!!

With regret, Brendan wrenched himself away from his date’s clutches just as Jamie drew near. He gaped when he saw her, and she gasped aloud when he stood and she realized that he was wearing only a pair of boxer shorts. Her startled eyes went to his groin and then to his face, as his equally startled eyes went from her face to his groin, and he slapped his knees together audibly as he crossed his large hands over the main feature he did not share with his sister. As his eyes lifted again, Jamie saw the near-pleading look in their blue depths, and she mercifully looked away, trying her best to appear to be a casual jogger.

Ryan did the same, turning and running up the hill, leaving Brendan what little dignity he had left at the moment.

By the time both women reached the crest of the hill, Jamie was slapping Ryan forcefully while accusing, "I thought he didn’t have a girlfriend!"

Fending off her blows, Ryan defended herself. "I didn’t know he did, Jamie! Believe me, that was the last thing I wanted to see!"

"Jesus! I’ll never be able to look him in the eye again!"

Ryan rolled her own blue orbs dramatically, getting to the real problem. "If you had been looking in his eyes, neither one of you would be embarrassed right now."

"Well, God, Ryan! A man in boxer shorts that would wake the dead stands up right in front of me! It was kinda like a car accident! I knew I should avert my eyes, but I just couldn’t help myself!"

Ryan grimaced as she recalled, "Those shorts were wild! The last time I did his laundry, he was still wearing tighty-whities."

An impish look covered Jamie’s face as she observed, "I thought they were kinda cute, and lord knows he didn’t look like he had a thing to be ashamed of."

Ryan jabbed her fingers into her ears, and she began to hum some nonsense song loudly, not stopping until Jamie signaled that she would behave. "I prefer to think of my brothers as life-sized Ken dolls," she insisted. "In my mind they’re perfectly smooth ‘down there,’ thank you very much, and you can just keep any evidence to the contrary to yourself!" It took a second for Jamie to realize that Ryan was being totally serious, and she immediately offered an apology.

"I’m sorry, Honey. That was really insensitive of me. God, I can only imagine how I’d feel if you saw my father’s um…assets." She shivered all over, and Ryan joined her as the image of Jim’s bare ass once again lodged in her mind.

"New topic," Ryan begged, knowing this was dangerous ground. "How ‘bout this weather we’ve been having, huh? Think it’s gonna rain?"

"Okay," Jamie agreed. "Let’s just go home, take a shower, and go to church. Maybe if we pray hard enough we can be blessed with selective amnesia."

Before she could blink, Ryan was running down the street, obviously intent on trying the suggestion.

After Mass they sat at the dining room table with Conor and Martin, keeping their own counsel about the incident, when Martin commented, "I wonder why Brendan wasn’t at Mass this morning? I hope he’s not under the weather."

Having seen her brother lurking in the last pew when she returned from communion, Ryan only said, "I’ll run over and check on him. You don’t mind doing my share of the clean-up, do you, Honey?"

"Of course not," Jamie agreed immediately. "You go visit with your brother."

Martin gave her a slightly puzzled glance, thinking that the telephone was an easier means of finding out the information, but since he was happy that Ryan was so concerned about her oldest brother’s welfare, he just patted her on the shoulder and said, "If he’s not well, I’ll bring him some lunch later."

"I’m sure he’s fine, Da. Maybe he’s just taking it easy this morning."
Or maybe he’s gonna hide until Jamie and I forget that we saw him in his skivvies.

Her hesitant knock was answered quickly, as if Brendan was expecting a visit. He opened the door and turned without a word, crossing the room to sink listlessly onto the sofa. "Go ahead," he muttered, sounding thoroughly defeated.

"Go ahead with what?" she asked, following him across the room to grab a straight-backed chair and straddle it.

"Grill me about her," he grumbled, preparing for the worst.

She leaned forward in the chair, balancing on two of the sturdy legs. This activity was expressly prohibited in her own house, and she indulged in the forbidden pleasure every chance she got. Her hand reached out to pat him lightly on the leg and she said, "I would never do that to you, Bren. I wanted to apologize for catching you at a bad moment."

His black hair had fallen over one eye, and he glanced over at her warily as he pushed it back in place. "Really? You’re not gonna bust my chops?"

"Why would I do that?" She was actually quite insulted that he would assume she would be so crass. "I never treat you like that."

His elbows were resting on his knees, and he dropped his head into his hands and shook it roughly. "I’m sorry, Ryan. I honestly don’t know whether I’m coming or going! I just…I just don’t know what I’m doing." He looked so forlorn that she couldn’t stay angry with him.

"That’s okay, Bren," she soothed. "Tell me what’s up." She had a very good idea of what was going on, since she had been in the same situation just a few months before, but she wanted him to tell her, if he felt comfortable doing so.

"I’m really confused about this, Ryan." He ran his hands through his hair, causing a shock of the thick black locks to fall forward again. "I just don’t know what to do."

Rocking slowly on the chair, Ryan nodded her encouragement, staying quiet to let him think.

"Have I ever told you about Maggie Reardon?"

Ryan shook her head, reminding her brother, "You’ve never talked about any girl, Brendan. For all I know, you’re gay."

"Gay?! You think I’m gay???" His look was a cross between shock and outrage, and Ryan immediately grew defensive.

"Hey! It’s not like that’s a bad thing, ya know!"

He blushed deeply as he shook his head again, feeling like he was only succeeding in making himself look like a fool to his sister. "Of course it’s not," he insisted in his best placating voice. "I just had no idea that you would think that."

"I don’t really," she conceded, "but that’s one viable explanation for why you keep your life so private."

He got up and paced across the floor, looking very serious. "I just fell into the habit when I was young," he admitted. "It’s really nice not to be the focus of teasing about my personal life, and I’ve gotten used to it. I mean, if you could have privacy, wouldn’t you want it?"

She thought about that for a moment, acknowledging that she had weathered an awful lot of teasing from her entire family throughout the years. Most of it, she had to admit, came from her almost pathological need to share her life with her family, and she had to concede that she would have gotten off a lot easier if she had been less forthcoming about things. "I see your point," she agreed. "So tell me about her, now that you’ve been outed as a straight man."

He gave her his first smile of the day, and began, "We met when we were in law school. End of fall term, first year." His pacing stilled, and his face took on a faraway look as he recalled, "I was totally gone, sis. I was certain that she was the one, and as things went on, I gave serious thought to asking her to marry me when we graduated."

Ryan’s eyes went wide at this disclosure. She had always assumed that Brendan had dates, and that he probably enjoyed the intimate company of women, but she had never seriously considered that he might have fallen in love at one point. "What happened?" she asked softly.

"We started interviewing for jobs at the beginning of our third year," he said. "After I saw her list of choices, it became clear that she was focused on returning to Chicago. That’s her home, you know."

Ryan nodded, even though she obviously had not known.

"Luckily, I had not broached the topic of marriage, so at least I didn’t look like a total fool." He chuckled mirthlessly as he kicked at an imaginary object on the rug. "She got an offer from a big firm in Chicago, and accepted it before she even told me about it."

"So she didn’t feel the way you did?" she asked gently.

"Oh, she said she did," he revealed. "She seemed to think that I’d follow her to Chicago. But that’s not my home," he said fiercely. "I loved her, but I’d been gone long enough. I couldn’t wait to get back home again." Ryan nodded, knowing that it would be virtually impossible for her to leave San Francisco permanently. "She felt the same way about her family and Chicago," he said sadly. "We must not have loved each other enough, because neither of us was willing to give up our needs for the other."

Thank you, God, for making Jamie be from the Bay Area. I know I’d follow her anywhere, but I’d be miserable living 1000 miles from my home.
"So have you kept in touch?"

"No. It was too painful," he admitted, "but I’ve never met anyone I was more attracted to, Ryan. And now that she’s here…" He trailed off, clearly at a loss.

"What’s the problem, Bren? Does she live here now?"