15-05-2021-052358It-Ends-with-Us

to the other guy. He steps around Marshall and the first thing I notice
are his arms.
Holy shit. I know those arms.
Those are the arms of a neurosurgeon.
Allysa is his sister? The sister that owns the entire top floor, with the
husband who works in pajamas and brings in seven figures a year?
As soon as my eyes lock with Ryle’s, his whole face morphs into a
smile. I haven’t seen him in—God, how long ago was that—six months? I
can’t say I haven’t thought about him during the past six months,
because I’ve thought about him quite a few times. But I never actually
thought I’d see him again.
“Ryle, this is Lily. Lily, my brother, Ryle,” she says, motioning
toward him. “And that’s my husband, Marshall.”
Ryle walks over to me and kneels down. “Lily,” he says, regarding
me with a smile. “Nice to meet you.”
It’s obvious he remembers me—I can see it in his knowing smile.
But like me, he’s pretending this is the first time we’ve met. I’m not
sure I’m in the mood to explain how we already know each other.
Ryle touches my ankle and inspects it. “Can you move it?”
I try to move it, but a sharp pain shoots all the way up my leg. I
suck in air through my teeth and shake my head. “Not yet. It hurts.”
Ryle motions to Marshall. “Find something to put the ice in.”
Allysa follows Marshall out of the room. When they’re both gone,
Ryle looks at me and his mouth turns up into a grin. “I won’t charge
you for this, but only because I’m slightly inebriated,” he says with a
wink.
I tilt my head. “The first time I met you, you were high. Now you’re
drunk. I’m beginning to worry you aren’t going to make a very
qualified neurosurgeon.”
He laughs. “It would appear that way,” he says. “But I promise you,
I rarely ever get high and this is my first day off in over a month, so I
really needed a beer. Or five.”
Marshall comes back with an old rag wrapped around some ice. He
hands it to Ryle, who presses it against my ankle. “I’ll need that first
aid kit out of your trunk,” Ryle says to Allysa. She nods and grabs
Marshall’s hand, pulling him out of the room again.