All This Time

Chapter 11

"Good morning sunshine." Before I could even open my eyes, the aroma of freshly brewed coffee tickled my nose.

"Mmmm. What time is it?" I asked with a yawn, as I reached for the mug of coffee he held out to me. How perfect was Ryan to wake me up with coffee? He knew me so well.

"Almost eight. I would have let you sleep in, but I have to leave in a few. Todd and I have been summoned for a meeting with Roger and Tim."

"Ugh." I groaned. This could be bad. A meeting with Mr. Penske himself, as well as Tim Cindric, the president of Team Penske. I had worked enough PR to know that what had transpired over the weekend had left fires that needed to be put out. Until now though, I had never been the root cause of any fires. "Maybe I should be there and talk to Roger and Tim as well. This involves me too." I offered.

"Did anyone ever tell you you have the cutest little button nose?" He grinned at me, completely changing the subject.

"Ryannnn." I whined. "You shouldn't have to deal with this mess all on your own. I'm the reason everything happened in the first place. I'm also a Penske employee."

"Laynie, if they would have thought it necessary for you to be there, they would have called you in. Don't stress yourself over it babe. I'm sure it's not that big of a deal, they just probably want to hear my side of things. I have to go. I'll call you when I'm done."

He was blowing me off, and I hated it. He gave me a quick kiss, but before he could leave, he got an alert on his phone. I saw him frown as he glanced at what I assume was a text message that he didn't want to see.

"What is it?" I asked, figuring it was more bad news.

He held out his phone showing me a text message from his dad.

Dad: Dinner tonight at the Wilks. 7 sharp. Please pass the message along to Laynie since I'm understanding from Shawn and Tara that she is not answering her phone. DON'T BE LATE.

I groaned, remembering I had never turned my phone back on from yesterday. I grabbed it off the nightstand and unlocked it. Amongst the dozens and dozens of alerts, several messages and missed calls from my mom and dad, one in particular stood out.

Dad: I'm guessing that with everything that went on yesterday, you turned off your phone. Frankly I'm not surprised. It's a huge mess. We are having dinner here tonight with the Blaney's @ 7:00 sharp. I'm trusting that at the very least, Ryan will have told you since I'm assuming you are together. Please call me so I know you got this message.

Ugh my dad was probably pissed.

"You had better call him before he shows up here. I have to go, or I'm gonna be late." He said, then he placed a quick kiss on my lips and left.

I stared at the door for what felt like an eternity. I really wanted to talk about what happened last night. I know he was in a rush, but I didn't even get an 'I love you.' I was feeling needy and self conscious and needed some reassurance that last night had not been a mistake, yet here I was still half asleep, naked and alone in bed. Am I being ridiculous? Is my half asleep state playing tricks on my mind? I just need to push those thoughts out of my head. With a sigh, I called my father, reaching his voicemail. I left him a message letting him know that I had gotten his message and would be at the house at seven sharp for dinner.

I needed to get out of bed and into the shower, although I really didn't feel like moving. I couldn't help but wince when I finally forced by myself get to get up. My whole body was aching. I expected some soreness, but I was hurting in places I never expected. My neck and my back were stiff and sore, and of course there was still some tenderness to the back of my head. I made my way into the attached bathroom, and my eyes widened when I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the full length mirror. There was a large bruise in the middle of my back, and smaller ones on my upper arm and lower back. What the hell? It had to have been from getting pushed and knocked into the pole during the fight yesterday because Ryan had been very gentle with me. I must have gotten knocked around more than I thought, and now realized I had hit my entire back as well as my head. I guess I just didn't feel them last night.