Smooth Enchantment ||P. Kane||

Chapter 10

Ryan ended up wrapping his arm around my shoulder when I was making my way into the locker room. I didn't even bother to shake him off or even look at him as I continued to walk on.

"Mackenzie," Ryan said.

"Ryan," I replied back. "Is it hard enough to have my own personal space to myself?"

He ended up chuckling a bit and took his arm off my shoulders and I sighed in relief. Ryan sat down on the bench behind me, watching me as I rummaged through my locker to locate my towel, shampoo and conditioner along with my body wash.

"Don't you have something else to do?" I asked as I stuffed all of that stuff into a plastic bag that carried my work clothes in it as well. Ryan just shrugged his shoulders, causing me to roll my eyes.

"No?" I snorted at his response and pushed past him, making my way over to the showers since I never had the chance to take one last night. I still have at least an hour before I start my shift today so this morning before coming to the firehouse, I thought it was probably the best idea to get ready there instead of home. Melissa wasn't there as she was over at a friend's house for the weekend, leaving the place to myself until Sunday night.

"I thought we could get some coffee before shift since we both ended up coming to the firehouse early today," Ryan suggested. "But by the looks of it, that's not going to happen."

"Well no shit," I retorted back to him as I hung up my towel around the hook right next to the shower stall I was about to use. After hanging the towel up, I just threw the shampoo, conditioner and body wash bottles into the floor of the shower and tossed my clean work clothes off to the side.

I wish Ryan would just leave me alone just this time so I can take a shower in peace without him following me like a lost puppy. It's not the first that he's been on my back. This weird behavior of his has started ever since I came to work about a couple of weeks ago, not in the mood and so out of it. Ryan had that little instinct inside that it all had to be Patrick related. Well, he wasn't wrong as it was that along with the fact that I'm still trying to distant myself from hockey, too.

Those memories still haunt me; the ones of the last hockey game I have ever played. I still always deny the fact that I played hockey, and I use the lie as well that I never played but I watched it.

Even when Ryan figured out that I'm distancing myself from Patrick, he now has the mindset that I'm all his now and he doesn't have to worry about the Blackhawks player no more.

He still hasn't apologized for what happened at that party or having a negative attitude towards Patrick having interests in me.

"Can we get coffee another time before another shift in the future?" Ryan asked.

I already stepped into the shower way before he asked that stupid question. Like he thinks he's going to get a yes from me. I ended up keeping my mouth shut while I started to rinse the conditioner out of my hair. Ryan ended up taking my silence as a no since he never said another word. Only a quiet sigh came out of his mouth, sitting right outside of where I was taking a shower.

I heard Ryan stand up as his shuffled underneath him and then eventually, his loud footsteps. He was walking away, finally. His footsteps grew quieter and quieter until I couldn't hear them no more, indicating that he went somewhere else.

Finally yet again. I have time to my own self. No more thinking of Ryan on the other side of the shower curtain or hearing his stupid questions he had for me.

I continued to le the hot water, or what's left of it, run down my naked body. I always end up staying in the shower for who knows how long. It all varies on how much time I have or what my mood is.