By the Playbook

By the Playbook (28)

                  

I pressed my palms against the glass, watching the clouds pass below us. I felt the same way I'd felt on a plane since the crash – nervous and bitchy, eager to move and restrained in my seat. Ryder had, on Oliver's advice, brought a small tennis ball with him, and I was tossing it across the aisle with Gavin. Thankfully, everybody else pretended not to notice, and the one freshman who had commented got a death glare from Ryder that shut him up right away.

                Olivia had come to an agreement with the school that the team could use the Green's private jet to cut down on costs, so we had plenty of room, but it was still a plane. I was still panicky. Gavin whistled at me and I turned, catching the tennis ball just before it hit me in the face. He laughed when I glared at him, then tossed it back.

                Coach Carter turned in his seat for the forty-billionth time. "You're sure you know where we're going when we land, Diamond?"

                "Coach," Ryder said, shaking his head with a bit of a smile. "We're fine."

                I caught the ball again. "A bus is picking us up at the airport," I said, tossing the ball again. When Gavin paused to talk to Kale, I started clapping to give my hands something to do. "It'll take us to Jared's. We'll split between Jared's place, my old house, Rudy's place, and if we need to, you can use some of the spare cash on a hotel for the leftovers. My grandmother will probably insist on cooking us dinner, so you'll have to suffer through that, but..." I shrugged. "You'll live."

                All of this would happen if the plane stayed in the air for as long as it was supposed to. Ryder caught my clapping hands and pressed his lips against my knuckles, his eyes clear and calm. "You didn't sleep much last night," he said, wrapping one arm around me and touching one of the bags under my eyes with his other hand. "Want to try to nap?"

                I shook my head. "I need to be awake."

                He kissed my head. "I'll wake you if we hit any turbulence, I promise. Just try."

                I looked up at him, then over at Gavin. "If anything happens, you throw that ball at me as hard as possible," I told him. "Hear me?"

                He saluted me with a goofy grin. "You got it."

                Ryder smiled and opened his arms, waiting for me to readjust, and I pushed back the armrest to climb into them. I settled against his chest and closed my eyes, trying to focus on evening out my breathing without panting. Ryder drew little circles on my arm with his fingertips, his lips pressed against my temple, then rested his cheek against my head, closing his eyes. I listened to the sound of his heart, letting it soothe me, and wrapped my fingers into his grey t-shirt.

                I had just started to doze off when Gavin spoke again, his voice hushed. "Ry, you awake?"

                Ryder hummed an answer. Gavin chuckled a bit. "You still nervous?"

                Ryder was nervous? He'd never crashed a plane before, what did he have to be nervous about? Ryder's chest rumbled as he answered. "A bit."

                "Why, man?" a voice from behind us said. Eyes shut, I couldn't tell who it was. "Games don't start until next week."

                Gavin laughed. "He's meeting her family. All of them."

                Coach's voice, higher with surprise. "You haven't met her family?"

                Ryder sighed. "She hasn't been back to Germany since... you know. Not since she and Emily moved back to California, and they don't visit often. I've met her cousin once."