Page 34 of Ring Rust

“See you Saturday?” Ryan asked.

Jasper nodded softly. “See you Saturday.”

He found Stevie waiting for him in the living room, removing pieces of a Christmas village from the box she’d brought up.

“Aw. Remember when Ryan made this one?” she asked, holding up a small model wrestling ring. “It’s not a town square if there’s no wrestling ring, right?”

Jasper laughed. “I don’t know if I agree.” He waited for Stevie to turn her attention back to the box, then grabbed the wrestling ring and put it in his pocket to bring home.

“Dog hotel!” Stevie said, placing a small building with a connected grassy patch near the school. “It’s looking good, I must say.”

“It is,” Jasper said. “Walk me out?”

Stevie looked at him, confused, and nodded. “Sure.”

When they got to the porch, Jasper felt his body relax. The closer they got to his car, the more tension faded from his shoulders and jaw. He wondered how long it would be before he and Ryan could exist in the same space without his nervous system lighting up.

“See you Saturday, then? What time will you be here?” Stevie asked.

“I’ll be here at six.”

“Okay. Be on time. You know how I get about headcounts.”

Jasper laughed. “I do know.” He looked up to see Ryan through the window talking to Beni, pointing at what Jasper guessed was his preferred platter for the cheese plate. His skin crawled at the knowledge he’d gained while eavesdropping. “And, um, hey. Give me Shawn’s number, maybe. It won’t be a date, but we could at least carpool, right?”

Stevie grinned. “Yes. Carpooling is responsible. I’ll text you his number.”

“Just friends, though. Not a date.”

“Right. Not a date.”

“I don’t thinkI can come on Saturday,” Ryan said. “It’s too hard to see him. He hates me.”

Beni rubbed Ryan’s back. “He doesn’t hate you.”

Ryan shrugged. “It doesn’t matter if he does or doesn’t, he can’t stand to be in the same room as me.”

“Call Patrick, okay? You don’t have to see him forever. But you need someone to talk to about this. You have a lot going on, and I’m worried about you.”

“I’m fine. I’m going to fix up the park, and I’m going to win him back. I don’t need a therapist to help me with that.”

“Ryan,” Beni said, sighing.

“I don’t want to talk about it anymore. What are you and Stevie doing on your trip, then? You’re stopping by Mama’s house on the way there, right?”

“Yeah, we’re doing a few nights in Blue Ridge to see them. They’ve been itching to meet her.”

“I bet.”

“Other than that, I don’t know. I know she wants to do a few tourist things, which should be fun. Mostly, I’m hoping we can pretend we’re not moms for a couple weeks and spend half our nights partying and the other half getting tons of excellent sleep.” Beni sighed wistfully. “I can’t wait. I don’t get to travel enough!”

“You don’t,” Ryan said. He understood the appeal for someone like Beni, but his relationship with travel had shifted over the years. It wasn’t until his retirement that he realized how good it felt to be in one place for longer than a week, especially knowing there was nothing on the horizon that would interrupt his stasis. It would have been even better if he’d managed to stay at his own home, with the one person he loved more than anyone or anything.

Jasper would probably say that wasn’t true. He’d say Ryan loved wrestling more than Jasper. The limelight and the fame and the money. But it wasn’t true, and Ryan knew that. He just wished he knew how to prove it.

Maybe Ryan would reach out to this Patrick guy. One or two sessions wouldn’t hurt, just to be able to talk freely about how hard this transition had been. Not just losing Jasper, but also wrestling. Jasper was always saying Ryan didn’t take care of himself.

He wondered if Jasper had someone to talk to.