“I think so.” Mari barely looked up from the screen.
“’Night.” Wyatt wandered across the lobby to Ryder’s room and knocked on the door. “You in there?”
“Yeah,” came his reply through the door.
Wyatt entered the room and hung up Ryder’s jacket before he sat on the corner of the bed. College football played on the TV, although the volume had been turned down very low. “Thanks for the loan.”
“Sure.”
Emma’s lecture about Ryder’s future replayed in his mind. Maybe she had a small point, and Ryder could have a little something of his own without leaving Wyatt in his dust. He forced an upbeat attitude when he asked, “How was the pottery class?”
Ryder glanced at him, his expression cautious. “I liked it. The instructor said I’m a n-natural.”
The faint tone of pride coloring his brother’s speech caught Wyatt’s attention. Since the accident, his brother’s monotone voice made Wyatt question whether the brain damage had also stolen Ryder’s ability to feel things. Apparently it had only made it harder for Ryder to show emotion, but not impossible.
Confirming that, lurking beneath the stoic exterior, his brother still experienced some range of emotion other than anger made Wyatt want to dance. But sadness diminished that joy because Ryder’s response meant that Emma was right. Ryder was not as invested in being part of Wyatt’s team as Wyatt had hoped.
“That’s great, Ryder.” Wyatt playfully jiggled his brother’s foot. “I’m glad Emma suggested it.”
Perhaps that had been a slight exaggeration, but deep down he had to acknowledge his own selfishness. When he’d picked Sterling Canyon for his early training, he’d never anticipated the likes of Emma Duffy. Who would’ve thought a shy, conservative, older woman would throw all of his carefully laid plans into disarray?
Ryder sat up straighter against the headboard. “Where is she?”
“Still at the party. I came back to rest up for tomorrow.”
Ryder held up his phone so Wyatt could see the Twitter app opened. “After you k-kissed her?”
Wyatt shrugged, affecting a nonchalant posture. “She kissed me, but only as part of some stupid bet that Trip made. It’s a long story.”
Ryder tilted his head, clearly disbelieving him. His brother knew him better than anyone, maybe even better than he knew himself at times. The plain truth was that Wyatt wasn’t done with Emma, but he realized he couldn’t honestly pursue anything without knowing whether Ryder had feelings for her. “Do you like Emma? I mean, like, do you like her?”
“Not like you d-do.” Ryder wiggled the phone.
Relief rushed through Wyatt’s limbs. “Good.”
Ryder snickered; another sign that missing pieces of his personality were bubbling back to life.
“No more lectures about her. I’m going to bed. See you in the morning.” Wyatt stood and paused. Maybe Ryder did need his own life at some point, but Wyatt still liked having his brother along as much as possible. “Yoga at five forty-five?”
Ryder groaned. “Okay.”
When Wyatt made his way back through the lobby, he bumped into Mari, who was on her way upstairs. The smug smile playing about her mouth told him he was in trouble.
“Wyatt, I just saw the Twitter pic.” She rested her hands on her hips.
“It’s nothing.” Wyatt waved her off with a smile. “A dare from Trip, that’s all.”
“It’s out there on the Web now, so it’s not nothing. We need to talk about including her in the film.” Mari’s tone had shifted into business mode. “The good news is that a romantic angle lends another layer that people will love, especially if it can add a little conflict or tension to the story. Does she support your shift to freeriding competition, for example?”
Wyatt halted midway up the stairs. “Mari, I’ve told you from the outset, I’m trying to build a new image as a serious athlete, not a playboy.”
“I’m not talking about painting you as some gigolo. But a relationship with a small-town woman makes you more relatable and real to people, just like seeing you connect with those old people, or helping your brother, or any of this other personal stuff does. We need to give the audience a three-dimensional view of who you are so they are rooting hard for you once the qualifiers begin. That’s the momentum you want and need. That’s what will get you loyal sponsors. Especially if you’re choosing a girl as unlikely as Emma, with her quiet life here at this inn and the whole volunteering thing she has going on . . .”
The negative spin Mari’s tone cast on Emma’s life pissed him off. More importantly, if Emma couldn’t stand friends at a party staring at her, she sure as heck wouldn’t want to be part of a film that could subject her to much more public kinds of gossip and opinions. “Mari, there’s nothing between Emma and me. You’re running down a rabbit hole. That kiss happened because Emma wanted Trip to lose a hundred bucks. He never thought she’d do it.”