Time Can Change Everything

Being at a wedding without a date, made Brynn the perfect target for the single men at the wedding of Kyle Wellwood to her friend Emily. She had been one of the bridesmaids and her sister was the maid of honor. The wedding was beautiful, but now she had to let people know she didn't want to dance or have a drink with them at the open bar. When she first sent back the invitation, she had a date, her boyfriend of two years. But two nights ago after coming home from a late shift at the hospital she walked into the apartment she shared with her boyfriend of two years and found him sleeping with one of the interns from her work. Since she already had her bags packed for the trip she just went over to her friends' place who would be taking her to the airport in the morning. But before she left, she grabbed Radar's leash and food bowl before opening the door. Radar followed after her.

Getting on the plane to Vancouver was easy enough to do. She knew Radar was taken care of and Tyler would get all her stuff out the apartment and store it at his house until she found a place of her own. Knowing that Radar had a yard made her feel bad that she lived in an apartment, but she rescued him from a shelter and there was no way she was going to take him back there. She loved Radar and he was always loyal to her. Knowing that he was away from that douche bag made her not worry so much.

Standing at the bar in her dark red strapless bridesmaids dress that cut off right above her knees, Brynn waited for a glass of champagne. Normally she wasn't much of a drinker, but today she made an exception. She knew her limit and so she knew she wouldn't over do it, but she wanted to relax a bit before she had to fly home to California and deal with the situation she found herself in. Had it been possible, she might have moved to Vancouver, from the places she had been to, it was a beautiful place. “A beautiful woman such as yourself shouldn't be alone.”

Turning her head to look at the person who was now standing next to her with a Molson Canadian in his hand. Resisting the urge to roll her eyes for the umpteenth time that night, Brynn put on a fake smile. “Excuse me?” Brynn asked, slightly shocked by what he said. Looking at him, she wasn't all that impressed with what she saw, he looked like he literally rolled out of bed and tossed his tux on on the way out the door.

“I just meant there are tons of guys that would love to take advantage of a beautiful woman is all.”

“You mean like you?” Brynn asked. “Look, you can go back to your friends and tell them you got shot down, because you don't have a chance with me. I'm not interested in you or in a one night stand with you. Have a nice night.”

With her back turned to him, she accepted the glass of champagne from the bartender with a gracious smile before walking away. Her right hand had a diamond bracelet with stars between every few diamonds, while her neck had a diamond pendant in the center and four smaller ones further up the sides of the necklace. The last piece of jewelry she had on were a pair of earrings that were dangling two diamonds at the end of chain, there were also diamonds on the lobes of her ears. Although working as a nurse she wasn't making enough to afford jewelry as nice as this, her ex-boyfriend was living comfortably off his trust fund and throughout their two year relationship had spoiled her.

“Brynn?”

Turning around and looking at the person who had said her name she met the brown eyes of one of the groomsmen. “Yes?” she asked looking unsure at him.

“Emily wants to talk with you before they start throwing the bouquet and all the other stuff.”

“Thank you,” Brynn said as she looked in Emily's direction where she was smiling. “I'm sorry I don't remember your name.”

“Ryan Kesler, I play hockey with Kyle.”

“Brynn Scott, I don't play any sport,” she smiled at him. “I'm a nurse back in California.”

“And you are friends with the bride how?”

“We went to school together for most of our lives,” Brynn told him. “Then she came out her e and I stayed in the states. Not to be rude or anything, but you don't sound Canadian. You don't have the accent like some of the others I've talked to tonight.”

“I'll let you in on a secret,” he smiled at her. “I'm American.”

“Well it was a pleasure to meet you Ryan Kesler, but Emily looks like she needs me now and I'm sure that your date wants you back.”

“It was nice to meet you too, Brynn Scott,” Ryan smiled at her. “But I have no date. I'll see you around, Brynn.”

Biting down on her lip, she watched as Ryan walked away from her. He was the first guy tonight that hadn't tried a pick-up line on her and it was a nice change. It made her curious about him. He had said that he had no date, but that didn't mean he didn't have a girlfriend that just couldn't make it. Shaking her head she walked over to where Emily was waving her over.

Reaching her friend, Brynn was brought into a hug by Emily. “How are you handling everything?”

“I'm fine,” Brynn told her with a smile on her face. “You don't need to worry about me. I'm done with thinking that there is a guy out there for me. Not everyone gets to find their prince charming.”

“You can't give up forever.”

“Maybe I'm just the person that needs to get laid to be happy,” Brynn laughed at her own lame attempt at a joke. “Have a fun time in Hawaii. And we'll talk when you get back. I'm so happy for you.”

“Don't give up on the idea of love. It will happen for you, it might not be with that ass, but I'm sure that there is someone that can handle Brynn Scott.”

“Maybe for a night someone can, but not in the long run,” Brynn smiled as she kissed her friends cheek. “You are going to be so happy and that makes me happy.”

“We are going to get out of here soon,” Emily told her. “Have a safe trip home.”

“I will and once again congrats.”

Half an hour later Brynn found herself on the balcony overlooking the the dark city that was lit up by the lights of the city. It was breathtaking. She wished she hadn't come alone, maybe she could have taken a friend with her, but she hadn't thought about that until today when she saw some of the other happy couples that she had to share a table with. There were plenty of single guys that would have been more than willing to give her what she wanted for a night, but the only one that even peaked her interest was Ryan Kesler, there was just something about him that she liked. It might have been the face that he hadn't hit on her, he flirted, but so did she. Finishing off her last glass of wine, she set it on the table before looking back at the view.

“A dime for your thoughts.” Ryan said coming from behind her to stand to the right of her.

“Don't you mean a penny?” Brynn asked, a smirk inching its way onto her face.

“I figured that someone as pretty as you had to have thoughts worth more than a penny. A dime seemed like the right price.”

Laughing Brynn took the dime he was offering her before turning her head back to the view she couldn't get enough of. After a few moments, she took a side glance towards where he was still standing. He was a good looking guy and that had nothing to do with the wine and champagne she had consumed throughout the night.

“So?” Ryan asked, tilting his head he saw what looked to be a tattoo behind her ear.

“What?” Brynn asked turning her head to look at him.

“I gave you a dime for your thoughts,” he smiled. “So what are your thoughts?”

“I was wondering how many more of Kyle's teammates are going to try and get me to sleep with them. The goalie hasn't tried anything and I think that's because he's happily married.”

“Yeah, Lu is a good guy. Who had the worst pick-up line?” Ryan asked.

Brynn turned around and looked back into the room where some guys were standing about trying to be discreet about watching them “Umm.....do you see the guy with the hair that makes him look like he just rolled out of bed?”

“Shane O'Brien.”

“So he's one of the guys on your team?” Brynn asked, her eyes meeting his.

“Yeah, he's on the team,” Ryan laughed. “So anyone have any good pick-up lines?”

“Haven't heard any yet.”

“You've only danced once tonight and that was with Wellwood.”

“I didn't see the point in having some guys placing their hands on my ass while dancing. Dancing is supposed to be fun, but how fun is it when some guy your dancing with is feeling you up and you have to resist the urge to knee him in the balls so that you don't cause a scene?”

Hearing the band play a slow song, he held out his to her. “I promise my hands won't wonder.”

Brynn looked into his eyes and she wasn't sure if she believed him or hoped that he was lying to her. “How do I know I can trust you?” she asked him.

“Well I'm pretty sure that Kyle talked to Lu on Emily's behalf and asked him to keep an eye on you and if he feels someone is doing something inappropriate.”

“And if I want someone to do something inappropriate to me? More than just ass grabbing?”

“Then maybe you should ask Shane-”

“I don't want him to touch me,” Brynn told him as she grabbed his hand. “I was thinking of someone closer.”

“Who else do you know here?” Ryan smirked, pretending to look around. “Should I be worried that someone might stop me?”

“Stop you from what?”

Leaning down, Brynn could feel his breath on her skin and her thoughts went back to her ex in Los Angeles, but the moment his lips found hers in a fiery heat that made her toes curl, it made her knees go weak and her mind go blank. Without thinking about it, she wrapped her arms around his neck and her hand went to the back of his head and wove itself in his hair, bringing him closer and not giving him the chance to back away.

As she was about to give him access to her mouth, his lips moved away from hers and to the skin right below her ear. Gasping, Brynn closed her eyes loving the feeling of his lips on her skin. Thinking rationally was out of the question, but she didn't care.

“You taste so sweet.” Ryan whispered as his lips made their way down her jawline, gently biting and sucking as he went.

“Please tell me you don't have a girlfriend or a wife or anything like that.”

“If I did, I wouldn't be doing this to you.” Ryan told her as one of his hands inched its way just under the hem of her dress.

“I think you should take me to my hotel room where we can finish this in private.” Brynn said before moving his head so she could kiss him again.

“Did you drive?” Ryan asked, finally breaking away from her lips and taking her hand in his before looking into her eyes.

“No,” Brynn said before leaning up and biting down on his earlobe. “But I need to get my coat and purse. I'll meet you out front.”

Letting go of his hand, Brynn walked back into the room where the party had died down considerably. Making her way over to the table she grabbed her coat and slipped it on and watched Ryan walk out the doors after saying good-bye to his teammates and friends. After another minute, she followed his lead and walked out of the room and to the exit.

Once outside, she saw Ryan smiling at her while holding a cab door open for her. With a smile on her face, Brynn walked up to him and placed a kiss on his cheek before sliding in and Ryan soon followed. The ride was pure torture for her, feeling Ryan's hand rubbing the inside of her thigh felt too good. But she knew they couldn't do anything without giving the driver a show and she didn't want to do that. As soon as the rid was over, Ryan paid for the ride and got out and helped Brynn out. The cab drove off as Brynn kissed his lips and her hands gripped the front of his dress shirt. “So let's go up.”

“I can't.” Ryan told her, making her stop in her tracks.

“Excuse me?” Brynn asked.

“I can't go to your room tonight.”

“Just a little bit ago you were all for it.” Brynn said as she crossed her arms over her chest.

“It wouldn't be right, not now.”

“So kissing me and making me want you just isn't right?” Brynn asked, her eyes showed him that she was upset.

“You just split with your boyfriend and I won't take advantage of that. But I promise that I won't be gone from you too long. Just long enough for you to get over whatever it is that moron of an ex did to you.”

And with that, Ryan walked away from her. Brynn could believe it and she could feel the tears in her eyes and one just rolled down her cheek. It wasn't because she wasn't able to get laid on this night, no it was because Ryan was right and she hated that more than anything at the moment.