His light-brown hair, his beautiful brown eyes. The sharp jawline. And that smirk that tugs at the corners of his mouth.
I scan the page, trying to find even the smallest piece of information about him. My gaze finally lands on the small writing in the corner, and I gasp. Bingo.
Ryan Monroe.
His name is Ryan Monroe.
My brain mulls over that new information until it finally kicks back into action. I open another browser window and type in his name.
I need to find out more about this man.
The search brings up more entries than I expected, but everything fades to the background when I see one of the top posts.
A news post.
Olympic gold medalist, Ryan Monroe, comes out of retirement for one more Olympic Games, training with Coach Bill Martin, who’s an Olympic gold medalist himself.
No.
That can’t be right.
What are the chances?
No, no, no.
I read the headline over and over again until the words blend together.
My chest tingles uncomfortably and tightens, forcing me to suck in a deep breath in an attempt to fill my lungs with oxygen.
I shoot a quick text to Tara with the picture I took of the billboard and the link to the article.
My phone dings right away with an answer.
Tara: Drizzling fucknugget. In meeting, will call later. But seriously?????
Harper: I know. Talk later.
Another deep breath in and deep breath out.
My breathing eventually returns to normal, and the fog in my mind mostly dissipates. Then reality hits me like a slap in the face.
Ryan, my Ryan from New Year’s, my one-night stand and father of my unborn child, is a professional swimmer, and my dad . . . my dad is his coach.
My thoughts are so jumbled, I’m not sure if I want to cry or laugh.
My dad and Ryan.
Shit.
Thank goodness I didn’t say anything to my dad earlier.
Oh my God, this is the swimmer my dad and Sharon were talking about. The one that my dad butts heads with.
Fuck my life. This is even worse than I imagined.
Closing my eyes, I lean back onto the cushions and take a few moments to really let that settle in.
I’m not sure what any of this means for me, or how this new development will affect things, but at least I know where to find Ryan now.