It didn’t take us long to grab his bags and make our way upstairs to the apartment.

“It’s been a long day,” Ryan said, yawning. “I haven’t been sleeping well at all,” he murmured on my neck. He pulled me tighter to his body and adjusted his head on his pillow. “I’ve discovered that I can’t sleep without you in my arms. I’ve been forced to hug a pillow every night,” he said sadly.

“It’s just not the same.”

“I know what you mean,” I whispered. “This bed is cold and empty without you in it.”

He kissed me softly.

“Oh sweetheart, I know it’s tough to be apart, but you know it’s not permanent. I’m going to try and come home as much as I can… it’s going to be hard though because we have a really tight shooting schedule. If you come down for a few days and I come home for a few days it won’t be so bad. The next couple of weeks will fly by.”

I sighed. Our relationship was like one giant hurdle after another, where crossing off each day on the calendar was the goal.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, kissing my nose.

I shrugged, not sure of how to answer him.

“Tar, Honey?” he whispered. “What’s on your mind?”

“We’re going to be like two ships passing in the night,” I muttered, knowing we would be apart more than together.

“Hey…” Ryan propped his body up on his elbow. “Don’t worry. I know this year will be rough, but everything is going to work out.”

“I just don’t want our life to fly by,” I whispered.

“Some days it will, and some days it won’t. We have to be thankful for what we have. Just think how all those families have to cope when one of their loved ones goes overseas for military duty. At least we get to see each other often and we can talk on the phone every day.”

Ryan crawled onto me, playfully biting me on the neck.

“You worry too much. Besides, I have it all figured out,” he murmured devilishly on my skin.

“Oh you do, do you?” I snickered. I rubbed my hands over his shoulders and down his back to massage his muscles.

“Mmmhmm,” he murmured, kissing my cheek. “We’re going to take it one day at a time - together.”

I was still kissing him when I blinked. Our thirty-six hours together flew by and was quickly coming to an end. Ryan had a Sunday night flight back to Miami.

“Hey Mike!” I hugged Ryan’s faithful bodyguard when he came to pick Ryan up for their trip to the airport. “You taking good care of my man down there?” I asked.

“You know me, Taryn. I carry a big stick!” Mike joked.

“Good! Keep all of those fans off of him!” I laughed.

“Fourteen days,” Ryan whispered in my ear. “Bring your swim suit, ‘cause I’m sneaking you off to the Keys for a day.”

I grinned at him. “I can’t wait! You have everything you need?”

“Yeah, I have enough clean clothes now to last me a while. Kiss me, we’ve got to go.” Ryan nuzzled me.

“Mike, don’t forget Ryan’s guitar.” I picked up the case. “Do you want me to carry it out to the car?”

“No. Just stay inside, Taryn. The paparazzi are out there,” Mike groaned.

“I love you, Honey.” Ryan kissed me. “I’ll call you tonight when I get to the hotel.”

The second the back door opened, cameras started to click. I saw Ryan quickly jump into the black sedan before our new steel door closed completely behind him.

The beginning of February brought bitter cold and a fine layer of snow and ice to Rhode Island. It also froze in place a few other annoyances –

several paparazzi still lingered behind.

I was cleaning up the bar Tuesday night when Cory pounded on the front door. I had closed early on account of the bad weather. Alcohol and freezing rain never mixed well.

“Taryn, my car won’t start.” Cory breathed on his hands to warm them up. “Oh, and do you have any rock salt for the sidewalk? It’s really icy out there.”

I put my heavy coat and gloves on and grabbed the bag of rock salt from the office.

“Whoa!” I shouted as I slipped on the ice outside my door. Cory caught me before I hit the ground.

“Careful!” he reminded me.

“Damn! It’s like an ice rink out here.” I stuck a plastic cup inside the bag and tossed salt all over my portion of the sidewalk.

“Told you!” Cory teased. “You think you can give me a ride home?”

“Cory, I can’t drive in this. It’s too dangerous.” I could barely stand without slipping. “Why don’t you just crash here tonight,” I suggested. “You can stay in the guest room.”

“Hey, if you don’t mind. Classes are going to be cancelled tomorrow anyway,” Cory said, sprinkling more salt near the curb. “I wonder if Mario’s Pizza is still open?”

I tried to walk back to the bag of salt to refill my cup but I couldn’t get a footing on the patch of ice I was standing on.

“Help!” I whimpered. “I’m stuck here. I can’t move!”

Cory laughed at me. “What? Can’t you ice skate?”

“Not in duck boots!” I laughed.

“Here. Take my hand. I’ll pull you to safety.” Cory slid me across the ice. I laughed out loud because it was actually a lot of fun.

“You need to buy boots with traction,” Cory informed. “Those things have no bite.”

I started slipping again so I grabbed his arm.

“Come on… I’ll tow you over to the door before you fall and break an ass cheek out here!”

“Very funny. Can you even break an ass cheek?” I asked.

“You want to find out?” he jeered.

“No! Just help me to the door before I do though.”

Cory laughed. “Even if you could drive me home, I’m picturing you stranded out here on the sidewalk all night. You’ll be a frozen Popsicle by morning.”

“Shut it or no slumber party tonight! I was going to make popcorn.”

“This is going to be so much fun!” Cory used a feminine voice. “We can stay up all night and paint our nails and talk about boys!”

The next morning the sun was bright and warm, melting some of the ice.

“Careful Taryn,” Cory warned. “It’s still icy in some spots.” He held out his hand to me.