She shook her head. “I thought I... I’m not sure if I can. Not when I feel this way.”
He dropped his hands and went to her, tilting her chin so he could meet her gaze. “Do you want to try?”
To his surprise, she put her hand on his but didn’t move it away. “Yes. I do.”
Hayden kissed her forehead, then looked at her again. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
He smiled. “For being you.”
She scoffed. “Yes, because I’m such a prize.”
“You are to me.” He hoped she wouldn’t think the words were too much, but he meant what he’d said. They couldn’t keep going around in circles like this. They both liked each other and wanted to spend time together. It shouldn’t be that complicated.
Her gaze softened. “Thank you.” Then she surprised him again. “Come over for supper Saturday night after the softball game.”
“To talk about the house?” When she nodded, he felt the sting of disappointment. It disappeared when she added, “Maybe we could play cards or something too.”
“That sounds great.” He grinned, then walked over and picked up his discarded water bottle. “I’ll be over as soon as I shower and change after the game.”
Riley nodded, and then got into her car. He waited until she drove away before he started grinning like an idiot. Saturday evening couldn’t get there fast enough.
***
As soon as Riley pulled out of the parking lot, she put in her earphones and called Melody. “You won’t believe this,” she said as soon as her friend picked up.
“And hello to you too. Hang on. Let me turn down the TV.” A few seconds later, she said, “All right, lay it on me.”
“I kissed Hayden.”
Silence. “Who’s Hayden?”
Riley had been so caught up in her excitement about him that she’d forgotten she never told Melody about him. She quickly got her friend up to speed.
“And you kissed him,” Melody said.
“Yes.” Riley grinned with pride.
“Have you never kissed a guy before, Riley?” she asked, her tone tinted with shock.
“I’vebeenkissed.” Even by Hayden, but she wasn’t going to mention that or her friend would be even more confused, not to mention offended that she was only hearing about all this now. “ButI’venever kissed anyone. Until now.”
“If you weren’t the one telling me this, I would find that hard to believe.”
“What is that supposed to mean? That was kind of insulting.”
“It wasn’t meant to be. I’m glad you let loose enough to kiss him.” She chuckled. “Was it good?”
“Very. And that’s all I’m saying.”
Melody laughed again. “I haven’t had a conversation like this since junior high. And no, that’s not an insult either.”
Riley turned down her grandmother’s street. “I just needed to tell someone—someone who doesn’t live in Maple Falls. If I told anyone here, it would be in the newspaper by morning.” She remembered how Harper said she and the girls wanted a full report. She’d tell them something the next time she saw them, but she wasn’t ready for them to know about this. She’d done more gut spilling in the last few days than she had in her entire life, and she wasn’t used to it.
“Then you like this guy, huh?” Melody asked.
“Yes.” Now that she was allowing herself to feel the emotions Hayden brought out in her, she was filled with happiness.
