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“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” I was a terrible liar.
“I think you forget I have a direct line to your emotions.” She dropped an arm around my shoulders, her tone gentle. “Talk to me. Something’s bothering you.”
“I didn’t mean to interrupt your date,” I blurted out and her eyes widened.
“You thought I was on a date? We’re just friends, Lou. Well, acquaintances. I’m not even banging her,” she explained, a sigh leaving me.
“That’s worse. You’remyfriend. What do you need her for?” I mentally cursed myself when I realized I’d said it out loud as Riley’s lips kicked up into a devilish smirk.
“Are you jealous?”
“No,” I gritted out as I slid from the booth and walked towards the door to escape her. She hooked her arm around my neck again and tugged me against her side with a chuckle as we walked, not allowing me to run from her.
“You totally are. It’s okay, I only have one best friend, and that’s you. I promise no one will take your place.”
“I’m not jealous,” I mumbled, my face heating. “I’m sorry for showing up unannounced. I should’ve asked if you were busy.”
“You can crash my party anytime. You come before anyone,” she said seriously as we reached her car. “You want to come over for dinner tomorrow? Blake’s coming over to see her sister. Mom’s temporarily getting custody of her because she’s in an unsafe environment.”
“Wait, that’s why you’re hanging around Blake? You’re helping her sister?” I asked, feeling like an idiot. “How do you know her?”
She shrugged, dropping her arm from me to lean back against her Corvette. “We’ve met a few times and I heard her sister was in trouble. I asked Mom to help them.”
“She said you two have been racing? I’ve never seen her at the track.”
“What’s with the millions of questions?” she snapped, cringing when she realized she was being a bitch. “Sorry. I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night.”
She was hiding something from me, and I didn’t like it. We’d been seeing less and less of each other lately too, so I was probably being extra sensitive.
“It’s fine. Can I stay over tonight? Or did you have plans?”
“If I had plans, I’d cancel them for you,” she said without hesitation, relaxing me. I knew she’d always put me first, but it was selfish of me to expect it. I had a boyfriend, so if she wanted to date or have other friends, I shouldn’t have had a problem with that.
“I’ll follow you to your place if you want to head there now?” I offered, pulling my keys from my pocket.
“Sounds like a plan.”
I shrieked as she swatted my butt sharply the moment I turned to walk towards my car, and I flipped her the middle finger without stopping, feeling her eyes burning into me. I knew she was checking me out thinking I didn’t know. She’d always had a harmless crush on me, and part of me loved that someone as quiet and plain as me could gain her interest, but the other part of me worried about what it meant for our friendship.
I always sensed when her eyes were on me, but how long until she made a move? How was I supposed to handle that without upsetting her?
I followed her back to her house, parking outside while she parked inside the garage, then we walked up the steps together and headed inside.
“Heads up!”
I jerked my face in the direction of the voice in the kitchen, my eyes widening as Riley’s hand shot out and caught the flying can of beer before it could hit me. Her jaw clenched and she held her hand out for a second as she glared at her brother, Mikey, who was leaning against the fridge. “You could’ve broken her fucking nose, asshole.”
He tossed the second one more carefully, giving me an apologetic look. “Sorry, Luna. I didn’t see you there until I threw it.”
“You could learn to pass things to people the normal way,” I said as I raised an eyebrow, taking a beer from Riley. He chuckled, leaning against the wall and taking a mouthful of his own drink.
“You’ve got to stop hanging around Riley. You never used to talk back.”
“I’m going to teach her to throw hands next,” Riley grunted, her mood simmering slightly. “Is Mom home yet?”
“Nope.”
