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I look up to see the bright green eyes of Tripp Briggs, a classmate of Cooper’s and mine, staring down at me. His hands linger on my arms a second longer than necessary.
“I’m sorry.” I step out of his grasp. “I wasn’t watching where I was going.”
Tripp runs his hands down his button-up shirt. “It’s okay. I’m fine—built like an ox.”
“Are you sure?”
“Riley, I’m fine.” He’s sure to enunciate the last two words. “But—” I swallow thickly, knowing exactly what’s coming. His cocky trademark smirk is already in place. Tripp dips his head to close the distance between us. “—if you wanna make it up to me, you could have dinner with me.”
The door behind me opens with a loud creak, but Tripp’s gaze on me never wavers. The world could burn around us, and I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t move—which is a little ironic since he’s now a firefighter.
I don’t even need to look back to know who just walked outside. I can sense his eyes on me. It sets my skin on fire, and I don’t like it.
Every time Tripp has asked me out on a date, which honestly, I’ve lost count over the last few years, the answer is always the same—no.It’s not that I was still holding out hope for Cooper to return—okay, maybe a little part of me deep down always was—but I just wasn’t ready. I spent the last six years putting myself back together with physical therapy and doctors’ appointments and healing.
I’m sure he’s expecting me to decline yet again, but when I open my mouth, for the first time, I say, “Sure, I’d like that.”
Wait, what?
His eyes widen, and his brows nearly meet his hairline in shock. Tripp seems to be just as surprised at my response as I am, but he quickly recovers as his shock turns into a warm smile. “Well, great. I guess it’s my lucky day that you weren’t paying attention and that I happened to be here.”
What am I even doing? Why did I just say yes?Was it only because Cooper was there? This must be a new low for me to pull Tripp into this stupid game we’re playing.
“Are you free Friday?” he asks.
I glance over my shoulder but don’t see Cooper anymore, only a glimpse of his bumper as he races out of the lot.
“Friday? I believe I’m free.”
Tripp claps his hands together, and I jump back at the noise. “I’ll pick you up around six.”
I offer him a small smile and nod. I worry that if I open my mouth without an audience, I might admit that I was so flustered and I didn’t know what I was actually saying.
Chapter 13
Riley
Therestoftheweek passes by in a blur with no more run-ins with Cooper. Maybe he finally got the hint.
“You think I don’t realize what you’re doing?”
I look up in the mirror and see Austin leaning against the doorframe with his arms and ankles crossed. “What are you talking about? I’m not doing anything, just getting ready for my date.”
Breaking my gaze with him, I turn back to applying the finishing touches to my makeup.
“Tripp Briggs has been asking you out for years, and you’ve always turned him down untilnow.”
“So?” I shrug. “And haven’t you been telling me for years to move on?”
“Yes, but don’t you find it odd that youfinallyagree now that he’s back?” I don’t miss the way he emphasizes the word “he”—there’s no need for clarification.
I set my hands down on the sink, firmly gripping the edge. “Austin, this has nothing to do with Cooper.”
“No?” He arches a brow, and his gaze looks right through me. It must be in the Hayeses’ DNA to call me out on my bullshit—Tanner used to do it all the time.
“It. Has. Nothing. To. Do. With. Cooper.” I enunciate each word to drive the point home.
Austin pushes off the doorframe and steps up behind me, placing his hand on my shoulder. “Okay.” His tone tells me he doesn’t believe me, but he won’t push further. “I just don’t want to see you get hurt.”
