AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Nick’s enthusiasm seemed to rub off on Matt and soon the two of them were scribbling down the first steps of how they were going to make their dreams come true.
“Let’s do it!” declared Matt.
“Awesome!” said Nick, “I knew I could count you in.”
They stood up and shook hands like they had just concluded a formal business deal, even though it had been anything but. Then Nick, in his excitement, planted a kiss on Riley’s cheek, his beard hairs tickling her and made her blush.
“Okay,” said Nick. “I gotta go make some calls to get the show on the road. I’ll let you know later how it goes.” And just like that he left again, leaving Riley still feeling hot in the face and smiling to herself every time she thought about him.
5.
Riley woke up to the smell of bacon and the summer sunshine streaming in through the huge windows of a strange room. It took her a moment to piece together how she had come to be tucked into an enormous bed in a strange house, still fully clothed.
The room had an en-suite bathroom and she quickly undressed and showered. She guessed her backpack with all her clothes inside must’ve still been in Nick’s car, but she found a t-shirt in the closet and pulled it on.
The spare room she found herself in was on the second floor, which meant that Nick had carried her all the way up a flight of stairs. She couldn’t help feeling a blush of embarrassment at the thought: her snoring away while he slogged her limp body upstairs like an overgrown child.
The house was bright and spacious, with large portions of the walls consisting of glass looking out at the ocean. Downstairs she found Nick cooking bacon and eggs.
“Morning, Riley! Did you sleep well?”
“I’m so embarrassed,” she said rubbing her eyes. “Did you have to carry me to bed?”
“Don’t worry about it,” said Nick, grinning, “you’re light as a feather. I tried waking you, but you must’ve been all tuckered out from all the excitement.”
“Oh, gosh,” said Riley blushing.
“Here you go, grubs up,” he said and scraped a big pile of bacon and eggs onto a plate in front of her.
“But I promised I’d make you breakfast.”
“Well, technically this is more like lunch, so it kind of cancels out. Eat up and we can go visit your brother.”
“What time is it?”
“Twelve-thirty.”
“Oh, geez, I was out for the count.”
Past the open living room, was a sliding door leading onto a deck and an infinity pool overlooking the beach.
“This is a really great place you have here,” said Riley, shoving a big forkful of bacon into her mouth. Her stomach rumbled with gratitude. She couldn’t remember the last time she had eaten. “Definitely better than a motel.”
“I’ll give you the full tour later. You know, I owe a lot of it to your brother. I mean, without his help I would never have been able to get my idea off the ground.”
“Well, you kind of saved his life, so I guess you guys are about even now.”
Nick shrugged. “He would have done the same for me. He’s like family to me. So I guess that makes you family too.”
And don’t you forget it, Riley told herself. Still, she couldn’t help remembering the dream she had had about the first time they had met. Nor could she help noticing how the sunlight shone golden through his now short his hair, or how small the fork looked in his big strong hands.
6.
Matt was propped up in bed watching television when they arrived at his hospital room. He tried to turn to greet them, but groaned when he remembered his neck brace.
“Thank goodness you’re here,” he said. “I need someone to change the channel. It’s been stuck on Ricki Lake for the last three hours. I’m just about ready to throw my IV bag at her.”
Riley laughed. It was good to see that Matt had kept up his high spirits despite the accident.
