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Ryan tensed and waited. He told himself he’d give Omar one swing at him. He owed him that much.
Then his best friend cracked a grin. “Took you long enough.”
Ryan blinked. “You knew?”
Trent leaned forward. “Dude, everyone knew. The girls have had a pool going for over a year.”
“Speaking of which, I believe I won,” Jake interjected.
The leader of Ahmadi’s men cleared his throat. “As heartwarming as this is, can we get on the road? Our boss is going to be livid and making him wait longer won’t improve his mood.”
“You heard the man,” Omar said. “We can discuss your love life on the way.”
Ryan groaned, and Omar cheerfully clapped him on the back.
* * *
“Well?”Olivia turned from the passenger seat and pinned Leilah with a long look before Chelsea had even started the engine.
“She’s been through an ordeal. Let her catch her breath, Liv,” Chelsea chided her cousin as she shifted the crossover vehicle into gear and followed Omar’s black SUV out of the alley.
“Yes, yes, breathe,” Marielle ordered Leilah. After two whole seconds had passed, she went on, “There, you’ve breathed. Now, you spill the details!”
Chelsea met Leilah’s eyes in the rearview mirror and mouthed ‘Sorry.’
Leilah giggled. “So, yeah, Ryan and I are … I guess we’re a thing.”
“What happened to—what was it from the text this morning? Oh, I know. Howdramatically wrongI was?” Olivia said good-naturedly.
Was it really only that morning that Ryan had kissed her and then apologized? Leilah felt like at least a year had passed since then.
“Youwerewrong. Now, you’re not.”
“Details, Khan. We want details,” Olivia demanded.
She exhaled. “It’s a long story. After the laps, I leaned over to unclip his harness, and I guess he thought I was leaning over for another reason. So he kissed me.”
“He kissed youthis morning?Then what was all that moaning about on the text thread?” Chelsea asked.
“Mmm. Because he apologized for kissing me. He said he was all keyed up from the ride along, and that it was inappropriate.”
“He didn’t,” Chelsea said.
“Oh, but he did.”
“Why on earth? It’s clear to the most casual observer that he’s into you,” Olivia wondered.
“I know why.”
Leilah turned toward Marielle, curious to know what she would say. “Why?”
“Omar,” Elle answered decisively. “Those two have been best friends since what, kindergarten?”
“The summer after first grade.”
“Ryan was probably worried that expressing an interest in you would be a betrayal. And because your brother is remarkably clueless for a trained agent, he apparently missed all the blinking neon signs that screamed ‘I dig your sister.’”
“Yeah, that’s basically it,” Leilah conceded.
