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“Is that right? You think you were about to beat me on my home turf?”
He finishes patting the antibiotic ointment on my cut and then reaches for the band-aid, carefully pulling the two tabs apart to open it.
He pulls off the backs of the band-aid and then lays it over the cut on my forehead.
“I was about to beat you. Worried that you might have met your match?” I ask.
“Oh… I know I’ve met my match,” he says.
He takes a step closer, his hand reaching up and wrapping around the back of my neck, pulling my mouth closer until our lips meld together and all I can taste is him.
He tastes like strawberries and syrup with a hint of ham from breakfast.
The glass door opens, and Ryker pulls his mouth off mine.
“Hey, don’t stop on my account,” Harper says. “I just came in for bottled water.”
“How did round two go?” Ryker asks her, straightening back up.
“The girls won.” She smiles. “But now it’s a husband and wife pissing match, so I decided to come in and check on Juliet. How you feel champ?” she asks.
She gets to the fridge and opens the door, pulling a bottle of water out of the side door.
“I’m fine. But I’d like to get out of these wet clothes,” I say.
We hear the door open again and Annie peaks her head in.
“Ryker, can you help with the pirate flag on the top of the play set? It just blew off and I’m not tall enough to put it back.”
“Sure, Mom,” Ryker says.
He turns back to me. “I’ll be right back. Are you ok here for a minute? Then we’ll find you dry clothes, ok?”
He walks out of the kitchen and out the glass doors.
Harper leans up against the island and takes a pull from the bottle of water in her hand.
“He’s in love with you, you know?”
“I’m sorry?” I ask, confused by her question.
But the serious look on her face has my palms in a cold sweat even though I’m already freezing.
“Ryker. He’s falling in love with you. I can see it in his eyes. He’s never looked at any woman that he’s been with the way he looks at you. I think you might be one of the only women he’s brought home since high school.”
He’s in love with me? My stomach does a little flip at the thought of it being true.
She takes a small sip of her water again and then screws on the cap.
“Right… well… we’re married so he looks at me differently, I suppose.”
“No, it’s not that,” she says, shaking her head. “What are you getting out of this deal?”
“You’re going to have to be more specific. I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I say.
I should be getting warmer under the collar at this conversation, but instead, I begin to shiver harder as Harper practically corners me about her brother and our marriage.
I wish Ryker would come back in right now. I have no idea how to handle this situation and I have no idea what Ryker told her.
