R: Okay. I’m in to see where this goes.
In seconds, he responds.
M . . . or Noah: Where are you? Can I come over now?
I smile at his eagerness, letting it soothe over any residual worries.
R: Not tonight. I’m out with friends. But tomorrow around seven?
N: I might die before then, but I guess I can wait the 21 hours, 9 minutes, and 45 seconds.
R: Did you really count that up?
N: 21-9-7 now.
R: <hourglass emoji> See you soon.
“Everything okay?” Loretta asks me, and I realize that I’ve been smiling at my phone for a few minutes now. I look up, afraid Arielle is going to ask me who I’m messaging with, but she’s oblivious to my phone distraction. She and Eli seem to be caught up in a private conversation that’s not using words. Instead, they’re glaring at each other, lifting their brows, and huffily turning away from one another.
What is it with those two?
“All good,” I tell Loretta, and then a thought occurs to me. “Hey, you should try out this app.”
I tell her about River and Noah’s BlindDate app and how you can put in your preferences, including height, and it’ll match you up. She says she’ll think about it, but she doesn’t look convinced. I’m sure she’s thinking that if it were all that awesome, I’d be telling her about the amazing man I met.
I did. I just can’t tell her. Or anyone else, for that matter. Not yet. Not until I see how things go with Noah.
But the conversation has finally gotten Arielle’s attention and she jumps in. “Riley had a ninety-six percent match! You never did say earlier . . . how’s that going?”
“Uh . . .” I stammer, no idea how to answer that. “I mean . . . it’s good?” My heart is racing. I can feel the nervous sweat starting in my pits, and I’m fidgeting like a toddler who needs to pee.
“Good?” Arielle repeats, not looking convinced.
I can’t say more, though my tongue is a moment away from saying, “He’s awesome and he’s your brother and I don’t know what to do about it!” To prevent that from happening, I shove a nacho in my mouth, nearly choking on the sharp chip and messy cheese and beef combo topped with hot jalapeños.
My eyes water, tears leaking down my cheeks, and I cough harshly, but I try to nod in answer. It only chokes me up more, and I have to give up in favor of sucking down some water. It’s still not enough, and Loretta pops me on the back, which makes me cough again because her taps are more like body slams. But it gives me something to think about other than telling Arielle about Noah . . . and that kiss . . . and how he said please.
God, I can picture that text, hear him saying it when he came over. He’s not a man who says that, which he confirmed if there were ever any doubt.
I’ve managed to get the nacho down and drink some water to soothe my throat, but I’ve been quiet too long, and Arielle, the bestest best friend ever, saves me by drawing the attention away with a joke. “You’ll find the right guy, Riley. Some people just can’t set aside the clouds to see the sunshine.” She holds her hands out wide, gesturing to me and waving jazz hands in an imitation of my Sunshine Salute.
Everyone laughs because I’m the epitome of sunshine, but not everyone is ready for that, especially on a daily basis and in big doses. I’ve learned that the hard way, and I hope Noah is ready for me.
Funny thing, I don’t feel particularly sunny right now. I’m excited about Noah, but I can see a thunderstorm gathering in the distance as Arielle throws me a wink for saving me. “You okay?” she mouths, and I give her a subtle thumbs-up.
“Thanks,” I whisper.
What have I gotten myself into?
Chapter 10
Noah
Last night, when I saw that I had a message from Riley, my heart had jumped into my throat. For a split second, I was already preparing for the worst, expecting it. But also, hoping I was wrong.
Hope—what an odd emotion, one I haven’t known well, but a short time with sunshine beaming down on me, A.K.A. time with Riley, and it damn near bubbled up inside me to overrun any doubts.
She said she’s in.
I’d been ready to go her immediately. In fact, I’d already hopped up from the couch and headed to my closet to grab my shoes when she’d said she was out. And then other new emotions had shown up in a blink. I’d nearly gone crazy with worry and jealousy, thinking she might be on another Blind Date until she said she was out with friends.
Five seconds and a few words. That’s all it took for this girl to take me from maybe not cocky but confident and turn me into a jealous little panting pile of testosterone-fueled worry. That’s what Riley’s done to me, and I felt like a damned fool afterward.
Of course, Arielle’s told me about their Crew outings, and though I know they’re nothing but easy fun with good friends, it was still all I could do to not ‘randomly’ wander by whatever place they were hanging out. It wouldn’t have taken much to figure it out. Hell, I could’ve texted Arielle and asked where she was, and she probably would’ve invited me to join them. More than once, she’s tried to get me to stop by and hang out with her friends in order to inject a little levity into my life.
But I stayed away last night, waiting and biding my time. And making plans for tonight because planning is what I do.
The first step was a good morning message, telling Riley that I dreamed of her last night. It’s not a ploy, it’s the truth.
And then we messaged back and forth a bit, with basic ‘what’re you doing’ type stuff. I purposefully don’t ask anything too deep because I don’t want to scare her off, not before tonight. Not before she actually gives this a chance.
She sent me a picture of her yellow-painted toenails in answer. I don’t know what it is about Riley and her lower body, but this woman’s going to turn me into a full-on leg and foot fetishist at this rate, with her cute socks, tiny toes, and curvy calves.
And now, it’s time for me to make my next move. They say the stomach is the way to a man’s heart. I’m betting that’s true for women too. Or at least I hope it is when I knock on Riley’s door again, this time with cheesecake and some type of blueberry muffin dog biscuits they sell at the bakery for Raffy. I actually spent as much time trying to decide what to get Raffy as I did picking out the cheesecake.
We didn’t talk about what we’d do tonight—go out or stay in? But we need to talk, I know that much, and I’ve thought about what I want to say, how to plead my case and get more than an ‘okay, I’m in’ from Riley. She doesn’t do anything that simply, and I want her full-throttle, the way she was in our messages, unfiltered and bold. The openness before she realized Mark was me and that we have a history. She might’ve dismissed that on Friday, but there’s got to be something to it because she’s all but avoided me in the years since.
Though I suppose River and Arielle don’t hang out either, so maybe I’m putting too fine a point on it, giving that old conversation and those insults more weight than I should? But Riley’s eyes glittering as she ran from the bookstore flash in my mind, and I know this is going to take more than ‘I’m sorry’ to get more than ‘I’m in.’