“Again, dramatic,” she said with a sigh. “She didn’t dump him on the side of the road. She left him here with his father.”
“She left him on my porch.”
Shrugging, Ryleigh picked up the melon baller and went to work on a cantaloupe. “You have every right to be pissed, but she’s Asher’s mom and she’s going to be in your life, no matter what.”
He sighed loudly. “Yeah. I know. And I hate that he’s getting stuck with a mom who didn’t want him.”
“Okay, whew!”
Frowning, he looked at his sister like she were crazy. “Whew? Whew, what?”
“That tells me you’re not going to get back together with her and do something stupid like marry her. I mean…I get that all kids benefit from having two parents, but I’d hate to think of you getting back together with this girl. You deserve to be happy.”
“It’s crazy, and…I know it’s only been a week, but I can’t imagine bringing a girl home here anymore. I don’t want to have some…you know…fling hanging out here with him.”
“Maybe you should just stop having flings and find someone to settle down with,” she said firmly. “Seriously, Jamie, you have a son now. Playtime is over. I know you’d be fine as a single dad, but…after having Fallon here with you, don’t you think it would be better to have something like that?”
“So…what…now you want me to marry Fallon?” he asked incredulously.
Much to his surprise, his sister burst out laughing. “Oh my God! That’s not what I said at all! But I kind of love how your mind went there right away! That’s awesome!” Dropping the melon baller, she doubled over with laughter.
“It wasn’t that funny…”
“What wasn’t so funny?” Fallon asked as she walked into the kitchen.
“Where’s Asher?” he asked.
“Arianna’s got him in the stroller in the shade. He was starting to doze. I just wanted to come in and get something to drink.” She looked over at Ryleigh who was starting to compose herself. “So? What are the two of you joking around about?”
There was no way he wanted Fallon to know that, and fortunately, Ryleigh figured that out.
“Jamie’s just being his usual juvenile self,” she said, waving her off. “No big deal.”
“Oh.” She walked over to the kitchen island and saw all the salads. “Ooh…is that tortellini salad?”
“Yup,” Ryleigh said proudly. “I do it with a lemon pesto vinaigrette. Here, try it.” She grabbed a fork and put some on it before handing it to Fallon.
Jamie watched as she tasted it and was almost fascinated as she licked her lips.
What is wrong with me?
“Mmm…Ryleigh! Oh my goodness, that is amazing! It’s so good!” Then she grabbed herself a bottle of water and walked back out to the yard.
But Jamie was frozen in his spot. It was like an overwhelming sense of déjà vu. He’d heard her say something like that just recently, hadn’t he? When was that?
Yes…that feels amazing…so good…
He could hear it clear as day in his head. Her voice was a little breathless and…when would she have said something like that to him?
Yes…that feels amazing…so good…
And then it hit him.
Holy.
Shit.
It wasn’t a dream or his imagination. They did kiss the other night on the couch! He knew it! It was far too vivid to just be a dream, so…why would she lie to him about it?
And that’s when the rest of it hit.
He’d fallen asleep in the middle of it.
Not in the middle of a conversation, but in the middle of a really sexy encounter on his damn sofa. No wonder she lied to him. She must think he’s the worst human being on the planet.
God, maybe I really am the worst…
Suddenly, he wished everyone would leave because he needed to talk to Fallon alone. Needed to apologize again and make her see that he really wasn’t such a bad guy and tell her how much he’d like a second chance to…
To what?
There was no way he could have a fling with Fallon.
Could he?
“Dude, what’s wrong with you?” Ryleigh said, snapping him out of his thoughts.
“What?”
“Your face is all scrunchy and you haven’t moved or blinked for a solid minute. You’re freaking me out.”
That makes two of us…
“Sorry,” he mumbled. “My mind just wandered for a moment.”
“Wandered or shut down?” she teased. “So…what were we talking about? Oh, yeah. You settling down with someone now that you have a baby.”
“Ry, come on. It’s been a week. Do I have to have the rest of my life planned out? My main focus right now is on Asher and taking care of him.”
“And I get that, but you’ve only got two weeks before Jenn comes back and you lose Fallon.”
“I’m not losing Fallon,” he denied hotly. “She was never mine! You can’t lose someone you never had!”
By the look on his sister’s face, he knew he screwed up. Carefully, she walked around the island until she was standing in front of him.
“Okay, now we’re getting somewhere,” she said, glancing over his shoulder toward the deck. “Look, the food’s all going to be done cooking and everyone’s going to be coming inside any minute, so talk and talk fast.”
He’d rather have a root canal with no anesthesia, but he knew Ryleigh would just dog him all freaking day long if he didn’t tell her what was going on.
So he did.
All of it.
The kissing and the falling asleep.
“Oh, Jamie…” she groaned before smacking him upside the head. “What is wrong with you? Why would you do something like that?”
“I don’t know! Everything’s weird right now!” he said defensively, raking his hand through his hair. “This is the longest we’ve ever gone without…you know…fighting, and once that was off the table, I just sort of…saw her differently. It’s not a big deal.”
She didn’t respond right away, but she was studying him with a small smile.
“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“As much as I’d love to torture you a bit and drag this out, the truth is…I think you’ve always been a little into her.”
“What?! You’re crazy…”
“Do you remember the day of the opening? You know, Ryker’s grand opening celebration for the tattoo parlor?”
He nodded.
“When Fallon was leaving, she kissed you on the cheek—presumably to annoy you—and you totally blushed. It was kind of adorable.”
“I don’t blush,” he countered. “And everything I do, women find adorable, so…you’re just…you’re wrong.”
She shrugged. “Ask Ari. She’ll tell you she saw it too. We all did and I can guarantee you if we put it out there to the group, it probably wasn’t the first time someone caught you reacting like that to her.”
“Who’s reacting to who?” Patrick asked as he came in and grabbed a beer.