Better If He Goes (Always You #1) - Allie Everhart Page 0,75

and I open the door to let Riley go first. Brad follows, and I notice his hand go on Riley's back as he ushers her to the hostess stand. It irks me seeing him touch her like that, but that's just Brad. He's one of those touchy-feely people, which is why girls sometimes assume he's flirting when he's not. I hope Riley doesn't think that, although being around him so much, I'm sure she's figured out that's just his personality.

"Right this way," the hostess says. As she walks us to our table, she trips and almost falls. Brad puts his hands on her arms, steadying her.

"You okay?" he asks with that smile of his that girls love so much.

"I'm good. Thanks!" She smiles back, in a flirty way.

It's just like I said. Brad was just being helpful, but the hostess thinks he was making a move.

"Enjoy your meal," she says as we take our seats, her eyes on Brad. "Let me know if you need anything."

"Like a date?" I mutter as she walks off.

Brad opens his menu.

"Brad?" I kick his foot under the table.

"What?"

"The hostess. She was hitting on you. You should get her number."

"She wasn't hitting on me."

"Riley. Tell him."

She's sitting next to Brad, since apparently it's too awkward to sit next to me.

"I didn't notice," she says as she reviews the menu.

"Are you serious? How did you guys not see this?"

"Maybe she was flirting with you," Brad says.

"It was definitely you, but you're clearly not interested. We'll find you someone else when we go out this week."

Riley looks up from her menu. "Go out?"

"Brad and I are hitting the bars this week. We're gonna find some dates."

She turns to Brad. "I thought you said you didn't want to date anyone this summer."

"I don't, but Nate doesn't want to go to the bars alone."

"Hey, we had a deal," I tell him. "If I'm finding someone, so are you."

"Why?" Riley asks. "Why can't you just find someone?"

"Because it was his idea."

"For some reason he doesn't think he can do this unless I do it too," Brad says to Riley.

"Why are you complaining about this?" I say to Brad. "You love going out and you love meeting people."

"But I don't want to date someone. What's the point when I'm leaving soon? We'll go on a few dates and it'll be over."

"You never know. Maybe you'll meet the girl of your dreams and she'll follow you to med school and you'll get married and have five kids."

"That's not going to happen. And it's not what I want, at least not now. Marriage and kids are a long ways off. I'm not even sure I want kids."

"Really?" Riley says. "I thought you did.

He shrugs. "I haven't decided. Parenting is a lot of work, and then your kids grow up and never want to see you again. What's the point?"

"He doesn't mean it," I say to Riley. "He's just pissed at his parents right now."

"Why?" she asks him. "Did they—" She stops, her eyes darting down. "Never mind. I don't know what I'm saying."

But it's almost like she does. I'm sure Brad told her stuff when they were together today, so why is she trying to hide it? Why'd she cut herself off like that? Did Brad tell her something I'm not supposed to know?

"What's going on?" I say to Brad. "Did you find something out about your parents?"

"Nothing you don't already know." He turns to Riley. "Nate and I just found out my parents are coming to town."

"They're coming here? When?"

"In a few weeks. They say they're just coming to see me, but I know that's not the reason."

"What do you think it is?"

"Something happened and they don't want to tell me over the phone. I don't want to think about it. Can we talk about something else?"

The table gets quiet and remains quiet until the waiter arrives to take our order. After he leaves, we're still quiet, none of us knowing what to say. The dynamic between us has changed, which I'm assuming is because of me.

Things aren't right between Riley and me, which makes Brad uncomfortable, so we're all struggling with what to say. Then there's this strange vibe between Riley and Brad that I can't figure out. It's like they're talking in code, sharing some secret message, which I'm assuming has to do with me. I'm sure they talked about me today, trying to figure out what to do to get my mind off Riley and onto someone else. That's