Dropping The Ball - A New Year’s Billionaire Romance - Weston Parker Page 0,8
fucking war for her.
Her long auburn hair was loose, framing her gorgeous face and making those ice-blue eyes of hers seem even bigger and brighter than ever. Rylee always had seemed larger than life to me, and not just because she was tall for a girl at five-seven.
She had a presence about her I couldn’t explain. She didn’t see me before she disappeared back around the freezer, but I still felt affected by her. Some things never change.
Giving my head a firm shake, I pushed the shock of having seen her out of my head and went to greet Billy. He turned around, spotting me before I reached him, and a wide grin broke out across his face.
“Carter Demming, as I live and breathe. How are you doing, man?” He extended his hand to shake mine, then pulled me into a hug. “It’s been forever.”
“Yeah, I know. Way too long. I’m good. Happy to be home. You?” I thumped his back with my fist before we released each other and stepped back.
“Same. How long are you in town for? We should grab a beer if you’ve got time.” He pushed his brown hair off his forehead. “Rylee and I both flew in for the weekend only, but I’m sure she could hold down the fort at home for a few hours.”
“Wow. Was that your sister I just saw you speaking to?” I already knew it was, but I asked anyway.
Billy wasn’t one of those asshole big brothers who thought he owned his sister and threatened to kill any guy who even looked at her—he’d have been a mass murderer by now if he’d tried to—but I’d never rubbed my attraction to her in his face. I wouldn’t start now.
He laughed and rolled his eyes. “You could’ve left out the ‘wow,’ but yes, that was Ry. Our mom’s waiting for the groceries, but let me know if you’re up for that beer?”
“I will. If we don’t get around to it this weekend, we should meet up next time.” Billy’s mom was like mine. She expected her kids home for the major holidays. If we didn’t make it back for Christmas, we’d both be back soon enough.
He nodded. “Yeah. We’ll do that. See you around, Carter.”
“Tell Rylee I say hi,” I said before shaking his hand again and waving as I watched him jog to catch up to his sister.
Rylee fucking Naples. What a blast from the past.
Billy joined her in the line to check out, and seeing her even from this distance made my heart race and my dick stir. It was uncanny that after all this time, my body shot right back to teenage mode when I saw her.
Quit acting like an infatuated child and march your ass over to the bakery instead of staring. My body might have reverted to teenage mode, but at least my brain still worked. Even if it was just to conjure up all those old images of the two of us together and all the fun we never got to have.
Oh, God. Now I’m sporting a boner in the fucking grocery store. Hello, fifteen. I really haven’t missed you.
Rylee was just that girl to me, though. Always had been and probably always would be. It’d been good to see her, but I was kind of glad it was a once in a decade thing. Things would get real uncomfortable for me real fast if that ever had to change.
Chapter 4
RYLEE
“Have we got everything?” I asked my brother when he finally rejoined me from whatever the hell had kept him in the frozen-foods section for so long.
He studied the contents of the cart and nodded. “Yeah, I think so. Next time, I’m calling Mom from the airport and asking her what last-minute things she needs before I even head home.”
I laughed. “It’s a good strategy, but you know we’re always going to end up doing last-minute shopping anyway. None of us are that good at preparation. Face it, we’re just not a list family. Where were you?”
“Oh, I ran into Carter. He says hi.” Billy leaned with his forearms on the cart like he didn’t have a care in the world. Or rather, like he didn’t know he’d just sent my heart spinning like a top at the mere mention of his former best friend’s name.
“Carter? Hot Carter from high school?” Oh, be still my heart.
I hadn’t seen Carter in person since he and Billy had graduated, but the boy still dominated my fantasies when