Fiftysix - Seven Rue Page 0,9

my other cousin, Beatrix following us.

She was Milo’s older sister, and since she was my age, I didn’t feel like I had to check what I said before talking like with the boys.

“Joe texted about it in our group chat. Didn’t you read it?” Trix asked.

“No, I have that chat on mute and never open it,” I explained, leaning back and crossing my legs to make sure none of those little rascals would get the stupid idea of taking a peek underneath my dress.

I wasn’t wearing any underwear.

It would only look weird underneath a tight dress like this one, so I decided to skip that step when I got dressed.

“Why don’t you have an Instagram, by the way? I tried to look you up, but your old account has been deleted,” she said, puckering her lips.

Trix was a sweet girl, but a little too naïve for my liking.

She and Kennedy would be great friends, but they lived too far away to start an actual friendship.

“I don’t use Instagram anymore.”

“Why not?”

Because I use other socials to interact with people.

Men much older than me, to be exact.

“I don’t like the app. It’s boring, and I don’t need to see pictures of people I see daily in school.”

Trix nodded, smiling and then looking at Kennedy. “Do you have Instagram?”

I quickly ignored their conversation when Riggs stepped outside with his phone pressed to his ear and a cigarette ready between his fingers.

He had a deep frown between his brows, and his low voice made my chest vibrate without me being close to him.

I watched him as he moved toward the pool house, and when he stopped, listening to whoever he was talking to, he used that opportunity to light his cigarette.

Riggs was a handsome man.

White hair peeked through his natural black hair, and the highlights that came along with age made his gray eyes stand out even more.

He always looked grumpy, always frowning and silently cursing the world around him, but with all the new wrinkles he got in the past year, he didn’t look like a fifty-six-year-old.

His thick beard was slowly turning white as well, hiding most of his wrinkles around his mouth as nose.

Yeah, Riggs was a handsome guy, and he definitely knew how to dress.

His black pants fit nicely on his narrow hips, and the gray, V-neck sweater covering the white dress shirt underneath hugged his chest perfectly.

His shoulders were wide and his arms thick, making me remember how they felt when he hugged me.

I felt the muscles underneath his clothes, and for his age, he seemed to have quite a few of them to show off.

Riggs had tattoos.

I knew because years back, when I was little, he used to come over to hang out with Dad and other guys right here in our garden, having a bbq and drinking beers shirtless.

I wondered if I’d ever see him without a shirt on again.

“Val?”

I snapped out of my trance and looked at Kennedy who was smirking at me. “What?”

“Trix asked if you’d like to head back inside and get some food. We’re both hungry, and that cake Della ordered looks delicious.”

I looked back at Riggs who was still on the phone, but as he took another drag of his cigarette, he hung up the phone and let out a harsh laugh.

“You two go ahead. I wanna go talk to Riggs,” I said.

I was hiding my attraction toward him, but Kennedy knew exactly what was going on in my mind.

I got up from the lounger and stopped as she grabbed my wrist. “At your dad’s birthday party?” she asked with a raised brow.

“I’m just gonna talk to him,” I said with a laugh, freeing my arm and then walking around the large pool to get to Riggs.

“Oh, boy,” I heard Kennedy whisper, but there was nothing holding me back from making sure good ol’ Riggs was okay.

He’s Dad’s friend. Why wouldn’t I check in on him?

“Important call?” I asked as I stopped a few feet away from him, holding up my hand to shield my eyes to stop squinting because of the sun.

He puckered his lips under that thick beard of his, and with a quick shrug he answered, “Not really.”

He studied me for a while before putting out the cigarette and throwing it into the strategically placed cigarette bin next to the pool house’s entrance.

Dad spent most of his time in there during the summer, and when his friends were over, they liked to come out here and smoke before continuing with