He took the phone away from his ear and said on a grin. “It’s for you.”
I reached for the phone. “What a surprise, Riles, you big dork.”
He reached out and nabbed the back of my head. Pulling it to him, he kissed my forehead. I went solid, phone in my hand and stared at him totally stunned. He’d never done that before. Sure, it was kind of brotherly and cute but it was a kiss.
To cover my freak out, I said, “Quit kissing me, Riley, you’ll give me cooties.”
“Fuck off,” he returned, still grinning at me.
I put the phone to my ear and said, “Yo.”
Silence.
“Hello?” I called into the silence.
“Who’s Riley?”
Fuckity, f**k, f**k, f**k.
It was Luke.
“Luke?”
“Who the f**k is Riley?”
Wow. He sounded pissed off. As in, extremely pissed off.
“Um… a friend?” it came out as a question, like I needed Luke to answer it for me.
“You didn’t tell me about any friends this morning.”
“You didn’t ask.”
“Okay, then I’m askin’ now.”
“About what?”
“How many friends do you have?”
“A lot of them.”
“I’m talkin’ about the ones who kiss you.”
Someone’s got the wrong end of the stick. Hee hee, Bad Ava sing-songed in my ear.
Oh dear, Good Ava said in the other one.
“I can’t talk now, I’m kinda busy.” I wasn’t playing games. I was acutely aware of Riley watching me and the fact he had just kissed my forehead and this was a weird situation I’d never found myself in. I honestly didn’t know what to do.
I felt unhappy vibes stinging my ear through the phone.
“Why are you calling?” I asked when Luke made no response.
“You forgot the remote and keys.”
“Erm…”
“You gonna be home for awhile?”