On the Sideline (BSU Football #3) - J.B. Salsbury Page 0,20
she processes. Other than the color of her hair and the elegant angle of her jaw, she and Bex don’t look anything alike. Riley’s eyes are dark and smaller than Bex’s big, pale brown eyes. And Riley doesn’t have the freckles, or any marks on her face at all.
“Tell me about your family.”
She slumps against the couch. “Mom, dad, two sisters, and I grew up in Bel Air.”
I wait for her to expand, but instead she grabs the remote and flips through movies. “We should watch one of the classics, like Clueless or Beetlejuice.”
I stare at the beautiful woman on my couch thinking of all the things I should be feeling, and all I really want to do is send her home.
“Oh my God,” Riley’s pinches her nose while I shovel another full fork of pasta into my mouth. “How much garlic is in that?”
“A lot.” I smile and fork another bite into my mouth.
She sighs, her expression falls, and I can see she’s decided this night is not going to head in the direction she hoped.
“You sure you don’t want a bite?” I offer my plate to her and try not to laugh at her quick “No.”
“I would like something a little stronger than this though.” She holds up her glass of water.
“I’ll grab you a beer.” I leave my plate on the coffee table and head to the kitchen. Before I reach the refrigerator I drop to my hands and do push ups.
Emery’s ballet flats shuffle into view seconds before she says, “Is there no better place to do those but here in the kitchen?”
“Shh,” I say and keep counting my reps. “I need to get sweaty.”
“Isn’t that Riley on the couch?” she says quietly. “I’m sure she’d be happy to help you get sweaty.”
“That’s just it… seventy-four, seventy-five,” I breathe. “I don’t want to get sweaty with her.”
“And people think I’m weird.” She reaches over me, grabs something out of the fridge and leaves me to my pushups.
When I feel nice and wet, I pop up and grab a beer. I sit too close to Riley making sure we touch from hip to shoulder. “Here ya go,” I say pushing my breath into her face.
She takes the bottle slowly, her eyes wide, and then looks down at my sweat-soaked forearm pressed against hers. “I…um…my phone.” She takes her phone from her pocket and presses it to her ear while scurrying off the couch. “Hello? Oh no, what’s wrong?” She frowns dramatically and mouths I need to take this. Then disappears into the hallway.
I sit back, throw my arms over my face, and curse myself for being such a coward while simultaneously relieved.
“Loren, I am so sorry, but I have to go.” She sets her beer down and cringes away from my plate of pasta.
“Oh no, is everything okay?” Don’t smile. Do not smile.
Her eyes flash to mine. “No, it’s um…it’s Bex.”
I sit up quickly, my spine stiff. “What about her?”
“She got in a fight with her boyfriend,” she turns and heads to the stairs.
Boyfriend? I dig my fists into the couch and follow after her to my room.
“She’s a mess, and really needs me right now.” She slings her bag over her shoulder. “We’ll have to reschedule our sleepover.” When she squeezes past me in the doorway I swear she holds her breath.
“Who’s her boyfriend? Does he go to BSU?” I pepper her with questions as I follow her back down the stairs. “What’s his name?”
“Evan.” She slips on her shoes, again, refusing to meet my eyes. “I forget where he goes to school, he’s older…I think, anyway…” She backs away from me to the door. “She’s going to pick me up and she’s a mess and you do not want to see Bex cry, it’s so ugly.” She laughs uncomfortably while backing out of the door. “I’ll text you.”
“Hold on.” I grab the door before she can close it and follow her out to the front steps. “I’ll wait with you.” Because I want to look in Bex’s eyes and see if hearing she has a boyfriend changes the spark I always feel between us.
I’m not so dense to believe that Riley is really leaving me to go to the aid of her cousin who she doesn’t really give a shit about. She needed an excuse to get away from the garlic breathing sweat dragon I’d become, it was all part of my plan. Hearing Bex has a boyfriend was fucking not.
A sleek, white BMW with