Page 14 of Rival Hearts

Jett nodded, but she didn’t pry. There was a large part of her that wanted to, that wanted to ask a million questions and learn everything that there was to learn about Riley, but she got the sense that the other woman was guarded and that asking direct questions would immediately rebuild any walls she was taking down to talk to Jett.

“I don’t suppose you’re interested in dancing?” Riley asked, looking at the people and couples getting ready to dance, and Jett shook her head.

“Not really,” Jett said, “but if you want to dance, I will for one song, but that’s it.”

Riley laughed and shook her head. “Oh lord, no,” she said, “I hate dancing. I was just wondering, because if you weren’t interested, we could go somewhere else.”

“Like where?” Jett asked.

“Well,” Riley said, “I know how to get to the roof.”

“Okay,” Jett agreed.

“Great,” Riley said. The two decided to go back to the bar to get more drinks, and somehow, Riley managed to talk the bartender into giving the two of them an entire bottle of champagne.

After that, Jett followed Riley to the roof. She didn’t know if they were allowed to be up there, but she also didn’t care. She was enjoying the other woman’s company and the thrill that she got being around her.

When Riley opened the door to the roof, she held it open for Jett.

“Thank you,” Jett said.

“Of course, princess,” Riley said and Jett’s heart beat slightly faster at the nickname. She didn’t know why it made her heart flutter, but she smiled.

There wasn’t any furniture or anything like that around the rooftop, and Jett shouldn’t have been surprised. It was a rooftop, after all. So the two of them sat on a low wall, looking out over the city lights, the bottle of champagne in between them.

“So, I’ll be honest,” Riley said. “One of the reasons I own a bottle of champagne is because I have no clue how to open the damn things.”

Jett laughed and reached into her pocket for her keys. “Well, you’re in luck because I happen to keep a tool for everything on me, including a swiss army knife with a corkscrew.”

“Fancy,” Riley said, before handing the bottle to Jett. She watched her open the bottle and noticed something else on her keychain that was a little unusual.

“Are those nail clippers on your keychain?” Riley asked.

“Yeah,” Jett said with a laugh. “Ember calls it my lesbian badge of honor. She keeps one on her keychain too. Got to be prepared.” Jett smirked at the joke she had always enjoyed with Ember.

Riley laughed. “Man, I wish I would have thought about something like that, especially when I was younger,” she said. “There were definitely a couple of times that a girl turned me down in college because my nails were too long.”

Jett looked at Riley’s nails. “I’m guessing by the state of your nails now that you don’t have a girlfriend,” Jett said.

“No.” Riley laughed. “It’s been a while since I’ve had any kind of relationship, but I’ve never really had a long-term one.”

“Damn,” Jett said.

“Have you ever been in a long-term relationship?” Riley asked.

“A couple of times,” Jett said, “but not recently, and work always seems to get in the way.”

“Felt that,” Riley said.

Jett took a long drink from the champagne bottle before she handed it to Riley, who did the same. The two sat there drinking for a while, and Jett felt a nice buzz. She couldn’t tell if she was properly drunk or just tipsy, but it felt nice, and she was enjoying herself while she talked to Riley.

Riley was a lot less guarded like this, and so was Jett. The two were seemingly making connections together while giggling like little girls over their bottle of champagne.

“Here,” Jett said. “Give me your hands.”

When Riley did, Jett couldn’t help but notice how strong her hands were. Surgeons hands, strong fingers, hands that saved lives. Her nails were only a little long, but Jett had enjoyed ribbing her.

“What are you doing?” Riley asked when Jett rummaged through her keychain.

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