Page 34 of Rival Hearts

As soon as she did, she made eye contact with Lucinda, who immediately stood up and walked toward Riley.

“Riley,” she said, lightly patting her on the shoulder, “it’s good to see you here.”

“Thanks,” Riley said. “It’s good to be here.”

“Who are you?” the little girl with wild red hair who was sitting in Ember’s lap asked.

“I’m Riley,” Riley said. “I work with Dr. Everett over here and I’m friends with Jett.” At the mention of being friends, Riley saw at least two eye rolls.

“You can call me Lucinda,” Lucinda said. “And friends, really?”

Riley was a little frozen and stunned, but she didn’t know how else to respond, so she just nodded, resulting in more eye rolls. But her and Jett had never talked about what to call their relationship. Sure, meeting the family had always been something that Riley had thought of as something you do with your girlfriend, but the two of them still hadn’t labeled their relationship.

Riley looked to Jett to see if she said the right thing, but when she looked at Jett, she had an unreadable expression on her face and then sighed.

“Can you all just leave it?” Jett asked. “Really.”

“Okay,” Jett’s aunt, Becky, said. “I’m sorry if we’ve made you uncomfortable. Would you two like to sit and talk with us?”

“Actually,” Jett said, “I was thinking about introducing Riley to Brody. And then, hopefully Hannah will be out by the time we’re done.”

“Okay,” Ember said, “but we’ll see you back inside in a little bit.”

Jett nodded and led Riley to the back patio. When they arrived outside, Riley saw Jett’s mom sitting on a patio chair and in the patio chair beside her was a man she didn’t know.

The two of them were looking into the backyard away from the house, having a conversation that Riley couldn’t hear. The only reason she knew they were talking was because Jett’s mom’s mouth was moving and the man was nodding along even though Riley couldn’t see his face very well.

“Hey guys,” Jett said, interrupting the inaudible conversation. The man turned in his chair to look at Jett and Riley, and when Riley saw him, she was shocked with how similar to Jett he looked. He also had sharp, angular features and short dark hair. Though his hair was styled in a more masculine fashion and his jaw was a little more square with a bit of stubble on his cheeks.

Riley knew that this man was Jett’s brother from Jett talking about him, but looking at him she would have been able to tell even if she hadn’t said anything, they looked that similar.

Looking at Jett’s mom, Riley realized that the two Thompson siblings must have taken after their dad. Their mom was a lot softer, less muscular, and her features were not as sharp. Also, she had lighter brown hair that was starting to gray.

Brody looked at Riley and looked at Jett and smiled wide before he stood up.

“Hey bro,” he said, wrapping Jett in a hug and Riley watched Jett hug him back. “Who’s this?” Brody asked, pulling away, and looking at Riley again. Riley felt the intense pressure to make a good impression with Jett’s family, but she wasn’t exactly sure how to do that.

So Riley held out her hand for a shake and smiled, albeit a little awkwardly. “Hi, I’m Riley,” she said, but instead of shaking her hand, Brody looked at Jett with a laughing smile.

“She’s my friend,” Jett said as way of an explanation.

Brody laughed. “Yeah, okay,” he said. “Whatever you say, little bro.” He turned back to Riley and opened his arms.

Riley didn’t even have time to brace for the hug that Brody gave her, but she tried her best to accept it. Riley wasn’t very familiar with affection, but it was clear that the Thompson family had no such issues, so Riley hugged back.

Brody pulled away after a short moment. “Anyfriendof Jett’s is family,” he said, putting an emphasis on the word friend and Riley blushed a little while Jett smacked her brother’s arm and he laughed.

“What?” Brody asked Jett. “You called her your friend, so that’s what I’m doing.”

“You’re going to make her uncomfortable,” Jett said, looking at Riley.

Riley was honestly a little uncomfortable, but people knowing about their relationship was not why. She felt a little bit like she was invading on Jett’s family and playing girlfriend when she didn’t know if that’s what she was or not.

“It’s okay,” Riley said. “It doesn’t bother me.”

“See,” Brody said, vindicated. “Besides, you’re my bro; I have to tease you.”

Jett laughed, and so did Riley. She didn’t know how siblings were supposed to act, but this was definitely not what she imagined. She liked it, however; it seemed like the two of them really loved each other even as Jett smacked her brother’s arm.

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