Page 56 of The Riley Effect

“This is cool!” He puts it on over his shirt.

Stella seems less impressed, but she still gives me a hug and says thank you. She is a lot like her aunt, a little shy, but Ivy says she’ll probably open up by the end of the day.

“Let me guess, I got one of those too.” Her lackluster tone doesn’t fool me. Ivy’s eyes tell me she is excited about the gift. “I’ve never had a girl to give my jersey to, and since you and Caleb are coming to my game tomorrow, I thought you both could wear it.”

Her eyes glow, and she leans in to whisper, “How can I say no to being your first?” I laugh and pull her into a kiss.

“If you guys are going to make out in my dining room, the least you can do is give me that bottle of wine first.”

“Shut up, Ruby, you’re loving this,” Ivy says without removing her lips from mine.

Ruby doesn’t give her sister a response, instead she grabs the bottle, struts to the dining room and pours herself a glass. By the time Ivy and I join her, she has two wine glasses waiting for us.

“I know everyone has to wake up and be athletes tomorrow, but you have to have at least one glass of the wine you brought.”

I look at Ivy so I can follow her lead. When she picks up her glass, I grab the one left on the island and hold it up and offer an impromptu toast. “To the Rhodes, thanks for saving me from dinner with twenty disgusting hockey players.” We all clink our glasses together and then help Ruby carry the rest of the dishes to the dining room table.

If Ivy can cook half as well as her sister, I’m never letting her go.

“Those mashed potatoes were the best thing I’ve ever eaten.”

“I helped Mom make them,” Stella tells me. Just as I suspected, the cute little girl to my right opened up to me while we played with her Barbies.

“I’ll pack some up for you. I know you’re busy this week, and we have plenty of leftovers,” Ruby says, carrying our dirty dinner plates to the sink. “Jalen, actually do you mind helping me carry the leftovers into the kitchen? Then we can pack some up for you.”

“Okay.” I pick up the green beans and gravy while thinking about how happy I am that I won’t have to cook for the rest of the week. When I’m a couple of steps behind Ruby, she takes the dishes and doesn’t waste any time.

“Look, I really like you. I was skeptical at first because Ivy didn’t hold back when it came to your reputation.” When I try todefend myself, Ruby holds her hand up to stop me. “But I now get what she sees in you. You didn’t have to teach Caleb how to skate or come spend time with us when you could have been with your friends. More importantly, I see the way you look at my sister.”

“I do really care about her.” I make sure I’m looking directly into Ruby’s eyes.

“I can tell. She has been through a lot, so if, at any point, you don’t want to be in this relationship anymore, you have to be honest with her. She doesn’t deserve to be dragged along, just so you have someone to hang out with.”

I freeze. I have no idea what to say. I’ve never had this talk with someone’s parents, but it feels like it has so much more importance coming from Ivy’s sister.

“I don’t have any intentions of hurting Ivy, but I promise I’ll always keep her feelings at the forefront of every decision I make.” I’m handed a pie and a nod from Ruby, and we head back to the table.

Ivy and I get back in my car with enough leftovers to feed my entire team for a week. Now that I’ve seen a glimpse of Ivy with her family, I get why spending time with them was more important to her than running around with drunk college boys. Her niece and nephew adore her. They were fighting for her attention all night.

“What did you and my sister talk about in the kitchen?” Ivy asks, looking out the car window taking in the last bit of fall.

“She warned me that you snore like a drunk truck driver.”

Ivy’s eyes shoot at me like daggers. “I haven’t snored like that since I was a kid. She’s so annoying.” The immature tone in Ivy’svoice is a nice reminder that she isn’t always the mature one in this relationship.

I can’t hold in my laughter. “That’s not what we talked about. She just gave me the“if you hurt my sister, I’ll kill you”speech. I can’t believe you used to snore.”

“Yes, Iusedto snore,” She really emphasizes the past tense use of the verb. “And my sister is all bark and no bite, so just ignore whatever she said to you.” She bends down and pretends to clean some dirt off her immaculately clean boots.

“You have to remember she was more of a mom than a sister to me for most of my life, so she’s a little overprotective.”

“Hey, look at me,” I pause, not saying another word until her eyes are on mine. “I love that your family has always been there for you, but I want you to know that I’m not going anywhere. I want you to know you can always trust me.”

“You’ve been nothing but amazing to me, Jalen. I know that I can trust you,” she says without a beat of hesitation.

“I’ll take you home. I know you have practice in the morning, and I have an early morning skate. The team and I are going out after my game. Let’s meet up after.”

“I’ll talk to the girls, but I’ll be there.” I walk her to her door and pull her into a hug. “My family loved you, by the way.”

---