“Someone had to, she’s like a feral rodent,” Riley says with a laugh, all but burrowing into me. I’ve gotten used to pulling her into my arms anytime I’ve wanted to in the last few days. It’ssomething I’m going to miss, but it’s also the pink elephant in the room. We need to talk about what happens now.
“So, I think we have a conversation we need to finish,” I begin. The words tumble from my mouth and already she pulls away, taking her warmth with her.
Riley threads her fingers through her hair as she walks back over to the edge of the deck, leaning over the railing. She points toward the creek. “The dogs are loving it out here. It’s like they’ve played together since they were puppies. Posh has taken Becks under her wing and is showing him the doggie ropes.”
I watch as the two dogs shuffle around some landscaping on the edge of the property, Becks running around a bush and Posh walking beside him, just staying close. Protective. I glance over at Riley and catch her grinning their way.
“Glad you got Becks?” I inquire.
“Sure am. I think he’s going to be good company.” She turns to face me, keeping one hand on the rail for leaning purposes. “Not that Brad Pitt isn’t, but he’s not so much into the ‘let's cuddle and hang out’ thing, you know?”
“Turtles,” I say, rolling my eyes, which elicits a laugh from deep within her belly. Reaching out, I take one of her hands and intertwine my fingers through hers. “Riley. I’m leaving tomorrow morning first thing. We need to talk about what happens next.”
Her shoulders hike up a few inches, rising closer to her ears than before. I keep my hand threaded with hers and resist the urge to just pull her back into my chest and hold her there.
“What happens next?” She says the words thoughtfully and slowly, turning her body away from me slightly as she casts her eyes out over the horizon. She shrugs her shoulders as a breeze flits over us. “I wish I could see into the future because I don’t know how to handle this, Jake. I only know what happened in the past when I tried long distance.”
“But,” I say, stepping closer to her so I can push a few strands of stray hair out of her face, “I’m not him, and you know that.”
“That I do,” she says with a smile, letting the weight of her head rest in the palm of my hand. “I worry that we’ve only known each other for what, maybe ten days? I feel like here we’re in a bubble.”
“A bubble?”
“Like a love bubble.” My eyebrows shoot up, and she holds up her hand. “Not that I’m saying…”
“Oh, you said it. You are in love with me.”
Riley laughs and smacks at my hands, pulling away playfully. “No. I promise you, I’ll tell you when I love you. You know, if you don’t tell me first, that is.”
“You think I’ll tell you first?”
She pushes her hair back behind an ear as she places her hands on her hips and winks. “I guess we’ll have to wait and see.”
“What if I don’t want to wait?”
“Well, I’m going to insist that you do,” she says. “Because if you tell me now that you love me, I won’t believe it.”
“Because it’s only been ten days.”
“Yep.” She treats me to a half-smile before she wags a finger in my direction. “I’ve thought a lot about this, you know.”
“Oh?” I want to tell her that I have too, that I think about the fact that in the short amount of time we’ve known each other, she’s gotten me quicker and on a deeper level than most people who have known me for years. I think about the first time I laid eyes on her and the way my heart slammed in my chest when I looked into her eyes. I knew at that moment I was gone.
What I really want to say is that I think about what a future would be like with her in it, because the thought of a future without her is too much for me to even bear right now. Not when I feel like everything is finally getting onto the right track for me for once in my life.
“Yes,” she continues. “I’m just starting to do things on my own, like the private dinner, and I finally don’t feel like a lost kid who just works for her parents because they have a cafe. I feel like there are possibilities for me to choose from. I’m not sure what any of it means right now, and it’s all super confusing.”
She wraps her hand around mine. “I was already in this place, trying to figure things out, when you entered from stage right. And I wasn’t expecting you. Not one bit, not at all! And you are the most beautiful accident that has ever happened to me.”
Pulling her hand to my lips, I kiss the back of it lightly, letting my lips linger there for a moment to savor the sweet taste of her skin. “Don’t think I’ve been called beautiful before.”
“Well, you are,” she manages, her tone hushed. “And kind, gentle, and funny. It also helps that you have enough morals that you actually knocked the what’s it outta my ex before we even met.”
She smirks, I shrug. “What can I say? Does it mean we’re like that trope in fantasy books…fated mates?”
“Could be,” she responds, leaning into me. “Not sure if we qualify for insta-love?”
“Is that a trope, too?” I ask, and she nods.
