Page 15 of Spar
He was swallowing his first bite when Ryan spoke. “So, now that you have Tori living at your house, you think it might be time to tell her how you feel?”
Chris looked up at Ryan, nearly choking in surprise.
Ryan just smiled, leaning back in his chair with his hands behind his head.
“Elle told you?” Chris asked when he could, although he already knew the answer. Elle had guessed almost immediately, the first time she’d seen them in the same room together. She was also the only person he had confided in. He put air quotes around the wordconfidedas he thought it because, really, he hadn’t confided anything. All he had done was not disagree when she questioned him about it.
Ryan nodded. “Don’t be angry with her. She just wants to see you happy. Me too.”
Chris felt uneasy having this conversation with Ryan. Tori was his baby sister, and one wrong word out of his mouth might wreck a thirty-year friendship.
“I’m sorry you didn’t hear it from me. Tori and I…”
Ryan held his hand up to stop him, which he was thankful for, because he had no idea what he was going to say.
“You don’t need to explain. You’re already like a brother to me. I can’t imagine anyone who would be better for her.”
Chris cocked his head at Ryan’s enthusiasm. “Don’t get too excited. You see how we are together. We’re like toothpaste and orange juice. One word out of my mouth, and she’s giving me that bitter, pissed-off face.” He scrunched up his face in mock disgust.
“Toothpaste and orange juice?” Ryan laughed and shook his head. “There’s a thin line between love and hate, my friend.”
Chris considered that for a minute but shook his head. “I’m pretty sure from Tori’s perspective, it’s all hate.”
Chris left Ryan’s with a full stomach and a weight lifted. He was sure he looked like a damn fool with Tori’s hot-pink bag slung over his shoulder, but he was in too good of a mood to care much. Ryan’s blessing was important to him. It was part of the reason he hadn’t pursued Tori over the years.
The other reason was a bit more complicated.
Turning the heat on in the truck, he headed down the hill and back to the heart of Sweetbriar. People were making their way out, albeit slower on the slushy roads, going about their normal routines — no doubt grocery shopping, lunching with friends, and enjoying the bright sun after a dreary day of clouds and snow. Chris felt anything but normal. He was nervous and excited and completely unsure what to do now that he had Tori in his house.
Chris pulled up outside Claire’s place and grabbed his cell. He pushed a few buttons before bringing the phone to his ear.
“Hello?” Claire’s tired voice answered on the other line.
“Sorry if I woke you. It’s Chris. I wanted to see if I could grab Tori’s things while I’m in town. I’m outside.”
Chris wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans. He was nervous as hell. Claire and Tori had been best friends for as long as Chris had known them. He had no idea how much she knew, but he understood that when it came to picking sides, Claire would always be on Tori’s. He was thankful for her loyalty to Tori, glad that she had people in her life she could count on, but it put him at a disadvantage standing outside Claire’s door with nothing to defend himself from her possible wrath.
“Come on in.” Claire opened the door. Her hair was in a mess on the top of her head, makeup smudges under her eyes. He had definitely woken her up.
“Where is Tori?” She looked behind him to the truck. “I thought she’d be by to get her stuff. No offense, but why are you running her errands?”
“Tori rolled her ankle so she won’t be able to get out today. I thought she might like having her things there, might make her feel more comfortable.”
He shoved his hands in his front pockets while Claire crossed her arms over her chest and eyed him for a long moment. “I really don’t understand you two. And why did none of us know thatyouwere Tori’s first kiss? I’m seriously offended you two kept that from me.”
She opened the door wide, and Chris followed her into the house. “You’d have to ask Tori. I assumed you knew.”
She led him to the small spare bedroom where Tori had stayed and stepped aside, letting him enter alone. The room smelled of her. Sugar and spice andeverythingnice. Tori hadn’t left much at Claire’s — a few books, a phone charger, and several changes of clothes. He tossed it all in the bag then pulled the phone charger from the nightstand and added it to the supplies. His hand brushed against something small and black underneath. A lace thong.
With Claire’s eyes on him, he quickly zipped the bag, willing the thoughts of Tori in that small scrap of material out of his head… for now. Later. Later he could re-visit that vision.
Turning to Tori’s friend, he had one last thing to square away before he headed back home. “Claire, I have a favor to ask.”
Tori hobbled onone leg from the couch to the window, staring down at the lake and hoping the ripple of the water would calm her. She had tried to follow his orders, but the view had beckoned her — throbbing ankle and all. And it was worth the extra effort it had taken to maneuver across the large room on one foot. The water sparkled below, reaching out in both directions as far as her eyes could see. The lake was quiet today, and would be for another month until the Missouri temperature began to rise enough for the locals to pull their boats out of winter storage. This was the season that made living here the most special. The lake belonged to them and not the steady string of tourists who filtered in and out during the summer months.
Tori steadied herself on the arm of a large upholstered chair and turned, looking around the room for signs of the man who lived here. He didn’t really live here, of course; he rented it out and stayed in one of his other houses inside the city limits, but she knew that he planned to move up here someday, the same way Ryan had after he met Elle.
Wishing she had asked how long he was going to be gone, Tori started toward the built-in entertainment center that covered almost an entire wall. It was the only spot in the room that held any semblance of personal items. The turn of the door handle caught her attention, but it was too late to pretend she had stayed on the couch. She’d been made.
