He’s still looking me up and down like I’m a doll on display for him. His piercing blue eyes no longer feel alluring. They’re pissing me off now. Those blue orbs land on me and I want to retreat into my shell, but I left it in the fucking car like an idiot. “You look great, Addison.”
“Her name is Adelaide.” Reid’s voice swells behind me as he sets down a tray with our food and drinks on the table.
His bicep rests on my left shoulder as he drapes a possessive arm around me.
It almost feels like he’s staking claim on me. I’m sure that would be hot if we were actually together, or if I thought he was even the slightest bit attracted to me. Instead, it feels a lot like my older brother trying to make sure I don’t have a one night stand, and it pisses me off.
Is that why he wanted me to wear my jacket? So I’d remain a spinster in my fancy van all race season? I shrug his arm away, keeping to myself that I’m pissed at him.
My plan is to flirt with what’s his name, but that plan goes out the window the second I spot him staring at Riley as she enters the bar. I can’t blame him. Blue eyes immediately makes his way over to her before she can even cross the threshold of the entrance. She lets the saloon doors swing shut behind her too aggressively, and a loud clang rings out over the lull in the music.
Riley doesn’t even notice—she never does.
She’s the type to cause an accident and not even realize she did it because she makes it out on the other side unscathed. Riley has always been that way. A little oblivious and a touch inconsiderate, even if she doesn’t mean to be. She walks around with rose colored glasses on…literally.
Her staple accessory is a pair of ray bans that color everything a bit pink. It extends to her life philosophy, and I’m endlessly jealous of it. The blue-eyed douche bag starts trying to flirt with her, but she’s focused on me. She takes off into a full run and almost knocks someone’s tequila soda out of their hands.
I want to run to meet her, but I can’t get myself to move. Riley lifts me an inch off the ground, even though she weighs a good twenty pounds less than me. It’s so good to see her that I immediately forget that I’m mad at Reid.
She lets go after nearly squeezing the life out of me and levels a glare at Reid. Her tone is accusatory. “You told her I was coming.”
Her hands are on her hips. It’s a comical sight. She’s so short and wearing an excessive cowgirl get up, yet she’s trying to be intimidating. I can see that Reid wants to laugh, but kudos tohim for holding it together. He pleads with his eyes. “Please forgive me. I had to.”
He throws his hands up in the air and puffs out his bottom lip. He’s perfected his puppy dog eyes over the years, and they unfortunately work like a charm. Resting my hand on the table, I defend Reid, “It’s not his fault. I was anxious and he was just trying to make me feel better.”
Riley’s eyes immediately fill with concern, and I regret bringing up my anxiety. She’s the only one that knows how debilitating it can be. For a while, I would call her whenever I was having a particularly bad day.
When someone is full of light, showing them even a dash of your darkness feels wrong. Every time I told her I was having a bad mental health day she took it personally, as if she could spirit away the illness.
She never could though, and I always felt like that was on me. Like I was breaking her with my brokenness. Obviously anxiety isn’t contagious, but it seemed like I was transferring my fears and lack of confidence onto her.
Riley should keep burning bright, just like she’s meant to. Now, I only call her when I’m feeling good and try my best to show her the highlights.
Simply being around her warmth makes me feel lighter. She doesn’t need to know my dark thoughts. Those are for me to suffer through alone.
“It’s okay, Ri. I’m okay.”
She glares at Reid again like it’s somehow his fault. If anything, it’s the opposite. Reid keeps me grounded, even if he doesn’t know it. He’s steady and unmoving in his positivity. I need him, and that’s why I can never tell him how I really feel. I’ll drift away without my tether.
I try to brush it off, but she keeps nudging me like she wants me to spill. Instead, I fill my mouth with my burger. I feel moreand more exposed every time the sleeve of my dress slips down a little.
The third time it falls, I catch Reid looking at it. He must think it’s too provocative for his ‘little sister’ to be wearing. I so badly wish I could be one of those girls without a care in the world, doing body shots off a hot cowboy and dancing on the bar. But that’s not me, and it never will be.
Surely I don’t look very ladylike with melted cheese dripping down my chin, but I can’t find it in me to care. The burger is pretty fucking good for a dive bar. I didn’t realize how hungry I was. After I finish half of my burger, I finally make eye contact with Reid. He glances between me and my burger and smirks. “Don’t let me interrupt you two.”
I toss a fry at him and he tries, and fails, to catch it in his mouth. Finally, the three of us join each other in a chorus of laughter. It’s the sweetest sound I’ve heard in a long time. Riley starts throwing fry after fry at Reid, and he doesn’t catch a single one.
We’re both laughing at him hard enough to double over. Sheepishly he pleads, “You try then.”
Without giving me a second to prepare, he starts firing the sticks of starch right at my head. Once I manage to stop laughing, I lock in and catch the next fry right between my teeth. I tear off the end and throw the rest of the fry at Reid’s chest.
He and Riley start clapping for me, and it draws all of the attention in the bar onto the three of us. The bartender from earlier comes over to us and slaps Reid on the back. “What are we celebrating here?”
Reid winks. “Oh, a big win.”
The burly bartender seems like he was waiting for a declaration like this one. “Well little lady, wanna test that luck on the bull?”
This man did not just suggest I ride a bull. I’m wearing a dress for fucksake. “Uhhh no,” I stutter out.
