She turned away from the glass and felt her jaw open so far she worried it might hit the very expensive rug under her feet. “Andy?”
Andy Pendleton—tall, cute, fellow Shippensburg alumnus, and fondly remembered college ex-boyfriend—stood next to the table with a beer in his hand. He had glasses now and looked as if he used actual grooming products in his curly hair. But he still had the same charming grin.
“You look… Wow. It’s been a while,” he said.
“You two know each other?” Nick asked. His brow was furrowed as he mentally marched toward the inevitable conclusion.
“We dated,” Andy announced.
“In college,” Riley added.
“You dated my brother-in-law?” Nick looked as if he couldn’t decide whether to swallow his tongue or punch the guy in his parents’ dining room.
“The good old days,” Andy said with a nostalgic grin, completely oblivious to Nick’s discomfort. “Remember Homecoming?”
Riley felt the color flooding her cheeks. “All except the streaking. That’s still buried in a tequila haze.”
“You two slept together?” Nick croaked.
She patted him on the back. After a few months of dating Nick, she’d gotten used to running into women who had shared his bed at some point since he lost his virginity at sixteen. Even her mother’s second cousin had apparently taught him a thing or two when he was eighteen.
People had pasts. Nick just had a more active past than most.
Now that the tables were turned, it was actually kind of funny.
“Here.” Carmela appeared and thrust wine glasses at Riley and Nick without enthusiasm.
Nick chugged his down, took the glass from Riley, drank hers as well, then handed both glasses back to his sister. “More.”
“Get it yourself, lush.”
“I’m not leaving these two alone in a room together.”
“They’re not alone. I’m here, and so is Esmeralda.”
For the first time, Riley noticed the young girl sitting at the table and quietly reading a book that looked like it was half her size. She had the thick, dark Santiago hair, Carmela’s frown, and Andy’s chin and freckles. The girl looked up from her tome and eyed the adults. “Can you keep it down? I’m almost finished with this chapter.”
“She’s very advanced for her age,” Carmela insisted with a defensiveness that made Riley wonder if someone in the room had suggested otherwise.
“I can see that,” Riley said agreeably. “What are you reading?”
“A collection of works by Patrick Henry.”
“Our girl is really into history,” Andy said proudly, ruffling his daughter’s hair.
“Takes after her dad,” Riley said, remembering Andy’s constant barrage of historical trivia in college.
“How many times?” Nick asked.
“How many times what?” Andy asked.
“How many times did you sleep with my girlfriend?”
Carmela blinked. “You slept with Nicky’s girlfriend?”
“We dated. In college,” Riley cut in hastily.
Esmeralda had gone back to reading.
