Riley blew out a breath and rolled her shoulders. “Fine. Let’s get this over with. Gabe?”
Her friend nodded stoically. “I am ready.”
Riley took a seat at the poker table next to Nick. Gabe stood behind her.
“You look like you’re feeling better,” Nick observed.
She couldn’t help but notice he didn’t try to drag her into his lap or feel her forehead or kiss the hell out of her. The Overly Affectionate Nick who was glad she hadn’t been kidnapped ceased to exist the second Sesame had walked into the house.
If her mother hadn’t planted that seed of doubt that morning, Riley guessed she wouldn’t be reading into his every move. But Blossom had planted the seed, and now Riley was analyzing Nick’s every word and deed for confirmation.
It made her feel a whole different kind of crappy.
“I am feeling better. I think it was just a weird virus,” she fibbed.
“Want some pizza?” Brian offered, pushing the greasy box in her direction.
She held up a hand. “I think I’ll hold off on that for now,” she decided. Riley turned to Sesame. “Sesame, this is my friend Gabe. I don’t think you two officially met in the chaos.”
“It’s so nice to meet you, Gabe. What kind of workouts do you do?” Sesame asked. “Your muscle tone is phenomenal. I know personal trainers who could kill for those quads. Have you ever thought about modeling or acting? You’d be rich and famous in a heartbeat.”
“I have not considered either.”
“So, uh, what other fun memories of Nick and Kellen do you have?” Riley asked, changing the subject.
“Only a million,” Sesame chirped.
As she began to recount some story about Kellen’s rehearsal dinner and a garter snake, Riley slid carefully into her spirit guide world. The clouds were back to their normal pastel shades instead of the messy spin-art version she’d suffered through earlier that day. Maybe they weren’t quite as puffy or bright, but they still passed for normal.
She sensed Gabe’s presence join her and felt an instant calm wash over her.
“Okay. Here’s the plan. I’m going to open up these garage doors, protect myself from the carousel of crazy, and you spirit guides are going to give me whatever you can on Bethame. Got it?”Spirit Riley said to her spirit guides.
The clouds pulsed a little brighter. A muted response, but it still counted.
“I’ll take that as a yes. Let’s do this thing.”
“I, too, am ready to do this thing,”Spirit Gabe said.
Please don’t let me barf,she chanted to herself as she envisioned her spiritual garage doors slowly rising.
“Deploy the protective filter,”Gabe’s voice instructed gently.
With great effort, Riley imagined a colorful screen stretching across the opening. The individual strands glowed with a protective purple sheen.
“Just like a screen door,” she said under her breath.
“What was that?” Sesame asked, looking at Real World Riley expectantly.
Oops. She’d said it out loud.
Nick was staring at her too, with an unreadable yet still sexy expression.
“Uhhh.” Riley’s mind went blank.
What rhymed with door that she could turn into a believable sentence?
Lure?
