“Peach.”
“What?”
“The saying is,bruise like a peach.”
She waves that off. “The point is, you bruise like a piece of fruit, regardless of which one you pick. And banana is far more illustrative.”
“It doesn’t matter. It’s not a Mad Libs where you insert a fruit. It’s a saying that already exists, and it’s,bruise like a peach.”
“Well, you say cucumber, I say cucumber.” She grins, letting me know that incorrect fruit was purposeful.
Christ, she’s cute.
We sit in silence for a few minutes, and I watch her out of the corner of my eye. She swishes the toe of her tennis shoe back and forth in the dirt, but every once in a while, her lips dip into a frown.
“What’s with the sad face?” I ask.
She shrugs, leaning against the bar at her side. “I’m hating boys.”
I don’t ask why. Instead, I shamelessly flirt. “Present company excluded.”
Her nose scrunches. “What?”
“This is where you say, present company excluded.”
“Which would be a lie.” Her gaze drifts to my Café Du Monde bag before she forces it away. “No exceptions. And no hiding it. You’ve got the scar to prove it.”
“Fair point.” I unroll the bag that I’ve been neglecting because I was too enamored with her and whip out a beignet.Her eyes grow hangry as I raise it to my mouth with a goading, “I’ve also got the goods.”
Her head slants, and her long coffee-brown hair frames her tanned freckled face. “You’re going to eat that in front of me?”
“Yep. It’s a merry-go-round, not my kitchen table, but I’m not opposed to sharing. All you have to do is utter a few simple words—present company excluded.Wouldn’t that snake jaw be happier, filled with a beignet?”
She contemplates that, but drums up an argument, which seems to be her thing. “How can I make an exception when I don’t even know your name?”
“What I have to offer is more important than my name. But it’s Ryker, and you are?”
She reaches to shake my hand, as poised as my father’s associates, not a teenage girl with Bambi eyes. “Mercy,” she supplies when our palms slip together.
Talk about a fitting name. I could use some mercy in my life.
One encounter, and I think I might be obsessed with this girl—sweet and feisty and an overthinker in the most captivating way. She’s homeschooled, and she has anupstandingfather, so her life couldn’t be more different from mine. But it’s clear she’s smart and quirky, and she has a vicious bite. She could probably hold her own anywhere, even in my world.
She purses her lips and ends the formal shake. “Fine. I guess it wouldn’t kill me to befriend you.” A feathery puff of defeat precedes her concession. “Present company excluded.”
My victory is overshadowed by the fastest friend-zoning known to man.Jesus.
“Again,” I drawl as I pass her a pastry, “you caved so fast. We need to work on that. I understand the stakes were high, but all you had to do was bat those lashes, and I would have given you the beignet. Either way, Viper, this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”
She smirks as she side-eyes me. “Says the extortionist who bruises like a banana.”
And just like that, I’ve found the best reason to stick around.
As the memory melts away, I mindlessly roll my seven-sided dice and consider our date tomorrow night. All the bullshit my brothers spewed about bulldozing races through my mind. I’m exhausted, tamping everything down. It’s not how I’m built. And every time I gave in to her in the past, it backfired. Not completely since she’s been mine in some capacity for nearly two decades. But now, it all feels different.
There’s a lot we have to cover, a lot she doesn’t know, a lot she won’t be happy about. But none of that matters as much as revisiting the sparks she’s so intent on ignoring. Regardless of my hard-to-get plan, making her chase me might not be an option. I’m teetering on a precarious edge. One heated glance, one subtle signal, and everything I’m holding in is going to tumble out like a rockslide.
RYKER
