“You look great,” I said.Shut the fuck up, this is not a date.
“Looking pretty smart yourself.” Her lips curved and her smile threatened to melt my resolution.
“Thanks.” With stylists fighting to dress me, my image had taken me places until it felt like second nature. But withRio watching me, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was wearing it rather than living it.
A lyric from a buried memory surfaced:I just want you to know who I am.
At the top of the stairs, I placed a hand on the small of her back. “After you.”
Turn off the flirting. Whatever this is. This is Rio. Simon’s sister. And you’re not going there. You fucking can’t.But as she moved ahead, her soft brown hair brushing her shoulder blades, I couldn’t focus on anything else. My palms buzzed with a need to touch that bare skin at the edge of her dress.
Downstairs, Walter shuffled out of his room, clad in an old blue cardigan and plaid shirt over equally worn trousers.
“Walter, why aren’t you dressed?” Rio asked.
He waved us off. “You two go ahead.”
“What do you mean?”
“I can’t make it tonight. But you go on.”
“Why not?” I asked.What have I done this time?
“I made a date to play a game.”
“A what now?” Rio blurted. Then, quickly: “What date? With who?”
“Clarice, from the club. Thinks she can beat me at Scrabble. No one beats me at Scrabble.”
“Except me, sometimes,” Rio teased.
“You have beginner’s luck, is all,” Walter muttered.
“Can’t you reschedule?”
Walter shrugged. “She invited herself. I told her I’d bring my board on Monday, but she called to say her grandson is heading this way and he’ll drop her.” Walter shrugged again.
“She likes you,” Rio singsonged.
Walter scoffed. “Shame on you! At my age?”
“What, you can’t like anyone at your age?” I chimed in.
Walter pretty much eye-rolled. “We’re playing a game, and she’s going to get her tush whooped.”
“She might like it.” I laughed, but Walter pinned me with a stare. “Suit yourself, Grandpa.” I turned to Rio, hyperaware of her shoulder brushing against mine. “Do you still wanna go?”
She hesitated. “We can.”
“Let’s give them some privacy.” I grinned at her, and when she smiled back, something unspoken passed between us—an awareness, maybe, of how easy it was to call someone else out loud while keeping our own truths buried.
What the fuck am I doing?
“I don’t need privacy, don’t talk nonsense,” Walter grumbled. “Go, I already ate.” He patted his belly—the soft roundness over his spindly legs.
Rio sighed. “Fine. But I can leave some snacks for you and yourguest.”
“I’m not in kindergarten, I can handle it myself. Besides, I don’t want her getting too comfortable. Now go.”
