“Hey, Mom!” Phil exclaimed with mock offense, pushing his mom’s hand away.
Rye laughed lightly and pursed his lips as he looked back down at the menu. After another moment, he lifted his eyes again and smiled at Phil. “I appreciate the help,” he said quietly.
The words were the first Rye had spoken since they’d arrived in Reno, and Jake couldn’t help as his heart fluttered and flipped and did all those things it wasn’t supposed to do. His sister caught his eye with another of those annoyingly knowing grins, and heat crept up his cheeks as he shook his head once and glanced back at Phil.
The boy’s expression had softened. “You’re welcome. That’s what friends are for. Right, Uncle Jake?”
Jake was caught off guard by Phil’s words, for whatever reason—though he was sure Krista would be more than happy to tell him the reason and tease him about it later. But he managed a nod. “Yep, kiddo, that’s right.”
And as Phil started talking about Percy Jackson again, picking right back up where he’d left off earlier, Rye turned his head just enough to meet Jake’s gaze. His beautiful blue eyes shone with appreciation, and his expression looked so earnest and real that Jake’s stomach swooped, more heat spreading to his cheeks. Rye smiled softly and held Jake’s gaze for another few seconds before turning back to Phil.
And Jake lowered his eyes to the table again, careful to avoid looking at his sister.
Chapter Forty
Rye
Mom (7:34 a.m.):Good morning, sunshine! I hope you have a wonderful day. :) How’s the weather there? Phil competes this morning, right? Do you and Jake have any plans for the afternoon? I love you! XOXOXO
Rye sat cross-legged at the end of the bed in his room in the hotel suite, staring down at his phone. Nervousness buzzed in his stomach, and he glanced up, out the open door. Jake was in the kitchen making them tea and toasting some bagels he’d bought at the grocery store the night before, after their dinner with Krista and Phil. Somehow, he seemed to know Rye was looking at him, and he lifted his eyes and grinned. The kind, familiar expression chased away some of Rye’s worry.
“Bagels will be ready in a minute,” Jake said. “And we should leave in fifteen minutes or so, I think. Is that okay?”
With a nod, Rye held Jake’s gaze for an extra second, letting the warmth from his friend’s brown eyes shut down the rest of his nervousness. They’d be going to a huge convention center today to watch Phil compete. Krista had described it to them last night during the few moments when Phil had quieted down long enough to eat his dinner. She’d said there were lots of bleachers—big rows of seats that got higher up toward the back—and that she’d save them seats up in the back when she got there early with Phil.
Rye was excited. And trying his best tonotbe nervous.
His phone vibrated in his hands, and he gave Jake another half-smile before glancing down to see the notification. It was his mom again, which wasn’t surprising.
He missed her, and he could only imagine how she was feeling too.
Mom (7:36 a.m.):Uncle Jon says you should check out the automobile museum, and Aunt Tanya mentioned an ice cream place near your hotel that serves rolled ice cream! She says it’s really good! You should try it! I love you!!! XOXOXO
Rye laughed as he texted her back.
Rye (7:37 a.m.):You use a lot of exclamation points!!!
Then he sent her a row of smiley face emojis and another row of hearts, which he knew she would appreciate, before typing out a separate text to answer her questions.
Rye (7:39 a.m.):The weather is nice. Jake says it’s supposed to be sunny and warm. Phil competes this morning, I’ll send pics. We don’t have afternoon plans but now I think we’ll have to find out what rolled ice cream is.
He waited for a moment but didn’t get an immediate response. So he stuffed his phone into his pocket, stood to slip his shoes on, and then joined Jake out in the kitchen.
Jake glanced over at Rye as he exited the bedroom, his eyes still warm but also happy and eager. Their tea and bagels were now on the table, and Rye smirked as he noticed Jake’s had cream cheeseandwhat looked like strawberry jam on it.
“You have a sweet tooth. My mom says mine’s bad, but I think yours is worse,” Rye teased, taking his seat at the table.
Jake fake-scoffed with a huff. “Nope. No sweet tooth here. The jam is just for... texture?” Jake tried, but when Rye lifted his eyebrows skeptically, Jake laughed. “Yeah, that doesn’t really work does it?”
Rye shook his head, grinning, as Jake sat down across from him.
“So, Krista texted me a bit ago.” Jake paused to take a sip of his tea before continuing. “She said Phil woke up much too early this morning, full of energy and ready to go. She’s there at the convention center already, and she got us seats way up at the back of the bleachers. She says we’ll be able to see all the events just fine and that it should be quieter up there.”
Rye frowned. “We don’t... have to...” His words stuck, a trickle of guilt stopping him from saying everything he wanted to, and he shook his head and blinked back the feeling.
“Really, it’s no problem,” Jake reassured him softly. “I’ve been to a few of these meets before, and trust me, Krista won’t be sitting still the whole time anyway. The best seats in the whole place wouldn’t be good enough, and she’ll be walking around and pacing and generally fretting the whole time. We’ll be glad to be up and in the back where we can see all the events.”
And just like that, just with Jake’s simple words, the weight of his guilt lifted a little. Rye swallowed and closed his eyes with a nod. “How... do you... do that?”
