And I kind of lost my mind and forgot myself.
The thing is,I knowwho I am.
Nathan Campbell. Hockey player. A good friend. Not a perfect guy by any means but someone who always aims to do the right thing.
And I know her.
Riley Carter.
Off-limits Riley.
My-best-friend-would-beat-me-with-a-broom-if-I-dated-her Riley.
But then my delusional brain tripped and said ‘psst, there’s a beautiful woman in your passenger seat.’
And it suddenly felt like I was just a guy and Riley was someone I’d asked on a date. Someone I’d like to get to know a lot better. Someone I could hold hands with and go for long walks. Someone I could take out for dinner and talk with until the waiter came and announced that everyone had left and it was closing time.
I’ve never felt this comfortable around a woman I’m attracted to. I tend to put my foot in my mouth or make lame jokes or be way too stiff. But with Riley, I feel like… me.
“Nat, are you getting cookie dough or will you try something with actual taste for once?” Riley teases, looking up at me under the harsh lights of the ice cream store.
The dark outline around her eyes is even clearer now. What on earth is that? It makes her eyes violently captivating.
When I don’t say anything, she tilts her face to the side like mom’s German Shephard when it hears a weird noise.
It’s annoying how cute she is.
Geez, I don’t want to notice.
I really don’t.
I glance away from her and ease back a bit so I’m not standing too close. “What else do you suggest?”
“Can I get a sample of the cheesecake?” Riley asks the bored-looking ice cream clerk.
The girl dutifully scoops the ice cream with the spoon and hands it over.
Riley swivels to me. “Tell me what you think.”
I go cross-eyed looking at the spoon and then at the beautiful woman shoving it at me. Are we doing this? Right now? When I’m trying so hard to beat that punk from the fair in the ‘best older brother’ race?
“I bet it’ll blow cookie dough right out of the water,” Riley says. “Come on. Take it.”
Oh.Oh.
I clear my throat, glad that my thoughts are private. At least no one can tell that I thought Riley was trying to feed me.
That would be a very couple-y thing to do.
And we are not a couple.
We are brother and sister.
Sort of.
“Can I try the triple fudge brownie please?” Riley asks the attendant.
“Triple fudge?” I raise a brow.
