I’m not.
ME:
Are you home, by any chance?
10
LUKE
I’m so focused on tossing a tennis ball around the patio for Aggie that I almost don’t hear my phone vibrate. She’s small and her legs are short, so lucky for me, a few tosses of the ball are enough to wear her out. Getting a dog might have been impulsive, but I’m grateful that I decided to go for a little one instead of a big one. I’ve always considered myself fit and fairly outdoorsy, but I can’t imagine I’d have the energy to keep up with something like a husky.
Aggie returns the tennis ball a bit more slowly this time and collapses in a tired heap in the shade under my deck chair. I chuckle at how dramatic she can be, and my phone buzzes and lights up with another notification. This time, I catch Riley’s name on the screen and dive for it.
RILEY:
Are you home, by any chance?
Never mind, I’m sure you’re busy. Sorry. Ignore me.
My stomach drops. That doesn’t sound good. I immediately hit the call button.
He answers on the second ring, and before he can even say hello, I’m jumping in. “Riley? Everything okay?”
“Yes, fine, I’m sorry.” His voice sounds far away, as if he’s got me on speakerphone or something. “I was just in your neighborhood, and was going to see if you were busy.”
Reaching down to pick up an exhausted Aggie, we head into the house. “Yeah, I’m here,” I confirm, sliding the patio door shut behind me and setting Aggie down to sprawl on the cool kitchen tile. I pick up her bowl to refill with fresh water and try to keep my tone light. “I’m not busy. Just playing with Aggs. You want to stop by?”
“Yes please.” His voice is flooded with relief, and now I’m really worried. I check the clock. He must have just finished his collab with Benji. Alarm bells are going off in my head, but I push that aside for now and give him the code to the entry gate.
I pace nervously as I wait. I can tell I’m making Aggie nervous too; she keeps giving me the side-eye, but she’s too tired to get up and check for any real threats. An excellent guard dog.
Riley wasn’t kidding that he was only a few minutes away, because a moment later, there’s a knock at the door and I’m bolting to answer it. He says hello quickly, but it’s without his usual smile. His beautiful features are etched with…confusion? I want to wrap my arms around him and hold him until that furrowed brow smoothes over, but I don’t feel like we’ve quite reached that place in our friendship yet.
“Riley? Are you sure you’re okay?”
His eyes meet mine, and there’s a question in them, but I can’t make it out. “I promise, I’m fine.” His voice is more confident than I expected from the look on his face. “Nothing bad happened or anything, I swear. Actually…I’m not surewhathappened.”
“Do you want to talk about it? We can go sit down, or we can go out and grab something to eat? Whatever you want.”
He ducks his head a little, almost embarrassed, as he says, “Do you mind if we stay here? Maybe order in?”
“Sure, of course,” I agree too quickly, jogging over to where I left my phone on the counter and pulling up my preferred food delivery app. We check through the options nearby and settle on a sandwich place. I put in our orders and pay, waving him off when he offers to pitch in.
We have about a half hour to wait for the delivery, and settle in on the couch to talk. I’m pleased to see that he takes the same spot close to me that he did last time. Something about us each having our own “spot” on my couch makes me ridiculously happy for some reason.
“So what’s going on?” I ask once we’re finally settled.
“Well…” Riley’s eyes flick away, and there’s a seriousness about his whole demeanor that makes my protective instinct kick in. “I just finished up my collab with Benji…”
“He didn’t hurt you, did he?” I ask darkly, my blood boiling hot in seconds. If he did something to make Riley uncomfortable, or hurt him in any way, I’ll?—
“No, no, nothing like that,” Riley assures me quickly. “He was perfectly nice. I was worried about running late, so I was feeling off at the start, but he’s hot, and we were having a good time. But it was all so rushed, and I didn’t really even have time to get into it. I just kind of…felt like I was along for the ride, maybe? He took charge, and that was fine, I guess…but the way he was talking put me off, too, and I should have been enjoying it…I’m not sure why I didn’t.”
“Hey, that’s okay,” I tell him, reaching over to place a comforting hand on his knee. I’m pleased when he scoots a little closer to me, his shoulder brushing against me. I let my handslide to the inside of his leg, pulling his thigh flush against mine, and he leans into the added contact.
“I don’t know what went wrong,” he sighs. Aggie has recovered from her exercise and has wandered in, tail wagging as she hops into Riley’s lap and makes herself at home.
“It sounds like nothing went wrong, Ry,” I soothe, caressing his knee with my thumb. “Sometimes you just aren’t as compatible with a scene partner, and there’s nothing wrong with that. You don’t have to work with him again if you don’t want to.”
