AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“And look at us now—friends again. It’s so wonderful.”
“Yeah, it really is. I have another question for you. How long had you been imagining us reconnecting?”
Riley paused again, but longer this time. “A while,” she finally said.
“Define ‘while’ for me, if you don’t mind.”
“Months, Rhys.”
I searched her eyes, wondering exactly how long she’d been wanting us to come back together as friends. I’d wanted that and more to happen ever since she ended us.
“It’d been months for me, too,” I told her.
We kept staring at each other, and then Riley glanced down the hallway. “We need to get back to everybody, don’t you think?”
I reluctantly nodded and held out my arm. “After you.”
As she walked ahead of me, I watched the flow of her body moving. All it did was make mine ache for hers that much more. When we sat back down in our booth, my brother, Rachel, and Macie smiled at us as they’d done earlier.
“Everything come out alright? You two were gone for a while,” Jackson said.
I raised an eyebrow. “Everything came out fine. Are y’all about ready to go?”
They said they were, so I asked our waitress to bring our checks. A moment later, someone behind me said, “Hi, babe!” rather loudly. I peered over my shoulder to see a tall guy with dark hair and eyes walking up. He was looking straight at Riley.
“Chad! What are you doing here?” she asked.
“I wanted to surprise you. See your family. Your parents told me where you were.”
“What happened to you and Cameron playing golf today?”
“He has a stomach virus.”
“Aw, that’s terrible.”
I looked at Riley. She gave me a backward smile and said, “Um, I need to…”
“Yeah. Sorry.”
I got up out of the booth so she could join her fiancé. Chad and I had never met before, but I’d seen his and Riley’s engagement announcement and picture in the Cypress Hills Gazette. Without question, he was older than her, but I didn’t know by how many years. However, I did know he looked like a typical city slicker with his pompadour haircut, fancy clothes, and Rolex watch. Drop him off in the woods and he wouldn’t survive a day.
As Riley stepped over to Chad, he grabbed her hand, pulled her closer, and kissed her on the lips while looking over the top of her head at me. Something was off about him. Hell, the entire situation felt off.
Riley nodded toward me while telling the weirdo, “You know everyone here except for Rhys.”
He gave all of us a snap wave and then focused back on me.
“I’m Rhys Silverman,” I said, extending my hand to shake his.
“I’m Chad Nolan.” His hand was as soft as a woman’s.
“Nice to meet you.”
“I can’t say the same about you. Explain to me why you’re here with my fiancée.”
“Chad! Why are you being rude?” Riley asked. She looked appalled.
“How many secret dates have you been on with this redneck since we’ve been together? Has it been each time you came home?”
