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Rhys glanced at my momma and daddy’s house and then reached out and ran his thumb across my bottom lip. We reluctantly said goodbye, but he didn’t pull out of the driveway until I had reached the front door.
I kept watching him, thinking he was about to take off, but he didn’t. He stopped on the street, rolled down his driver-side window, and looked at me. Instinctively, I knew what he was thinking about doing but didn’t know if he’d do it, considering our relationship status. It was making heart-hands at me.
Rhys started doing that after telling me he loved me the first time. Whenever we parted ways, he’d flash his hands and dimpled smile, making me melt on every occasion.
I walked back to the edge of the porch and shrugged my shoulders. Then came Rhys’s hands in the shape of a heart and his smile. I grinned, thinking to myself how adorable he was. I also thought about him telling me he was still in love with me the other day while he and I sat on his patio.
Reminding me with his hands that his heart still belonged to me just now wasn’t surprising. He had always been transparent, and I knew he would keep reminding me of his feelings toward me. Our friend-lover relationship status didn’t matter.
I waved at him and he drove off. After returning to the house, I stood in the foyer, processing my complicated and overwhelming feelings toward him.
Knowing my momma was waiting for me to rejoin her so that she and I could chat more, I took a deep breath and headed her way. When I walked into the kitchen, I saw her sitting at the table, sipping on a glass of tea.
“It sure was sweet of Rhys to take you to lunch,” she said, grinning at me.
“Yeah, it was.”
“Are y’all going to do that again?”
“We haven’t talked about it or any other plans. Just going with the flow.”
“Before your daddy gets home, you might want to get those feathers out of your hair.”
I looked down at it. “What feathers?”
My momma got up from the table, stepped over to me, and twirled her finger for me to turn around. Once I had, I felt her gently tug on my hair.
“Here you go,” she said, handing me three little white feathers.
My cheeks bloomed bright red because they’d come from the pillows on my bed. My momma knew Rhys and I had done more than hang out in the kitchen after eating lunch at Gallagher’s.
“I-I don’t know what to say,” I whispered, mortified.
“Honey, you’re a grown woman, and Rhys is a grown man. But tell me something. Now that you two have been intimate again, where does it leave y’all?”
“Right where we are. We’re just friends.”
“You and Rhys having sex is going to complicate matters.”
“No, it isn’t. He and I discussed it, and we’re on the same page. We have no expectations. We’re just enjoying each other’s company while I’m in town.”
“When you leave, will you and Rhys stay in touch?”
“I hope so.”
My momma nodded and then pointed at the counter. “You have some mail over there.”
I walked over to the stack and thumbed through it. Chad’s card was at the bottom.
CH 15 - #rollercoaster
Riley
“CHAD ISN’T GOING to let up, so don’t be surprised when he sends you something else,” Macie said.
“I don’t want anything else from him.”
“It’s coming anyway.”
