Page 68 of Riverside Reverie

“How did you know Theo had a good dick?” I narrowed my eyes, studying her.

“His ex-girlfriend liked to brag a lot.” My friend wrinkled her nose. “Like, a lot. It was a bit much. I think she did it because she felt threatened by us girls living next door.”

“Ex-girlfriend, huh?”

“From like, two years ago or so. They were never really serious, and they broke up after four months or so of dating.”

“Why?”

“She was super possessive and a bitch to any other female. Especially Rhiannon.”

“Why Rhiannon?! She’s so sweet.” I exclaimed, not believing it.

“She was always condescending and rude to her and kept making comments about how she didn’t know how ‘someone like Rhi’ scored Baz’,” Jasmine’s eyes flashed with anger at the memory. “But Theo overheard her one time, and that was it. He sent her packing.”

I nodded, absorbing this new information. “I didn’t expect Theo to be celibate before me, but hearing he’d had a serious girlfriend makes me feel a little twinge of jealousy,” I confessed.

“Don’t worry, Lux, it was ages ago. He never looked at her like he looks at you,” Jasmine assured me.

It was a relief to know that it’d been a while ago, and he hadn’t been heartbroken by her.

“And how does he look at me?”

“Like you’re the missing puzzle piece in his life,” Jasmine grinned.

“I don’t know about that,” I laughed, shaking my head.

“You don’t feel it? That connection between the two of you? It’s pretty noticeable. I know you both, I can see it.”

“Oh, I feel the connection,” I replied, setting the carton of food on the coffee table and adjusting my position on the couch. “I just…I don’t know. It’s too soon to think like that.”

“They say when you know, you know.”

“Is that so?” I challenged, arching a brow. “So then, why are you hesitating over your feelings about Desmond?”

“That’s more complicated,” Jasmine argued, her lips pinching as she set her own carton down and swiveled to face me. “We’ve been friends too long. There’s a shared history there, and it’s hard to untangle my feelings for him. I care about him a lot as a friend, and if it’s not right between us, we’ll never be able to go back to just being friends.”

“Maybe you won’t need to go back to being friends.” I shrugged. “Maybe he’s your forever.”

“But if he isn’t? I don’t want to lose him as a friend, Lux. I’m not ready to take that risk, his friendship is too important to me. And honestly, I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready to risk it.”

* * *

Jasmine and I agreed to disagree on the Desmond front, and sensing a topic change was for the best, we put on a movie and fell silent. Halfway through, Talia came home and joined us for the ending, snacking on the leftover Thai food Jasmine and I hadn’t finished. She confirmed that I could move in as soon as I wanted, and then spilled the details on how her time with Eliza went.

After the movie ended, I returned to Theo’s place. He was sitting on the couch in the living room, reading. He glanced at me when I walked in, his muscular arm slung over the back of the couch, the picture of relaxation with his book on his lap.

“How was it?” he asked, closing his book and setting it aside.

“Good. We had Thai food and talked, then watched a movie,” I smiled, sitting beside him.

“That sounds fun,” he murmured, moving closer and placing his hand on my knee.

“It was. It’s been so long since we hung out like that. What’d you end up having for dinner?”

“A grilled cheese sandwich and soup,” he answered with a smile.

“That doesn’t sound like much,” I frowned.

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