Page 17 of Riley

I wanted him towantto take me to the wedding of his own accord.

Ugh, he must have wacked me harder in the nuts than I thought. I can’t remember ever mooning like this over... well, anyone.

Whatever, you’re just having an off day, that’s all.

At least, that was what I told myself as I shut down my bedroom studio, and headed to the bathroom for a shower.

CHAPTER 7

Riley

I couldn’t rememberthe last time I felt so nervous about just meeting someone for something as simple as coffee.

Though to be fair, Eric was right. If we were going to go to this wedding together, we should probably at least get to know one another a bit so it wouldn’t be awkward. I’d given him the option to back out, but to my surprise he didn’t.

Still, I felt like I was an awkward teenager all over again, waiting to meet my research partner at the library.

While secretly harboring a crush on said partner.

Which was insane. I barely evenknewEric.

“Hey,” his voice pulled me from my spiraling thoughts, and I turned to see him standing in front of me.

His dark hair fell in his sparkling blue eyes, perfectly pouty lips on display. He was just wearing a tight-fitting pair of jeans anda pumpkin-colored ringed baseball tee, but he looked like he’d literally stepped out of a magazine.

Yeah, I’m definitely out of my fucking league here.

“Hey,” I said, rising from my chair, clearing my throat.

“Thanks for coming on such short notice.” I moved toward the counter, Eric following me.

“Uh... yeah, of course,” He said, his smooth voice like cinnamon butter on a fresh bagel.

“I’ll have a large coffee black, please,” I said to the cashier, nodding at Eric. “What do you want?” I asked.

Eric looked around as if I could be talking to anyone else. “I, uh...”

“It’s the least I can do to make up for yesterday,” I said, my cheeks heating at the very memory of everything that went down yesterday.

The game, the audiobook... the fact I wanted tokisshim on his front porch.

I didn’t go around kissing hot strangers. For God’s sake, I didn’t go around kissing anyone, if I was being honest.

So, the fact that Eric seemed to draw me in, the fact he made me want to do things I didn’t usually do...

Yeah, I guess I had developed a crush.

Fuck me.

Eric smirked. “Well, if you insist, I’ll have a large mocha latte with extra whip cream and sauce.”

I watched as the cashier rang us up, handing the cups off to the barista as I paid.

By the time I was done, Eric had already grabbed our drinks and was waiting for me, looking just as hot as the damn beverages.

“I thought about what you said last night,” I said as we took our seats.

Eric sat across from me, crossing his legs. The motion drew my attention to the definition of his form, the slender curve from thigh to knee, how his ankles tapered out into a larger foot.

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