Page 24 of Rating the Book Boyfriend

“I always bring her a souvenir when I travel.”

“A souvenir,” she states flatly.

“Lucinda isn’t exactly a T-shirt and shot glass kind of girl. My sister, on the other hand…” I pull a small bag from behind my back, and Silvia’s eyes zoom in on it.

“Oooh, gimme gimme.” She holds her hand out, and I let out a laugh as I pass it over. Silvia collects shot glasses, and I always try to find the most outrageous ones to bring to her.

My sister tears open the bubble wrap and immediately starts giggling at the shot glass with a cartoon hippo on it.

“Hippo-twat-amus? Where the hell do you find these?” Then her blue eyes widen when she looks inside. “Riggsy! What did you do?”

“Couldn’t leave my best girl out,” I say when she tips the earrings into her palm. These are different from Lucinda’s but no less beautiful, with a large emerald in the center because it’s Silvia’s favorite stone.

She crashes into me and squeezes me hard enough to break my ribs. “I can’t believe you did this, you big idiot.”

I kiss the top of her head, and Ace hops up and trots over, nosing between us so he doesn’t miss any excitement. “I hope you like them.”

“I do though I’d have been happy with just the shot glass.”

And that, folks, is why I love my sister so much. Though our family has money, she’s the least pretentious person I know.

Unlike my girlfriend.

“Why are you frowning?” Silvia’s voice breaks through my thoughts, and I realize my eyebrows are lowered over my eyes.

“Just a bit of a headache,” I say honestly.

Silvia pats me on the chest and retreats to the kitchen, returning a minute later with a bottle of water and two ibuprofens. “Do you realize you always have a headache when you leave Instagram Barbie’s place?”

I down the painkillers with a long swallow of water. She’s not wrong, so I don’t even bother to argue.

“When are you going to do something about this whole situation?”

Throwing a hand up, I let it fall in frustration. “What exactly do you expect me to do? Disappoint everyone in the family, including Nana?”

“So you’d rather disappoint yourself? When are you going to put yourself first?”

I pretend to think about it, though she already knows the answer. “Probably a week from never.” Ruffling her dark hair, I fake a smile. “Don’t worry about me. I’m fine.”

Silvia encloses me in her arms and rests her head on my chest. “You deserve better than fine, Riggsy. You deserve laughter and fun and super-hot sex every day.”

“Well, now you just made it weird,” I reply, and my sister laughs before turning serious again.

“You’re the best man I know, Riggs Romero. I just want you to find a woman who will appreciate you like you damn well deserve.”

I pull her closer and kiss the top of her head.

If only, little sister.

CHAPTER 7

Riggs

“Afternoon, Joe!” I call, and the old man turns his head slightly, his dark-brown eyes finding mine before returning to his binoculars.

“Come aboard, Romero.”

I let Ace go first and then climb onto the light-blue fishing boat. “What are you looking for? Are there storms coming?”

---