Page 69 of After Tonight

“I love when you concede.”

“I know you do.”

He bent and she lifted onto tiptoe, their lips almost touching, when the kitchen door swung open.

“Hey, need an extra hand up here.”

Derek gave a little growl. But he was at work. “Yeah, okay,” he told Bryan. “I’ll be right there.”

Riley settled back onto her feet with a little giggle. She lifted her water bottle for a drink. Derek just watched her. They’d had a lot of sex. A lot. And he still wanted her. All the time.

He hadn’t slept with a woman this much in…ever. His relationships simply didn’t span weeks, and even if they were more than a one-weekend thing, he certainly didn’t see them, and have them spending the night, every single night.

Riley had practically moved in.

Her schedule was nearly as erratic as his. He’d get called for odd jobs here and there. She’d get called to help Scott and his task force out with things at any hour. She was sometimes at his kitchen table working when he came in for a shower or a sandwich during the day. She was sometimes propped up on his couch when he came in at night. And sometimes she wasn’t. Sometimes she was at the station until past closing time at the Come Again. But then there were the nights when they were both at the Come Again, him behind the bar and her at her usual table, working. They’d make eye contact across the room, share little smiles, flirt when she came up for a coffee or water refill. And, of course, there were the times he’d pull her into the kitchen or back room for a quick make-out session just because he couldn’t stand not kissing her for another minute.

All in all, things were really good. Comfortable. Happy.

Which was freaking him out a little.

Riley wasn’t a traditional girl. She didn’t do things the way other people did. It seemed in character that she’d accidentally start dating someone that she’d been coaching in how to be a good boyfriend to someone else. But falling for that guy and making it a long-term thing did not seem like her MO. Especially if that guy was pretty rooted in Sapphire Falls and had been a regular at her mom’s dinner table even before they’d started seeing each other.

Yeah, it felt like they were dating, for sure. But it also kind of felt like they were two people who had known each other for a long time and had become friends over the past few weeks and were just hanging out. Banging each other on a regular basis too, of course, but also just hanging out.

Friends with benefits. That was exactly what this felt like.

Except for the fact that Derek was pretty sure he was in love with her.

He did know Riley well enough to know that telling her that was probably a really good way to end it all. And he didn’t want to end it. Not the sex. But also not the advice they were giving each other about their jobs, and the support he was lending with her family and just the fun they had.

The whole thing would feel far too cliché for Riley. So it was better to just keep his mouth shut. Especially when he felt the urge to say, “I love you”.

“Guess I’d better get to work.” He pushed away from the counter.

She nodded. “Guess so.” She picked up a piece of the pizza and took a bite.

“More? Really?” he asked. “I thought you said it has too many onions and not the right seasoning.”

She nodded. “I did say that. Fewer onions and another seasoning would make this amazing. But it’s pretty good anyway.” She took another bite.

Derek shook his head but laughed. “I guess I did want you to be honest.”

She swallowed and smiled. “I’ll always be that.”

He started toward the front of the bar but he hesitated, turned back, pulled her in and kissed her forehead. “Thank you.” It was not sexy or flirtatious, but it felt right.

Her eyes were soft when he pulled back and looked down.

“You’re welcome.”

Then he got to work.

But an hour later, things were slow. Two bartenders was one too many. Finally, Bryan said, “Why don’t you go hang out with your girl for a while?” He nodded toward Riley.

Derek took a deep breath. Was she his girl?

The vibe in the bar at ten p.m. was more laid-back and fun than it was after midnight, when the after-hours crowd came in to work and study. Now, even Riley was sitting with a soda and laughing and talking to Lucy and Peyton and a couple of other local girls.

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