Page 77 of After Tonight

Riley finally nodded. “Yeah. Really easy. In fact…” She thought about what she was about to admit, but realized that her and Derek’s relationship, no matter what it was exactly, impacted their families. “It happened accidentally. He was thinking about dating Lucy, and I decided to give him some tips on how to be a better boyfriend and…things just happened.” She blew out a breath. “It was very easy.”

Erika nodded slowly. “I would think that it would be.”

“Really?” Her heart skipped for some reason.

“You’ve known each other a long time, you’re a lot alike, you’re very comfortable together.”

Yep, all of that had contributed for sure. “But it feels…accidental,” Riley said, lifting her shoulder. “It wasn’t supposed to happen at all. So it’s not like we’re taking it very seriously.”

Erika frowned. “That’s what I was afraid of.”

“What?”

“That you were just messing around.”

Riley nodded. “Yeah. Pretty much.” She ignored the voice in her head that was calling bullshit.

“Your brother seems to think that it’s more than that,” Erika said.

Riley’s eyebrows shot up. “You and Kyle have talked about this?”

“Of course.” Erika said it as if she and Kyle discussed Riley and her life choices all the time.

Which they probably did.

“He’s thrilled.”

Riley blinked at her. “What? Kyle is thrilled that Derek and I are messing around?”

“No. He’s thrilled that you and Derek are dating,” Erika said. “He loves the idea of you both settling down, and the fact that it’s together is even better.”

Well…crap.

“We’re not settling down together,” Riley said. “I’m not settling down at all.” Her stomach ache was definitely back.

“Kyle said Scott offered you a more long-term job.”

Of course Scott had told Kyle that, and Kyle had told her mother. “He did. But I didn’t give him an answer.”

“And Kyle thinks you and Derek are getting serious.”

Riley took a breath. “Well, Kyle hasn’t asked me about that.” Then something occurred to her. She frowned. “Did Kyle ask Scott to make me that job offer?”

Erika shook her head. “I don’t know. I don’t think so.” Then she frowned. “But would that be so bad? He’s your big brother. He’s just looking out for you. He wants you here. Why is that something bad?”

“Because I don’t need his help.”

“You don’t have a job,” Erika pointed out.

Riley tipped her head back with a soft “argh”. Then she met her mother’s eyes. “I haven’t made good decisions 100% of the time, I’ll admit. I’ve messed some things up. But I don’t want or need the Sapphire Falls contingency plan put into place.”

Erika propped a hand on her hip. “Don’t you? Where else would you have gone after your jail time was over?”

Her accidental and forgiven jail time. At least forgiven by the courts. “Just because I temporarily needed a place to go doesn’t mean that I’ve given up entirely.”

“And that’s what it would be if you came back for good, got a job here, started a serious relationship here?” Erika asked. “Giving up?”

Riley felt frustration and confusion building. Sapphire Falls was fine. It was great even. For some people. But being here really was easy. Staying here would be even easier. Following in her brother’s footsteps and being like everyone else she knew here would be easy. At least until she started doing things like joining committees or, God forbid, having to arrest someone here, or for sure if she had kids here. She’d want to do things differently. She’d want to have a say. She’d want to make them think about things differently. And that wouldn’t be welcomed.

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