Page 38 of Riding Jamie

It’s not a mistake this time, Shane is really on the other side of the street, looking down at his phone. His head whips up at the sound of his name, and his eyes widen in first shock and then excitement when he sees me. He raises his hand in a thrilledwave and bounces across the street, a wide smile stretching his cheeks.

“Oakley, what are you doing here?” he asks, wrapping me up in a hug.

I go stiff immediately, but force myself to pat his back before pulling away.

“What areyoudoing here?” I ask with a baffled laugh.

Maggie rejoins us at that moment, shoving her way in between me and Shane rudely. She’s laden with bags and absolutely stinks of the perfumed air from that store, but I’m grateful to have her acting as a barrier nonetheless. I’m totally unprepared to see Shane here, and a little distance is definitely a good thing.

Does this mean that I actuallydidsee Shane at the party last week?

“They didn’t have the sweater I wanted in my size,” she says, raking her eyes over Shane with a sneer on her face. “Who’s this guy?”

I stomp on her foot as subtly as I can, flashing her a look that begs her to behave for once. She meets that look with one of her own, full of disdain and disapproval. My face flames when she glances between Shane and I suspiciously, her brow twitching in an unspoken question.

“Shane is my coworker,” I say firmly, my face set in a warning when I look at Maggie. “We’re both interns with Uncle Ricky.”

“Right,” Maggie drawls.

Shane’s lips twitch in a confused grin, and he looks from me to Maggie and back again.

“Just coworkers?” he asks, raising a brow.

Panic rips through me like fire, and I’m terrified at the thought that he’ll bring up the single awkward kiss we shared. It’s still kind of a tender subject between Jamie and I, and the last thing I need is for Maggie to bring it up to piss him off.

“I thought we were friends, Oakley, that hurts.” He grins as he says it, and reaches out to rap his knuckles against my arm in a teasing punch. “You’ve only been gone a few weeks, did I really mean so little to you?”

I laugh anxiously, scratching at the back of my neck. I know he only means it jokingly, but both my mom and Maggie are looking at him intensely. I don’t like the looks on either of their faces. Maggie’s brows are scrunched up in suspicious reproach, and I’m starting to think she’s going to bring Shane up as a genuine concern rather than just a way to piss Jamie off, which is about a hundred times worse. My mom, though, is all sparkly eyed and asking him about school and shooting me curious glances.

“I’ve got some family around here,” Shane says, smiling warmly at my mom. “I didn’t realize Oakley lived so close, we didn’t talk much about where we came from.”

Mom snorts out a scolding little huff in my direction, grinning nonetheless.

“Well, we’re all getting together tomorrow night for dinner, why don’t you stop by?” she asks.

My eyes blow wide and my mouth drops open in total shock. I know I didn’t tell her anything about Shane and I, but this is absolutely the worst idea she’s ever had. Putting him and Jamie in the same room is going to be nothing short of catastrophic.

Before I have a chance to find a reason to protest, Shane’s smile blooms and he nods excitedly.

“I’d love to!” he says. “Oakley always talked so highly of you and her dad, it’d be a pleasure to get to know the two of you.”

My mom titters a laugh, color high in her cheeks. She’s obviously charmed by him, and I’m just standing here, blindsided, with no idea of what to do.

“I mean, only if you’re okay with it, Oakley,” he says, his brows raised guilelessly. “I don’t want to crash your holiday.”

I stumble over my words, but I just don’t have a reasonable excuse to say no to him. I force my face to settle into a warm smile, shaking my head.

“No, it’d be nice to have you come by,” I insist.

The words sound fake even to my ears, but Shane smiles brightly at hearing them. Maggie shoots me a confused look, and I’m sure she’ll shower me with a million invasive questions that I don’t really have answers to as soon as we get home.

“I’ll see you guys tomorrow, then!” Shane says, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “Oakley, can you text me the time and address? I have to get back to my cousin.”

“Sure,” I agree, raising my hand to wave as he steps away.

“It was great to meet you all!”

He fades back into the crowd, but my head is still spinning. I’m pretty sure I mentioned being from Montana at least once. Surely he would have said something if he’s from here, too? He even texted me saying he hoped I had a good holiday trip. If he knew I was from here and he had plans to come back, why didn’t he say anything?

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