Page 38 of Rival Hearts

“Thank you,” Riley said, smiling back. “I’d like that.”

She was still trying to make a good impression, but she wasn’t prepared for this. She barely knew what the word family meant and she definitely hadn’t expected to be treated like it. Even though everyone dialed back a little bit with Riley, there was still teasing, jokes, and inappropriate questions.

“Do you guys usetoys?” Becky looked at Jett and then Riley, deadly serious.

Once Riley realized what kind oftoysBecky was meaning, she wanted the ground to open up and swallow her up.

“Oh my God, Aunt Becky,” Jett said, covering her face. “I’m begging you, please shut up.”

“I’m just saying,” Becky said. “Wicked Orchid have just opened a store in Phoenix Ridge and they give discounts for healthcare workers and first responders and they have an amazing range for lesbians, I must say, don’t they, baby. I mean just last week we picked up their new…” she smiled cheekily at Lucinda who laughed back at her.

“Becky!” she admonished. “I don’t think Jett and Riley want to know about which toys we have!”

Riley laughed uncomfortably. She couldn’t believe that they were just talking about this at the dinner table. Even if Jett seemed mortified, the rest of the family didn’t seem to be.

“I definitely don’t want to know about yourtoys!” Jett exclaimed.

“Normally I wouldn’t want to know either,” Ember said, “but I could definitely deal with a discount right now!”

“Oh my God,” Jett complained once again, “Riley is never going to want to come back here ever again.”

“Ah, nonsense,” Becky said. “The woman has been elbow-deep in blood. I doubt a little sex talk is going to scare her off.”

Becky certainly was a character, and as the day wore on, Riley found herself enjoying the older woman’s company and getting to know her more.

Riley had always liked Lucinda when they worked together. They often both had unusual and innovative ideas, and Lucinda was not afraid to call out nurses or even other doctors when they were being idiots. And while Riley tried to keep her personal life separate from her work life, Lucinda had no problem talking about whatever was on her mind.

Becky seemed to have a similar, nothing-is-off-bounds view of conversation. And as Riley watched her and Lucinda interact it was clear that the two of them loved each other very much. In fact, every relationship in Jett’s family seemed to be working well, and everyone seemed to be deeply in love. It made Riley wonder, why hadn’t Jett asked her to be her girlfriend yet?

Did Jett not want that kind of relationship?

Riley wasn’t sure what she wanted in a relationship, but she found herself falling for Jett the more she learned about her, even though she was scared about making it official. All of her past relationships had ended in disaster and Riley wasn’t sure that she even knew how to have a healthy relationship.

Was something wrong with her? Did Jett maybe sense it? Or was something else stopping the other woman from furthering their relationship? Riley knew that Jett had had a few long-term relationships, but not too many. And Riley didn’t even know if Jett wanted another one, if that was something she was willing to try again.

Riley was tempted to bite the bullet and ask Jett to be her girlfriend, but she was scared. When it came to initiating things like that, Riley was always passive. And besides, Riley told herself that she’d rather keep things as they were than lose Jett, which was something that might happen if she asked to label their relationship.

Riley wished she had some of the confidence she had while working in the ER when it came to relationships, but unfortunately for her, she was in way over her head. She wondered why Jett didn’t say anything either. Was Jett also scared and nervous? The idea of the firefighter paramedic being too scared to ask her to be her girlfriend was a funny thought—but so was the idea of an accomplished trauma surgeon being too scared to do the same.

* * *

The rest of the day continued smoothly, and after a while, Riley started to get used to Jett’s family, even though they were definitely different than anything she had experienced before. She loved watching the tight knit group even when she wasn’t sure how she fit into it.

It did bring some worries to Riley, though. She was beginning to realize that her and Jett’s worlds were vastly different. Riley hardly knew what the word family meant, whereas Jett was surrounded by it. She didn’t know what that would mean for their relationship.

Riley was sitting at the dining room table with Natalie and the two of them were drawing pictures. Riley was no artist, but the six-year-old girl at the table with her didn’t seem to care.

Riley was making colorful hearts all over her paper, and every time she tried to see what Natalie was doing, the little girl would cover up her paper and stick her tongue out at Riley.

“Stop it, it’s a secret,” she said.

“Okay, okay,” Riley said raising her hands in surrender. “I’m sorry.” Riley went back to coloring her paper.

After a while, Jett came back into the dining room after talking with her family.

“Hey, sweetheart,” Jett said. “Are you ready to go?”

“Sure,” Riley said, standing up and pushing her paper of colorful hearts over to Natalie so that the girl could keep it.

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