Page 18 of Eleven of a Kind

“Yeah. I figured. I know the drill.” She looked down.

“What’s wrong?”

“I just thought that my school in Georgia would be the last one I’d attend. Mom said that we weren’t moving anymore, so I made friends.”

“Well, you’ll make new friends here. Come on, let’s go shopping.”

While we were in the grocery store, Riley kept throwing things in the cart.

“Are you seriously going to eat all of this?” I asked as I turned down another aisle.

“Yeah. I need tampons.”

Shit. I didn’t want to hear that.

We turned down the next aisle where the feminine products were. She grabbed a box of tampons and threw it into the cart.

“Do you need a box of these?” A smirk crossed her lips as she grabbed a box of condoms and held them up.

“Put those down,” I spoke with irritation, and she laughed.

Shaking my head, we finished shopping and checked out. When we returned home, she helped me put the groceries away. I took a couple of things up to my bathroom, and when I walked into the bedroom, Riley was sitting on my bed with my guitar. I stopped and stared at her.

“Mom taught me how to play.” She looked up at me as she strummed a chord.

I smiled as I sat on the edge of the bed next to her.

“She told me that you taught her to play that summer,” Riley said.

“I did.” I smiled. “She had a guitar?”

“Yeah. She got one from a second-hand shop. It wasn’t as good as this one. Can I play it?”

“You can play it anytime you want, but for now, I want you to come down to the beach and hang with the family.”

“Do I have to?”

“Yeah. You do.”

“Fine.” She sighed and set my guitar on the bed. “Maybe Lily and Ella will want to go swimming.”

“Ask them.” I smiled.

I grabbed a couple of beers from the refrigerator and headed down to the beach.

“It’s about time,” Grayson said.

“We had to go grocery shopping. Tomorrow, I’m taking Riley to get some bedroom furniture. Any suggestions on where I should go?” I asked.

“Pottery Barn,” Nathan said.

“Totally.” Stefan grinned. “Best furniture around.”

“You should know—” Conner started to say, and Nathan reached over and slapped the back of his head.

“Damn, bro. What the fuck?” Conner rubbed the back of his head.

“I should know what?” I asked.

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