My Last - Riley & Chelle (11 page)

“So was that Eddie on the phone?” He asked as he joined her, grabbing the plate of pancakes and syrup.

“Yep, how could you tell?” She asked bringing the butter and coffee to the table.

“When you talk to him you sound just like you did when we were kids.” He smiled while slathering his pancakes with butter.

“Really? How’s that?” She took a sip of coffee and, as it hit her mouth, she had to stifle a groan. It tasted like heaven.

He smirked. “Kind of patronizing, but with a lot of love tossed in.”

“I sound patronizing?” she asked, shocked by the description. She had never thought of herself as a patronizing person.

“Well, yeah. Maybe 'patronizing' is a bit of a strong word. It’s more like you sound like you are humoring him, but out of love.”

“That sounds a lot like patronizing to me,” Chelle said as she took a big bite of pancake.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean anything by it.” Riley said, his tone conveying his belief that he had upset her.

“You don’t have to apologize, you didn’t say anything wrong,” Chelle assured him.

She was just trying to assess if that was, in fact, how she behaved. A little self-reflection, if you will. “Plus, I asked you what I sounded like, and you know what Grandpa J always says. Don’t ask the question…”

“If you don’t want the answer,” they both finished in unison.

“How is the Colonel?” Riley asked, the affection he obviously felt for him shining through.

“Good,” Chelle was happy to report, “He’s slowing down a little, but what can you expect? He’s about to be ninety. His age has done nothing to dull his sharpness, though. He’s just as feisty as ever.”

“Man, I’ve missed the Colonel,” Riley said with a nostalgic grin, “I’m really looking forward to catching up with him.”

“I didn’t realize you two were close,” Chelle said.

“Yeah, he moved to town right after we lost Mom, and I was…well you probably remember. I was mad at the world, kept getting into trouble. Then, the night I got taken in for the
B&E at the grocery store, the Colonel happened to be taking his nightly stroll and saw them hauling me into the police station.

“He came in and got them to release me to him and drop the charges. I still don’t know how he did it. On the walk back to my house we had a ‘come to Jesus’ meeting about the reality of what my life would be if I continued heading down the destructive path I was on.

“He told me he had lost both of his parents to measles when he was sixteen and, due to the sudden loss, he went a little crazy and started acting out. Then he told me that the only one who could ruin my life was me, and I was also the only one who could make something productive out of myself.

“I called him the next day and he drove me to the recruitment office. I had just turned eighteen, which was part of the reason why the Colonel was so concerned. I was of legal age and my record could have been ruined. I left the day after graduation, which was a few weeks later, and I really haven’t had the chance to thank him for taking the time to help me pull my head out of my ass.”

“You know he has a Facebook page right?” Chelle offered, knowing that he would still want to thank him face to face, but also thinking he might like to keep in touch with him when he moved to Louisiana.

Riley eyes widened in shock and he laughed a little, “You’re kidding me. Seriously?”

“Seriously,” Chelle smiled, “and he has more ‘friends’ than I do.”

“Wow, well I guess I’ll have to send him a friend request.”

“You should, I think he would love that,” Chelle said. But what she
wanted
to say was, ‘Great, and hey - why don’t you send me one, too? That way I can torture myself with your updates while you're meeting ten thousand available women in the bar you own in New Orleans.’

But...probably good that she showed restraint. She looked down at her plate and realized she had cut her pancake into pizza slices. She smiled, realizing that she hadn’t done that since she was a kid.

“I almost sent you a friend request.” Riley’s voice sounded a little more serious, and Chelle's eyes darted up meet his. Yep, he looked serious, alright.

“Why didn’t you?” she asked somewhat hesitantly. If she was completely honest, she wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer.

“You were engaged, I didn’t want to overstep. I wasn’t sure how David would feel about it.”

Chelle scrunched her brows, “David wouldn’t have cared. He never got jealous over stuff like that. Actually, he never got jealous about anything...but I guess now we know why.”

So much of David’s behavior made sense in light of everything that she now knew about his extra-curricular activities. Including (but not limited to!) the fact that they hadn’t slept together in over six months.

Holy Flipping Moly!

It really
had
been over six months.

What in the name of frickety frack had she been thinking during that time? She searched her memory. She vaguely remembered attributing it to him being tired, working long hours, the stress of the wedding...she shook her head. It made her blood run cold to think about it now, but she mainly remembered...well, frankly...not giving it a second thought.

“Well, I didn’t know that. The last thing I would want to do is to put you in an awkward position by having to decline my friend request.” He smiled and she knew he was teasing her, but she still wanted to make sure that he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that would never happen. Self-deprecating jokes, after all, do often have their roots in real insecurities.

“Riley,” she said solemnly, putting down her fork, “It doesn’t matter who I am with - I could be married with five kids - and I will still accept your friend request.”

Riley's eyes grew a little darker and his expression grew grim, but before she had a chance to follow up by asking him what was wrong, what she had said to upset him, he abruptly changed course.

“Do you have plans for today?” he asked, sounding like he had something in mind.

“Um, Riley, in case you hadn’t noticed...before you got here, I hadn’t left this apartment. Not once. My ‘plans’ for this little mini-vaca consisted of lying in bed - or possibly on the couch for a little variety - and eating my feelings.”

“Well - as truly wonderful as that sounds - I think I may have something better in mind.” His countenance brightened with mischievous glee as his eyes danced with enthusiasm.

What she
wanted
to tell him was
anything
he had in mind would be amazing to her. They could sit and do nothing at all and she would be on cloud nine, if only he was beside her.

But she didn’t think that was really an appropriate thing to say, so she settled for, “I’m game! Let me just go take a quick shower.”

She stood and picked up his now-empty plate to carry with hers to the sink. After rinsing them, she was overwhelmed with the sensation that Riley had been watching her the entire time. She lifted her head and smiled as she was able to confirm that her suspicions had, indeed, been correct.

Oh Lord! Yep. Only...he wasn’t
just
watching her. It felt like he was committing her every move to memory. He studied her with an intensity that caused her body to respond with a 'HELLO! All Systems Go!' sensation.

Chelle stared, unable to tear her gaze from him. It was as if his gaze alone had pulled her under some kind of magic spell. Ah, yes, she thought. The classic man-woman magic spell. The 'lust trance.'

Well, if that was a thing, she could consider herself under it!

“You are so beautiful,” he rasped, his voice raw, yet filled with reverence.

Her cheeks became warm and she was sure that they were probably turning bright red.

She was also pretty sure he was just being nice. She needed to remind herself not to read too much into it. Why did his simple compliment affect her so much? She wasn’t some love-sick teenage girl!

A small voice in the back of her head chimed in, ‘No, you’re a love-sick
grown-up
girl.’

Seriously. Why did that little voice always have to be spot on?!

He was still staring at her and she felt the need to fill the electrified silence.

“Thank you...um...so are you…I mean not beautiful…you’re uh…handsome. I mean I guess you’re beautiful too but, oh whatever, you know what I mean. I just, well…you know...you’re cute.”

CUTE. Had she seriously just called RILEY SLOAN cute?!

He was a lot of things. Sexy. Gorgeous. Built. Hot. Nope, scratch that - smokin’ hot! But cute…Good God in Heaven and All That Is Holy Moly...why in the world had she just said that?!

She had just started talking (read: stammering) and CUTE came tumbling out. Gah! Chelle hated that she rambled when she was nervous. She’d always wished that like Samantha on Sex and the City (one of her favorite TV shows), she could be cool and sophisticated. But, unfortunately, those were two traits that she did not come by naturally.

Most of the time it didn’t bother her. There were, after all, surely bigger hurdles given to people in life that they had to overcome. But, good lord...in moments like these, she
really
wished for the ability to quickly craft a sassy comeback. One that would have made Riley see her as an equal - better yet, a
sexy
equal.

Instead, what she came up with amounted to, “Blah blah blah, stammer, stumble...CUTE.”

Nice. Good one, Chelle. Her response, she was sure, had only served to solidify the way Riley did see her - as his best friend’s kid sister.

He smiled, seemingly completely unaware of her internal battle. The smile spread slowly across his face, as sweet and languid as the syrup that had just spread slowly across their pancakes moments ago. When the smile had finally reached full wattage, he said, “You’re pretty cute, yourself.”

Holy catfish! How did that man make the word cute sound so sexual? Maybe she was just projecting, or maybe he really did think being cute was sexy. Either way she needed to get out of there before she said something that would cement her in the best-friend’s-little-sister category.

But she couldn’t just walk out and ignore his last comment. Oh what to do...what to do...? Dang it, she was just going to have to open her mouth and speak again. That had an equal chance of ending up with success and disaster. Damn it! Well, she thought, here goes nothing.

“Thanks. I’m gonna go take my cute self to the shower, then.”

She smiled outwardly but inwardly groaned, feeling her stomach drop to the floor. Really ‘take my cute self to the shower’, that was the best you could come up with after the man that you have been crushing on for twenty years pays you not one, but two, compliments…in a row!?

Still, not as bad as it could have been, she tried to comfort herself. But not great. Nope. Certainly not great.

Oh, Lord. Riley was way out of her league. She was in SO FAR over her head! If that little exchange did not serve to prove that fact, she wasn’t sure what would. She ducked her head and walked quickly to her room.
Before closing the door she heard Riley’s parting remark, delivered in a spicy and mischievous tone.

“Have fun.”

She leaned against the door, breathing hard. If she were Samantha, she would open up the door and say something sexy and provocative like, “I will have fun…if you join me.”

BUT, she was not. So, instead, the best she could manage was to yell, “Uh, yeah...thanks,” through the wooden door.

Yep. Definitely NOT Samantha.

As he stepped onto the pier with Chelle, Riley was glad that he had made sure she brought both a jacket and gloves. He smiled to himself. Not that he wouldn’t thoroughly enjoy keeping her warm, but the smart thing to do was definitely to keep his hands to himself.

Damn, it was a struggle, though. For the past couple of days - not to mention nights - he had been trying to do just that. But, then things would happen. Like when the cab driver made a sharp left turn and Chelle had slid - actually more like
slammed
- into him. In that instance, Riley suspended his self-imposed 'no touching' rule and allowed himself a few moments to let his fingertips roam her body, making sure that everything was still intact.

All G-rated areas, of course! He was careful when he smoothed his hand over her leg, for instance, that he stayed on the outer thigh. If he had gone inner thigh...well, probably best not to even let his imagination wander down that path. Suffice it to say that they may not have made it out of the cab.

But, he had to admit that – carnal desires aside - he was glad that they did manage to exit the cab at their destination, because Chelle’s expression when she realized that he was surprising her with a day cruise was worth it.

The day before, as they had been walking around on Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39, he had noticed her face light up as she longingly gazed at the large boats filled with tourists.

The expression of desire which painted her face as she looked at those boats lazily cruising the bay was not quite as intense as the hungry looks she had been shooting his way for the past couple of days, but what the hell. This was at least something he could actually fulfill for her.

He wished more than anything that, when she looked at him with desire pouring out of those big brown eyes, he could fulfill that as well - but he knew better. He knew that one touch, one ‘real’ kiss, would never be enough with Chelle.

Hell, they had only spent the last forty-eight hours together and he was already having a tough time thinking of not seeing her when he left to go to New Orleans! It was becoming difficult to picture a day without her in it, without the smell of her coconut and cinnamon shampoo. Without seeing the funny faces she made when she thought she was rambling or when she said something that embarrassed her. Without experiencing her caring and her kindness, not just to him but to everyone she came in contact with.

But the thing he was having the hardest time coming to terms with not seeing on a daily basis was her smile. That smile could probably end wars, he guessed. Or start them.

He would do just about anything to see that smile. But he really needed to remember that this time with her was just temporary.

Also, even if he could offer her everything she deserved, he knew that she was vulnerable right now. She had planned on marrying another man in just a few weeks and that man had seriously betrayed her. A situation like that didn't exactly put someone in the right frame of mind to start another relationship.

Nope, in fact, what usually followed a breakup of the sort of epic proportions that Chelle had just experienced was what was most commonly referred to as a rebound. And from what Riley had seen and heard, rebounds did not usually last. If he was the kind of guy Chelle deserved, he would definitely want to start and build something with her that lasted. He would want to be in it for the long haul.

Not that it mattered anyway. He wasn’t the “forever” kind of guy. And Chelle was definitely a “forever” girl.

As they stepped onto the shaky steps to board the boat, excitement radiated from Chelle.

“Oh my gosh,” she grinned, “Thank you so much Riley! I can’t believe you did this!”

He smiled back. Her enthusiasm was contagious.

“I saw you eyeing the boats as they passed by while we were out on the pier yesterday,” he confessed and then shrugged. “I decided to take a chance.”

“I am so glad you did! But, wow, am I really that transparent?” She chuckled, still beaming.

He brushed back a few strands of hair that were blowing in her face and tucked them behind her ear, “To me you are.”

They both froze instantly. It was as if time stood still. Each was lost in the other's gaze. They stood like that, inside their own bubble of magic, until Riley was jostled from behind by eager passengers waiting to come aboard.

This broke the spell that they had momentarily found themselves under. Chelle turned and, still somewhat breathless, continued onto the ship.

There were two decks on the boat. The lower one had an indoor section enclosed with big, sparkling windows, behind which sat several rows of wooden benches, affording even the indoor passengers a spectacular view of the San Francisco bay. This small section was the only space on the boat where passengers could get out of the elements, and Riley predicted that it would be quite crowded today due to the strong gusts of wind that were already whipping past his face, even before the vessel disembarked.

Indeed, the majority of the tourists rushed past the two of them and into the indoor space, clamoring to get a good seat close to the glass walls. Chelle, on the other hand, seemed to have other plans. She immediately headed up the winding steel staircase to the upper deck.

Riley followed, but when they reached the top he asked, “Are you sure you want to be up here? It might get pretty cold.”

Her smile never wavered as she turned sparkling eyes to him, “Are you kidding me? We’re going under the Golden Gate Bridge! I won’t be able to see anything if I’m downstairs. I’m not going down there.”

“Okay,” He shrugged, “If you’re sure.”

He was still not entirely convinced that they would, in fact, spend the entire four hours of the cruise on the upper deck, but if she was happy being up here now, that was good enough for him.

Besides, a small voice in the back of his head piped up – the one he always likened to the devil on his shoulder – ‘if she gets cold then she just might need someone to keep her warm’. He shook his head, trying to erase the thought. Then, another little voice in his head – the one he always likened to the angel on the other shoulder – piped in ‘this little field trip was not planned so he could grope Eddie’s little sister.’

The thought of Eddie did put into perspective the very things he had been trying to convince himself of since the moment he looked down at Chelle’s sleeping form.

Eddie was his best friend. And for all of the trouble they got in, Eddie always had his back. He owed Eddie big time and he was not going to repay him by playing grab ass with his little sister.

If he even had a shot at keeping himself under some kind of control, the only way to do it was not to think of Chelle as the beautiful, sexy, smart, funny, caring person that she was. No, he could only allow himself to see her as Eddie’s little sister.

As they sat down on one of the small benches, he intentionally left about six inches between them, because that was the right thing to do when you sat next to your best friend’s little sister.

They sat in companionable silence looking out over the water. A loud blast from the horn shattered their quiet moment and let them know that they were about to shove off.

Chelle's smile grew even wider, which Riley would not have thought was possible, and she started clapping her hands together and bouncing up and down with childlike excitement.

Riley chuckled a little, her joy was very contagious. It was like he became happier via osmosis. He couldn’t remember the last time he had felt this vital, this alive.

These last two days with Chelle made the last twelve years of his life seem like a fog that he was just now waking up from. He felt like the world he had lived in for the past decade had been drawn in shades of beige, and now everything was in technicolor.

“I’m so excited!” Chelle exclaimed as the boat pulled away from the dock.

“I can tell.” Riley said, he heard the amused affection in his own voice. Dang. He seriously needed to lock that down or he was going to get himself into trouble.

Chelle pulled out her phone and started taking pictures. She snapped photos of everything they passed - of the water, the other boats, and the city as they were passing by. She went a little nuts with the pics as they passed by Alcatraz, even by the liberal standards that she had set during the early part of the trip. She stood and leaned over the railing slightly to get a better angle for her amateur phone photography.

The farther she reached out, the more precarious her perch seemed, and the more nervous Riley became. He figured that his protective instinct must have kicked then, because it was the only way to explain what happened next - before he even realized what he was doing, he found himself behind her with his arms wrapped tightly around her waist.

She jumped at the initial contact and looked over her shoulder, seeming surprised at the sudden embrace. But as soon as her eyes locked with his, a smile spread across her face and she melted into him.

His body acted on its own accord and he felt his arms tightening around her. This time it had nothing to do with her safety, and everything to do with the feeling of rightness spreading through him from the close physical contact.

Neither of them spoke, they just stood there, Riley’s arms wrapped tightly around Chelle’s waist. As much as he told himself that he needed to, he simply couldn’t bring himself to step away and release his hold on her. He had never felt more at peace, more at home than he did in that moment, on the boat, with Chelle in his arms.

--- ~ ---

HOLY CATFISH! Chelle figured that this must be some sort of a dream. Yep. She was still asleep in her bed, and the Chinese food was doing its work, fooling her brain into thinking that unrealistic scenarios were literal realities. Had to be. There was no other explanation for the fact that she had just gone underneath the Golden Gate Bridge in Riley Sloan’s arms. She felt tempted to raise her phone and take a double selfie, just so that she could later assure herself that the scenario had, in fact, taken place...but she resisted the urge because she didn't want to scare him off. She was hesitant to take any action that would encourage Riley to move away or release her from his all-encompassing embrace.

She was pretty sure that Riley had initially grabbed her out of fear that she was going to go over the edge, but she didn’t think for one minute that was why he still held her in his arms. If she had, she would have been formulating plans for making him think she would be jumping off the top of the TransAmerica building next...but, no, she was pretty sure that wasn't what was going on here. Nosireebob, this was no longer a fear-for-her-safety embrace. She tried not to read too much into it. I mean, hey. He had probably just missed home and she represented home to him.

Or maybe he was just cold.

After being out on the bay for what was probably an hour (but what felt like just a few minutes, because time flew while she was being held in Riley’s arms!) the boat began turning around and heading back the way they had come. The waters were choppy and they hit a large wave, causing the boat to rock sharply.

They both lost their balance and began to tumble back onto the wooden bench. Stumbling backwards, Chelle turned to catch herself but ended up falling instead onto Riley’s very solid, very firm body. In fact, she face-planted right into his chest. She sat there for a moment, trying to wrap her head around the events as they unfolded, and it took a bit before she acclimated herself
enough to realize that one particular portion of Riley’s body felt
especially
hard. She felt his impressive length pressed against her belly.

HELLO!

“Are you okay?” His deep voice vibrated through his chest and it sent a zing running down her spine.

She looked up into his gorgeous face and saw that his champagne colored eyes were trained on hers. “I’m good,” she managed to squeak out. She was surprised that she was able to form any words at all since it felt like her brain was melting into a big puddle of goo. She figured that the simple expression of 'I'm good' must have just been what the autonomic part of her brain, the one that controlled her heartbeat and breathing, was able to spit back on autopilot, because she certainly hadn't been aware of consciously forming the words.

Hell, they were certainly true, though! In fact, she was SO good that she would be perfectly happy to continue the rest of the trip sprawled over him like a blanket. But, she knew that he was flat on his back against an uncomfortable wooden bench and although his body was letting her know (in no uncertain terms) that he was enjoying their close proximity, she sorta felt like she was taking advantage of his purely physical reaction to having a female as a human duvet.

It probably had nothing to do with her in particular, she reasoned. Sadly enough, she really didn’t believe Riley saw her that way. It was more likely just a physical reaction that he had no control over. But, Good LORD, did that reaction feel good!

Get up, stay put, get up, stay put. Hmmmm....back and forth, back and forth. What to do, what to do...?

Finally, her internal battle was lost (or won, depending on what side you were on...) and she decided to get up. She knew that women fell all over Riley all the time, and she didn’t want to be one of the trite women who would do that…literally, in her case.