Page 166 of Hat Trick
Emmy
You fucking bitch.
Why are you making me cry?
Piper
Oh my GOD. Lexi!!!! That is so sweet!! I love you all so much!!
Maven
Okay, I’m obsessed with it too, but are we glossing over the fact that you and Riley are making bets now?? What else are you two doing?
Me
I don’t kiss and tell. Xoxo.
Piper
Oh my FUCKING god. You cannot leave us hanging like that.
Madeline
Does that mean what I think it means?
Emmy
I will literally come to your apartment and force it out of you.
Maven
You really are a bitch!!!!
* * *
Riley’s bedis just as comfortable as I remember it being. So is the big purple T-shirt he gave me to slip on before and I curled up next to him with a book I picked off his shelf. There’s one in his lap too, and I smile when he drapes an arm around me.
“Is this our life now? In bed by eleven and reading side by side?” I ask. “There goes my youth.”
“It’s the perfect night.” Riley stifles a yawn and opens his paperback. “I’ve never been a big partier or someone who likes to go out. The athlete lifestyle isn’t for me.”
“You’re wasting away your mid-twenties with someone who uses retinol. That’s perfect?”
“Will you stop with the self-deprecating jabs?” He pinches my side, and I squeal. “I want to be here, and I want to be here with you. Deal with it, Armstrong.”
I grin and bury my face in his chest.
I want to be here with him, too, and tonight was absolutely perfect. Fun beyond my wildest dreams, and I couldn’t have dreamed up a better date if I tried.
And when he told me his idea for my tattoo, I wanted to burst into tears. I think I might’ve fallen a little bit in love with him, and the realization of my feelings is making my head spin. It’s making me want to be honest, to share parts of myself I’ve never shared with a man before, and it’s both fuckingscaryand exciting, too.
“Riley,” I say, pulling away from his bare chest so I can look at him. “I want to tell you something.”
“Okay.” He puts his book down and gives me his full attention. “What’s up?”
“You once asked me why I don’t date, and given how things are going between us, I-I want to be honest with you about my past. About why I am the way I am, because you’ve been so honest with me.”
“I’m all ears,” he says, and I take a deep breath. “And I promise this is a safe space.”
