“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” he replies flatly and runs a hand through his messy dark waves. “She felt left out today. Said Olivia always demands my attention whenever she’s around.”
“Ah, so she got jealous.” I put it together and release my hand.
“Yeah,” he agrees, exhaling deeply. His shoulders slump as he leans forward onto his elbows, his eyes scanning the crowd around us until they land on Olivia. “If she can’t handle that Olivia is my best friend, then I don’t think I can date her.”
“Isn’t that the same issue your last two girlfriends had too?” I proclaim, raising my eyebrows in questioning.
He swings his head to face me before leaning back in his chair. “Yeah.”
“Why do you think it’s a recurring issue?”
“People don’t understand Olivia’s and my friendship, is all.” His knee starts bouncing up and down, and I can tell this is really bothering him. And I know the truth behind it all.
“Why don’t you just tell her how you feel?” I state, and his eyes shoot daggers my way as I declare the truth out in the open.
“We’re just friends,” he says through his teeth, growingfrustrated with me. Luke and I are close. Close enough that I’m not scared to tell him the truth or push his buttons.
“Yeah, and that’s because you’re too chicken to tell her the truth.”
Luke pushes himself from his chair and flexes his fist. “I’m done with this conversation,” he growls and stomps his way toward the lake. At the same moment, I see Raine walking toward me, and from her expression, I know she witnessed Luke’s temper tantrum.
“Is he okay?” she asks, her eyes following Luke. I push myself up from my seat to stand next to her.
“Yeah, he’ll be fine,” I assure her and search the area for Annabelle. “Where did my daughter run off to?”
“She saw your mom walk by with a plate of apple pie and took off after her.” She grins and points to the two of them shoveling bites into their mouths.
“She’s got such a sweet tooth.” I shake my head and return my attention to Raine.
“I remember her dad having one too,” she tosses at me, causing my lips to tip up in a small smile.
“Yeah, she definitely gets that from me. I became sort of a health nut after she made me a dad, though. I try my best to limit processed junk when I can.”
She smiles knowingly. “Olivia was telling me about that. She said you inspired her to use organic ingredients with her business.”
“Huh, she didn’t tell me that. Everyone thinks I'm a little excessive because of it, but I’m in charge of taking care of and raising this tiny human on my own. I want to do the best that I can, you know?”
“I don’t think you're being excessive. You’re doing a wonderful job. You’re an amazing father, Ry.”
Hearing her say that does something to my heart. When Raine smiles, it’s bracketed by the faintest of dimples, littleindentations that you can feel better than you can see. “Thanks for saying that.”
A few moments of silence go between us before she starts another conversation, her eyes studying the lake.
“The dock looks the same.”
“Yeah, it holds a lot of good memories too,” I say, my eyes returning to hers. “I was thinking about one earlier.”
“Oh yeah? Which one?”
“The day we first kissed,” I deadpan, and her smile falls.
“That’s a nice memory,” she finally adds, her eyes flowing back toward the dock.
“I remember it being more than nice.”
She takes in a deep breath of air and pinches her brows together as if swallowed by a deep thought. She still picks at the skin around her thumb when she’s nervous, I notice. I reach over and take her hand into my own, giving in to temptation more and more when she’s around.
“Can we talk about it?”
