“Go get dressed. I’m taking you on that date. I’ll be back in fifteen minutes.”
“Wait—what?” But he was already gone. I opened my eyes and watched as he stalked across the street toward his house, his arms tense at his sides.
So many questions raced around my mind. Why did he kiss me? Why had it felt right? Why were we going on a date? Why did I want to run after him and keep kissing him?
Unfortunately, those questions wouldn’t answer themselves. And as much as it annoyed me to obey anything he told me, I went inside and dressed for that date.
Chapter Nine
Nate
I didn’t know what had possessed me when I’d grabbed Riley and kissed her.
Actually, I did know, but I wished there had been more of a lead-up. Now I risked her holding a grudge. But honestly, the way she had yelled at me, throwing things and smacking me, I couldn’t think of a better way to derail the tantrum.
I headed to the bedroom, stepped over the air mattress, and jammed open the broken closet door.
A nervous sweat broke out across my forehead as I stared at my clothes. This was it. This was my only chance at a first date with Riley. I couldn’t mess this up.
I needed help, so I pulled out my phone and texted my sister.
Nate: On a scale of one to ten, how extra is a bow tie on a first date?
It took her a few minutes to answer. Meanwhile, I tried to quell the beginnings of a panic attack. Had I really just grabbed Riley, kissed her, and told her we were going on a date?
Nola: 9.5
Nate: I thought it would be closer to a 6.
Nola: Where are you going for a date?
Nate: Tapas bar.
Nola: No tie. Casual. She nice?
Nate: Yeah...nice looking.
Nola: Would I like her?
Nate: Nope!
Nola was going to flip out when she found out I’d found Riley. But I wasn’t quite ready to share her yet. When Nola discovered Riley, she’d be stuck to her like glue.
I changed my shirt and added a little cologne and another layer of deodorant, thanks to the nervous sweat that was now my permanent state.
Not to mention, the lousy single-wide trailer was going to slowly cook me alive in the summer heat. I needed to add a window air-conditioning unit to my never-ending list of things to buy.
I grabbed my keys, locked the door, and pulled my Jeep in front of Riley’s. I counted to ten before I climbed Riley’s steps and knocked on the door.
It took her an inordinately long time to answer. I wondered if me kissing her had sent her into a spiral of shock. Riley liked to be in control of everything. Her five-year plans were legendary. By kissing her completely out of the blue, I’d probably sent that plan into a spiral.
The door opened. Wren stood there, smiling at me. “You taking Riley on a date? That old spinster?”
I scoffed. “Spinster? Who says that?”
She shrugged. “We just finished bingeing a BBC special set in regency England. I decided it was the perfect description of Riley. Maybe a grumpy spinster is an even better description.”
“I’m standing right here.” Riley’s growl carried through the doorway. Wren stepped out of the way, and Riley walked down the steps, wearing one of those onesie things that was a pair of shorts and shirt combined. She held a small purse in her hand.
“Wow.” She looked incredible. Her blonde hair curled casually around her shoulders. The one strap of her outfit showcased her toned shoulders.
“You’re welcome,” Wren said.
“What?” I asked absentmindedly, not taking my eyes off Riley.
“She wanted to hide in our room. I told her she had to go make friends.”
“What about boyfriends?”
That seemed to snap Riley out of her pout. “You are not my boyfriend.”
“Yet.” I grinned.
Her nose flared dangerously. I leaned forward and grasped her hand. “Let’s hurry along. Don’t want to be late for dinner. Bye, Wren.”
I pulled her toward my Jeep and opened the passenger door for her.
“You know you can be so annoying, right?”
“Right.” I nodded solemnly. I pulled the seat belt from her hands and leaned around her to latch the buckle. Her breath was quick, and she chewed her top lip. Her temper was adorable.
I walked around to the driver’s side and started the car.
“Which fast-food restaurant are you taking me to?”
“Hmm, well, it depends on if you want a cheeseburger or a taco.”
She leaned an elbow on the door while she looked at me in disgust. “I expected no more.”
“Why don’t you shut your judgmental little mouth?”
She gasped. “I take offense at that!”
I squinted at her.
“My mouth is not little!” Her lips twitched as she fought a smile.
“Why don’t you just wait and see where I take you for dinner?” I asked as I turned out of the trailer park.
I’d meant it as a rhetorical question, but she answered me anyway. It was whispered but still clear enough for me to hear. “Because I’m nervous.”
“Me too,” I answered her as I reached over to pry her hand loose from its death grip on her purse. I laced my fingers through hers. She squeezed my hand.
It was enough. I’d just kissed her. I’d acted on the attraction we’d both been feeling. We were entering dangerous territory. The territory where our friendship could be ruined forever. Which was not something I wanted to think about when I’d only just found her again.
“Why did you kiss me?”
“Well, you wouldn’t stop throwing things at me...”
She leaned over and smacked my leg.
“Ouch! This is what I get for dating a cougar.”
“A cougar?” Her eyes narrowed.
“You’re much, much older than me.”
“I am not!” Her lips scrunched together as she glared at me.
I grinned at her.
“Stop trying to make me mad.”
“Is that what I’m doing?”
“Yes, you’re purposefully trying to make me angry, and I want you to stop.”
“But you’re so fun when you’re angry. And it seems like you like to kiss me when you’re angry.”
She mumbled under her breath.
“What was that?”
“I said I enjoyed kissing you for reasons other than anger, you big lug.”
“Big lug. No one’s ever called me that before.” While I had bulked up since my paper-thin days, I still had a lean build. Body builder, I was not. Instead, I had the more lean build of a tennis player or a soccer player. More wiry, less bulky. I was tall, but I wasn’t wide. When I thought of a big lug, I pictured the OxiClean man.
“Why did you buy this Jeep?”
I squeezed her hand. “You know why. I finally got my adventuring rig.”
She smiled softly. “We did have all sorts of adventures planned for our Jeeps.”
When Nola, Riley, and I had finally been old enough to drive, we’d talked about our dream cars. Riley’s and mine had been the exact same. Nola’s had been a fifteen-passenger van for her future children.
“What kinds of adventuring do you do?”
“I’m a photographer.”
She laughed, shaking her head. “That’s what you meant earlier about liking taking the actual pictures. You do something then. I guess I’d assumed you were out traveling the world when you dropped out of college. So, what do you photograph? Weddings?”
“Every once in a while. Not if I can help it, though. I do a lot of outdoor stuff.” He leaned an elbow on the middle console. “I get to do quite a bit of traveling for my work.”
“What type of outdoor stuff do you do? I know I have mediocre photo skills, enough to scrape by on social media. The pictures you helped me take this afternoon were good. I’m assuming you actually know what you’re doing.”
That was something I l
oved about Riley. She never pretended to know something she didn’t. She didn’t have to be the smart-ass in the room who had the answers. She would just figure out how to do it the best. Some way, somehow, she made everything work for her.
“I shoot a lot of wildlife.”
She frowned. “You kill Bambi?”
“No, I mean I photograph wildlife, land. But mainly aerial photography for magazines—every once in a while, for a real estate agent.”
“So you do love taking pictures. You might even know what you’re talking about.”
“A little.” I smiled.
She rubbed a hand across her face. “I thought you were trying to be annoying earlier.”
“Well, I was trying to annoy you—at least a little.”
“It worked. And then you kissed me.” She looked at me with a wide-eyed expression then shrieked when she saw we were heading straight for a gravel road that connected to the highway at an angle.
“Road! Road! What are you doing?”
I grinned as I turned the car onto the side road. “Taking the scenic route. You’ve never done that before, have you?”
She latched onto the door handle of the Jeep as I turned off the highway.
The Jeep rocketed up the steep gravel road, bouncing in and out of potholes.
“What are you doing?”
“Taking you on a date!” I grinned when she looked at me uncertainly. “I figured we’d drive over the mountain this way. There’s a great little tapas bar I thought you might like. We can either drive around on the highway or take this gravel road. Chances are higher of seeing something cool this way.”
She nodded stiffly.
“You’ve never taken your Jeep off of pavement before, have you?”
She shook her head. I drifted us around a sweeping corner. I could clearly see no one coming around the other side.
“Are you trying to kill me?” Riley whispered.
“You need to get out of your trailer park more often.”
“Why are you so obsessed with my extracurricular activities?” she cried out as we hit a bump in the road. She bounced up and down in the seat.
It took until the top of the mountain for her to relax. Once we made it to the ridge, there was a beautiful view of the valley below. A section of the hillside was filled with replanted timber, making it easy to see over the treetops.
“Oh look! Stop the car!” she cried out.
I slowed to a stop.
“Look!” She pointed to something in the brush—something dark and scrambling up a tree. “It’s a bear!”
I leaned closer to her to look out her side of the car. “Look up there.” I pointed to the tree branches above where a small cub sat, waiting for its mama.
“I’ve never seen a bear before.”
“Cute, huh?” I pulled forward again.
“Oh no, don’t go yet. I want to look at them a little longer. I have to take a picture for Wren.”
She pulled out her phone and snapped as many pictures as she could before they climbed out of sight.
She turned and smiled at me. “You were right; going this way was worth it. I didn’t know we had bears so close. Are they mean?”
I shook my head. “They’re harmless. Black bears usually aren’t aggressive unless you come between them and their cubs.”
“So, if I’d jumped out of the car, she would have eaten me?” Riley’s eyes widened with excitement. This was the Riley I knew. The adventure was a thrill to her.
“Sadly, no. She probably would have snarled and snapped at you, trying to warn you off.”
“Wow. When did you become such a nature expert?”
I laughed. “This photography gig has taught me a lot about wildlife. It’s not quite like the TV shows portray.”
Riley laughed, and we spent the rest of the drive talking about staged wildlife shows.
By the time we reached the restaurant, Riley’s cheeks were flushed, and her eyes sparkled with excitement.
“When was the last time you did something just for the fun of it?”
She answered me as we sat down at a table in a corner. “Far too long. Life has a way of getting in the way.”
The server stopped at our table, ready to take our drink orders. “Do you want sangria? Or an IPA?” I asked as I perused the drink list.
“I’ll take an Italian soda, actually.”
I nodded and passed the list to the man. “Same for me.”
Once he left, I turned to Riley.
She unfolded her napkin as she said, “You can have a drink.”
“But you won’t.”
She shook her head vigorously.
I’d almost forgotten Riley’s vehement promise in high school that she wouldn’t drink alcohol, even as an adult. Her mother had been a living warning to her to stay away from any addictive substance. “Then I won’t. I can respect that, Riley, and I admire that.”
She smiled. “I’ve heard so much about this place. I’m excited to try tapas.”
“You’re going to love it. And if you don’t, that’s okay; I’ll eat it all.”
She grinned and relaxed. I made it a personal goal of mine to keep that radiant look on her face the rest of the evening.
The server brought our drinks and took our orders. The food arrived quickly, and the awkwardness of being on a date together completely disappeared.
Riley spent most of dinner laughing at my face when I tried something I didn’t like.
Accidentally launching a grape across the table and down her shirt had only made her laugh harder.
Offering to help fish it out was met with a firm—and quite loud—no.
With a full stomach and a knowledge that I hadn’t completely ruined our friendship, I walked her up her porch steps. I leaned down and kissed her cheek quickly before I opened the door for her.
“Thanks for going on a date with me. Same time tomorrow?” I asked with a wink.
Riley turned away from me. “Nate, I had a lot of fun tonight, but I just don’t think it’s the greatest idea to—“
I gently pushed her through the open door. “Get a good night’s rest, and we can talk about it in the morning.”
I wasn’t up for being rejected on my first date night.
Chapter Ten
Nate
The day after our date, I’d had to run up to Portland to move the last of my stuff from the apartment. The guys were officially down one roommate.
When I pulled into the trailer park, I could see a blonde head at the end of the street. There was a truck parked along the street in front of Riley’s, and she was talking to someone I couldn’t recognize from the distance. She crossed the street when she saw me pulling into my driveway. Riley looked a little too gleeful standing in my driveway. I stepped out of my Jeep and looked around for the hidden bucket of water.
“Marni and Dean have tickets for us," Riley said as she pointed at the old truck parked on the side of the street.
“I’m scared to ask what kind of tickets...”
“Mudding tickets.” Her smile was positively radiant—in a scary, serial-killer way. I had a sneaking suspicion she was still trying to show me that I didn’t belong.
Marni and Dean, a couple I’d met earlier this week, were standing next to Wren by the truck, waving us over. It looked like a truck that belonged at a mudding event. It was practically law that you brought an old, beat-up, nearly collectors-era truck to a mudding event where you planned to sink it in man-made mudding pits and possibly overturn it with climbing the hills, all while being careful of the other trucks driving around like crazy people.
Riley grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the truck.
I watched as she waggled her eyebrows at me and kept her back to Marni and Dean. "I understand if you're too busy and don't have time to come with us." She shook her head slightly at me.
Aha. She wanted me to be rude and refuse to go. She thought I was afraid to get splattered with a little mud. I didn’t mind a little mu
d. Especially if it turned into something like mud wrestling—with Riley.
"Oh, don't worry, bumpkin, I would love to go with you. You know how much I love going mudding!"
"I do, sweetie pie, but what about that thing that you had to do for the other thing?" Riley had always been terrible at coming up with excuses.
Dean was frowning at us like he wasn’t sure he wanted two crazy people riding in his pride and joy. Wren was shaking her head in embarrassment from where she stood next to Marni.
“Oh, that thing. Well, I guess I'll have to do that thing for that other thing another time, because I wouldn't miss out on this for the world."
Riley widened her eyes at me as far as they could go.
I just grinned. Even though I knew she’d enjoyed herself on our date, there was some part of her that was still trying to get rid of me.
But I knew that I wanted to be around her no matter what it took, and if going to a mudding event was what I had to do to spend time with Riley, then I’d gladly do it.
I wasn't going to let her have a moment's hesitation to push me away again. I'd made too much progress to do that. She still hadn't explained why she felt the need to run away, but I didn't know her. I knew the life she came from. I knew the way she grew up. She had enough emotional baggage that could've driven her away. But I wanted to be here, standing at her side, to help her get through that. If she were going to break the cycle of her mother’s mistakes, she would have to face up to her own. Self-sabotage was real.
"Great," Dean yelled. "Let's all climb in the rig."
"How about I drive my car, too?" I suggested. “I don't know if we’ll all fit in your Ford.” I looked at the single cab with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh no, we’ll fit," Riley said with a smile. "Climb on in.” She pointed at the truck, and I had an overwhelming urge to lean over and kiss that smug look right off her face. If she thought I was riding in the middle, she had another thing coming.
“Wren, you're in the middle,” Riley said. "Nate, you're next."
"I don't think so." I waited until Wren climbed into the truck, then I grabbed Riley and shoved her into the cab before I jumped in after her.
Miss Trailerhood Page 8