"I don't want that either."
He sits back. "If you ever decide you want to get out of here and make a fresh start somewhere else, give me a call. Wherever I am, I'll come help you. We'll find you a place to live, get you moved in. Whatever you need, I'll help you out, okay?"
I nod, feeling a rush of hope and excitement at just the thought of what he's saying. A life that's my own, without the burden of keeping watch on my mom. Being somewhere I want to be instead of stuck in this town. Having my own place.
Everyone else my age is moving on with their lives. Why can't I? Maybe I should consider it.
We have lunch, then stay there, drinking coffee and talking. Hours pass, which I don't realize until I hear someone mention the time.
"It's after four?" I say to Brad.
He checks his phone. "Four-fifteen."
"You need to go?"
"No, but I will if you have stuff to do."
"I don't. I just wondered if you had plans with Nate."
"We didn't make any, but it looks like he texted me." Brad reads the text. "He's asking what you said."
"We never even talked about whatever it was Nate wanted you to talk to me about."
"He wants to know if you still want to be friends. He thinks you're trying to ditch him after what happened."
"I wouldn't do that. I've told him a million times I still want to be friends."
"Then I'll tell him that." Brad texts him back.
"What'd you say?"
"I told him you still want to be friends." He sets his phone down. "I can't believe he asked me to do this. You guys have been friends forever. He should be able to talk to you himself."
"He should, but he doesn't like talking about stuff that makes him uncomfortable."
"Then you're not that great of friends."
"I'm starting to think that. I barely know you and I find you easier to talk to than Nate."
"I wouldn't say you barely know me. We've spent every day together since I got here. And I just told you stuff about my family that almost nobody else knows. We've also done things that people who barely know each other don't usually do." He smiles. "Well, I don't. I usually know the girl first."
"We could've done more if my mom hadn't walked in." My phone rings. "It's Nate. He's going to ask if I want to go out tonight."
"What are you going to tell him?"
"I want to tell him no. I'd rather be with you. Just us, without him. But then he'll know something's going on."
"Then suggest we all go. We've been doing that since I got here. He won't think anything of it."
I'm lying to Nate, my best friend, but he's forcing me to. If he could just accept that I'm dating Brad we could avoid all this. Nate should be supporting me. He's always telling me to do what makes me happy, and I'm finally doing it. For the first time in my life, I'm doing what makes me happy.
Chapter Seventeen
Nate
"Riley, where are you?" I ask when she picks up.
"At a coffee shop."
"With Brad?"
"Yeah. We had lunch here."
"Lunch? It's after four."
"We stayed for coffee and have just been hanging out."
"I didn't think you guys would be gone that long. Are you going home soon?"
"I don't know. Why?"
"I want to take you out tonight. Maybe around seven?"
"Sure. I'll tell Brad."
"Not with Brad. I want it to just be us."
"Why?"
"Because we need to talk. Something's off between us. I know it's my fault, but I want to fix it."
"Talking about it won't fix it. We just need time."
"Riley, please. It's just dinner."
"I don't think it's a good idea. It'll feel like we're on a date."
"So we can never go out together again? That doesn't even make sense. We've been going out together for years, and now we can't?"
"It's different now."
"It's not. Nothing's changed."
"Everything's changed. You see me as more than a friend, which makes things awkward."
"It won't be awkward. I promise."
"Nate, I'm sorry, but I just don't feel comfortable with us going out like we're a couple, which is what it feels like now. I'm not saying we can't ever hang out again, just the two of us, but not yet. It's too soon."
I sigh, frustrated with Riley and angry at myself for telling her how I felt. I should've just kept quiet.
"So you'll only go if Brad goes?"
"Or you could invite someone else. Maybe Tara?"
"She's busy tonight."
"Then maybe we shouldn't go out."
"I need to. I've been stuck at home all day. We'll just take Brad along, if he's good with that. We'll pick you up at seven."
A half hour later, Brad gets home. I'm in the living room flipping through channels on the TV. I'm so bored. I should've been out with Riley all day, and I would've been if I hadn't told her how I felt about her.
"How'd it go?" I ask.
"Good." He walks past me.
"Hold on." I get up from the couch. "What'd you guys do?"
"Had lunch, then coffee. How about you? Do any job searching?"
"Yeah. Didn't find much. Did Riley ask you about tonight?"
"Dinner? Yeah. Works for me. I'm gonna go change."
"Sorry about having to drag you along, but Riley doesn't want to be alone with me." I shake my head. "I really fucked this up."
"It'll get better in a week or so. For now, maybe just back off. Give her some space. You think you'll go out with Tara again?"
"I don't know. Why do you ask?"
"If Riley sees you with someone else, you'll have a better chance of thing's going back to normal."
"Did she tell you that?"
"No, but think about it. If you're with someone else, she'll feel like you've moved on. She'll be more comfortable being around you again."
"Yeah, I guess. I'm just not that into Tara."
"Then go out with someone else."
"I don't want anyone else. I want Riley. I love her. She's the perfect girl for me. Or she was."
"You have to stop thinking of her that way and start thinking about someone else. If you don't like Tara, there are plenty of other girls. Why don't you and I go out this week and see if we can find you a girl?"
"What about you? You could use a date. Then maybe we could double."
"I don't want to get involved with someone, knowing I'll be gone in a few months."
"It's no different for me. I'll be leaving too. C'mon, Brad. Do this with me. Let's go out and find some girls."
He rubs his hand over his jaw. "I don't know, Nate. I'd really rather be single this summer."
"I'm not asking you to find your future wife. Just go out and find a girl. Go on a few dates."
"Let me think about it."
My mom walks in. "Brad, you're home."
"Yeah. Did you need something?"
She goes over to him. "Have you talked to your mother today?"
"No. Why?"
"She's coming here in a few weeks. Along with your father."
"Why?" Brad asks in a suspicious tone.
"They want to see you. They miss you. It'll be nice to see them, don't you think?"
Something's going on. It must be bad news, bad enough Brad's parents have to tell him in person. There's no other reason they would come here. They're both snobby and think this town is too trashy to visit.
"This isn't about missing me," Brad says to my mom. "I've only been gone a few weeks. What's this really about?"
"Sheryl didn't tell me much. She just said they'd be coming for a visit. Oh, and she mentioned she has some mail to give you."
"Probably the packets from med school. They said they'd be sending me stuff."
My mom smiles. "I'm so excited they're coming! It'll be the first time they'll see the house!"
Our house is old and small. My aunt and uncle will hate it. They'll make rude
comments that'll hurt my mom's feelings. I really wish they weren't coming.
"Maybe you should fly home for the weekend," I tell Brad. "Save them the trip."
"Don't be silly, Nate," my mom says. "It'll be nice to have them here. We can show them around town. Take them out. It'll be fun!"
She clearly can't remember how snobby her sister can be. Then again, now that my uncle gambled away all their money, maybe Aunt Sheryl won't be so snobby anymore.
"I'm gonna go call her," Brad says, taking off for his room.
When I he's gone, I say to my mom, "What happened?"
"Nothing," she says as she walks to the kitchen.
I follow her in there. "Aunt Sheryl wouldn't show up here unless she had bad news. Something she wouldn't tell Brad over the phone. So what is it? Are they getting divorced? Losing the house? Did she find out he drained all their accounts?"
My mom picks up a rag and sprays the counter with cleaner. She always cleans when she's hiding something, and not a normal clean, but speed-cleaning like she's doing now, wiping the counters in fast circular motions.
"Honey, why don't you go out and do something? You've been in the house all day."
"I'm going out later. With Brad and Riley."
She stops wiping the counter and looks up. "Brad and Riley?"
"Yeah. Why are you acting so surprised? The three of us go out all the time."
"Yes, I know," she says, vigorously cleaning again. "I'm just surprised you'd want to go out with Riley so soon after what happened."
"I didn't think I would, but I miss her too much to not see her. She spent the day with Brad and all I could think about is how I wish she was with me and not him."
"She was with Brad?" my mom asks, her hand pausing over the counter.
"I asked him to take her out. I wanted him to find out if she still wanted to be friends."
"Couldn't you have just asked her yourself?"
"I was afraid she wouldn't be honest with me. Brad can get people to talk. I figured she'd tell him the truth."
"And did she?"
"She said she still wants to be friends, but then she didn't want to go out with me tonight. She'd only agree to it if Brad came along."
My mom goes over to the sink. "Nate, maybe it's time to end this friendship you have with Riley."
I let out a laugh. "What are you talking about? Why would I end our friendship? We've been friends forever."
"Yes, but people change." My mom grabs a sponge and starts scrubbing the sink. "You're both older now and soon you'll be moving away. Maybe it's time to accept that your friendship with her has run its course."
I walk over to her. "Mom, why are you saying this? You love Riley. You love her like a daughter."
"But I love you even more. You're my son, and I don't like seeing you hurting like this, and I definitely don't want you not going out with other girls because you're waiting for Riley to change her mind about you."
"I'm not doing that. I know she won't change her mind. And I AM going out with other girls. In fact, Brad and I are going out this week to meet girls."
"You are?" she asks, sounding surprised.
"Yeah. It was his idea, and I think it's a good one. Like he said, if I start dating someone, Riley will feel more comfortable around me and we can go out and do stuff again. As friends."
"What about Brad? Is he planning to find a girl too?"
"He doesn't want to, but I told him if I'm doing this, so is he, especially since it was his idea. I'm surprised he doesn't already have someone. You should see all the women flirting with him at the pool. Even the moms flirt with him."
"But he hasn't shown interest in anyone?" she asks, scrubbing around the faucet.
"He went out with Giada, one of the lifeguards, but it didn't go anywhere. He says he doesn't want to get involved with someone since he's leaving at the end of summer."
"Then maybe he shouldn't be dating."
"I'm leaving soon too, maybe even sooner than him. If you think I should date, then he should too."
She sets down her sponge. "Have you heard anything? From any jobs?"
"Not yet. I applied for a couple more today. Mom, I'm gonna go get ready."
"Okay. Have fun tonight!"
At seven, we pick up Riley. She's waiting outside the trailer, wearing denim shorts and a tank top. All her shirts are tight and low-cut, a look her mom taught her and one I used to like when I thought she was mine. Now I wish she'd cover up so other guys won't ask her out. I know I need to get over that and accept that she'll eventually date other guys, but I'm not there yet.
Riley hops in the back seat. "So where are we going?"
"Sanders," I say. "Does that work?"
Sanders is a local place that serves mostly burgers and fries. It's one of Riley's favorite restaurants.
"Sounds great!" she says in a voice that's too cheery to be real.
As Brad drives off, I turn in my seat to look at Riley. "What's wrong?"
She looks at Brad. "You didn't tell him?"
"Didn't know I was supposed to. Thought you'd want to."
"What?" I look between Riley and Brad, annoyed they share some secret I don't know about. "What is it?"
"The salon is closing," Riley says.
"Being sold," Brad clarifies. "It could stay open."
"But even if it does," Riley says, "there's a good chance they'll bring in new people and my mom and I will be out of a job."
"When did you find out?" I ask Riley.
"Today. My mom told me when she got home."
"Why didn't you tell me this?"
"We weren't supposed to be talking," she says, glancing at Brad.
"Forget about that. If you need me, call me. We've always said we'll be there for each other. That doesn't change, even if we're taking time apart."
"I talked to April about it."
"Does she think she'll lose her job?" I ask.
"She doesn't know. My mom thinks they'll keep younger stylists like April to draw in younger clients."
"Do you know why Renee's selling the place?"
"People said she was losing money. She probably needs to sell it to pay her bills."
"Any idea who might buy it?" Brad asks, glancing at Riley in the rear-view mirror.
"No clue. I don't know who would have the money for something like that. It'd probably need to be an outside investor. My guess is they'll turn it into something else, like a restaurant or retail."
"I bet it stays a salon," I say.
"Maybe, but even if it does, I still might lose my job." Riley's eyes go to Brad again as he looks back at her in the mirror.
What's going on with those two? Why do they keep looking at each other?
We get to the restaurant and I open the door to let Riley go first. Brad follows, and I notice his hand go on Riley's back as he ushers her to the hostess stand. It irks me seeing him touch her like that, but that's just Brad. He's one of those touchy-feely people, which is why girls sometimes assume he's flirting when he's not. I hope Riley doesn't think that, although being around him so much, I'm sure she's figured out that's just his personality.
"Right this way," the hostess says. As she walks us to our table, she trips and almost falls. Brad puts his hands on her arms, steadying her.
"You okay?" he asks with that smile of his that girls love so much.
"I'm good. Thanks!" She smiles back, in a flirty way.
It's just like I said. Brad was just being helpful, but the hostess thinks he was making a move.
"Enjoy your meal," she says as we take our seats, her eyes on Brad. "Let me know if you need anything."
"Like a date?" I mutter as she walks off.
Brad opens his menu.
"Brad?" I kick his foot under the table.
"What?"
"The hostess. She was hitting on you. You should get her number."
"She wasn't hitting on me."
"Riley. Tell him."
She's sitting next to Brad, since
apparently it's too awkward to sit next to me.
"I didn't notice," she says as she reviews the menu.
"Are you serious? How did you guys not see this?"
"Maybe she was flirting with you," Brad says.
"It was definitely you, but you're clearly not interested. We'll find you someone else when we go out this week."
Riley looks up from her menu. "Go out?"
"Brad and I are hitting the bars this week. We're gonna find some dates."
She turns to Brad. "I thought you said you didn't want to date anyone this summer."
"I don't, but Nate doesn't want to go to the bars alone."
"Hey, we had a deal," I tell him. "If I'm finding someone, so are you."
"Why?" Riley asks. "Why can't you just find someone?"
"Because it was his idea."
"For some reason he doesn't think he can do this unless I do it too," Brad says to Riley.
"Why are you complaining about this?" I say to Brad. "You love going out and you love meeting people."
"But I don't want to date someone. What's the point when I'm leaving soon? We'll go on a few dates and it'll be over."
"You never know. Maybe you'll meet the girl of your dreams and she'll follow you to med school and you'll get married and have five kids."
"That's not going to happen. And it's not what I want, at least not now. Marriage and kids are a long ways off. I'm not even sure I want kids."
"Really?" Riley says. "I thought you did.
He shrugs. "I haven't decided. Parenting is a lot of work, and then your kids grow up and never want to see you again. What's the point?"
"He doesn't mean it," I say to Riley. "He's just pissed at his parents right now."
"Why?" she asks him. "Did they—" She stops, her eyes darting down. "Never mind. I don't know what I'm saying."
But it's almost like she does. I'm sure Brad told her stuff when they were together today, so why is she trying to hide it? Why'd she cut herself off like that? Did Brad tell her something I'm not supposed to know?
"What's going on?" I say to Brad. "Did you find something out about your parents?"
"Nothing you don't already know." He turns to Riley. "Nate and I just found out my parents are coming to town."
Better If He Goes (Always You Book 1) Page 18