Page 90 of Always You (A Lilac Bay Novel)

“It wasn’t a big deal,” I said, ignoring her splutter of disagreement. “It’s just strange because it’s Andrew, you know. He’s like my brother or something.”

She burst out laughing. “Oh, give me a break, Riley. He’s not like your brother!” She raised a skeptical eyebrow when I didn’t agree. “You’re telling me you’ve never been attracted to him? You’ve never looked at those broad shoulders or that gorgeous red hair or those wicked blues eyes of his and felt something?” She grinned, leaning a little closer. “You’ve never checked out his ass?”

“Rebecca!”

“What? Even I’ve checked out that ass, and I’m a happily married woman. You’re going to tell me that you only feel sisterly thoughts when you look at that boy? I don’t buy it. Last I checked, you were still a human woman.”

An image of him at the dance, in that suit, flashed though my mind. The way his voice had sounded when he asked me to dance. How it had felt to be so close to him, in his arms. Feeling him. How it had made me partially incoherent.

I shook my head. No. I wasn’t going to make more out of that moment than I needed to.

“It’s Andrew,” I said instead, as if that should be argument enough.

“Okay, then let me ask you another question—why were you so quick to break up with Chase?”

“I didn’t break up with Chase. We went on one date.”

“And you haven’t seen him again. Did he stop calling?”

He’d actually called me the night before, inviting me to dinner on Sunday. Well, inviting my voicemail. I’d screened the call.

“I just don’t see it going anywhere.”

“But you said you liked him. You said he was cute and you had fun with him. He was clearly into you. And, no offense, but he’s definitely the hottest prospect you’ve had in years. And yet you’re just blowing him off. Why?”

“A million reasons,” I said. “I’m really busy right now, you know. Organizing the show is taking a lot out of me. That’s the main reason I’m not pursuing this.”

And because Andrew asked me not to, a stubborn little voice in the back of my head whispered. Oh, God, was that true? Was I actually letting Andrew get in my head? I’d been so pissed when he'd asked me to drop Chase. There was no way I was letting him affect my decision.

At least, there was no way I was tellingherthat. She would absolutely get the wrong idea. She would jump to conclusions, the way that people had our entire lives.

“I was watching him at the dance, you know,” she said, her voice soft. “Do you have any idea how fast he dropped that girl he was with when he saw you go off with Mom?”

A shiver rushed through me. He’d appeared at my side exactly when I needed him to. How many times had that happened over the years?

“Riley,” Rebecca said. “Look at me.” I did, and her eyes were wide and filled with something like sympathy. “Come on, Ri. You can’t honestly tell me that you don’t know what’s going on.”

I stared at my little sister, waiting for her to elaborate. When I didn’t respond, she laughed a little.

“Riley! Helovesyou.”

“Oh God,” I muttered, covering my eyes with my palm. “Not you, too.”

“No, notme too,” she said, pulling my arm away so I had to sit up and look at her. “I’m not some stranger gossiping about you or making stupid assumptions because I don’t think guys and girls can ever just be friends.”

“Then what are you—”

“I’m your sister, the person who knows you best in the world. The person who sees you, and who sees him, and who knows what he looks like when he looks at you.”

“What’s in this wine? You’re drunk. And you aren’t making any sense.”

“Riley, he loves you. I know he does. I can tell. What I don’t understand is why you can’t see it.”

“There’s nothing to see! Jesus, Rebecca. We’ve been best friends since first grade. I have watched him hook up with girl after girl. In case you haven’t noticed, Andrew Powell isn’t the slightest bit shy when it comes to women, okay? He’s not self-conscious. He’s not a scared little boy. When he wants something he tries to get it.” I swallowed. It was the strangest thing, but for just a brief second, I felt like I might start crying. I shook my head, determined to clear it. “He doesn’t want me. He doesn’t see me like that.”

“You’re totally right,” Rebecca said, and I sighed in relief—until she kept talking. “He doesn’t see you the way he sees all those other girls. He sees you as something else entirely. Something so important it scares him.”

I gaped at her. “You’ve lost it.”