Page 95 of The One You Want

“Jenny, come on.” Riley jumped up from the floor and came over to sit next to me on the couch. “Sometimes guys are just slutty. That had nothing to do withyou.”

“But—”

“God, look at Andrew.” She snickered. “He was a total man-whore before we got together. That didn’t stop him from stepping up when he knew he could haveme.”

“Um, if I’m remembering correctly, you had a whole lot of angst about that whole man-whorebusiness.”

“Yes,” she agreed. “But I waswrong.”

I scrunched up my nose. “So are you saying I do have a chance with Dr. Miller?” That was so not what I wanted tohear.

Riley laughed. “No, you dope. I’m saying you had a crush and it was no big deal. We all have crushes and we all do stupid, embarrassing things when it comes to love.” She reached over and took my hands. “That doesn’t mean your instincts about Grant are wrong. You’re a smart girl, Jenny. You’re careful about who you spend time with—too carefulsometimes.”

I stared down at my hands, afraid to believe what she wassaying.

“Jenny.” Her voice was soft, gentle, so unlike the tough Riley I knew. “Do you loveGrant?”

“Yes,” I said automatically. “Ido.”

“Then I think you owe it to yourself to figure out exactly whathappened.”

I stood suddenly, knocking Lady to the floor, where she gave an outraged little meow and darted under the coffee table. “Sorry, girl,” I muttered, reaching for the sweatshirt I’d left hanging on the back of thecouch.

“Where are yougoing?”

“The market will be over soon,” I explained, pulling on my running shoes. “I want to catch him before heleaves.”

“Hey, why aren’t youatthemarket?”

I gave her a look. “Seriously?”

Her frown returned and all of a sudden she looked much more like the fierce girl I was used to. “You’re an amazing artist, Jenny. Don’t you ever let a stupid boy get in the way of yourcareer.”

“Good advice,” I muttered, distracted. Where the hell was my purse? I had less than an hour before the market ended, and it suddenly seemed imperative that I getthere.

I needed to tell him how I felt. Whether he felt the same way or ever had, whether he really did take that bribe from my grandparents, it didn’t matter. I needed to tell him for me. I needed to tell him because admitting it seemed like just about the scariest thing ever—and lately I had been learning that doing scary things was sometimes really worthit.

“Will you lockup?”

“Go on,” she said, waving me away. “I’ll clean up the food so the cats don’t get into it.” I leaned over and kissed the top of herhead.

“Thanks, Riley,” I muttered, hoping she knew I meant it for a lot more than just cleaningup.

“Go get ’em, girl!” she called as I dashed to thedoor.

But I didn’t get very far. As soon as I swung the door open, I came face to face with none other thanGrant.