5. Torey
Chapter 5
Torey
W hen I woke up, I was still buzzing from dinner with Ryan last night. And that kiss? Hot damn, that kiss was electric, and I still felt his lips on mine. That probably had a lot to do with the fact that I hadn’t stopped thinking about him since he left last night. Dreaming about him with significantly less clothes on than he’d worn to dinner. Or fresh from the shower. Thoughts of him persisted all morning.
It was a little perplexing, actually. I’ve known Ryan just about all my life and he’s always been Nix’s older and hotter brother. I mean, I have eyes, of course he’s gorgeous, but I never crushed on him except for that one summer when I couldn’t look at him without blushing, but it wasn’t a real crush. It was teenage hormones. Just hormones. Now though? Now Ryan was older—so was I—and hotter and far more mature than when he’d gone off to the Army. Now that I knew him better, I knew that he was a real catch.
Not for me, of course. Objectively, Ryan was a catch. He looked good, had a good job, and gave good conversation.
"Dammit." My feet came to a complete stop about a block from the bakery as realization dawned. I have a crush on Ryan. Well, that couldn’t happen. This plan wouldn’t work—not for me—if I went and developed feelings for a man who had one foot out the door. "Nope, not a crush," I whispered to myself over and over again until I stepped inside the kitchen and found Nix blasting Whitney Houston. I paused the song with a frown. "What’s wrong?"
Nix spun around with wide eyes and a wider smile. "Nothing's wrong. Everything is just great."
"Pants on fire, Nix." She was always a little too bright when she was upset.
"That’s rich coming from you, given you didn’t tell me we’re going to be real sisters soon."
I rolled my eyes and groaned. It really was silly to think that word wouldn’t get back to Nix. Of course, everyone would assume she already knew.
"It’s funny," she began slowly as she waved her wooden spoon around. "Because I didn’t even know when he was coming home, and I swore you told me just days ago that you kissed Mac."
Right. That's true. "Okay!" I locked the door behind me and crossed the kitchen until we were face to face and I dropped my hands on her shoulders. "Remember I told you about the bet?"
"Of course." Her amusement was too much to take.
"Then I went to the farmhouse and saw Ryan, so he was kind of on my mind already. The next day, I was approached by one of the Brigade, and then later so was Ryan. I saw him and I acted. Impulsively."
"Wait, so you guys are fake dating, and not dating for real?”
I nodded as my gaze darted all around the kitchen. "It makes sense. We both steer clear of the matchmakers and no one would even question it because we’ve known each other forever." The words rushed out, and I hoped my best friend was buying the explanation.
"Yeah, but what happens when he goes off on the next mission to who the heck knows where?" Her green eyes held genuine concern.
I smiled, because it was the one part of the story I’d actually thought about. "Easy. We’ll do the ‘long distance thing’ for a while before it becomes too hard and break up. That should give me at least a year, possibly eighteen months of peace."
Nix sighed heavily and shook her head. "This has bad idea written all over it."
My brows dipped. I thought I had everything figured out. "Why?"
Nix threw up her flour-covered hands and took a step back. "I don't know if you're ready to hear it."
"No, wait. Tell me why this is a bad idea?" I needed to know if there was something I hadn’t thought about.
"Because you're both incredibly good-looking, amazing people, which would be enough, but you have a lifetime of history together as well. The casual touches and affection will blur the lines. It’s going to get messy because one, or both of you, will develop feelings."
I shook my head dismissively. "We won’t. We made a deal and it’ll be fine. Don’t worry," I told her even though last night had proved to me that there was plenty to worry about.
"I'll worry, but I’ll keep it to myself. And when one or both of you gets a case of the feels, I am staying out of it. Way out of it."
Well, her words kind of put a damper on my plans. "Gee, Nix, thanks for the vote of confidence." What seemed like the perfect plan yesterday, now had me second-guessing myself.
Nix flung her arms around me and laughed. "I believe in you, Torey. I really do." She pulled back and her gaze met mine. "And I really can’t wait for us to be sisters for real. We always talked about it and now it’s reality."
I groaned at memory of our younger selves trying to figure out how to become real sisters without having to marry stinky ol’ boys.
Nix laughed. "See, optimism!"
"Thanks." Now, in addition to our kisses, I was filled with worry that my plan wasn’t as great as I thought.