Chapter 9 #2
I shake my head. "No. I would allow, and indeed encourage, your proximity in most circumstances."
"I'll keep that in mind. But unless you want me not to, I think I'll keep helping you out of the truck. Makes me feel like a gentleman."
"You are a gentleman, Riley," I answer.
He snorts his disagreement. "No, I sure as fuck am not."
"With me, you are."
"Does a gentleman grope a girl's ass?"
"If she allows and desires the action, it cannot be considered groping, can it?" I say. "And if the action is both allowed and indeed encouraged, then one can hardly declaim the gentleman's virtue, can one?"
He frowns, puzzling through what I've said. "No?"
"No," I agree, and twist my hand to place my hand in his, and he helps me step down.
I put myself in his space, my other hand on his chest; I like his chest a lot. I do not know why, but I do. It appeals to me on a visceral level. I like the feel of it under my hand. The firmness juxtaposed against softness, perhaps.
"When we first spoke, I told you I thought there was more to who you are than you give yourself credit for." I trail my index finger from his lower lip to the point of his chin. "The more I come to know you, the more true I believe that to be."
A door opens nearby. "You two gonna hang out on the driveway makin' out all day or fuckin' what?" A male voice—Felix.
I gasp in shock and jump away from Riley as if caught misbehaving, cheeks red.
Riley laughs and tugs me against his side, murmuring in my ear. "Hey, relax. It's alright. He's teasing."
My heart is thundering in my chest. "I was startled."
He chuckles—I have come to learn that he laughs a lot and easily, and now that I believe he is not doing so at my expense, I find his constant, easy laughter refreshing and uplifting.
"I'm gettin' that." He pulls me by the hand into the garage, murmuring in my ear again.
"So look, there's a better than even chance he might tease us a bit.
Me, mainly. It's meant with love, but if he says something that bothers you, let me know, okay? "
I squeeze his hand. "I appreciate the warning, Riley, thank you. I shall."
Felix and Riley resemble each other quite strongly—albeit Felix has dark golden hair, whereas Riley's is jet black.
Felix is more heavily muscled, against Riley's leaner physique.
But their facial structure and general build are nearly identical.
One could not possibly mistake them for anything but brothers.
Felix is dressed very much like Riley—in dirty, faded, ripped pale blue denim and a plain black T-shirt with a well-worn and tattered ball cap on his head, pushed back so a few tendrils of golden hair sprout beneath the bill. His eyes are the twin of Riley’s—palest blue and intense and piercing.
He precedes us back through the garage, between the truck and van, and into the house.
Inside is bathed in natural light from every direction, even the mudroom in which we find ourselves.
Felix leads and we follow him out of the mudroom and directly into the kitchen, which features a gargantuan island topped by a mammoth butcher's block; the rest of the counters are white marble shot through with gold streaks.
There's a deep, hammered copper farm sink, an eight-burner range with a matching stainless steel refrigerator.
Felix leans against the island, watching our reactions. "So, Rye. You haven't been in here since we moved in, ya bum. What do you think?"
Riley is looking around with a critical eye, nodding. "It's fuckin' killer, Fee. You really outdid yourself on this one. The butcher block to match the floor, the dark cabinets, and white counters?"
Felix is grinning. "Wanna know somethin' about the interior design? Jess did it."
Riley blinks. "Jess? Office Jess? Has carried a torch for your ass for literally years? That Jess?"
Felix shrugs, nodding. "The one and the same.
We talked about the crush actually, and obviously she knows it's never been and never gonna be returned.
I think she's dating someone now. A finish carpenter with Jimmy McKay's outfit.
Turns out Jess has had an interior design bug for years.
She redid the office, too. Not sure if you noticed or not. "
Riley nods, eyes wide. "No shit! She did that? It looks great. Been in need of an overhaul since the Reagan administration at least."
"Exactly my words, matter of fact. She's been working with Eric for months, and she's honestly been a godsend.
Sped up the design process immensely, and as great as Eric is, there's just nothing like a woman's touch, especially when it comes to staging.
" He grins my way. "Speaking of women who're a godsend.
Introduce us, you mannerless barbarian."
"Fuck off, cockwaffle," Riley says, his tone playful. "You're the one babbling about Jess's designs."
Felix frowns. "I do not babble." He arches an eyebrow. "And would you prefer me to return to how I was before Ember?"
Riley cackles, holding up his hands in surrender. "Fine, fine, you win. Babble on, bro. Happy Fee is the best Fee." He gestures at me. "Cadence Creswell, MD, this is my brother, Felix."
I lean close to him, murmuring. 'You don't need to announce the MD part to everyone, you know."
He seems confused. "But…why wouldn't you? That's something to be proud as fuck about. You oughta tell everyone that shit."
Felix chuckles. "Don't mind him, he's an idiot. He means well, though." He extends a hand to me; his grip is firm but gentle, not overpowering nor limp. "It's great to meet you, Cadence. Glad you could make it."
I scan the home—the cozy den beyond the kitchen is bathed in more light from floor-to-ceiling windows along the back wall, with cream carpet and a tan leather sectional around a coffee table made from a single section of wood, with live edges around the rim, the top lacquered and polished and adorned with a three-wick candle giving off a pleasant vanilla scent and scattered with pregnancy magazines and a stack of neatly-folded infant onesies.
“Your home is lovely," I tell Felix. "I take it you built it yourself?"
He nods, visibly proud. “Guilty as charged."
"You are a very talented builder, then. Thank you for having me, Felix." I look around. "I heard you are recently wed. Is your bride in attendance?"
I can see Felix's gears turning, metaphorically speaking, as he begins to notice my oddities. "Uh, yeah. Yeah. She just had to visit her favorite place."
I frown. "I do not know what that would be."
He laughs. "She's roughly six hundred and forty weeks pregnant, so…the bathroom. I think she's peed ten times in the last hour."
A female voice carries from a nearby hallway.
"I heard that!" The owner of the voice is a short, beautiful woman a few years older than me with white-blond hair in a thick braid down her back; she is, as announced, extremely pregnant, although six-hundred-and-forty weeks is obviously a massive exaggeration.
"Your daughter is sitting on my bladder, Felix.
I'd love to spend less time peeing, believe me. "
She hustles over to me, rubbing lotion onto her hands. "My god, you're beautiful." She leans and embraces me, mercifully releasing me almost immediately. "What are you doing slumming it with this goober?" She jerks a thumb at Riley
I hardly know how to respond—to the unexpected hug, to her compliment, and most of all to her teasing assessment of Riley as a "goober," whatever that may be.
"I…um. I thank you for your kind words, Ember. It is wonderful to meet you." I hesitate. "You are lovely as well."
She grins at me, winking conspiratorially. "Riley is the younger brother I never had. I like to tease him. Just…you know, so you know I know he's not actually a goober." She drops her voice to a stage whisper—why, I am uncertain. "He's actually a great guy. Just don't tell anyone."
"I do not know what a goober is, I must confess, and I also cannot fathom why I should keep Riley's excellent nature a secret."
She does a slow blink, glances at Felix, Riley, and then me. "Oh. Um. It's not…it’s not a secret. I was joking."
"Ah. I see." I am quite nervous to meet Riley’s family—this is all beginning to feel rather formal, which is concerning, seeing as I have known the man less than forty-eight hours; when I am nervous, I am less adept at recognizing humor, especially the teasing kind.
The ensuing silence is awkward, even to me.
Clearly, Felix and Ember are not sure how to process my strangeness, especially without context or explanation.
I am not given to explaining myself to people; I decided when I was quite young that if I went around explaining myself to everyone who did not understand why I am so strange, I would never say or do anything but in self-explanation.
And while Riley seems quite taken with me, which is marvelous and wonderful and gratifying and exciting, I have only just met him and see no need to burden Felix and Ember with all that is me and my strange ways.
Felix breaks the silence. "Well, I've got steaks on the grill out back, so I hope you're hungry.
" He glances at me. "You vegetarian? Ember hasn't been able to eat meat for most of her pregnancy, so I've got bean burgers if you want that instead of a steak.
I could also toss a regular burger on, or some dogs. "
I stop myself from asking the obvious question, since a moment's reflection makes it clear he does not mean actual dogs, but frankfurters—hot dogs. My brain goes extra literal when I am nervous.
"I would welcome a bean burger, if it is not too much additional trouble for you. Red meat is hard on my digestive system.” I smile at him. "Thank you for providing options. It is most thoughtful of you."
He shares Riley's propensity for dazzling grins, although his does not make my heart flutter. "Ember can get you a drink while I toss that on for you. Bro, you want a beer?"