Chapter 18 #3
“Come in, come in,” Nancy beams, bustling around to take our coats and hang them on the rack by the door.
“Whit was planning to order pizza, if that works for you boys? The kitchen is an absolute mess, as you can see.” She gestures toward the “mess.” The counters are full of dishes and recipe books in preparation for tomorrow, but it all looks very organized rather than cluttered.
“That sounds great to me, Mrs. Cunningham, thank you,” I say, glancing at Riley for approval. He nods in agreement. I fight the urge to reach out and grab his hand for comfort.
“Oh, so polite!” Nancy giggles. “Please, none of that, Luke. Call me Nancy, I insist.”
I smile and nod. I’ll try. I was always so careful around adults growing up, addressing them formally and making sure to never get into trouble.
I know Nancy isn’t that much older than me, but it’s hard to override those instincts to be a good, quiet kid who does as he’s told and doesn’t attract attention.
Whit goes to the kitchen to look for pizza coupons he’s saved while Nancy herds us into the living room and gestures for Riley and me to sit on the loveseat as she makes herself comfortable on the couch across from us.
I’m secretly relieved to be so close to Riley.
I might not have the right to hold his hand, but his warm, steady presence next to me in this completely unfamiliar situation is comforting.
“So tell us about LA, sweetheart!” Nancy is saying to Riley. “We barely hear from you. I want to know everything.”
“I text almost every day!” Riley laughs.
“Well that’s not the same!” Nancy admonishes. “How is your roommate? Have you found a job yet? Made new friends?”
“One thing at a time, Mom, geez.” Riley shakes his head with a smile. “My roommate is…okay, I guess. He’s never really around, and he doesn’t seem to like me very much, but the house is nice enough, so it could be worse. And obviously I met Luke, so that’s one friend, at least.”
I notice he dodged the work question, but Nancy doesn’t seem to, because she turns her attention to me. “Yes, Luke, tell me about yourself! Have you always lived in LA? What do you do for work?”
I shoot a panicked look at Riley, who twists a little and casually throws his arm across the back of the loveseat.
I feel the barely there caress of his thumb along my shoulder blade, and the touch grounds me.
“I, um…yes,” I stutter finally. “I’ve always lived in California, mostly the Los Angeles area. I’m a…filmmaker.”
“Oh, like in Hollywood?” Whit asks, returning to the living room and joining Nancy on the couch. “Have you worked on anything we would have seen?”
I blanch at that. I think my throat might be closing up. Why is it so hot in here? I glance over at Riley desperately for help.
“Luke makes, like, independent short films,” he interjects, rescuing me. “He’s built quite a following on social media, and he has a really artistic eye.”
Tension seeps out of my shoulders at that.
Riley makes it all sound so professional, and they seem satisfied enough with that answer.
Conversation shifts to pizza toppings and everyone’s preferences, and I’m barely paying attention.
I think I manage to nod and say that I’m okay with whatever everyone else wants, but I’m too distracted watching Riley with his parents to know for sure.
What must it have been like to grow up in a house like this?
With parents like this? The love they have for one another is palpable, and I can tell that both Whit and Nancy are supportive and proud of Riley, just like he said.
No wonder he’s so secure and confident in himself.
From what I’ve seen in just a few minutes with them, I think they would do absolutely anything for him, and he obviously has a lot of love and respect for them in return.
The whole dynamic is fascinating to me. A wave of emotion crests in my chest, and I suddenly feel really lucky that he invited me into this part of his life.
“Anyone home?” a cheerful voice echoes from the entryway, distracting me from the wide range of emotions threatening to rock my shit in front of all these people.
Amanda kicks off her boots and hangs up her coat as Riley leaps up to greet his sister with a hug. “Look at you, little bro, all tan from beach life!” She ruffles his hair affectionately and turns her attention to me. “And you’re obviously Luke. I’ve heard so much about you.”
“You have?” Nancy looks affronted. “Riley David, you’ve been talking to your sister but not us?”
I can’t help but smirk at the way Nancy busts out his middle name. “I just told her we were friends!” Riley protests, glaring at his sister. “Now everyone is caught up. Anyway, Luke, this is my sister, Mandy.”
“I prefer Amanda,” she corrects, holding out her hand to shake mine, “but my family calls me whatever they want, so if you want to call me Mandy, too, then go for it.”
I like her already. Her dark hair is pulled back into a loose ponytail, and she looks chic and comfortable in leggings and an oversized sweatshirt.
She’s short and feisty like her mother, but has the same steady presence that her dad and Riley exude as well.
It makes sense that she works in human resources, and I can only imagine how protective of Riley she must have been when they were younger.
We all settle back into the living room to wait for the pizza, and I’m happy to observe quietly as the family catches up, laughing and joking together as if they haven’t been apart for months.
This is usually the sort of situation where I would feel like an outsider, or feel the pain of missing out on this when I was a kid, but I find that I actually enjoy being part of it without being expected to engage or put on the spot to answer questions about myself.
Riley has scooted a bit closer to me on the loveseat and has pulled one leg up under him, his knee pressed against my outer thigh.
There’s something so reassuring about how relaxed he is and the contact between our bodies, simple as it is.
I feel a little silly now for being so worried about this.
I should have known that Riley would never purposely put me in a position where I felt exposed.
As we eat pizza on paper plates in the living room, I can’t help but feel… content.
After we finish dinner, Whit takes Riley into his office/home gym to show him the new weight bench he found at a local garage sale for cheap last weekend, and Nancy goes to put away the leftover pizza and double-check all of her lists for tomorrow, leaving me alone in the living room with Amanda.
She moves to the loveseat, sitting cross-legged and facing me.
“I never would have believed Luke Larson would be sitting in my parents’ living room,” she teases. “I’m glad you decided to come. Riley would have been insufferable if you hadn’t.”
“Really? Why do you say that?”
Amanda snorts and leans back against the arm of the couch, studying me. “Oh, trust me, my little brother is down bad for you, my guy. And I can see why.”
“I think he’s just being nice,” I say slowly, my brain working a million miles a minute.
I’ve barely processed my own feelings for Riley…
I hadn’t considered that he might have feelings for me, too.
I’ve hoped so, and Jess seems to think so, but I don’t think I really let myself believe that he could.
“I promise you he’s not,” she assures me. “Riley is nice, and he’s always made friends wherever he goes. But the way he talks about you…the way he’s absolutely glowing just having you here…I know my brother, and I think if you don’t make a move soon, he probably will.”
I’m stunned speechless.
“Look, my brother has never been shy about going after his dreams,” she continues, leaning forward and lowering her voice so her parents don’t overhear from the kitchen.
“Obviously you know that, given that he’s moved across the country to pursue new…
business endeavors. He knows what he wants, and from where I’m sitting, he clearly wants you.
I don’t know you, other than what Riley has told me over the last couple of months.
But if you’re not in the same place as him, you need to let him know, because he does everything with his whole heart, and I don’t want to watch it break over someone who doesn’t feel the same. ”
I swallow hard and nod. I want to tell her that I am very much in the same place, and the last thing I want to do is hurt him, but the words won’t come.
“What are we talking about in here?” Riley’s voice floats over my shoulder, and I jump as he leans over the back of the couch between us.
“Oh, you know, just stuff,” Amanda says breezily, nudging at me with her toe and winking. “Right, Luke?”
Riley narrows his eyes and looks between us suspiciously. “You’re both terrible liars, you know that?” He straightens and looks at his watch. “Anyway, we better get going. It’s getting late, and I’ve been up since four this morning. You ready, babe?”
We both freeze, our eyes locked. He’s never called me that outside of the bedroom before.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Amanda’s eyebrows rise and a knowing smile spread across her face.
My brain has gone completely offline. I think I dissociated through the whole goodbye fanfare with his family and the drive back to the hotel (concerning, since I was the one behind the wheel).
Was that just a slip-up? Or was Amanda right about Riley’s feelings for me?
He’s silent on the drive back to the hotel, but not in an uncomfortable way.
Other than asking what side of the bed I like and if I leave a light on when I sleep, he remains quiet as we climb into bed, too.
I’m itching to ask him about it as he turns out the lights and settles in with a sigh, but I don’t want to make things weird.
He doesn’t seem bothered by it, and I guess I shouldn’t be either.
But damn, I really like that he called me that. It’s normal in our work to throw around the words “babe” or “baby” with partners, but suddenly, I’m running back in my mind to see if I recall him saying it to Dante or Benji.
I don’t think he did.
And that makes me feel really fucking good.