Never Standing Still (The Never Duet #1)(18)

His expression was so hopeful, he looked as if he were waiting for me to give him a gift. There was a very large part of me that wanted to say yes, that wished to spend the rest of the evening with him discovering things about him, talking with him. But then I realized, with the same feeling as the ice cold water those girls had tossed on us, that if I wanted to learn things about him, he would probably want to know things about me too. I had to draw the line, had to tell him no.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I said, sitting up and drawing my knees up to my chest, wrapping my arms around them.

“Didn’t you have a good time with me today?” he asked, sounding a little confused.

I turned my head to look at him. Trying to keep my voice light, I said, “Yeah. I had a lot of fun.”

“Then why won’t you have dinner with me?”

I exhaled. “Riot, listen, I told you I don’t really date people, and I’m not looking for a relationship. I think it would be better for both of us if we just kept this simple. Friendly.”

“Friendly,” he sighed, then huffed out a breath.

I winced. His ego sounded bruised. “I’m sorry.”

He shook his head. “You don’t have to be sorry about anything, Kalli. I just really enjoy being around you, but I totally get it. However, there is one thing I refuse to leave Oregon without.”

“Oh, yeah? And what’s that?”

“Your phone number.”

I tilted my head and narrowed my eyes. “Why do you need my phone number?”

He pulled his head back and scoffed. “I have all my friends’ phone numbers, don’t you?”

I considered his argument. I did have all my friends’ phone numbers, but I wasn’t sure ‘friends’ was the correct term for what we were, or what he wanted us to be. But, then again, I couldn’t find a good enough reason to deny him. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone, unlocked the screen, then handed it to him.

“Don’t snoop,” I said with a smile.

“I wouldn’t dare,” he said with mocked insult.

I watched his thumbs move quickly over my screen, then he grabbed for his phone and did the same. He then held it out to me.

“There you go. All set.”

“Great,” I said, smiling. “So, when do you think you’ll go back to California?”

He shrugged. “I’m not sure. I might head north for a bit, check out Canada. I hear Victoria is beautiful.”

“I’ve never been.”

“Really? But it’s so close to you.”

“I travel so much for work that usually when I’m not working, I stay home.” Marcus immediately came to my mind. I stayed home to take care of him. If I’d left for home when I finished that morning, I’d have been home with him already. Nancy could have taken a breather. As it were, I wouldn’t make it home until late evening, at best. I’d wasted an entire day. But it had been a wonderful wasted day. I looked over at Riot, admiring his profile as he watched a large cargo boat navigate its way under all the bridges of Portland.

His hair had dried in a sexy kind of disarray, brown locks sticking up every which way. The sun was hitting his already tan skin, highlighting the ridges and contours of his fantastic biceps. I could ogle a friend, right? He was so intensely sexy, it was hard to push the sight of him out of my mind. I had to leave. Sitting here, staring at him, wasn’t doing me any good.

“Can I drop you off at your hotel?”

He turned back to look at me and smiled, but it wasn’t the same smile he’d worn all day. It was a resigned smile, as if he were knowingly giving up. It wasn’t any less sexy though, so I stood up, brushing any residual grass from my backside.

“Thanks, but I think I’ll be okay.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah.”

“All right. Well, I guess I’ll see you around.” He smiled at me, but said nothing, so I smiled back, then turned and walked back toward the square to my car.

With each step, more confusion rolled through me. That had to have been the most awkward goodbye I’d ever experienced. I didn’t know what I expected from of him, but he could have at least said something. I didn’t need him to hug me or give some long, lingering goodbye, but the way I left it felt, well, unfinished.

I tried to shake my irritation off, walking back through the mass of people still shopping in the market. But still, even when I’d made it back to my car, I was upset. I didn’t want to have dinner with him, so he just blew me off? It seemed like a jerk move. I stewed about the way we parted halfway to Seattle, then I let out a loud sigh because, frankly, he was still the most attractive man I’d ever met. Jerk or not, the terrible goodbye did nothing to fog the memory of the day I’d spent with him. He’d been fun, interesting, polite, and made me feel like there wasn’t anyone else in the world he wanted to spend his day with.

Turned out, his cold goodbye was exactly what I needed to walk away without the dull ache of longing I’d had all day being with him. Then, as I pulled into my driveway, the concrete illuminated by the flood light attached to the front of the house, I realized I’d spent the whole drive thinking about him anyway.





Chapter Six


Another Bandage