“Your dad stopped by the dorm room that day. He was in the area and decided to surprise Nola and me. He surprised me, all right. I’d just finished the last of my packing. He demanded some answers. Then, he promised that he would keep my secret—only if I would take some money. I guess I ended up mooching off of you guys anyway.”
He shook his head slowly. “Why didn’t he just stop you?”
I stretched my fingers against each other, one at a time. “You know better than anyone else what happens when you try to stop me.”
Nate rubbed a hand against his jaw. “Yes...”
“I’d already made up my mind. Your dad tried to talk me out of it.”
“He knew where you went?”
“No. I told him I was going to Portland—which I was, to pick up Wren. But then I had to figure out what we were going to do. I’d just made it through college, didn’t have a job, and all I had to my name was the generous amount of cash your dad gave me. It was more than enough to buy a trailer to make our home and to pay the cheap rent in a trailer park. I took a job at the market close by. That way, I could walk to work, and I’d be close in case Wren needed anything. She spent her days at school and her afternoons doing sports.
“Then, my social media following grew, and I was eventually able to quit work at the market and focus exclusively on being an influencer. It gave me a lot more freedom to do things with Wren, like actually go watch those games she was playing. Meet her friends. Take her on day trips.”
Nate began massaging my neck as he listened.
“It became safe and comfortable. I felt like I could give her what I never had. I thought if I just made enough money, we would be all right. Now that I’m making money as an influencer, I think I’m still scared. Scared to mess up. Scared that I’ll traumatize my baby sister.”
He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me tight against his chest. “You’re not messing up. You’re the best person Wren could be with. But this pressure you’re putting on yourself? It’s going to make you snap if you’re not careful.”
“I know. But I don’t know how to make it stop,” I whispered against his chest.
He gently stroked my hair. “You take it one day at a time. And right now, today, your sister is having fun at her best friend’s house. Safe. And you are sitting on a mountaintop. With your boyfriend.”
“Why is ‘boyfriend’ such an annoying word?”
“Because boyfriends usually are annoying?”
“You’re so helpful.” I laughed at his suggestion. “But boyfriend is just so...boyish. You’re not a boy anymore.”
He cleared his throat and spoke in an extra-deep voice. “Thank you for noticing that.”
“There’s got to be something better than that. Man-friend. Man-partner. Man-love.”
“You know, I’m going to stop you right there and suggest you get over the word boyfriend, because I’m not responding to any of those.”
“What am I supposed to call you then?”
“Well, I always liked it when you called me Nate.”
“That’s your name, silly.”
“It has a nice ring to it.”
“My Nate. I guess I’m okay with it. As long as you know you’re mine.”
His arms tightened around me. “You’re not going to give me up?”
“Not a chance. You didn’t leave when you had the chance. You’re stuck with me now.”
I could practically hear his grin from where I lay against his chest.
I didn’t know how long we stayed that way. We sat staring at the sun until it was only a glowing ridge.
“Riley.”
I turned to look at him.
“Nola’s getting married.”
I had to fight the urge to vomit. Nola was getting married. It had only been a matter of time. But this...this was no warning. I routinely checked up on her social media to find out what she was up to. There had been no warning of anything.
“Come to the wedding.”
“What?” I croaked.
“I want you to go to the wedding with me. They’re getting married soon.”
I shook my head and attempted to stand up. “Not a good idea.”
“It’s a good idea.”
“No. I just... I can’t, Nate. It’s too much. If they find out, they’ll—“
“If they find out, they’ll what? Be overjoyed? Smother you in hugs? Wonder where you’ve been for the last couple years? Yeah, that’s generally what family does.”
I stood up, brushing the grass from my legs. “No, Nate. I can’t. Nola would never forgive me. Your parents.”
I shook my head and marched back to the Jeep.
Nola was getting married. We’d promised each other that we would be there next to each other on our wedding days. And now she was getting married, and I wouldn’t have a part in it.
I climbed into the driver’s seat and started the car. The drive back down the mountain was especially tense. The silence felt heavy in the air—not like the comfortable silence we shared on the mountain top.
“You’re going to have to take a good long, hard look at yourself, Riley. Because I want to be your Nate. But I also want you to be my Riley. I don’t want to be your dirty little secret. And I know I can’t keep you a secret for long.”
With that, he climbed out of the car and shut the door.
And me? I laid my forehead against the steering wheel and cried.
Chapter SeventeenNate
I’d
