My Last(53)

“I don’t think so. In fact, now that you’ve asked me, I’m not sure if he did kiss me back. I think that he likes me just fine. You know...as a person. And he might be attracted to me on some level,” she wasn’t going to say that she had seen and felt physical proof that that was in fact the case – some things she wanted to keep private, “but I think to him I will always be Eddie’s baby sister.”

“Well, hmm. Maybe you need to show him that baby sister is all grown up.”

“It sounds so lascivious when you say it.” Chelle said.

Katie laughed, “What can I say, it’s a gift.”

Chelle was so happy to be back in touch with her diamond friend. She had missed her so much over the years. And even if there wasn’t a solution to the situation, it felt good to talk about it with Katie.

“So how’s married life? Are you guy’s sick of each other yet?” Chelle asked, knowing full well that Katie and Jason were madly in love and would not be getting tired of each other for as long as they lived.

Katie sighed a happy sigh. She said dreamily, “Married life is amazing! I honestly never knew life could be this good. I have never been happier, and I think Jas feels the same, and that makes me even happier.”

“Oh, I know Jas feels the same. He’s been in love with you forever.”

“Yeah and I think I always loved him too. It just took me longer to realize it. Hey!” Katie’s voice raised in excitement. “Maybe that’s the same with you and Riley, only you are like Jason and I am like Riley! Maybe Riley loves you too, he just has to figure it out! Why else would he still be there when he was supposed to fly home three days ago?”

Chelle didn’t want to put the kibosh on Katie’s enthusiasm. Katie did LOVE to try and play Colombo, and normally no one could refute her deductive abilities. Still, Chelle was fairly certain that his continued stay did not mean anything nearly as significant as Katie was trying to say it did.

“No, I wish,” Chelle responded wryly, “If only my life were like a romantic comedy. That would be awesome. But, in reality, I'm pretty sure he’s just sticking around because he wants to see the city, and because he's enjoying the fact that – for the first time in over a decade – he has nowhere that the government has said he has to be.”

She heard the door shut and looked over her shoulder to see Riley. He had just come in and was holding her favorite movie, Good Will Hunting, in his hand.

If Chelle had been on the fence about what she felt about whether or not she was completely in love with him, the fact that he remembered her favorite movie after all these years would have pushed her over to the ‘definitely-yes-madly-in-love’ side.

But she did know that she was in love with him. She didn't need a movie to tell her that. She just didn’t know what she was going to do about it.



--- ~ ---



Even if Riley hadn’t been confused before he had gone out to get the movie, he certainly would be now, after overhearing Chelle’s phone call. He was glad that he had chosen a movie that he had seen several times before. That way, he could use the time that the movie was playing to try and figure out what he was going to do about the conversation Chelle had with Katie.

He had chosen the movie because he remembered how many times he and Eddie would come home to find Chelle watching it. She loved it, to the point that she knew every line by heart.

When he had stood at the video store, looking through the selections, he wasn’t sure what she would be in the mood for. He wanted to pick something he was sure she would enjoy. From the look on her face when he had finally shut the door loudly enough that it would alert her to his presence, he had definitely made the right choice.

And now, as he watched Matt Damon’s character Will grapple with some of the same issues that he himself was struggling with, he thought the choice was even more apropos. It made him feel better in a certain way. Hell, apparently even geniuses were idiots when it came to women. He was in good company.

He had overheard Chelle say that she loved him. That she had always loved him. That no one else even ran a close second.

Shit.

And this was coming from a girl that had been engaged not even two weeks ago. Hell, she hadn’t even taken off her engagement ring till that night!

So what did that mean? Sure, he had always known that she had a crush on him. But he had always chalked that up to puppy love. Not the real thing. She knew him too well to really love him.

And, yes, he had definitely felt the sparks flying between them since he had shown up a few nights ago. But, again...he had just put that firmly in the category of hormones. They were both good looking, single, consenting adults. It made sense that they would be attracted to each other.