Dating the Guy Upstairs

by Amanda Ashby

  “Nope.” Will shook his head. He slid the oversized battery out of the phone to show that the name Evan Henderson was engraved on the back. “It once belonged to my father. I found it in the trash when I was a kid. He’d bought a new model and hadn’t thought twice about throwing this one out. And even before I knew about E-waste, I figured that something was up with that. So I took it out, just like I did for the next ten models he went through, not to mention all of his old computers and printers. Because while he couldn’t see the value left in them, or how toxic they can be to the environment, I could. And I still can. Plus”—Will leaned forward to emphasize the point, making sure to keep eye contact—“here’s the real deal. By starting up this company to dispose of this technology properly, you’ll also be helping keep families and communities together, and you strike me as a guy who is interested in that.”

  “I see.” Geoff Tait rubbed his chin before shrugging. “Okay, sure. Why not? Call my office and tell my secretary that she can give you ten minutes.”

  “Seriously?” Will said, some of the tension that had been building in his shoulders leaving.

  “Yes. Seriously. But on one condition. I can keep this cell phone, right?”

  “Absolutely.” Will slid it over and watched as Geoff casually pocketed it, threw down some money on the table to pay for his breakfast and then wandered out of the diner whistling.

  Will leaned back in the booth and let out his breath. He knew it was a risk cornering Geoff Tait like that, and that it could’ve backfired badly. But it hadn’t. It had worked.

  He still hadn’t gotten his funding, but at least he was one step closer. He pulled out his own cell phone and called Josh to give him an update.

  “Are you serious? You got a meeting with him?” Josh said from down the other end, sounding groggy. Will must have woken him up. “How the hell did you manage that? From everything I’ve heard the guy is a bit loopy, and definitely not fond of talking to people.”

  “I just did what needed to be done,” Will told him. “We both know how good this startup is. There’s no way I’m not going to do what it takes to get the funding.”

  “Well, it was a ballsy move, and why I needed you on board,” Josh said, stifling a yawn. “And by the way, I had a phone call from Fiona saying how grateful she was for your business and that you and Riley were the cutest couple in the world. I didn’t even realize you were dating anyone.”

  Because I’m not. Well, not really.

  “It’s a long story,” Will said instead as he got to his feet and left the diner. He’d come on foot, so he started to walk along the busy road that was flanked by cheap-looking stores. A truck slammed on its brakes and somewhere else a dog barked. Thankfully Josh wasn’t one of life’s great talkers and he seemed to accept that as a suitable answer.

  “Okay, well call me when you’ve had the meeting. And seriously, great work, Will. Really great.”

  “Thanks.” Will finished the call and continued to walk. He was pleased Josh was so happy. After all, it had originally been his brainchild. But why didn’t Will feel like he’d achieved anything?

  Because he was an ass, that was why.

  He groaned, speeding up. He’d spent the last day trying not to think about Saturday’s wedding. Research on Tait had been an excellent distraction, but now, with that done, there was nothing to keep his mind moving. As he unlocked his front door and walked into the unfurnished apartment, memories hit.

  Of course he’d known it would be bad. After all, his father and Lisa would be there, along with half of the Seattle scene that he’d done his best to ignore for the last three years. But what he hadn’t expected was to get into an argument with Riley.

  Especially over money.

  How had that even happened? They never argued. Not even over the last piece of pizza. In the past they’d always just bent and twisted to fit in and out of each other’s lives. It had been so easy. So comfortable. Which was probably how they’d ended up becoming such good friends.

  He shook his arms out to try and get rid of the excess energy that was building up inside him. But it was no good. The familiar gnawing sense of frustration that overtook him whenever he thought about his family continued to throb in his temples. Which was why he much preferred his life in Indonesia, or other places where he was busy doing work that mattered, away from questions and thoughts about things that he didn’t want to think about it.

  Life was much simpler when he could just shut down. Channel any emotion into practical work.

  But as he recalled the red flush that had spread across Riley’s face and the hurt in her dark eyes after he’d refused to listen to her, he knew that he had to think about it whether he wanted to or not. Because otherwise she’d keep feeling like she’d done something wrong when it wasn’t about her, it was about him. And his son-of-a-bitch father.

  Anger seemed to echo in the air all around him. He knew that unless he talked to Riley and apologized, it would only get worse. He probably should’ve done it at the wedding, but he’d still been so furious with his father that he’d refused any attempts she made to discuss it.

  Instead he’d talked to relatives who he hadn’t seen for years and even managed to pretend that he gave a crap. At least Tucker had been happy. When his brother had taken his bride off on their honeymoon to Italy, Will had felt a small slither of relief that at least two people at the wedding had enjoyed it. Then yesterday, he’d done what he always did when he was annoyed. He’d jogged until the excess energy had been transformed into sweat, and then he’d thrown himself into work. But it didn’t help. For once his problem-solving mind seemed to be failing him.

  He stopped pacing and stared at one of the stupid plants Riley had dumped on him. The tips of the leaves had lost some of the glossy green radiance that they’d acquired under Riley’s care and had now turned faded and brown. Because she had the magic touch and he didn’t. He marched to the kitchen and splashed some water into the closest glass he could find before pouring it onto the parched soil.

  Was that what Riley did for him? Try and turn his dried-out grumpy soil into something more personable? Probably. And how did he repay her? By making her feel like she was the worst person on earth.

  Like he said, he was an ass.

  Without another thought he grabbed his keys and made his way downstairs. If he didn’t get out, he would go stir-crazy. The September weather was warm and he randomly began to jog, letting the strains and annoyances pound into the pavement. But it wasn’t until he came to a halt that he realized he was standing in front of the library.

  He groaned.

  His subconscious might be telling him to go and talk to her, but that was obviously because his subconscious couldn’t feel the light layer of sweat around his collar. He hadn’t felt this nervous in ages. However, he also knew that unless he wanted the day to replicate all nine circles of Dante’s Inferno, he needed to see his best friend and grovel at her feet.

  He took a deep breath and walked inside to the counter, where Italy was standing. At the sight of him she folded her arms and arched an eyebrow. Will flushed, unsure of what Riley had told her friend about Saturday. Somehow he doubted he had a heroic role.

  “Ah, Mr. Henderson. So nice of you to show up.”

  “Is she mad?”

  “Hmmm, mad that you dragged her to a pretentious wedding and then deserted her for half the night while she got accosted by your ex-fiancée? Why would she be mad about that?” Italy pondered before relenting. “Don’t look so alarmed, those were my words, not hers. But, if you want my advice, start remembering that she’s your friend, not your doormat, okay?”

  “Trust me, preaching to the choir.” Will held up his hands in surrender. “No one feels worse than I do, which is why I’m here to apologize.”

  More so now that he knew Lisa had spoken to Riley. He couldn’t imagine his ex had anything good to say
about him.

  “As long as your apology includes some groveling and chocolate cake, that will be a start.” Italy unfolded her arms but she kept her glare, clearly letting Will know that she was watching Riley’s back. None of which improved his mood, since in the past he’d always been the one to have Riley’s best interests at heart, and how here he was being the one she needed defending against. “By the way, she’s over in one of the conference rooms with her book club. Just follow the sound of kids.”

  “Oh.” Will paused. He would have preferred to wait until the session was finished, but the look on Italy’s face suggested that any apology should be delivered immediately. He sighed. Book club it is.

  He followed Italy’s directions until he came to a series of rooms built along the far wall of the library. Through the long glass window he could clearly see Riley sitting in a chair surrounded by a group of teenage kids tearing open the Blind Date books that she’d so lovingly wrapped.

  Her red hair was back to being tied in two hasty braids, while the green dress had been replaced by her standard fare of jeans and a T-shirt. However, now, like a ghost of a memory, he could clearly see the outline of rounded breasts and small waist despite the non-descript clothing. His skin prickled, but he did his best to ignore it as he knocked on the door, not sure of what kind of welcome he would get.

  “Will.” She looked up, her face flushed, as all of the kids turned around to stare at him. “W-what are you doing here?”

  I’ve come to tell you that I’m a stupid idiot who doesn’t know how to treat his friends.

  “I was hoping I could talk to you. Then when Italy said you had your book club I thought I should wait, but she—”

  “Made you come up here anyway,” Riley finished with just a hint of a smile. “Yeah, that sounds about right. You might as well sit down. We’re just discussing what books everyone got.”

  “Yeah,” a girl with short dark hair and freckles chimed up. “Riley said that if I don’t like reading Pride and Prejudice then she’ll eat her hat.”

  “She said exactly the same thing to me. And despite how much I wanted to see some hat eating, I had to admit that I loved it,” Will admitted.

  “You read a girl book?’ A second boy raised an eyebrow as he held up his own book, which appeared to be Harry Potter.

  “Yes I did. And even though I thought my brain might explode, it was actually fine,” Will said. He was rewarded by a grateful smile from Riley. His mood improved as he was bombarded with questions about what other books Riley had made him read. Since it had included everything from A Tale of Two Cities to Anne of Green Gables, the group was soon in fits of laughter.

  “Okay, that’s enough,” Riley finally cut in, her cheeks brightening, when one of the kids asked him if they were dating. “There’s only five minutes left, so why don’t we just pack up and finish early?”

  “Wait, why doesn’t Will have to get a Blind Date book?” another boy called out as he got to his feet and lifted up the box of books that hadn’t been opened. “You said that everyone here had to get a book and read it.”

  “Will’s a friend of mine, he’s not here for book club,” Riley tried to explain, but she was shouted down by an excitable girl who joined the other boy at the box of books.

  “You said that reading makes you smart, which means that if Will wants to be smart, then he needs to take a book.”

  “Kira, I’m sure Will has enough of his own books to read,” Riley tried again. “Plus he’s only back in town for another two weeks.”

  “Which is plenty of time to read a book. And since I’ve been incredibly dumb lately, I could do with some extra smarts.” That got a loud cheer as Kira held up the box of books. Riley gave him an apologetic grimace, but Will smiled. Considering how badly the weekend had gone, it was nice just spending time with Riley’s kids without having to think about his father or business. He reached into the box and pulled the first book out.

  “Open it,” the other kids chanted as his pocketknife sliced through the old sheet music that Riley had used as wrapping. A brooding man stared at him, accompanied by a pouty girl hanging off his arm and the title, My Darkest Vampire, plastered across the front of the book.

  The entire group burst out laughing and Will resisted the urge to groan as he studied the back copy. Her one true love was immortal and a born killer, but he filled her soul with fire like no one ever had. Oh jeez. If the universe was looking for a way to punish his behavior on Saturday, it had done a good job.

  “I love that book so much,” Kira squealed. “It’s about this girl named Stella who falls for a vampire, but he’s got this—”

  “Dude, spoiler alert,” someone else cried out. “Riley said that first rule of book club is to make sure we don’t ruin it for other people, isn’t that right?”

  “Definitely.” Riley got to her feet and began to usher them all out of the conference room. “And now it really is time for you to all go home. But don’t forget that next week we’ll be discussing what we think of our books, so make sure you at least read three chapters. Deal?”

  “Deal,” they all chorused as they made their way out, laughing and chatting as they went. Once they were finally gone Riley wrinkled her nose.

  “Please don’t feel you need to read the book.”

  “What, and miss out on Stella’s epic adventure with a mysterious vampire?” Will quipped. He picked wrapping paper up off the ground. “That’s a great bunch of kids.”

  “Yeah, they are.” Riley paused, her brown eyes shining. “When they first started coming from the community center, some of them had never even read a book, and now they’re devouring them. It’s really wonderful to see.”

  “And it’s all your doing. You should be proud of yourself.”

  “I don’t know about that. They just never had an opportunity before and now they do.” Riley shrugged as she sat down at the table and studied his face. “And I’m pleased you’re here. I want to apologize about Saturday. I had no right to assume that you still had feelings for Lisa or to suggest that you consider your dad’s offer.”

  “I should be the one apologizing—I had no right to act like such a jerk. Italy told me that Lisa spoke to you at the wedding. I’m sorry that I put you in that position. What did she say to you?”

  “Nothing really. She was kind of drunk so I didn’t pay her much attention.”

  “Still, it can’t have been pleasant,” Will said as he ran a hand through his hair and began to pace the room. When he realized that they were being watched by Riley’s colleagues, he stopped. “Is there anywhere more private that we can go?”

  “Gloria’s off today so we could probably go downstairs to the old stacks,” she said, nodding for him to follow. He waited as she dug out a set of keys and twisted them into the keyhole on the elevator to take them to a lower level, one that was restricted to the public. It was dark and the lights flickered when she hit the switch to reveal row after row of dog-eared books and newspapers.

  “Why do I feel like some ghost of libraries past is going to jump out at me?” Will looked around at the shelves of forgotten books.

  “Some of the staff get a bit spooked down here, but I kind of like it.” Riley walked over to a reading table and nodded for him to sit down. “So, what’s going on?”

  “Apart from the fact that I’m an idiot?” Will said as he joined her. Unlike Saturday there was no perfume to intoxicate his senses, it was just Riley in all her Riley-ness. He found himself leaning toward her so that their shoulders grazed. A reluctant smile tugged at her lips as she nudged him back and a warm sensation spread through him, reminding him of how much he’d missed her.

  He dropped his head into his hands and sighed. He hated speaking about his past, but as he looked at the stacks around them, piled high with words and stories that librarians had carefully hidden away from sight, it occurred to him that just because
he didn’t speak about his past didn’t mean it didn’t exist.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t come to see you yesterday. I spent the day researching the elusive Geoff Tait. The good news is that he’s let me schedule a meeting.”

  “That’s great.” Her face lit up and she twisted, as if she was going to hug him, before suddenly thinking better of it. Will flinched. After the way he’d behaved at the wedding, he didn’t deserve Riley to be so supportive.

  “Yeah, but that’s not what I’m here about. I just wanted to say. Hell—” He paused as a wave of shame rushed through him. “I’m so sorry that I flipped out at you. I just get near my father and see red. I’m ashamed.”

  “There’s nothing to apologize for. I was way out of line. I guess I was just so caught up in how much good you could’ve done with that money that I almost thought that the ends justified the means. No wonder you were so pissed at me.” Riley dropped her head and studied her fingers, which were so close to his that if he wanted he could’ve reached out and touched them. It was hard work resisting the urge.

  “I was never pissed at you. Far from it.” He sucked in some air and kept his gaze straight ahead. He could do this. He had to do this. “Okay, here’s the thing. My mom was like you once, so when you started speaking like that, it freaked me out.”

  She caught her breath. “Your mom? Y-you never talk about her.”

  The air thrummed and Will’s ears buzzed.

  All he wanted to do was get up and run back to Indonesia, back to his life that made sense. If it was anyone else he would’ve. But he and Riley were friends, and while their relationship might be fake, their friendship was real. And he could risk ruining that friendship if he didn’t try to explain why he’d acted like he had. Why he’d shut down on her.

  “She died when I was fifteen. She’d been drinking and lost control of her car. My father acted like it was her fault and that it was some huge inconvenience for him. Like she was some work problem that once it was dealt with could be forgotten about for good.”