The Beauty of Us (Fusion #4)

Keep saying stuff like this, and I’ll just keep falling right in love with you.

“You’re good at words.” I steal a gummy bear off the top of his yogurt and pop it in my mouth. “Did you take a class in college for speaking to girls?”

“No.” He takes a strawberry from my dish and eats it. “I just think it’s important to be honest and nice to the person you care about.”

“Was that missing from your previous relationship?” I immediately regret asking the question. I really don’t want to know too much about his marriage because every time I think about him being married to someone else, I get jealous.

Which is dumb because he didn’t even know I existed when he married her.

And I didn’t know he existed, which feels weird because it seems that I’ve known him forever.

“Sometimes,” he says. “We weren’t unkind to each other, but we didn’t give each other what we needed either.”

“What did you need?” I forget about my yogurt now, leaning in to hear him better.

He’s quiet for a long minute, his eyes on his dish as he moves his spoon around in the yogurt, and finally he looks up at me with sad eyes. “I guess I just needed to be seen. To be respected, even when my interests were different from hers.”

I nod slowly. “I can see that. I’m not trying to compare myself to her in any way—”

“You can’t,” he says, “you’re nothing like her.”

“Good. But I enjoy watching you game, or listening to you when you talk about it. I don’t understand most of it, but it’s fun to watch your eyes light up in excitement when you talk about it.”

“I probably talk about it too much,” he says with a sheepish smile. I reach over and take his hand in mine, giving it a squeeze.

“No, you don’t. I may not play, but I want to hear your thoughts. It’s fun.”

He kisses my hand twice.

“You’re a special woman, Riley.”

“I’m glad you think so, but I think I’m just a decent human being who finally found another decent human being.”

“And I’m happy that you found me,” he says. “What do you want to do with the rest of our day?”

“As long as I’m with you, I don’t care.”

He stands and throws our empty bowls away, then holds his hand out for mine.

“Okay; well then, let’s get started on it.”





Chapter Fourteen





Trevor


Spending the past week with Riley has been unlike anything else I’ve ever known. We’re just so easy together. If I need to be quiet, she’s quiet too. Being in her company never gets old.

We’re both on her couch the following Thursday evening. I’m playing on the Xbox with Scott and she’s curled up beside me, reading.

“So what was up with Angie not showing up last night?” Scott asks.

I glance at Riley and kiss the crown of her head.

“Angie has decided to stir up some trouble,” I reply, not uncomfortable in the least to talk about it in front of Riley, who glances up at me with a raised brow. “Scott’s wondering why she wasn’t in our group last night.”

“What’s going on?” he asks as we both kill zombies.

“Apparently, she’s decided that she and I are a couple, and she warned Riley that I’m also unstable and am capable of hurting her.”

“Hurting Angie?”

“No, hurting Riley.”

“So, basically she’s crazy,” he says, and then curses when the zombies kill him. I run over to revive him.

“Crazy bitch,” Riley mutters, making me grin. I like that she’s a bit jealous. If she wasn’t, she wouldn’t be invested in this relationship.

And I’m pretty fucking invested.

“Why didn’t you say something?” Scott asks.

“I didn’t play with you guys last week.”

“This happened before last week?” he demands, sounding more than a little indignant.

“I’m just not sure how I’m going to handle it. I mean, I don’t have a problem not speaking to her, but we’re a group, and I need to talk to all of you about it.”

“Seriously, I don’t think the other guys would have an issue if you suggested we didn’t play with her anymore. That shit’s not okay. It’s not like you’ve ever dated her, or fucked her, or whatever.”

“Angie’s flaky,” I reply. “She goes through men like underwear. If that’s even true.”

“I was just going to say that,” Scott agrees. “Who knows how much of what she says is true? And frankly, I don’t give a shit.”

“You know,” Riley says, laying her hand on my thigh, “I don’t really care if you play with her in the group. I would just hope that you don’t play with her alone.”

I smile down at this amazing woman, not even caring that a zombie just killed me. She’s so fucking sweet.

“I don’t think you should do either one,” Scott says, clearly able to hear Riley.

“I don’t either,” I reply. “I don’t appreciate her trying to fuck with my girl. She’s a liar and a pot stirrer, and that just pisses me off.”

“I get it,” Scott says. “If she’d tried that shit with my wife, Wendy would have kicked her ass.”

“I’m quite sure that Riley also wanted to kick Angie’s ass.”

“It could still happen,” Riley whispers, making me grin.

“I love it when she gets a bit violent,” I say to Scott, who chuckles.

“Are things going well, man?” he asks.

“Never better,” I reply honestly. “I can’t believe this week is almost over.”

Riley keeps her head down, eyes pinned to her book, but I see her fingers turn white as she grips her iPad more tightly at my words.

I kiss her head again.

“I thought you were coming home today,” he says.

“I extended the trip until Sunday afternoon. I have to be in the office Monday morning.”

“We should go get a beer after you get back,” Scott replies.

“Sure.” We’re quiet for a few minutes as the game intensifies and we concentrate on killing the enemy.

“This game is pretty violent,” Riley says.

“Yeah, we have the gore turned up on high,” I reply. “What’s the point otherwise?”

“I’m not judging,” she says, holding her hands up. “Just an observation.”

“Does it bother you?”

“No, it’s fascinating,” she says. “I’ve watched you play this more than I’ve read this book. Maybe that means this book isn’t so great.”

“Or you’re just enamored with me, and can’t concentrate on anything else.”

“It’s too bad you don’t have an ego,” she says, and rolls her eyes. Scott laughs in my ear.

“She’s funny. So what are you going to do about Angie?”

“I’ll talk to the other guys next week, just to give them a heads-up, and then I’ll probably send her a message and tell her to back off.”

“Has she sent more messages lately?”

“Not to me.” I frown and glance at Riley. “Has Angie sent you any more messages?”

“Just one,” she says, and shrugs one shoulder as if it’s no big deal.

“What? When? What did she say?”

“She sent it a couple days ago. Just said, ‘I haven’t heard from you, and want to make sure you received my message.’”

“Did you reply?”

“Fuck no,” Riley says with a scoff. “I don’t know her, and I know you’ll handle it.”

“Good.”

“And if you don’t handle it,” she continues, “I’ll tell her to go fuck herself.”