She raised a valid question. “You know Miss Kendra died. That makes stuff complicated.”
River looked unconcerned. “So are you going to ask Sloane?”
She was pushing, hard. He almost wondered if she had an agenda, but she looked sincere enough. “You don’t think it’s too soon?”
She shook her head. “Someone else might snap her up or she’ll see those girls sending you those dumb pictures and then it’s all over.”
Fair enough. “Got it.” He ran a hand over his sister’s damp hair. Man, he loved this kid. She was something special. “Now wash your hair for real this time.”
“Shampoo is bad for the environment.”
There it was. “So look up online how to get clean hair without ruining the watershed. And while you’re at it, look up summer camps for geniuses. I think you should go to camp next summer and meet kids who share your interests.”
“Will I have to play sports?”
“No. Not if you don’t want to. But you’ll meet smart kids.”
“Okay. I can go. But you owe me a favor then.”
This kid. “I don’t owe you squat.”
“I want a dog.”
Jesus. “We live in an apartment and there are a million dogs downstairs at Winnie’s. Sloane has a dog. You don’t need a dog right now.”
“Maybe we should move into a house.”
His heart squeezed. She wanted normal. River wanted a normal life. Just like he always had. Damn, he wanted to give that to her.
But all he said was, “You’re pushing your luck. I’ll think about a dog.”
What could he say? He was a sucker for girls and animals.
Thirteen
Sloane eyed Rick over the grill in the park three days later. “You don’t know what you’re doing, do you?”
They were across the street from their building, letting Kate romp around with River, while Rick was trying to con her into believing he knew how to use the park’s charcoal grill.
“You light the charcoal on fire and let them burn. It’s not that hard,” he scoffed. “I know what I’m doing.”
“Uh-huh.” She had a sneaking suspicion this was the first time he had grilled a damn thing. But she wasn’t going to push the issue. She was just happy he had invited her.
They weren’t exactly being secretive. Winnie was joining them in a few minutes as soon as she finished up at the salon, and her boyfriend Todd was en route as well. They looked like friends who all shared the same address getting together on a beautiful summer day.
Nothing unusual about that.
Except that her feelings for Rick were complicated.
Seriously complicated.
He was gorgeous, no doubt about it. She felt the sizzle between them every time she glanced over at him. He made her body hum, and he always gazed at her with total intensity. When he winked at her, she wanted to tear his clothes off and climb on him. He was wearing a form-fitting green Packers T-shirt and shorts and he looked comfortable. He wasn’t trying to be sexy, but there was no hiding those biceps and that broad chest. She wanted to grip his beard and kiss him, hard.
But their hookups were a secret and she was starting to hate that.
She didn’t even know if he was still talking to other women, or meeting up with them.
The thought irritated her. It was his right to do that, but she still hated the idea.