Know Me Well (Wishful 3)

Riley shot a look around Speakeasy, but nobody in the pizzeria was listening to their conversation over the currently heinous rendition of “The Boys Are Back In Town” screeching out of the karaoke speakers. “I’m not giving you the down and dirty on our love life.”

Clapping her hands together, Autumn brightened with interest. “Ooo, so there’s dirty? You naughty girl. Dish.”

“Not. Happening.”

“Oh, come on! You owe me for playing chauffeur to your mom. We are not going to talk about how long it’s been for me. Take pity. I need a tale of a good pounding against the wall or the front door because you couldn’t wait to make it to the bedroom.” Autumn tipped back her glass and drank deep.

Riley lifted a brow. “Have a thing for wall sex, do we?”

“You have no idea. Smutty books and toys can only do so much. I have needs.” She tried to make a joke of it, but an innate sadness lurked behind the lust, and the sight of it broke Riley’s heart. Autumn polished off her wine. “But we are not here to talk about me and my non-existent love life. We’re talking about you and Mr. I’m Too Sexy For My Toolbelt.”

Not knowing how to comfort her friend, Riley let the subject drop as their pizza arrived. In silence, they slid steaming slices of the New York-style pie onto their plates.

“We haven’t had time to get around to my toolbelt fantasy. While I’ve been up to my eyeballs in presentation stuff, he’s been working his very fine butt off on the repairs at the shop. He’ll be starting on the floors tomorrow, so the end is actually nigh. Thank God.”

“Hooray for that.” Autumn bit into her pizza, chewed. “I guess you’re waiting until all the repairs are done before he formally moves in.”

Riley stopped with a slice of pizza halfway to her mouth. “Moves in?”

“Yeah, you’re right. There’s not a lot of room at your place. It’d be better for y’all to find a place together, though I’ll miss having you next door. Meanwhile, have you cleared out closet space for him yet?”

“Closet space?”

“Do you need to clean your ears out? You keep repeating me.”

“Because you’re totally fast forwarding our relationship. We haven’t talked about living together. Nobody’s moving. In or out.”

“Why not? If he’s staying over every night anyway, it seems more expedient than having him live out of a bag.”

“We’re just getting started, Autumn. Just dating.”

“Baby, you and Liam aren’t just anything. That complicated history of yours means you bypassed all that. You may not have talked about it yet, but you’ve totally fallen into some level of domestic bliss, and I think it’s adorable.”

“We’re not living together.” They couldn’t be. Not after so short a time.

“Are his toothbrush and razor on the bathroom counter?”

“Well, yeah. He used them this morning.”

“Do you keep his favorite snacks and beer on hand?”

“Yes, but I also keep yours and you don’t live with me. It’s called being a good hostess.”

“Point taken, but the emergency chocolate stash doesn’t count. Does he have his own key?”

“Yeah, but so do you.”

“I don’t use it when you’re not there unless you need me to do something or I need to raid said emergency chocolate stash. Did he clear it with you before heading off to poker night with the boys tonight?”

Riley frowned. “He didn’t ask my permission. He doesn’t need to. He just let me know because it was the polite thing to do.”

“Because the expectation has become that he’ll be spending the night with you.”

She resisted the urge to hunch her shoulders. “We’ve just been spending all our free time together now that we’ve got some privacy.”

Autumn gestured with a garlic knot. “Which is totally code for burning up the sheets.”

“Oh for heaven’s sake, we don’t spend all our time in bed.”