Great. Other people saw her tension too. “Nope.” He kept his expression neutral and his response quiet.
Riley met Zane’s gaze one last time before turning away, uncertainty and something else hiding in her blue eyes. She made a straight line for a spot in the pockets of people stacked against one of the theater walls. Tori straightened as they approached. Her long hair was piled on her head and her glasses pushed up her nose, and she looked as friendly as when Zane first met her two weeks ago, when she delivered Archer a themed dress she made for one of his customers.
Riley bounced up next to her. “I’m so glad I won’t be drooling over the sexy guys alone.”
Tori laughed. “I was worried you wouldn’t make it.”
“Wouldn’t have missed it.”
“For real,” Archer said to Zane. “What did you do? Sleep with her or something?”
Zane bit back his growl. “I didn’t do anything.”
Riley’s shoulders rose and fell when she sighed, and she turned back to face them.
“First of all”—she turned an icy stare on Archer—“none of your god damned business. Second, I’m standing right here. I can hear you.”
Archer at least had the grace to look sheepish. Tori refused to look at anyone. Zane wasn’t surprised there. She spent a lot of time with Archer, though Zane knew they weren’t dating, but she was the opposite of confrontational.
“I invited Mikki,” Archer said. “But she couldn’t make it.”
Talk about awkward ways to change the subject. “Why?” Zane hadn’t realized she was anything more to Archer than a customer.
Riley’s frown deepened. Was that even possible? “She’s the cutie with the short hair and barbell?”
“The one who worships Zane. Exactly.” Tori nodded.
“She... what?” Riley’s expression shifted to hurt and then a blank mask in a blink.
And reality crashed in around Zane. Jesus, he was dense. Archer was trying to hook him up. With someone who wasn’t Riley.
How did this all get so fucked up so fast? “It’s probably for the best. She seems nice enough, but no one wants to be the fifth wheel.”
Archer scowled.
Riley relaxed more than she had since they arrived, and the corner of her mouth tugged up.
He wanted to turn that into a full-blown smile. And do so much more. But that wasn’t his right. He really needed to wrap his brain around his own feelings.
* * * *
“BE RIGHT BACK.” TORI’Swhisper barely carried over the explosions on screen. They were in the center of the aisle, which meant Riley didn’t have to move, but everyone else down the aisle did.
Riley gave her a half nod. With Tori on one side and Archer on the other, she felt too far from Zane. Which was good—or was it bad—since she still regretted ending the earlier part of their night so abruptly. She was reading too much into things. The entire point of fooling around with Zane was to keep her from thinking she’d fallen for yet another guy.
She couldn’t believe how much it hurt though, when Archer implied Zane might hook up with Mikki. Riley felt like her heart had been squeezed into a tiny ball.
But to realize Zane hadn’t even seen it coming. To hear him brush the entire idea off... She’d been so relieved.
When someone dropped into the seat next to her, she glanced to see if it was Tori, or someone she should evict. When she saw Zane, her heart fluttered, and she turned her attention back to the screen. Despite her half-assed attempt to ignore him, the heat of his arm a few inches from hers and the familiar scent of his cologne made it difficult.
He set a box of Red Vines on her knee. His warm breath brushed her ear. “You should eat.”
“Thanks.” She kept her gaze forward, hating her body for reacting to the contact.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him intertwine his fingers in his lap and slump lower in the seat. She tapped her toes inside her shoes. She wouldn’t make a big deal out of his gesture, even though he had brought her favorite candy, and it was reminding her she’d skipped dinner.
She couldn’t help it. She tilted her head toward him and kept her voice low so she wouldn’t disrupt anyone else. “How did you get Tori to switch seats with you?”