The leather on the stool next to her creaked when Scott sat down. “So, this boyfriend of yours...”
Swell. Nine times out of ten, she adored Scott. Right then, she was so very not in the mood for his brand of...him. “He’s not my boyfriend.”
“Sorry.” He sounded anything but. “This guy you know. Zane, right?”
She glared at the countertop. “What about him?”
Scott grabbed a stack of name cards from the middle of the group, flipping through them, but not reordering them. “Kenzie says he was electronic surveillance in the Air Force for six years.”
God, this was so far from a conversation she wanted to have. “So?”
“Is he any good?”
Riley finally turned her attention to Scott, looking for any hint of what was going on. Scott’s expression was the same as always. Smiling, a little arrogant, unassuming.
“He’s the best,” she said. It didn’t matter what Zane thought of himself, his skills were top notch. “He’d probably hate me for telling you this”—if he doesn’t already—“but so many people already know, it’s not like it’s a big secret. Before he enlisted, he got really good at finding holes in company websites. He never did anything like on the scale of a chaos hacker, but he did manage to snag a couple of games before they were released. He’s only gotten better since.”
Scott’s expression flickered for a moment between surprised, pleased, and irritated before returning to normal. “Where’s he working now?”
She paused, not comfortable spilling that kind of information, and still having no idea why Scott cared. “He’s between contracts. Looking for a company that will challenge him and know how to utilize his skills. Things like that.”
“So he’s unemployed.”
Riley sighed. “Is this going somewhere?”
“You know one of the things I love about Kenzie?”
Riley was caught off guard by the rapid change in subject. Listening to her sister’s love-struck fiancé sing Kenzie’s praises wouldn’t help her mood. “She’s got a nice ass?”
“She’s not you.”
The three words hit Riley hard.
“I’m not done,” Scott said.
She nodded, not able to ignore the sting in her eyes.
“It’s what I adore about you too, baby sister. She’s a brilliant, organized mind, and you’re intelligent and creative, and anyone who thinks she should be more like you or you should be more like her is missing something significant.”
Her hurt vanished. She opened her mouth to thank him for the compliment, but he talked over her. “That includes you.”
“Hey. I’m back,” Kenzie said.
Scott was on his feet again in an instant. He wrapped an arm around Kenzie’s waist, dipped her, and swallowed her laugh with a deep kiss.
“What do you mean?” Riley asked, once her sister was upright again, trying to squelch the pang that wished she could have the easy fun and obvious affection they did.
Scott kissed her on the cheek. “Ask Zane. He knows.” With that, he was gone, vanished back into the living room or wherever he was hiding.
“What was that about?” Kenzie dropped back into her seat.
Riley shook her head. Scott was bizarrely cryptic sometimes, she suspected because he didn’t think the same way as most people, not as an attempt to be obtuse. Even if she couldn’t translate the conversation, it cemented for her the need to approach Zane at least one more time.
“Anyway...” Kenzie frowned when she saw a stack of name cards out of line, and squared them all up again before setting them back in their proper spot. “Whatever you decide about Zane, keep in mind that the rift is already there. It’s obvious. Repair it or lose him.”
Riley let the words roll around in her head. It sounded so simple.Repair it or lose him.If only it were that easy.