Madly

Chapter Six

She playfully slapped his shoulder. “Not allowed.”

He stood. “You’re so badass, you just broke your own rule. I take back what I said. I think it’s you we need to worry about breaking all those rules, not me. You want some coffee?”

“Please. And for the record I didn’t break anything.”

“Did too,” Wes said, depositing a one-cup coffee into the brewer. “Rowyn Badass Riley. Has a ring to it, don’t you think?”

“If it were true.” She was suddenly beside him. “But I didn’t break any rules.” 

He pointed to his arm. “You touched me just now. You got all hands on. Isn’t that number four? No touching permitted. Violators will be prosecuted.”

She pressed her lips together in a straight line. 

“Uh huh,” he continued, teasingly. “That’s what I thought. You have nothing to say to that, do you?”

“You’re right.” She sighed, defeated. “I broke it.”

“Could you say that again?” he handed her the coffee, pushing a sugar dish toward her. “Cream is in the fridge.”

“I broke my own rule.”

Wes grinned at her. “The other part.”

“What other part?”

“The part about me being right.” 

“You’re right, Wes.” She didn’t add any sugar or cream to her coffee before sticking her tongue out at him and spinning on her heels to head back to the table.

He finished making his own coffee and was about to warn her not to use her tongue as a weapon but the door swung open and Keaton entered, his fingers entwined with a redhead’s. The girl wore skinny jeans and Chuck Taylors and had her head down like she was studying the stitching on them closely. Keaton’s gaze darted from Wes to Rowyn before he half-turned his body. “That’s my brother Wes, and—” he paused, waiting for Wes to fill in the blank.

“Rowyn,” he volunteered. “This is my friend Rowyn.” He made sure to emphasize the word ‘friend’ for her benefit.

Keaton turned toward her. “I’m Keaton and this is Sophie.”

Wes took his coffee and settled back at the table while Keaton dropped Sophie’s hand long enough to pull a chair out for her. She was about to sit when Sampson came tearing from the back of the loft, his tail flying side to side like a propeller.

Sophie’s eyes lit up, animating her whole face. When she wasn’t examining her shoes, she was cute as hell. No doubt Keaton was taken with her. “You have a dog!”

“He’s actually the fourth member of Emblem3,” Wes said.  “His name is Sampson.”

“He’s so cute,” she gushed, kneeling down to scratch him. Sampson shamelessly fell to his side, displaying his belly for affection.

“I have a cat too,” Keaton said, “but he’s probably bird watching.” Rather than sit down, he came around to where Rowyn was and settled a hand on her arm. “It’s nice to see you smiling.”

She sank lower in her seat. “Thanks. I’m really sorry about yesterday.”

Before Keaton could answer, Wes’s foot shot out and tapped the leg of her chair. “Hey,” he said, “Here’s my rule number one. Don’t apologize to anyone for the way you feel.” 

She ignored him and began to scratch at a non-existent mark on the table.

It might have been awkward if Keaton weren’t there to fill the silence. “I came to get your wetsuit and your surfboard.”