Page 76 of Hometown Halftime

The second Kate’s SUV pulls into Riley’s driveway, she and Brynn launch themselves out of the vehicle. I barely make it off the porch before Brynn wraps me in a hug.

“Oh my God,” she says against my shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” I wheeze.

Kate pulls me into another hug as soon as Brynn releases me, her expression softer but no less concerned.

“We came as fast as we could after your text. I’m so sorry about your apartment, Kinsey.”

The knot sitting in my stomach loosens a little with the concern in their voices. Last night happened so fast that I never really had time to stop and process how scary it actually was. I’d mostly just gone into survival mode while Riley took control of the situation.

“I’m okay,” I reassure them as we head down the driveway. “It was just…a lot.”

Brynn looks toward the duplex behind me. “And now you’re living with Riley?”

“Temporarily,” I stress while climbing into the back seat, wedging myself between car seats.

Kate catches my gaze in the rearview mirror as she starts the car. “That was a very defensive use of the word temporarily.”

“I’m serious.”

“Mhm,” Brynn hums from the passenger seat. “And yet your face is pink.”

I hate my traitorous skin. Kate has a victorious grin plastered on her face as I glare at her from the back seat.

The drive to FallMart takes less than ten minutes, but in that short amount of time I end up giving them a full recount of the previous night. When the whole story is out, Brynn is clutching her chest while Kate grips the steering wheel with narrowed eyes.

“Okay,” Kate says slowly as she pulls into the FallMart parking lot. “Hold on.”

She parks the SUV and turns fully to me in the back seat.

“Why exactly was Riley at your apartment on a Saturday night?”

Damn it.

Brynn’s eyes widen. “Oh, my God.”

I suddenly become very interested in the parking lot around us.

“Kinsey,” Brynn says carefully. “Were you two going on a date?”

“Mayybbbeeeee,” I draw out.

The silence inside the SUV is deafening. Then both of them scream.

“You were about to go on a date with Riley?” Brynn nearly shrieks.

I throw my hands over my face. “Can we lower the volume before the entire town hears you?”

Kate’s jaw drops. “And you didn’t tell us? What else have you been keeping from us?”

“He hadn’t even taken me to dinner before my ceiling tried to kill us,” I argue while we climb out of the SUV. “Don’t get too excited; I agreed to one dinner. It wasn’t a big production.”

Brynn grabs my arm while we cross the parking lot. “Kinsey Malone, you cannot casually drop information like that and expect us to remain calm.”

I groan loudly as the automatic doors slide open in front of us and we walk inside the store. “I didn’t know how to bring it up!”

Kate grabs a shopping cart while looking entirely too delighted by my suffering. “Start from the beginning.”