Shadows Rising (Darkness Falls Book 2)

Chapter Eight

Riley sprang away from Ethan, her cheeks flaming as red as her hair.

I gaped at them, stunned in silence. Riley and Ethan? Riley and Ethan? That's who Riley's mystery guy was?

Riley smoothed her hair, not meeting my eyes. Ethan stood awkwardly next to her, his shoulders stiff, expression neutral.

"I..." That was all I could muster.

"This isn't how I wanted you to find out," Riley blurted out, wringing her hands together. "I would have told you, I just..." The anxiety on her face bordered on fear, like she thought I was going to be mad at her.

I held up both hands. "Riley, it's okay."

"But..." She glanced up at Ethan.

"It's okay," I repeated.

Ethan and I weren't related by blood, but we'd lived under the same roof long enough that he was practically my brother. Even so, that didn't give me any right to know what went on in his love life. Maybe it was the stunned look on my face that had Riley so worried. It could easily be misconstrued as anger. Hastily I rearranged my expression.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked.

Riley's blush had receded, but now it snuck back in, turning her cheeks bright pink. "I didn't know if you'd understand."

Riley was my best friend. The fact that she thought I wouldn't understand something like this both surprised and stung me. My feelings must have shown on my face because Riley suddenly rushed forward and grabbed my hand.

"Omigod, I didn't mean it like that." Distress widened her eyes. "It's just - you know what I'm like with boys. I never keep them around for long and I..." She glanced back at Ethan and a smile curled her lips. "I didn't want you to think Ethan was just the latest conquest. I know how important he is to you, and I didn't want you thinking that I might hurt him."

"It wasn't just Riley's idea. I said we should keep quiet about it too," Ethan chimed in. He reached out and took Riley's hand, his thumb stroking tiny circles on her skin.

Fresh surprise hit me and I had to fight to keep it from showing on my face. I'd guessed that Riley's new guy meant more to her than any of the others, but I still had trouble connecting that to Ethan. He and Riley were very different people, and neither of them had displayed any interest in each other before. Except they obviously had. As far as I knew, Riley had been seeing her mystery guy for three weeks. This relationship had been going on for nearly a month and I'd been none the wiser. Suddenly I felt rather stupid.

"It happened when you guys were hiding out with me, back when Caleb was hunting you," Riley explained. "The first kiss just sort of happened and things snowballed from there. We really were going to tell you." She looked up at Ethan, standing head and shoulders above her. "When we were ready."

They both looked at me, waiting for my reaction. I stared back at them, my best friend and the closest thing I had to a sibling, and a huge grin broke across my face. I'd seen Riley flit through crushes like they were going out of fashion, but I'd never seen her look at anyone the way she was looking at Ethan right now. And Ethan - he'd never even had a girlfriend that I knew of. Briefly it made me wonder just how much he'd been under Noah's yoke while he was a part of the team. I'd been told I couldn't date, but I hadn't really considered that the same rules had probably been imposed on Ethan.

"I'm happy for you both," I said. "Really, I am."

Riley squealed and hugged me, her red-and-purple hair tickling the side of my face. Ethan smiled at her, his face softening in a way that I'd never seen before.