A/N: Somehow I found time and motivation to write. I don't know where it came from, so consider it your lucky day!
"So, how has your season been lately?" Riley asked.
Lucas smiled as he wiped the sweat away from his brow that had formed thanks to the early July heat. "Oh, you know. Same ol' same ol', same stuff that I told you last time you called. Just doing the best I can, and trying to keep Zay in line," he explained, the last comment making Riley quietly guffaw. "Haven't had much time to do anything else but that, but that's okay. I don't mind it. I should be getting some time off here soon, though. How about you? How's the job going?"
"Oh, it's going great! Just got back from a trip to Pittsburgh, which was amazing. I'm actually heading to Central New York here in a couple weeks with my Uncle Shawn. I haven't been there in ages. That, and I haven't really been to the areas we're going to which is a perk. New territory to discover."
"Where are you two headed?"
"First stop is the Catskills and the Cooperstown area for a few days. Shawn did something similar with the Rockies not that long ago, so Hit the Road wants him to do it with this area, and Cooperstown is going to be a separate article. Then after that we're headed over to Western New York to cover the Little World's fair and the surrounding area."
Lucas raised his eyebrow at the last place. To him, he didn't really understand why they would be covering such a small fair. "Sounds like quite a handful for such a short period of time. Any particular reason for the Little World's fair? I've never heard of it before."
"It will be, but I can't wait for it. And I hadn't either until I got the assignment, but I was doing some research on it and it's bigger than I originally thought. Quite a few county music big wigs have performed there before. Also, a few years ago Luke Bryan admitted to fishing at one of the surrounding lakes, so Hit the Road thought it would be interesting to do a story covering the life in a small town. Actually, it's not one single town, but several hamlets…" Riley trailed.
"Well, I hope you enjoy it!" he smiled.
"Thanks! Uncle Shawn said that there were some places that he wanted to show me while we were there, so I'm really excited about it! I don't get to spend as much time with him as I'd like to. One would think that since we work for the same company we would, but we don't. We're on different assignments for most of the time."
There was a brief silence between the two, and Lucas could hear something going on in the background before Riley's voice came back on over the speaker. "Darn it, I have to go. Bye Lucas!"
"Talk to you later," he replied.
Lucas let out a sigh as he pressed the call end button on his phone. He really wished Riley didn't have to go so soon, but they'd talk again sometime in the near future. However, for him, it was getting harder and harder to hang up – and it scared him.
Somewhere behind him, Lucas heard the sound of someone's tongue clicking. Immediately, he knew who it was – there was only one possible option, especially with how much flack he had been getting from him the past month. Lucas simply rolled his eyes as he turned around to face Zay, whose arms were crossed and a huge smirk was plastered across his face. "Would you stop? We're only friends," he protested, knowing where Zay was about to go.
Zay shook his head. "Sure, sure you are."
Lucas' eyes narrowed to slits. Despite his words, Zay still went there. "It's the truth."
Zay's arms raised his arms in surrender. "Okay, okay, don't go all gung-ho on me, cause I know I'll lose in the end no matter what," he replied as the two leaned over on one of the metal gates for the ring.
After a long silence between the two, Lucas somehow found himself asking Zay, "Why do you keep prodding me about it?" To be honest, he couldn't believe that he had said it, but part of him just wanted answers. He wanted to know why Zay was doing it despite his constant assurances that they were only friends. They weren't going to get anywhere with him snapping every time Zay mentioned it.
"I don't know how to describe it exactly," Zay began. "But ever since you ran into her, you've been acting different. Not different enough for most people to notice, but because I'm you best friend, I have noticed. You're acting more like a gentleman, not that you didn't already, but more so, even though she's not around. You look like a moron every time you see her name pop up on your phone. After you hang up, you mope around for a moment before you get back to the guy I know. Need I continue?"
Lucas shook his head. "No…"
"See my point?" he asked, but he didn't get any response from Lucas. "You feel something for her, don't you?"
Lucas turned around to face the outward wall of the tent and crossed his arms. "I'm not exactly sure…" he trailed, and before Zay could roll his eyes, he added, "but I haven't felt like this towards someone before either."
Zay clapped a hand on Lucas' shoulder. "It's okay buddy. But there's no point in denying it either."
"And there's no point forcing a concept on me that may not be true," Lucas retorted.
"Good point," Zay added.
Before they could say anything else, RJ called out to both of them. "Okay boys, chit chat time is over, time to get your butts in gear."
The two of them walked over to where RJ was standing, and before Lucas could shift his focus to the task at hand, he thought, What if Zay is right?
Riley dropped her phone on her bed and allowed a small smile to come over her lips. She really enjoyed her conversations with Lucas, and the fact they were fairly frequent made it even better. Their friendship had really grown over the past month.
As Riley walked over to her closet to grab her purse, the sound of her brother's voice filled the room. "So…" he trailed, "who was that?"
Riley whipped around and saw her brother leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed and a stupid smirk spread across his face. This wasn't the first time Auggie had done something like this for as long as she could remember. "Hey, you little spy!" she protested as she slung her purse over her shoulder.
"I'm not so little anymore," he countered.
She rolled her eyes as she slipped her shoes on. "You're my little brother, so it still counts. How long have you been standing out there?"
The smirk grew as he straightened his posture. "Long enough. So who were you talking to?"
"A friend," she responded as she walked past her brother and out of her room.
"Mhm. I know all of your friends, and I don't think I know this one."
"Oh, I'm sure," she commented flatly. She knew for sure he didn't know all of her friends, mostly the ones she made in college, and he was trying to guilt her into telling. Luckily, Riley knew his tactics and dodged his comment. "And the point of this story is that you need to stop eavesdropping on my conversations," Riley said as she continued on down the hallway and walked into the living room.
"Who's doing what?" their mother asked, who was sitting at the dining room table working on some sort of file.
Riley crossed her arms as she faced her mother. "Auggie was eavesdropping on my phone call and now he's trying to get information that is none of his business. I don't mean to sound like I'm still twelve years old, but he won't cut it out!"
Topanga set down her pen and stood up to face the two siblings. "Auggie, you know better – there's a difference when your father wants to look out after her and being a nuisance. Got that?"
Auggie nodded silently and mumbled something that sounded like an apology, but Riley wasn't exactly sure.
"Thanks, Mom. I'm heading out to meet dad. I'll see you all later!" she bid as she headed out the door.
"Any time honey, and enjoy!"
A/N: I am so sorry at how short this chapter is! I am not good at writing Zay at all. Everything that Riley mentioned about the Little World's Fair and Luke Bryan are true. I don't really care for Luke Bryan's music myself (minus Crash My Party), but I find it neat that he fishes about 10 minutes from my house. Anyway, let me know what you thought of it!
