Sorry I wasn't able to update sooner! I was busy studying for a test I had today and then I went to a Penatatonix concert last night. Also I got writer's block so I wasn't able to finish this as quickly. Hopefully this turned out okay anyway.
Chapter Twelve
"That was so much fun!" Riley praised. "I can't believe I rode a horse."
"I can't either," Lucas chuckled. "I thought you were going to panic more. But who knew you were so good with animals?"
Riley playfully hit Lucas and rolled her eyes.
"What? Just being honest," Lucas said with a nervous laugh, scratching the back of his head.
"Since I'm so good with animals, can I have Aurora?" Riley inquired.
"Where you gonna keep her, Sugar?" Zay asked. "New York City is no place for a horse."
Riley crossed her arms, "I beg to differ. What about those horse-drawn carriages?"
"Doesn't count," Lucas waved her off.
"I'm hungry," Vanessa declared, turning to Lucas. "Where are we going for lunch?"
"Well, since we want Riley to experience Texas, what better way to do so than to take her to Chubbie's Famous Barbecue Pit," Lucas said. "She can enjoy our Texan cuisine while also enjoying our music."
"What a great idea, Lucas!" Vanessa praised. She turned to Zay, nudged him and whispered to him, "Why don't you ever put more thought into our dates like Lucas does with Riley?"
Zay chuckled and replied, "You know they're not dating."
"They might as well be," Vanessa shrugged.
They all returned to Zay's car and headed to Chubbie's. On the way there, Lucas told Riley what to expect at the restaurant and gave her suggestions on what she should eat. Riley enjoyed listening him talk about the places he would always go to in his hometown, she found it amusing how passionate he was about Texas.
Once they arrived at the popular hang-out, they were ushered to a table and ordered their food. They all ordered a rack of ribs, as it was their favorite thing on the menu and they wanted to see what Riley thought about it.
"This is amazing," Riley said with her mouth full. Her face was covered in barbecue sauce as she finished her ribs.
"Uh, Riley," Lucas said, pointing to his mouth, "you have a little something on your—"
"Oh hush," Riley snapped. "Let me forget about being ladylike for like a minute and let me enjoy these delicious ribs!"
Zay and Vanessa laughed at the two's exchange.
As the group finished their food, a live band stepped onstage and introduced themselves before they started playing songs. Vanessa's face lit up when the music began.
"Let's dance!" Vanessa said excitedly, grabbing Riley to drag her to the dancefloor. But before she could do so, Riley quickly wiped her face clean of the barbecue sauce.
Zay looked at Lucas with an apologetic look on his face, "You know Nessa loves to dance, Luke." He smirked, "I'm sure you'll get a chance to dance with Riley. Come on!"
Lucas and Zay made their way to the dancefloor as well and found the girls. The Texan natives taught Riley how to line dance and she caught on rather quick.
"I didn't know you could dance," Lucas said to Riley. They were standing beside each other, behind Zay and Vanessa.
"There's a lot of things about me you don't know," Riley laughed.
"I doubt it," Lucas replied.
"Well, we do spend a lot of time with each other," Riley mused. "You must know a lot of things about me."
"I like to think so," Lucas answered. "I like spending time with you."
Riley smiled, "You're not so bad a dancer yourself, cowboy."
The four returned back to the Friar residence after making a couple of more stops to show Riley the wonders of Austin, Texas. They arrived back at Lucas's house just in time for dinner. They all changed before they joined the Friars at the dinner table.
"Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!" Pappy Joe greeted.
"Happy Thanksgiving!" everyone returned.
"I'd just like to say that I am very happy that Zay, Vanessa, and Riley are joining us this Thanksgiving," Rachel said, holding up her glass, which prompted everyone to do the same and clink the glasses with each other.
"Zay and I are always here, Mrs. Friar," Vanessa pointed out with a smile. She was basically the daughter Rachel never had, and they were really fond of each other.
"Yeah, we're practically part of the family," Zay added.
"True," Rachel tilted her head. "But this is Riley's first Thanksgiving with us."
Riley smiled.
"I'm sure she'll spend many more with us," Xander smirked. Lucas, sitting across from his older brother, kicked Xander in the shin under the table. Xander looked at Lucas with furrowed brows and said, "Ow! Why'd you kick me?!"
Jack rolled his eyes at his sons' antics and apologized for their behavior.
"So, Riley," Pappy Joe began, "how did you enjoy your day? Where'd my grandson and his friends take you?"
"Well, they spent the morning at the stable," Jack chimed in.
"Oh!" Pappy Joe's face lit up. "Who did you ride?"
"Aurora," Riley beamed. "I really like her."
"She did really well, Pappy Joe," Lucas said. "If you saw her you'd be proud."
"I'll take your word for it," Pappy Joe said.
"Remember when Lucas was obsessed with Sleeping Beauty?" Xander said to Zay with a laugh.
"Oh right!" Zay chuckled. "He was so obsessed he named a horse after Aurora!"
"I was not obsessed," Lucas interjected.
"Oh, honey, you were," Rachel said.
"Yeah, why else would you name a horse after her?" Jack pointed out.
Lucas groaned and slid back into his seat. He was quickly losing his appetite.
"No need to be embarrassed, boy," Pappy Joe said.
After dinner, they all helped clean up. Rachel refused to let Riley, Zay, and Vanessa help, because they were guests, but Lucas somehow convinced his mom to let his friends help with the clean-up process.
Riley offered to help with clearing the plates and placing them into the dishwasher, which Xander decided to help with as well, much to Luccas's dismay. Lucas didn't want Xander talking to Riley because knowing Xander he'd probably just tell her embarrassing stories about Lucas.
"I love your family," Riley said, starting conversation with Xander. She cleared a plate and handed it to Xander to put in the dishwasher.
"Yeah, I guess they're alright," Xander joked with a shrug. "So how'd you meet my brother?"
"I fell on him on the subway actually," Riley said, "like, I actually fell. I'm a klutz. But anyway, turns out we had intro to psychology together. We were best friends ever since."
Xander smirked at Riley's use of the words 'best friends.'
"So what was he like growing up?" Riley inquired. She loved hearing childhood stories about her friends. It made her feel that much closer to them, especially when it was someone she didn't grow up with.
"Funny story, there was this one time—"
"Okay, I think we're done here," Lucas interrupted and pulled Riley away, leading her to the living room.
"What was that about?" Riley asked, plopping down on the couch.
"Just didn't want him telling you things you don't need to know," Lucas said.
"Alright, we're done," Zay announced as he walked into the room. "Your mom said to pick out a movie to watch."
"Oh, we're watching a movie?" Riley asked.
"Yeah, it's a family tradition," Lucas shrugged. "We always watch a movie after Thanksgiving dinner. You know, to spend more quality family time."
After Zay and Vanessa had left and Lucas's family all went to their respective bedrooms, Riley was keeping Lucas company in his room. Lucas played video games on the TV while Riley was exploring the room that Lucas had grew up in.
Riley saw a framed certificate hanging above Lucas's nightstand. She tiptoed so she was at eyelevel with the document. She squinted her eyes as she read the print. It was Lucas's certificate for riding Tombstone the bull back when he was fourteen.
"So you really did ride a bull, huh?" Riley breathed. It wasn't that she ever doubted Lucas, she just never actually believed that a fourteen-year-old could conquer a bull infamous for throwing people off within two seconds.
"I did, yeah," Lucas nodded, not moving his gaze from the TV screen.
"Wish I could've seen that," Riley commented.
"You can," Lucas said. "I have it on video."
"Ooh, can I watch that?!" Riley questioned, moving so that she was standing behind Lucas, who was sitting on the floor. She put her hands on his shoulders and lightly shook him, startling the boy.
"Not a chance, Riles," Lucas answered, brushing her hands off him so he could resume his gameplay.
Riley pouted but Lucas was too focused on killing zombies to give in to her puppy dog eyes, so she continued to walk around his room to see what other interesting things she could find.
Once Riley had finished examining every inch of Lucas's room, she stopped at the window and looked up at the sky. The sight was all very new to her. She pointed at the stars, trying to count them, but there were too many to do so, so she gave up after the tenth star.
Lucas, who had been unknowingly talking to himself, finally shifted his gaze to see why Riley wasn't answering him. He smiled to himself when he got an idea. He turned off his TV and walked over to Riley.
"Pretty, huh?"
"Mhm," Riley nodded, her eyes still out the window. There was something about the sky here in Texas that fascinated Riley to no end. She understood that everyone saw the same sky no matter where they were in the world, but it was different in Texas and she couldn't place her finger on it.
Lucas allowed Riley to indulge in the beauty of the Texas sky through his bedroom window before he spoke up.
"Come with me, I want to show you something," Lucas said. He looked at what Riley was wearing. She was wearing denim shorts and a t-shirt. "You might want to get a sweater."
Riley was about to protest, but Lucas pushed her out of his room before she could do so. She went to the guest room when she realized she didn't bring a sweater so she returned to Lucas's room.
"I told you to get a sweater," Lucas said.
"Uh, I forgot to bring one," she said sheepishly.
Lucas walked over to his drawers and grabbed a hoodie and handed it to Riley.
"Here, you can wear mine."
"Are you sure?" Riley was reluctant to take the hoodie from him.
"Don't want you getting cold," Lucas replied.
Riley took the hoodie and said, "So I should probably get pants as well?"
"That might be a good idea," Lucas scrunched his face. "I'll meet you out front."
Riley walked back to the guest room and changed into sweatpants and into Lucas's hoodie. Looking at herself in the mirror, she noticed that she was wearing Lucas's high school hoodie that had the school mascot on the front and 'Friar' written on the back. It was too big for her but she felt comfortable in it.
Riley met up with Lucas on the front porch as instructed. She was surprised to see Lucas leaning against an old Ford pick-up truck.
"Meet my baby," Lucas said, patting his truck. "Got her for my sixteenth birthday."
Riley walked up to him with a confused look, but with a smile nonetheless.
"Where are we going, Lucas?" Riley furrowed her eyebrows.
"You'll see," Lucas smirked. He opened the passenger door for her and closed it once Riley climbed in.
Lucas lightly jogged to reach the driver's side and climbed in as well. They buckled their seatbelts before Lucas started the engine and headed for the road.
Where do you think Lucas is taking her? I'm so excited for you guys to read the next chapter!