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Riley was flipping burgers; the hardest part of working at the Dino Bite Café was the smell of the food that stuck to his clothes. Better than some of the smells that stuck to him while at the ranch. Tyler was running the register as Shelby was making her rounds and she had become less clumsy. But she would still occasionally trip over her own feet.
Riley never fit in on the ranch because he hated getting dirty, he liked things to be neat orderly and clean. Maybe that was why he gravitated towards puzzles but he had yet to solve the biggest puzzle for him, girls. He didn’t have a lack of confidence but he was shy and never knew what to say. Maybe Shelby could help? He thought. He wouldn’t ask Chase for any tips and Koda would probably tell him something a bit out dated.
He wasn’t sure why he was even thinking about girls, maybe because the job gave him too much time to think while he flipped burgers. He quickly plated the burgers on the buns that he had already prepared with all the proper condiments ready. He had a pattern, he made subtle moves and completed five burgers.
“Order up!” he yelled.
He opened the mini fridge behind him and he was out of burger patties, as he walked to the fridge he never saw Shelby appear holding milkshakes. He never saw the milkshakes until he was covered in them. He let out a gasp, they were so cold and sticky. He stood there in disbelief for a moment but he didn’t get angry. Shelby was his friend and she was prone to accidents.
“Riley, I’m so sorry!! I just—and then you and I…” she said and he felt her finger graze his cheek and he watched as she licked the milkshake from her finger. “Mm strawberry chocolate.”
“I’ll man the grills Ri guy,” Tyler shouted. “We have a house out back.”
“Sorry Shelby, I should have got the patties before I called you over,” he said before going outback. A trail of milkshake was left behind.
“What happened? I just cleaned these floors?” Chase said as he pulled off his headphones.
“Accident, hit Riley with about five different milkshakes,” Shelby sad.
“And I missed it? I don’t think I’ve ever seen a speck of dust on him. I miss all the good stuff,” he said as he got the mop.
After his outside shower with a hose, Riley felt a little better but now he was damp and his jeans were getting heavy. He could still smell strawberry on himself at the end of his work shift, his speed had suffered from the wet clothes but he got back into rhythm and back to thinking about girls. So once their shift was over he stopped Shelby.
“Wanna hang out? I sort of have some questions,” he asked,
“You have questions? Did you forget how to solve a rubick’s cube?” Shelby asked and playfully elbowed him.
“No problem in that department, actually it involves girls.” Riley said as they left the museum.
“Oh who do you have a crush on? Is it Kendall?” Shelby said and smiled.
“Uh no, not really anyone just in general,” he said.
“Well firstly we’re not puzzles, we’re just people. Women aren’t more complex and neither are guys. You’ll find a great girl and have millions of babies. Just be yourself and talk,” she said.
“I never thought of it like that,” he said.
“Well I blame those dumb romantic comedy movies,” she said.
“I like those kinds of movies,” he said and looked to his feet.
“Me? I like a good action movie. We should go see Furious 7,” she said, they were getting close to her place and soon he would have to go home.
“I’ve never seen Furious one through six,” he said.
“Oh my god, we’re having a marathon tonight. You have tomorrow off right? Come on, I have popcorn and soda at the ready,” she said.
“Why not,” he said and smiled.
He walked into her apartment once they had got there; she lived a few floors up. Her apartment was a bit chaotic, not dirty or gross but unorganized. She had clothes littered around and she had books about dinosaurs everywhere. Her movies were scattered around, a few out of their cases and most of them about dinosaurs. He saw Jurassic Park, its sequels and a bunch of other dino movies. Shelby ran around her apartment picking up her clothes and trying to find the movies.
“Your apartment is homey,” he said and laughed nervously.
The night was spent watching movies, playfully tossing popcorn in each other’s mouths and drinking far too many sodas. But it was the first time in his time here that he had fun. He normally stuck to training, working and calling his family. Saving the world here and there was another of his hobbies. The next few days he had been spending more time just hanging out with Shelby.
They would rent movies, they would talk about saving the world or the new tech Kendall made. It was very natural and he didn’t think talking to girls would be this easy. He had thrown away his old mindset and just talked to her like anyone and soon people started to talk. He over -heard someone talking about him and Shelby. They had just come back from lunch, they were talking and joking. He had no idea they were note worthy.
Shelby on the other hand had noticed how easy he was to talk with. When they were watching on of his favorite rom coms she realized she had feelings for him. She didn’t expect this to happen. But Riley didn’t seem to realize the signals she was giving him. He would bring her out to eat; they would text back and forth for hours. She would sit close to him while they watched another dino documentary.
“Shelby? I think people think we’re dating,” he said as they passed by two gossipy people.
“Yeah, that’s crazy. Us dating, hah, we’re just like the best of friends is all,” she said.
“Best friends? Wow I’m honored. You know the past few weeks have been great and I look forward to the next documentary,” Riley said and gave her a hug.
“Hey, I had a great idea,” she said.
“What is it?” he asked.
“It would be like totally funny, hear me out. What if we battle this rumor by pretending to date. Then when people come to us, we laugh in there face and show them to not believe in rumors.” She said with a smile.
“Yeah boy won’t their faces be red. How do we fake date?” he asked.
Shelby pulled him close and kissed him on the lips, she had wanted to do this for days. In a way she hoped he was a terrible kisser so she could stay focused on becoming an archeologist. Bad news was he was an excellent kisser. Riley was shocked by the kiss and hoped their plan would work. Yeah fake dating was a great idea, so great that maybe it could be real.