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Riley gapes at me. When she doesn’t try to push me away again, I take the antiseptic wipe from its packet and gently disinfect her scratches. The blood made it look worse than it actually is, and relief instantly fills my chest.
I make sure to remove any piece of gravel I find embedded in her skin before putting the band-aids on. “There, all done.”
I lift my head and our eyes meet. My heart thuds. Riley swallows, and there’s a softness in her expression that wasn’t there before. “This reminds me of the night in the alley,” she says quietly, with a slight breathy hitch in her calm voice.
Riley is right.
We’ve been in the same position before, just with the roles reversed. I wonder if this is fate somehow playing a trick on us.
I get to my feet, pointing at her blazer, that’s still wet from the spilled coffee. “Do you have a spare in your locker?”
Riley shakes her head, dejectedly. “No. I don’t have another blazer in my locker. I didn’t think I’d need it.”
I don’t wait for her to finish her sentence before I’m shrugging off my own blazer and dropping it over her shoulders. “Take mine,” I tell her, but then grimace at the bossy tone in my voice. Clearing my throat, I try again, “You can use this for today, I don’t mind.”
“But you will get in trouble for not wearing the proper uniform. Do you have an extra?”
I simply grunt in response. “It’s fine.”
“No.” Riley stands up, wincing in pain as she does. “I can’t let you get in trouble because of me. That’s not fair.”
She tries to hand it back to me, but I give her a look, raising an eyebrow. “I’m not taking it back,” I tell her, my voice softening when she pouts.
Riley is pouting. And she’s doing it so petulantly, as if she’s comfortable enough with me to show that side of her. She’s always so closed off, so quiet and lost in her own world. It’s shocking to see this side of her. To see the walls she’s built around her slowly chip away.
Fuck, this girl is capable of making me weak to my knees. I just know it.
I shift closer to her, and I feel her more than hear her suck in a shuddering breath as I start to button up my blazer over her body. Her bottom lip is snagged between her teeth, and she makes a tiny sound in the back of her throat — a sound of both protest and approval. As though she’s not so sure herself, if she should be complaining or not.
The bell rings, and we both jerk back in surprise. “Let’s go.” She breathes shakily.
I nod, and we grab our backpacks to leave the infirmary. Only to see Oaklynn waiting for us outside. Riley comes to a halt, and I pause too. Oaklynn eyes us suspiciously, her gaze bouncing back and forth between Riley and me, before she confidently moves closer to me.
“I saw you going into the infirmary, was just coming to check if everything is fine,” she purrs softly, latching onto my arm. “By the way, I’m thinking we can leave together after school. My parents told me we’re going to dinner at your place tonight. So, I can just come with you and wait for them at your house. I don’t think your aunt would mind. She likes me.”
Riley takes a step away from me, and she clears her throat awkwardly. “Thanks for your help, Grayson.” She skids away, her smile strained now. “Uhm, bye.”
She’s gone before I can stop her.
“Good riddance,” Oaklynn mutters under her breath.
Goddamn it!
Frustrated, I roughly tug my arm out of Oaklynn grasps and she stumbles back, frowning. “What the fuck, Grayson? What’s your problem?”
I lean down, bringing our faces closer together. I’m pissed. “My problem is that I don’t like clingy people.” I growl.
I’ve been trying to play nice with Oaklynn, but she’s getting on my last nerve. “And lastly, I don’t want to hear you speak of Riley like that ever again.”
She gasps, outraged, but I don’t stay to hear her useless rambling.
I stride away, going to find Goldilocks.
Because she ran away from me…again.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Riley — 18 years old
