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Colton is anything but innocent. He’s the devil’s spawn.
“Following me!” I throw my hands in the air. He’s being too obvious.
“And why would I do that? Follow you, I mean.”
I don’t know why Lila told him to ‘take care’ of me, as if I need a damn babysitter. I was heartbroken, not a sick child who needed constant supervision. What even possessed her to suggest such a thing?
I know she’s worried…
Rightfully so.
Because I almost fell back into bad habits two weeks ago. I guess a broken heart was another trigger I didn’t know I had. I didn’t realize what was happening to me when I was binge-eating. It wasn’t until after I had finished purging when realization dawned on me.
That’s when I had my breakdown.
I remember crumbling into Lila’s arms, sobbing and begging her to help me. To make it stop. Telling her that I couldn’t bear to go back to that Riley. The me who used her eating disorder to cope with the damage of her heart. I couldn’t go back to an unhealthy Riley.
I almost relapsed, barely hanging onto the threads of my fragile sanity. Maybe if it wasn’t for Lila, I would have fallen back into that miserable void of self-destruction.
And now I have Colton, who just won’t leave me alone.
Lila and Maddox are back home in Manhattan. Lila’s grandmother has been hospitalized after a sudden stroke. So she’s there to take care of her grandma and Maddox, of course, is with her. They won’t be coming back for another two weeks.
Which means…that leaves me alone with Colton Bennett. I don’t know what Lila told him and why he’s acting so unbearably nice all of a sudden, but it’s frustrating. I rather like Colton as a jerk, than this version of him.
Because if he starts being nice to me, I can’t hold a grudge against him anymore. And I don’t want to like him. Not after everything he’s put me through. Not after all the cruel, taunting words he has said to me.
“You’re in a library,” I deadpan. Is he really going to act oblivious? “Why are you here?”
Colton looks around, as if he’s seeing the place for the first time, and then nods. “Ah yes. In a library. I’m here to read. That’s what people do in libraries, Riley. Also, I need a library card. Could you register me?”
“You don’t read,” I hiss.
“Says who?” Colton frowns, looking quite offended at my statement. “I am an intellectual person who appreciates any kind of literature. Why are you always so angry, anyway?”
I scowl at him.
He smirks.
Ugh! I don’t have time to deal with his bullshit. I stomp over to the counter and quickly register his name into the system. “Your ID.”
He passes me his ID card and I finish his registration. I hand him his brand-new library card and wait for him to leave. Only he doesn’t leave. Colton stands there, staring at me. Still grinning. I’m not exactly a violent person, but I want to smack that grin off his face. What the hell is wrong with him? He’s quite literally insane, I think.
“You’re annoyed,” he finally claims.
My fists clench and I glare at him. “Anything else, Mr. Bennett?”
He slowly cocks his head to the side. “Be right back.”
With a frustrated sigh, I watch him disappear between the shelves and then a minute later, he’s back at the counter. Colton hands me a thick book. “I’ll borrow this.”
I take the book from him. It’s an autobiography, written by an author in 1893. “This?” I question, incredulously. It’s one of those books that stays on the shelves forever. No one ever borrows them and they just sit there, collecting dust.
“Yes, this. Is there a problem?”
My brow shoots up and I shrug. “Nope.” I scan the barcode and write the date onto the slip of paper inside the cover. “There you go. Happy reading.”
He takes his book and simply nods. And then he’s gone.
