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It’s been almost two months.
I still deeply miss him.
His touch. His scent. His lips. His warmth. His love.
But then I remember, it was all fake. All of it, every moment I spent with him was a lie.
Our love was not…real.
Instead of despair, I am filled with so much anger. Resentment even.
I can’t bring myself to hate Grayson.
But I resent what he has done to us. He turned my love into something ugly. He took what I thought was perfect in my eyes and turned it into wretched memories. Memories I no longer wanted to live in— because they only bring me sorrow.
I grieve our happy memories now.
Maddox’s voice brings me out of my distressing thoughts. I don’t think Colton and him have noticed I’m awake. The four of us were having a movie night at the boys’ place.
Halfway through the horror movie, both Lila and I fell asleep. I pulled an all-nighter yesterday to finish my twenty-page essay.
My eyes still feel heavy from the lack of sleep and there’s a dull pain in the back of my head. I know I’ll end up with a nasty migraine if I don’t catch up on my sleep soon.
I peek open an eye and see that Lila is sound asleep with her head on Maddox’s lap. It looks like the movie has long ended. Colton is sitting beside Maddox, while I’m curled up in the armchair with a dark gray blanket thrown over me.
A blanket that wasn’t there when I fell asleep.
I slowly pull it up, bringing the blanket to my nose. It smells of spicy cologne, musk and mint candies. My brain instantly recognizes the familiar scent. It’s the same one that was left on my pillow, the night of the storm.
Colton’s scent still lingers on his blanket — warm, rich and earthy.
He must have given me his blanket after I had fallen asleep.
“Your feelings have changed toward Riley.”
My breath catches in my throat at the sound of my name and Maddox’s words. They’re talking about me? I quickly close my eyes again, feigning sleep. Shit, this is stupid. Why am I even doing that? I mentally grimace.
It’s purely curiosity, I tell myself.
“What?” Colton asks, shock evident in his tone. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Maddox scoffs. “You used to constantly antagonize her, but I see the way you look at her now.”
The way he looks at me? What does that mean?
“Oh c’mon,” Colton mutters grumpily. “You’ve got to be kidding me right now. Don’t start with me. Just because you’re pussy whipped for Lila doesn’t mean I have to feel the same way about Riley.”
Oh.
Why does he sound so…annoyed?
Maddox is quiet for a second, before he speaks again. “Either you’re in denial or you haven’t realized it yet, but there’s affection in the way you handle her now.”
I hear Colton’s laughter. It’s cold and humorless. “Affection? For Riley? Fuck no.” I peek an eye open again, my gaze sliding over to his big frame sitting on the couch. He has his arms crossed over his wide, muscled chest. He’s scowling hard at Maddox. “I’ve been looking for a new way to get under my father’s skin. He’ll probably end up with a stroke if I ever end up entangled with Thomas’s daughter. Riley is merely a pawn to piss off my father.”
An invisible fist squeezes my lungs and I quietly choke on my breath.
His kindness…was a game? I’m merely a way for him to get back at his father?
