AllFreeNovel
Share Us
And they will now hear me roar.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Colton — 19 years old
I’m annoyed.
And I don’t know exactly why or who I’m annoyed with.
My veins simmer with malice.
And I’m furious.
Partially at Riley, for fucking with my head when she has no right to do so. Yet, for some reason, she has the power to do it. I’ve been stupid enough to allow her to fuck with my head.
Riley was only supposed to be my responsibility for a short time. A promise I made while Lila was not here. But then she came back, and I couldn’t stop.
At some point, I unconsciously started doing it. Taking care of her and her needs.
She doesn’t need me to, but yet, here I was…doing it anyway.
Making sure she eats, fixing her punctured tires, carrying her drunk ass to bed after a girls’ night out with Lila, making sure she’s always warm during this cold weather, giving her my blanket, watching over her like a goddamn hawk because trouble seems to follow her everywhere she goes, and I can’t take my eyes off her for a fucking second.
Carrying mint candies and gum with me. I didn’t even realize I was doing it until one day, I had a pocket full of them. I had noticed Lila giving them to Riley whenever the Little Wallflower feels anxious. So, I unconsciously started doing it too.
Jesus, I am really pathetic.
But none of that matters.
It doesn’t matter what I was doing for her, because Riley Johnson is my ticket to royally pissing off Henry Bennett. I want to get under my father’s skin, I want him angry and frustrated, I want him to know that I’m no longer that weak, stupid boy he used to beat up. I need him to know that he no longer controls my life…and Riley is the perfect pawn for that.
I didn’t lie to Maddox when I said I don’t feel any affection for her.
Simply because human emotions are too complicated and I can’t imagine myself growing emotionally attached to anyone. Emotions make you weak. Love makes you weak. The world is better off without another lovesick fool.
And anyway, my heart is too wretched to feel those kinds of emotions. So I never bothered to try and understand them. To make sense of them— of what feelings are or can be.
But still, I’m annoyed.
Maddox and Lila are at the library, studying. Riley has a day off. And I’m here, prowling restlessly back and forth in my apartment.
Wait, I know why I’m feeling peeved. It’s the fact that Riley got the last words yesterday, and for some reason that pisses me off. The thing is, sometimes I’m a jerk for the sole purpose of creating an argument because, yeah, it’s entertaining. I won’t lie.
And I’ve never lost an argument before.
Not that I lost the argument last night, but still…Riley had the last words and my assertive nature doesn’t seem to like that very much. It rubs me the wrong way and I know I won’t be able to settle unless I fix it, unless I get the last words.
I quickly stop prowling. It only takes me a second to make up my mind. With a frustrated grunt, I stalk out of my apartment and stand outside her door.
I knock, and I wait. I know she’s home. I saw her earlier, taking her garbage out to the waste chute. When there’s no response, I rap my fist against the door again.
And then a third time.
After the fourth knock and still no response, not even the sound of rustling movement behind the door, trepidation courses through me. I still have the spare key to her apartment, though I’m not so sure if it’s still appropriate to use it.
So, instead, I wait for a little longer.
After five minutes of stalking back and forth in front of her apartment, and random knocks in between with still no response, I finally use the key to unlock her door and walk inside. The place is eerily quiet, with no sign of life inside. I strain my ears, wanting to hear her footsteps to know where she’s at in her apartment.
