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I’d had a lot of meaningless one-night stands with girls whose names I couldn’t remember. Riley was the exception. I could remember everything about her, the noises that she made when I bit her, the way her mouth tasted when we kissed. I was slowly going crazy staying away from her, but she didn’t want me. She’d cried, but she said that she didn’t care. Fuck Zara for trying to mess everything up. Kissing Riley was five million times better than fucking Zara. I knew that it was too soon to propose, but from the second that I’d taken her virginity, I knew that she was mine forever. I just had to figure out how to make her understand that.
Groceries
Riley
When I got back into our apartment, Paul said, “I’m starving.”
“I’ll make something.”
I went to look in our fridge and pantry. We didn’t have anything. I’d been in and out for the week that Paul had been in the hospital, since Desmond had let me take unlimited leave while Paul was recovering.
“We don’t have anything to eat.” I dug out a Klondike bar from the back of the freezer.
“Oh, yum. A freezer-burned Klondike bar.” He took it, though. Healing took a lot of energy.
“I’ll just run to the store right now and figure something out.”
“You need some money?”
I looked at my wallet. I hadn’t picked up any of my paychecks from Dez, since I’d asked him to invest them in that club. “Yeah.”
Paul whipped open his wallet and handed me a hundred-dollar bill. “Get stuff that’s easy for me prepare. Microwave-friendly food, okay? You don’t need to cook for me.”
“Okay. I’ll be right back.” There was a Target just across the street from where we lived, so it’d be simple to buy some food. I took two of my nature-friendly grocery bags and tucked them under my arm.
I locked the front door as I walked outside. I could see Paul’s bike on the side of the road. It looked like it hadn’t been touched, but the red ribbon bow meant that had obviously been fixed. It was a lot easier to fix a bike versus a person. Paul’s bones would be healing for a few more weeks.
I thought about the note that Paul had ripped off of it. Just one word. I knew that it had been Dez who’d gotten the bike back and fixed it up. So thoughtful, but I was still mad at him for kissing Zara in the parking lot. I didn’t think that he seemed like he was into it, but what did I know? Maybe I should text him later…just to thank him for the bike.
I pushed open the doors at Target and felt a rush of cold air conditioning hit me. It felt good to grab a cart and go inside. I just grabbed whatever would be easy for Paul to eat, like chips, pretzels, bread, sandwich stuff like ham and cheese, and his favorite coconut water. I had to make sure that everything was under $100, so I was standing next to a price checker when she came up to me.
“Oh, little Riley! What a pleasant surprise to find you here.”
I knew that voice. I turned and saw Zara, Desmond’s ex-flame.
“Zara,” I said.
She air-kissed me on both sides. “How funny to run into you here. I didn’t know that you lived in Torrance.”
“Yep.” I wanted to get out of here, but I was trapped by politeness.
“I hope you’ve gotten over your little fling with Desmond.” She played with her hair with one hand, with that cursed diamond ring winking at me. “He and I have been re-establishing our connection.” She put a little emphasis on the last word, as if it were a double entendre.
I didn’t want to hear about Desmond being with anyone else. He’d had me once, and that’d been enough. He hadn’t texted or called. He’d gotten Paul’s motorcycle fixed, but he didn’t care about me.
“Excuse me, I have to go.” My vision was getting blurry from tears.
“Cheer up, little one. One day, you’ll be good enough to keep a man like Desmond. One day, you’ll be as good as me.”
She was twisting the knife. I didn’t say anything more as I hurried through a self-checkout lane so that a cashier didn’t see me cry. I put everything into my re-usable bags and sniffed hard as I walked outside. I couldn’t cry on the street.
I hadn’t gone back to work since the accident, and I’d need to send something to HR about taking care of Paul for the next few weeks. School started right after Labor Day, and there was just no way that I’d be able to afford to go there. I needed to stay with Paul for now, anyway, so maybe it was a blessing in disguise to lose my job at Desmond’s company. I’d just stay at ElCo and be here to help out. SoCal was beyond my reach, but at least I’d be with Paul, the only person I had left.
Club
Desmond
SIX WEEKS LATER
