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We both wait for a minute for any sign of stirring, but nothing. Thanking God. Not wanting to look at Riley, I carefully rise from the floor and go to leave, saying over my shoulder, “I’ll go put him to bed.”
Slowly, I make my way to his room, placing him in the crib with a little blanket, looking down at him sleeping soundly and wonder what it must be like for Ava. Not too long ago, she was like me. She was a young girl, just trying to navigate life, and now she is a mother who gets to come home to a loving baby and a man that adores her.
I wonder whether anything like that could happen for me, but that thought is instantly interrupted by a knock at the door.
I freeze and wait for Charlie to wake but he stays asleep, so I carefully back out of the room, leaving the door open as I make my way down the hall to the kitchen, where I see Riley enter with a box of pizza, which he places on the counter.
I cock my head. “When did you order pizza?”
Opening the lid and filling the room with the delicious smell of cheesy goodness, my stomach instantly grumbles as Riley answers, “A while ago. Figured we’d need to eat, so I put in an order when all hell was breaking loose.”
I chuckle. “Nice to know that in a crisis, first thing you do is order pizza.”
He takes a slice, taking a bite and saying around a mouthful of food, “We got food now, don’t we?”
I shrug. “I guess you’re right.”
I come around the kitchen counter and perch myself on the barstool before picking up a slice with a delicious string of melted cheese dangling off the end, which I happily devour. My eyes roll into the back of my head with how good this pizza is, and we continue to eat in silence. The only sounds filling the room are moans from eating the pizza.
Two slices later, and I am made all too aware of Riley’s eyes boring into my head, a slice sitting in his hand as he watches me. I'm mid bite when I look up and meet his eyes staring at me with a thoughtful look.
“What?” I say around the pizza before taking a bite, which elicits an amused smile from Riley as he places his slice on the box, crossing his arms.
“I didn’t know you could sing.”
I shrug. “You didn’t ask.”
He nods to himself, pursing his lips in thought. “Fair enough. You have a beautiful voice. Why haven’t you done anything with it?”
I think back to the years my parents screamed at me for singing around the house, telling me to stop making that noise. Each time they referred to it as that, it pushed that dream further and further away. But I don’t say that, instead, I say, “It’s just something I do for fun. I don’t want to make it into a job and risk hating it later.” I look down at my feet. “Besides, not everyone makes it.”
“I’m sure you would if you tried.”
Tired of the focus being on me, I look at him, asking, “What about you? I’ve seen the guitar perched in the corner of the apartment. You went overseas to play music and now you’re working in a bar.”
His eyes hold mine, his jaw tensing slightly as he rests his hands on the counter, leaning closer to me. “What’s wrong with that?”
I don’t cave under his gaze as I ask, “What made you stop? You left and now you don’t play, or I haven’t seen you play.”
If it's possible, I watch his jaw tense more, his lips thinning, and his eyes hard, almost far away as he thinks to himself for a moment before grumbling, pushing back from the counter. “That’s not important.”
He goes to move away, and I drop the pizza I was holding, following him around the counter into the living space, seeing answers so close I can almost taste them. The need to know more and understand takes over, to know more about who I am living with, that I move to stand in his way as he stomps around the living space, stopping when I stand before him with a look of determination and a finger pointed in his frowning face.
“No, no, you can’t just leave it like that, especially not after asking me all the questions.”
He takes a step closer until all I see and smell is him. “I can do what I like. You don’t know anything about me. We are not friends, so don’t think you have any right to that information.”
I flinch, as if I had been slapped. Yeah, I guess over time, I did see him as a friend. I got comfortable living with him and talking to him, but the man standing before me scowling only proves to me that you really can’t rely on anyone.
I take a step back and only then does he blink, the scowl slowly drifting away to be softened by a look that usually precedes an apology. But I’ve already heard the truth. He opens his mouth, but I hold up my hand, silencing him, biting the inside of my cheek to keep my emotions in check as I say, “Well, that’s good to know.” I take a step back, seeing the regret in Riley’s eyes. “It must be a really big secret for you to lash out like that.”
“Mia-“ His words are cut off from the sound of keys jingling in the door a second before the door comes swinging open and a giggling Ava and Conner waltz in with giant grins.
The air in the home changes instantly. No more is it thick with tension, but light with happiness radiating off the couple before us. I clear my throat, approaching them without giving Riley another look. “Good night?” I ask, and their smiles grow more than I thought they could.
“You could say that.” Ava giggles, and before I can ask, she pops her left hand up, and right there on her ring finger is a shiny diamond with a white gold band.
It’s silent for only two seconds before I let out an excited scream, jumping up and down. Ava joins me as we hop together, our hands clasped. I’m not even thinking about the boys or what happened earlier. I’ll tuck that away for later, but right now, I'm focused on my best friend and the joy coming off her.
