Page 31 of Riley


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“That’s gross, Hen!” I snapped at him. “I’m not talking to you about this. What are you doing here?”

“Coming to see if you were going to make it to the Winstons this weekend. They are having a picnic on Sunday.”

“Of course, I’ll be there.”

“You going to bring Joe?”

“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “I’ll see if he wants to come.”

“You should. You should invite his kids too. It would be nice to have more kids around. Then maybe Mom would get off my back about Roxy and me having a baby.” He grinned at me. “Besides, it will be good practice for you.”

I went utterly still. Did Hen somehow know? “What are you talking about?”

“Well, you keep this up with Joe, and you might just have a couple of stepkids.”

I hoped that he couldn’t see the relief wash over my face. “Funny.” I gave him a fake smile, and as I turned away, I paused and spun back. “Hen, do you think I’d be a good mother?”

He laughed for a moment. “Yeah, I guess, but you’d have to get used to someone else being the center of attention.”

“Am I really that bad?” Ethan had said something about me being spoiled, but was I that bad?

Henley took me by the shoulders. “Ry, you put every other woman I know to shame.”

I pursed my lips and felt tears start to well up in my eyes. Henley saw them before I could even attempt to stop them.

“Hey! What’s with the tears? Where is your snarky comment or rude comeback?”

“What do I do that makes everyone think I am so spoiled?” I almost stomped my foot, but I stopped myself. Even I knew that wouldn’t have helped my case any.

Henley laughed, but it ended quickly, and a confused look passed over his face. “Ry, you are rather needy, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t a good person. You just seem to have to be the center of attention. Plus, you drink way too much, and you sleep with a lot of guys.”

“No, I don’t! I’ll have you know that I haven’t had one drink in four weeks!”

He blinked and stepped back. “You haven’t? Why?”

“Because I’m trying to show you all that I don’t have to drink to have fun. Ethan was on this huge kick when he left about me being an alcoholic, but I’m not!” I shouted and swiped at a tear on my face. “I’m not a drunk, and I’m going to show him and all of you that I’m not.”

I put my face into my hands and started to sob. These stupid hormones made me cry at everything, and I hated losing control. Henley probably thought I’d lost my mind.

“Hey, Riley, what’s going on?” He pulled me into his arms. “What is this all about?”

“Nothing,” I mumbled into his chest.

“You forget how close we are. I know you are upset about something. What is it? Tell me what’s going on. Did you and Joe have a fight?”

“No,” I mumbled.

“Did you have another fight with Ethan?” he asked, and I pushed back from him.

“No! I haven’t spoken to him since he left.”

“Have you tried to reach out to him?”

“No! I saw him the night before he left.” I swiped at my cheeks and turned away from him. “I went over to apologize to him, and he pretty much told me to get lost and that he didn’t want to have anything to do with me ever again.”

He took me by the shoulders and turned me to face him. “Come on, you gotta cut the guy some slack. He told you he loved you, and you didn’t give it back to him. He knows you will never love him, and he needs to put some space between you guys. You can’t blame him for being hurt.”

“What about me?” I snapped back, and he raised a brow.

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