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He put the brownie in his bag as if he couldn’t handle taking something from me now.
“I know this is just fucking,” I said before he could.
Riven turned his brown gaze on me like he hadn’t expected it, then surprised me by leaning in and taking my mouth. His brownie-flavored tongue slipped past my lips in a hungry kiss. His hand wrapped around my nape, holding me in a possessive way that made me feel like I was his. I shouldn’t even want that—to belong to someone, especially not him.
A sound came from the side of the house, and Riven jerked away before Wayne and Smitty walked around the corner.
“We gonna get back to work or what?” Smitty asked. I glanced at my phone to see we were a couple of minutes late from finishing lunch, something I never did.
Riven stood without looking at me. He tossed the leftovers of his sandwich in the trash, but I noticed he kept the brownie when he went and put his lunch bag in the work truck.
*
Riven was more talkative at work the next few days. Not really to Wayne or Smitty, but to me. We ate lunch together every day, and he’d make jokes or tease me if I fucked something up, and just…I didn’t know how to word it. Felt more like a real person. One who wasn’t a shell of who he’d been.
Not that Riven was ever really talkative. He seemed to prefer observing things. It wasn’t something I’d noticed when we were younger, but I did now. He took in the world around him, quietly analyzing everything, and damn did I want to know every little thing he figured out.
We hadn’t spent any more time together outside of work, and not gonna lie, I was trying to find a way to make that shit happen. I felt obsessed with Riven in a way that didn’t make sense, but I didn’t care because being around him made me feel good.
So on Friday after work, when Smitty and Wayne left and Riv gave me his form to sign, I said, “What are you up to? I was thinking we could get some food tonight.”
He frowned as if my statement confused him. Okay, so this was an epic fail.
“I can’t. I need to go home and shower real quick before I head to Bedford to check in with my PO. Plus, I don’t go out to eat here. There’s not one person in this town I want to see or run into.”
Which was shitty, but I understood why. It wasn’t as if people had been real good to him; plus, there was my dad and brother, of course.
“I could go with you.”
“Why would you want to do that? It’s not fun.”
I laughed. Jesus, he was so brash, and why did I find that so hot? “Because then we can eat dinner afterward. At least in Bedford you won’t have to worry about running into anyone. Don’t argue. I’ll go home and shower and meet you back at your place.” He opened his mouth to turn me down, but I pressed two fingers to his lips. “I said don’t argue.”
“You’re getting a little bossy, don’t you think?”
“You like it.” I winked, which earned me an eye roll from Riven, but he didn’t deny me.
I rushed home to take the fastest shower in history, worried he would leave without me. I tossed on the first pair of jeans and T-shirt I could find, and pulled up in front of his house just as Riven was climbing into his truck. He looked fucking good—old, faded jeans sculpting his long legs, black T-shirt hugging his arms and shoulders, and the backward hat he was never without.
“You were going to ditch me.” I jogged to the passenger side.
“I liked you better when you were brooding and hated me,” he replied, but there was a light playfulness to his voice that pulled my lips into a grin.
He wasn’t going to leave without me. Somehow, I knew he wouldn’t have.
We didn’t talk much on the ride over, the old radio in his truck playing quiet rock music I didn’t recognize. “What’s your PO like?”
“A PO.”
“Is he a dick?”
Riven shook his head. “Nah, he’s not bad, actually. Could be worse.” After a moment of silence, he asked, “How’s Becca doing?”
Shit. I tried to ease my guilt when we were together by pretending she didn’t exist. “About the same. Rex went home. He’s still him, though. I went over and had dinner with her and the girls yesterday.” Partly to make up for the fact that I want to spend the weekend with you.
Riven gave me a curt nod, then pulled into the parking lot. “Wait here.”
The truck didn’t have AC, so it was hot as balls, but I kept both windows down as he went inside. I watched until he disappeared, the spark of anger that always lived inside me flaring to life again because he had a parole officer and had to check in weekly with him after spending time in prison, all for something my brother had done.
