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“Fucking watch it,” he bites, shaking his head from side to side and storming out of the cozy hallway, not looking back at me or the crumpled man on the floor.
“Well shit,” I breathe, my chest rising and falling as my eyes follow him until he disappears.
I take a moment to compose myself, clearing my throat, then I make sure the guy is okay but he just keeps his head down and scarpers away. Everyone knows the Rivera brothers and Riggs is the one you don’t want to piss off. They all have tempers, but not like Riggs.
Walking out, I run my fingers through my hair and walk straight to Conrad.
“I took the liberty of getting the check all sorted, come, let’s get out of here,” he smiles, shuffling out of the booth and clasping my hand in his. I expect to feel something, a spark, tingles, warmth… but I feel nothing. Disappointment surges deep within me.
“I would have paid, you didn’t have to do that,” my brows furrow and I feel bad for ordering all the shots, especially as Conrad switched to water a while ago, but my once tipsy disposition has been replaced with stone cold soberness.
“Never, I’m a gentleman. A lady never pays,” he winks, pulling me gently towards him as he leads me out of the bar. My heart begins to race and by the time I’m at Riggs’ table it is full on jack hammering in my chest. Conrad’s fingers clasp a little tighter as we approach, and I can’t stop my head turning to look at Riggs. He keeps his eyes pinned to me, his lips pressed into a thin line and his jaw clenched tight. I slowly turn to look forward and shake my head softly. Defeat slams in my chest, but I have no idea why.
Conrad pushes the bar door open, the blistering cold weather smothering me, and I feel myself begin to tremble. Conrad lets go of my hand, relief swarms me and I hate it. I hate that I would rather him not have his hand locked with mine than our fingers entwined as one. He shrugs off his soft leather jacket then blankets it over my shoulders.
“Thank you,” my voice is quiet, my breath evident in the air in front of me.
“Of course,” his fingers lace back through mine, and we walk towards his truck. Unlocking it, he opens my door and I climb in, clasping my hands together and huddling forward to try and keep myself warm until Conrad gets in and turns the engine on so the heating can kick in.
Conrad puts the truck into reverse, pulling back and driving out of the dusty parking lot and onto the country roads.
“Want to stargaze?” he asks, the soft music playing in the background as I stare out the windscreen.
Stargaze.
The way my heart falls from my chest, slowly splintering in a torturous way which makes me rub my aching chest.
Stargazing was always mine and Riggs’ thing.
I have never stargazed with anyone other than him. Not that you could really ever see the stars in LA. Even when I could I felt as if I was suffocating, looking up at them and hoping, wishing, that Riggs was looking up at them too.
“Can we take a rain check? I suddenly feel floored,” I give him an apologetic smile.
“Not a problem,” his hand slips between my thighs and he gives my leg a gentle squeeze before both hands land on the steering wheel again.
The drive home is quiet, but not an awkward silence. It’s nice, chilled, calming even, but it leaves me alone with my thoughts and that isn’t good.
Conrad walks me to the door like a true gentleman, scooping my cold hand into his and lifting it to his mouth as he places the softest butterfly like kiss on the back of it.
My cheeks pinch crimson as he stands tall, his eyes glistening under the warm porch light. I begin to shrug his jacket off, but he stops me, pulling it back onto my shoulders.
“Keep it, I’ll get it next time.”
“Okay,” I nod, rolling my lips into a thin line. “Thank you for a fun evening.”
“Thank you for agreeing to join me.”
I smile, stepping towards the front door and I hear the sound of his boots hitting the decked porch as he walks down the steps and towards his truck. I wait for him to disappear, the only noise reaching me is the sound of his tires crunching on the dusty, graveled driveway.
I let out a shaky breath and slump into one of the rockers that overlooks the darkness, the warm light as my comfort night light while I sit out here. My thoughts flash back to Riggs; how I saw a glimpse of the eighteen-year-old boy that was always so happy and care free.
The Riggs that I crushed on so damn hard. I may have even loved him. I scoff, letting my head fall as I rest it in my hands.
My mind flickers back to the night when everything changed, the night when I decided I was no longer wanted here. I scarpered home, packed my bags and ran. I ran out of this town like a bat out of hell.
It was a typical Friday night.Me, Austin, Harlow, Riggs, Tripp and Pacey were all in the Old Dusty Boot for good food and even better company.
Tonight though, tension was brewing between the group. I was still upset and angry at Riggs for blowing me off at prom. Riggs was pissed at Pacey for jumping in and taking me. Tripp and Austin were blissfully unaware of anything that was going on between the three of us. Harlow knew what was going on, but like the good best friend she was, she kept her lips tightly shut.
