All This Time // H.S. // A.U.

Chapter Seventy-One

Present Day

RILEY

For the tenth time since arriving at the restaurant, I had fixed my dress and checked my makeup with my phone. Getting here thirty minutes early was both a blessing and a curse. I had time to saddle on up to the bar and have a drink, but it also gave me ample time to overthink.

Had I chosen the right dress? Should I have gone more casual? Should I have worn a different lipstick? And then that brought me to a whole new line of panic, wondering if tonight was going to end in a kiss. Did he expect that? Was that moving too fast?

He said this was a date, so surely it wouldn't be crazy to kiss on the first one. Could this even be considered our first date?

I sucked down half my drink in one go, trying to calm myself. This was way too confusing to simply be a first date. I had to FaceTime Imani earlier to have her tell me my dress was perfect and that this was the right call. My fingers twitched to call her again to give me a second pep talk.

Closing my eyes for a second, I remember his call.

"Hello?"

"You're alive?" I hear his amusement plain and clear.

"Barely." I grumble, pulling my comforter closer to my body. It was past noon, but I've barely left my bed since I woke up with a raging hangover. "I think I'm dying."

A husky chuckle reverberates through the phone, "Did you drink any water?"

"Mhm," I whimper pathetically, "I never drink that much anymore."

"I figured. Did you have fun last night?" He asks.

I could hear him moving around, the sound of his refrigerator opening and closing. Reaching over blindly for my water bottle, I reply, "Yeah, I really needed a night out like that. Even if I'm regretting it right now."

"You remember everything?"

"Yes." I breathed, clutching the phone to my ear, "Surprisingly, but yes, I do."

He doesn't say anything right away, silence lingering between us as the memory of the night washed over us. The warmth of his skin as I traced over his tattoos, the feel of his body pressed against me, the way he looked at me...

"Good."

There he goes again with that fucking word.

"Good?"

"Yeah, good." He repeats, "Do you need anything?"

I smile to myself, finally taking another sip of water before screwing the lid back on and clutching it to my front. "I think I'm okay. I've got some leftover Chinese in the fridge that will probably settle my stomach. Actually I'm gonna do that now."

I sit up, taking a moment to make sure I wasn't going to puke, then gathered a blanket in my arms and walked out to my kitchen. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing, really." He says, pausing to take a drink, "Just got back from a run. Thought I'd make sure you were doing okay."

"You just-" I start bewildered, "A run, really? Did you not drink last night?"

He laughs, "Not as much as you did, Ri."

I huff, "Don't remind me." Sticking my leftovers in the microwave, I continue, "Remind me next time to take after you."

"I don't know... I kind of liked drunk Riley." He teases.

I glare at my food, "That's because I couldn't stop touching you, you perv."