Falling Up

32. Dating

Riley's hand slipped out from Kain's, their eye contact breaking away as she nervously cleared her throat.

"Umm, I'll just get this cleaned up." Riley pointed to the puddle around her feet that was still seeping into Kain's pants as he remained frozen in his place. The sound of her voice seemed to shock him back into reality and he got up out of the puddle, wiping off his jeans with his hands.

She hoped to god that he sensed nothing about the way she was feeling as she stood up from the booth then sidestepped around the puddle, rushing off in the hunt for a mop. When she returned, she set to work on clearing the floor, her burnt hand long forgotten over the now racing drumbeat of her heart.

No way was this happening. Her feelings were definitely not changing towards Kain. He was still an obnoxious, rude and aggravating individual and she definitely would not entertain the idea of them becoming anything more than mere acquaintances. Not that Kain would want anything more to do with her either.

Kain busied himself of his own accord, clearing the table of the coffee mugs, even though he didn't have to since he was a customer. Once they had finished clearing, they packed their bags and headed out the door to class with the silences still baring down between them.

Unfortunately for Riley, they had the same class together. So even though she was desperate to get away from him, that is how they ended up walking. Side by side to the lecture hall.

Their conversation was minimal between them as they crossed the open grass area. The delights of the old growing trees that adorned the campus grounds and the sounds of birds chirping filled up the awkward silence between them as the cool freshness of the air hit against her skin. A mere remark about the weather or a quick mention of the new coffee shopping opening up close by was all that exchanged between them.

An excruciatingly long five minutes later, they were entering the hall to their lecture theatre.

Riley almost cried out in relief when Kendra came rushing over, grabbing her by the arm and guiding her to a seat that she had already reserved. Kain disappeared in the other direction, up the long stairs to his usual seat in the back with his friends, who were already surrounded by a gaggle of girls in the row below them, flipping their hair and laughing obnoxiously loud.

"Were you just with Kain?" Kendra asked as her curious eyes glanced over at Kain walking up the stairs.

"He was paying up on his bet," said Riley, trying to act as casual as possible.

"Oh man, I didn't think he would actually pay up on that. I mean, you guys hate each other."

"Yeah," mumbled Riley as she took a quick glance back at Kain, who was now seated in the middle of his group.

Kendra sensed nothing off about the remark, which was something that Riley was grateful for.

"So, how did you go after the party? With your brothers, I mean. Which are, by the way..." Kendra paused to let out a low wolf whistle. "You know I would happily come over anytime to help you study, clean the house, wash the dog..." Kendra trailed off wistfully.

"We don't have a dog, Kendra."

"Then maybe I'll get you a puppy dog. Then I could come over and watch your brothers, maybe on a hot day, with their shirts off, cuddling up to a puppy..." Kendra trailed off with a starry expression in her eyes.

"Kendra!" whisper-yelled Riley. "That's disgusting. Those are my brothers you're talking about."

"Speaking about boys," said Kendra, quick to flip from the subject with a smile crossing her face and her eyes brightening at whatever thought was held behind her eyes. "I believe you slept in Kain's bed on Friday night?"