The Bet

Don't Ever Touch Me Again

In the three weeks Riley was gone Lucas tried his best to clean up the mess he made. She was visiting her best friend Maya in California for the holidays and wouldn't be back until the second week of January which gave him some time to find a new way to pay Mr. Jefferson back.

The day after Riley left, he dropped by Charlie's house to tell him the bet was off. He refused to do that to her anymore, it just didn't feel right. He had him swore to never tell and the two haven't spoken of it since.

Zay's older brother was nice enough to offer Lucas a temp job at his coffee shop since it was the holiday season and he really needed the help. He got paid next to nothing but the tips were pretty good. On a slow night he still made $50 in tips. It wasn't much but every bit helped.

"So what's the deal with you and sunshine?" Zay asks, wiping down one of the tables. He occasionally helped out at his brother's coffee shop after school whenever there wasn't any practice. He helped out a lot more now that Lucas worked there. It was the night before Riley got back and the two boys were closing up shop together.

"What do you mean?" Lucas gives him a look, before collecting the plates the previous guests had left behind.

"I mean, are you guys together? Is it serious?"

"I guess we kind of have this unofficially official thing going on." He shrugs his shoulders. "It feels serious though. The day before she left things got a little...intense to say the least."

Zay stops dead in his tracks, smirking at his blonde friend. "Wait a minute...did you – "

"No." Lucas answers before letting him finish. "We got pretty close though."

"Who know Princess Abstinence had it in her." Zay laughs, shaking his head.

"Come on man – not cool."

"I'm just saying, Luke" Zay raises his hands in defense. "Don't get me wrong, she's a great girl but Riley's notoriously known for not giving it up. I mean, I know you noticed the purity ring on her finger, right?"

"I noticed it...I just didn't know it was a purity ring." He answers, wondering why he never asked her about it before.

"She's worn it since 8th grade. Why do you think Charlie picked her in the first place?"

"Because he's a moron."

"Noo." Zay laughs, "Because she used it as an excuse not to sleep with him when they dated freshmen year."

Lucas turns his neck so fast he swore he pulled something. "What?!" He drops the ceramic mug in his hand, causing it to shatter onto the floor. Thankfully it was closing time so no customers were around.

"By your reaction I'm assuming you didn't know?" Zay asks, fetching the broom and dustpan from behind the counter to help sweep up the sharp pieces.

"Charlie and Riley? My Riley?" He furrows his brows trying to imagine it. "Seriously?"

"I'm surprised he didn't tell you." Zay dumps the dustpan full of shards into the trash. "But then again it is Charlie so."

Lucas thinks back to freshmen year. He wasn't friends with Charlie back then. He had just started dating Annette and he was so caught up in being a little fish in the big pond that he never really noticed anything or anyone aside from his best friend, his team mates and his girl. It wasn't until sophomore year when Charlie joined the football team that he even knew he existed.

They never really got along well. As pathetic as it sounds they sort of always had this 'frenemy' type relationship. Everything was a competition, especially to Charlie. Lucas should've put two and two together when he picked Riley out of all the girls that were in the courtyard that day.