Riley and Devin

Chapter Forty-Five

The locks are turning open and I'm scrambling off of Devin and grabbing my shirt and running to the bathroom. I lock the door and grip the ledge of the sink tightly. I look in the mirror and my hair's a mess, my lips are swollen, my cheeks are flushed and my eyes are wild. I quickly put my shirt back on and smooth down my hair. I wash my face with water and then try to think of what I need to grab. My shoes are in Devin's room and my phone is on the table.

I unlock the door and step out, trying to look controlled. I dart into Devin's bedroom and shove my shoes onto my feet and grab my keys and then I walk to the kitchen where Nick, Theo and Devin all are. I grab my phone. "Hey, I have to go," I say quickly to Theo and Nick, avoiding eye contact with Devin. I have no idea if they saw anything or how much they saw.

"Can you stay for a couple of minutes? We got something for you. It was your birthday after all," Theo tells me.

"Um, I really should go," I say.

"It'll only take a couple of minutes," Theo says.

"Uh, okay," I say. Theo and Nick get up and leave me and Devin. I keep my eyes down and I can feel Devin staring at me. Every second feels like an hour. I try not to think about what just happened, but I still feel him on lips and my skin. I shift and my shirt falls off my shoulder. That's when I realize that I'm wearing one of Devin's shirts. Devin's eyes go straight to the bare skin exposed.

My eyes meet his and his are dark. There's still hints of desire and lust. I frown and bite my lip. He takes a couple of steps toward me and I start to walk towards him for some reason. There's this magnetic pull that's pulling me towards him. His hand brushes my cheek.

"Riley," he says softly. I step closer to him. I hear a door slamming and I step away from Devin. I hop up onto the counter. Devin stands right next to where I'm sitting and his hand gripping the counter right next to where my thigh is. Devin shifts closer to me and his hand is resting right next to my leg, his thumb tracing patterns.

I don't say anything because this is probably the best way for us to be touching right now. Theo and Nick walk back into the kitchen. Theo hands me a wrapped present. "You guys really shouldn't have," I tell them.

"Go on then, open it," Nick says. I rip off the wrapping paper and open the box. I pull out a beautiful journal. It's an old leather and it smells like old books.

"This is beautiful," I say. I open it and run my fingers over the pages. "Thank you."

"My sister finds it helpful to write things down in a journal. Feelings or whatever," Theo says.

"Maybe not feelings but thank you," I say. I hop down from the counter and hug them. Nick and Theo that is.

"Well, I should get going," I say.

"Hey, hold up a second," Nick says. He turns to Devin and asks, "You going to Mom's or Riley's?"

"Riley's," Devin answers.

"Will you give him a ride?" Nick asks me. I nod. "I would, but I'm going to kill him because he threw a fucking party in my apartment and you were drinking. Didn't Dad teach you not to drink?" Devin doesn't answer him.

"Okay, well we should go," I say. "Thank you again for the journal. There's pizza in the fridge and the apartment is cleaned," I say and then Devin and I leave. We get in my car.

We drive to my house in silence. "Your parents home?" Devin asks me.

"No, they left this morning," I say. My parents travel a lot for their jobs.

"You left the outfit you were wearing on Friday at their apartment," he says. He adds, "The silver was pretty on you."

"I thought you would have been too drunk to notice," I say.