Chapter 57
Chapter Fifty-Seven
NATHAN
Riley quickly looks away from me, but I already caught sight of her surprise. It’s adorable the way she thinks I would have been turned off by her crush.
I’m honored. Blown away.
I definitely don’t deserve it, but I’ll do everything in my power to make sure she doesn’t regret choosing me so long ago and sticking with me until now.
“Do you mean that?” Riley whispers.
I’m holding her from behind which makes it hard to see her face, so I turn her around and her eyes softly latch onto mine.
Oh man, am I in trouble.
“Of course I mean that.” She has no idea. I felt a tug toward her before I even knew who she was. “That day at the fair, I thought you were the most beautiful woman I’d ever laid eyes on.”
A shy, breathless laugh flows from her pink lips and Riley tucks her face against my chest, still trying to hide herself from me.
“Then I found out who you were and I tried my best to put a wall up. You were off-limits and I didn’t want to make things weird.
But the more we spoke, the harder it was to hold out.
I’d never felt that way about anyone before.
So I tried telling myself that I only enjoyed your company as a brother, but that lie fell apart every time you looked at me. I couldn’t hide it.”
My fingers skim her hands and I grip her wrists, pulling her arms up to my neck.
“I wish I’d known earlier how you felt,” I admit.
“You mean, like when I was twelve?”
“Uh, no,” I say quickly.
Riley buries her face in my neck and laughs.
Her breath hits my throat and I realize that I am completely and totally hers. I’m not sure when it happened. I’m not sure if I ever really consented to it.
But the day I saw her in Lucky Falls after all those years was the day the war began. She swept in like a battalion, gunning straight for my heart. The destruction was cruel and left nothing standing in its path.
It left me bare, stranded, with no choice but to surrender.
To be hers completely.
Riley’s thumb strokes the back of my neck.
I settle my hands on her waist.
Pulling her closer fills me with indescribable pleasure, so much so that I start swaying her in a dance, the music trapped in my heart and just for her.
Riley’s gaze sweeps up to mine as I dance with her.
I could stare into her brown eyes all day—though, to call those beautiful orbs ‘brown’ would be like calling Studio Ghibli, the studio that influenced Pixar and Disney just a ‘sketch artist club’. This type of brown is warm and deep and soulful. Mesmerizing.
Her lips tug into a smile. “I didn’t know Nathan Campbell could dance.”
“Oh this?” I grab her hand and spin her and then bring her right back against me because I can’t get enough of her. “This is all I can do. Junior-prom level. Step side to side. Spin. Dip.”
“Do not dip me.”
“Yes, ma’am.” I chuckle and brush my lips over her cheek.
Riley closes her eyes. I love the way she relaxes into my touch, the way her eyelashes flutter. The way her hair wisps fall against her face.
I feel the tug to kiss her everywhere those tendrils touch.
So I start at her cheek.
And then the edge of her jaw.
And then the side of her neck.
She smells great there. “Did you put on perfume?” I ask, nuzzling against her neck some more and closing my eyes to savor the fragrance trapped against her soft skin.
“A little.”
“You don’t usually put perfume there,” I murmur against her skin. “Was that intentional?”
“You caught me. I wanted to lure you right here.” She raises a hand, cupping the back of my head to keep me against her neck.
Thrilled, I realize, “You set a trap.”
“It’s more like a treasure map than a trap.”
Heat zings through my body.
My heart can’t take this much pounding.
“I like a woman who knows what she wants.” Gripping her chin, I tilt her head back to expose her neck to me and mark a line of kisses across her throat.
Riley’s knees buckle. On the way down, her fingers dig into my scalp and make me grunt in pleasure.
“Any other preferences?”
Riley inhales shakily. “Behind my ear.”
“Mm.” I turn her head to the side and kiss her so that her ear folds in half. “Back here?”
Her approval is a garbled word that, before I started kissing on her, resembled something from the English language.
I smile and tuck the fleshy part of her ear into my mouth, grazing it gently with my teeth.
“Sweet mercy above.” Riley swallows hard.
“So you like nibbling too. Noted,” I tease.
Her eyes flutter open and I’m proud of the way she looks slightly unfocused. “If this is how you repay unrequited love, I will admit that I like your compensation package.”
I laugh. “Am I still passing the inspection?”
“It depends. How many women have you practiced with to be so good at kissing?”
I scrunch my nose. “The past is in the past.”
Jealousy flashes through her eyes. “You will never beat the playboy allegations, Campbell.”
“That was the old, eighteen-year-old Campbell. The new Campbell is property of Riley Elizabeth Carter and Riley Elizabeth Carter alone.”
“Better be,” she says, wrapping her arms around me.
I press a kiss to the top of her hair.
“I’m so happy,” Riley announces. “I wish life was a movie so I could stop it right here and stay like this forever.”
“If you stop here, then you’ll miss the rest of the good stuff.”
“It gets better?” Riley asks, popping her head up and giving me a mischievous look.
My head drops toward hers. “You have no…”
The words stop as a striking pain flares in my leg. It’s so intense that I grip Riley tighter and she yelps.
“Nat, you’re squeezing me like a stress ball.”
“Sorry,” I choke out as my eyes dart frantically to my leg.
It feels like a third-degree burn but from inside of my skin and it’s accompanied by a persistent and dull throbbing.
“N-Nat?” Riley’s smile drains away and concern etches into the frown that forms in its place. “Nat, you’re getting so red.”
“I need to go… bathroom.”
I have no idea how I push those words out.
Agony has me in a chokehold.
The pain is unending, lashing waves crashing to the shore, dragging me into the depths.
Sharp.
Debilitating.
I stumble away from Riley, my teeth bared like an animal.
Just make it to the bathroom. Just…
The pain overwhelms me and I stumble, unable to keep my weight on my left leg.
Her footsteps thunder behind me. Her hand grabs my bicep, supporting me. “Nat, let’s go to the hospital.”
No, no, no.
Just a few seconds ago, I was floating on clouds. Holding Riley, confessing my love to her, it was as perfect as a dream.
And now, this mysterious pain is stealing in, trying to turn my dream into a nightmare.
I sink against the wall, pressing my palm on the wallpaper to remain upright.
“I-I just need a minute. It’s manageable.”
“You look like you’re about to pass out,” Riley argues.
“It’s not that bad,” I croak.
Riley’s touch on my face is feather-like as if she’s afraid I’ll shatter if she presses too hard. “Nat, you’re scaring me.”
My eyes shift to the bathroom further down the hallway. But it might as well be all the way across the world. I’m not going to make it.
“Riles, can you get me some water?”
“Nat, you don’t need water. You need a doctor.”
“Please.” I stare at her, begging.
Her shoulders hike to her ears, but she whirls around and sprints to the kitchen. I hear cupboard doors opening and slamming shut. Quickly followed by the tap running.
I don’t have time.
Reaching into my pocket with a shaky hand, I grab the pills that I always keep close to my person and knock them back dry.
Riley enters the hallway just as I’m trying to push the bottle back into my pocket.
“What is that?” Her voice slashes the air.
My nerves razor-thin, I jump and the bottle goes sailing out of my hand where it rolls on the floor. If I were feeling better, I would have easily snapped that right up, but I can’t move from the wall.
Riley’s the one who scoops up the bottle instead. She pops the cap and peers inside. Her eyes widen. “Nat, this is practically empty. How many of these have you been taking a day?”
“Just a few,” I say.
“Don’t lie to me.”
I flinch and tell her the real number.
Her jaw drops.
I rush to add, “But it’s not a strong prescription. It’s just over-the-counter meds.”
“I’m familiar with what they are, Nat.” Her teacher voice slaps me in the face. “And I’m also aware that you’re only supposed to take them every six to eight hours. Not every hour on the hour.”
I try to smile, but I can feel my lips trembling. “Don’t worry, Riles. It’s not as bad as it looks. Believe me.”
“Believe you? You told me you were ‘sore from training’. This looks a lot more serious than that, Nat.” She shakes her head. “You need a doctor. You need to stop.”
Panic engulfs me and I temporarily forget the pain I’m in. “I can’t.”
“You can barely walk right now.”
“It’s fine after the pills kick in.”
“And then what? You’re going to take more pills to keep playing? You do know this is how people turn into addicts, right?”
“Riley, I’m handling it.” Frustration hardens my tone.
Her eyes narrow in response and I get the feeling she’d hit me if I wasn’t already injured.
I speak again in a pleading tone. “I just got a team back. I’m lined up to play with the Lucky Strikers, with Chance McLanely. I’ve worked so hard to get to this point.”
She glances away, her lips pursed.
I reach for her hands, trying to convince her. “I’ll pace myself with the pills. Make sure not to over-do it. Until then, you can’t let anyone know about this.”
Riley throws my hands away in disgust. “You want me to lie for you too?”
“Not lie.” My heart pounds desperately. “Riley, work with me here. Please. I don’t want to fight with you.”
“I don’t want to fight with you either, but I don’t agree with your choices, Nat. It’s incredibly dangerous to be on the ice when you’re in so much pain. And you’re starting to abuse medication. How do you expect to play an entire season like this?”
“I—”
Riley bulldozes over me. “And not once in that little speech did I hear you saying anything about going to a doctor.”
“I’ll see one… eventually.”
“When?” Riley demands.
I scratch the back of my neck. I hate that I’m worrying her, but I also won’t let her box me into a corner. With a pain like this, there’s only one thing the doctors can say and I don’t want to hear it.
Riley firms her lips and steps away from me, eyes as cold as her voice. “I won’t tell anyone about the pain you’re in, Nat.”
“Thank…”
“But until you decide to see a doctor and get medical treatment,” she moves back, resolute as a pillar, “don’t come to me.”