CHAPTER FORTY
Riley — 19 years old.
When my eyes flutter open, I feel somewhat disoriented. Hazy even.
Confused, I blink at Lila, who’s looking down at me, her face etched with concern. “What happened?” I croak through dry lips. God, I have the nastiest headache. My head feels like someone’s trying to hammer my skull open and for some reason, all my muscles are sore.
“There was a gas leak in our apartment.” Lila grimaces. Her fingers gently move across my cheeks, brushing the loose strands of my hair away from my face. “You passed out from carbon monoxide poisoning.”
My eyes widen, a harsh exhale rattling from my chest. Carbon monoxide is a poisonous gas; I could have died. How did this even happen? I had been feeling dizzy, but I thought it was just exhaustion. I was reading on the couch, I remember standing up and then—
The rest of my memories are a dark void of space, completely empty . I don’t remember anything else. How I fell unconscious orhow I got here. I can hear the beeping of machines around me. The sterile white walls and the unpleasant scent of death that surround us. I’m in a hospital, that I know with certainty. Was it Lila who found me?
“Colton found you,” Lila tells me, as if she can read my mind. Her voice softens. “He saved your life. I can’t imagine what would have happened if he didn’t get to you in time.”
Lila shifts to the side, and my eyes land on Colton’s tall frame. He’s standing at the end of my bed, his body very still. I’m not sure he’s even breathing.
Our eyes meet and it’s like seeing a cold sculpture come to life. I see the first twitch in his body. The muscle in his jaw ticks and his chest rattles with a sharp inhale—as if he can finally breathe again. The relief in his body is almost immediate.
Colton…saved me?
I am grateful, yet I can’t seem to get rid of the resentment that simmers in my veins. Looking at his face, seeing him here after hearing what he said last night—it aggravates me.
I clear my throat and keep my voice cool. Detached. “Thank you for saving my life,” I tell him, nudging my chin up. “I’m grateful you got to me on time.”
From the corner of my eyes, I see the confusion on Lila’s face. She has been so glad that Colton and me were finally getting along these last few weeks. But she doesn’t know what happened last night. I don’t plan on telling her either. She gets along fine with Colton. They are friends and they respect each other. I don’t want to be the reason their friendship is ruined.
Because I know, if Lila has to ever pick a side, she will always choose me.
His throat bobs with a hard swallow, but he doesn’t respond. Well, I have nothing else to say to him. I turn my face toward Lila. “Do you know when I can go home?”
“The doctor will have to check on you before you get discharged.” Lila takes my hand in hers, squeezing. “They said if everything looks good, you can go home tonight. We can’t stay at our place though. We have to wait for any remnants of the carbon monoxide in the air to completely clear out, just to be on the safe side. We will stay with Maddox and Colton, just for tonight.”
Hmm. I nod in understanding. I guess that makes sense.
“Why don’t you and Maddox go back first?” The deep timbre of his familiar voice fills the room. Colton is looking at me, but he’s speaking to Lila. “I will bring Riley home once she’s discharged.”
“No,” I deadpan. “I’m not going anywhere with Colton.”
Colton rakes his fingers through his hair. “I’m only taking you back home. You’re not going anywhere else with me. Lila has been by your side all this time; she needs to go back and get some rest.”
My jaw clenches, hating that his words make sense. “I wasn’t speaking to you.”
Colton swears under his breath and squeezes his eyes shut. He inhales deeply, and then opens his eyes again. “Look, I know I’m the last person you want to see right now—”
“You are,” I agree sharply. “Since you’ve already acknowledged that, then maybe you can leave now.”
Lila’s eyes bounce back and forth between Colton and me. “Am I missing something?” she asks cautiously.
“No!” we both exclaim in unison.
Colton sighs, tiredly rubbing a hand over his face. He looks weary, but I can’t bring myself to care. “Can you give Riley and me a moment in private, please?”
“Uhm…yeah, sure.”
I grasp onto her hand, pulling her back when she tries to leave. “Nope, I don’t want a moment in private with him. You can stay, he will leave.”
“Riley,” Colton mutters, my name sounding more like a warning on his lips. “I just need five minutes of your time. That’s all I’m asking.”
“I’ll be right outside.” Lila pulls her hand out of my grip, pats me on the shoulder and then walks away. I gape at her retreating back. Traitor. She slides the door closed behind her, leaving Colton and me alone in the hospital room.
I try to cross my arms over my chest, but I can’t, because the movement tugs on the IV tubes. I feel a pinch in the back of my hand and wince. I’m so glad I was passed out when they did this to me. I hate needles.
Colton shifts closer. His thumb rubs across his jaw, and he looks like he’s contemplating what to say, mulling over his words before speaking them out loud.
Well, that’s new. Since he always just speaks whatever is on his mind, regardless of the fact if it wounds other people or not.
He takes a deep breath. “Look, I want to apologize—”
Tossing my head back, I laugh. A dry, cold laugh.
His eyes darken, the muscle in his jaw ticking. “Would you just let me speak?” He’s already irritated. Well, his patience didn’t last too long. I’m not even surprised at this point.
“You know,” I start, my voice sounding hollow even to my own ears. “Yesterday, I was thinking that maybe we could have been friends.”
He blinks, shock evident on his face.
“Hate can get so exhausting sometimes. So, I was thinking of putting everything behind us and starting anew. A friendship of some sort. I was even willing to forgive you for calling me Jasper’s sloppy seconds—”
“That was a mistake,” Colton cuts me off. His regret is palpable; I can hear it in his words, but it doesn’t matter anymore. I don’t care about his apologies or his regret.
They mean nothing after last night.
“Oh, so now it’s a mistake?” I give him a brittle smile. “You know, in the last few weeks, I started to think that maybe you had a personality makeover. But I was wrong. Your words last night proved me wrong. And nothing you say now will fix it.”
“You won’t give me a chance to apologize?” He slowly advances toward me, until he’s standing by my side. He’s so close to me, the spicy scent of his cologne filling my nose. “You won’t let me fix this?”
“What changed your mind overnight?” I ask, but then shake my head. “Wait, no. It doesn’t matter. I don’t want to know. Because even if you come up with the best excuse, I won’t believe you.”
He scowls.
Trust is a fragile thing. It might take years to build and only a second to break. And Colton lost my trust before he even had a chance to gain it.
I won’t give him the power to break me.
Colton Bennett will never be a safe option for my heart.
I should have never thought otherwise. Maybe I had a brief lapse of judgment, where I mistook his deception for kindness and even something more. But I won’t be making that mistake again.
Colton makes a growly sound in the back of his throat. Am I getting on his nerves? Good. “Is this how it’s going to be then?” he asks, a dark gleam in his gray eyes.
I nudge my chin up, staring at him through my lashes. I keep my expression cool, giving nothing away. He scoffs, shaking his head. His gaze sweeps across my face, lingering longer over my lips. Colton is quiet for a moment, and then I see it.
A twitch on his lips, almost like he’s trying to hide a smile.
“I wasn’t going to go at it like this. But you leave me no choice,” he tells me. His arm comes up, his knuckles softly brushing along my jaw before he wraps a loose strand of my blonde hair around his index finger. I try to move my head away, but he holds on tight. “I saved your life and you’re grateful, but that’s not enough. You owe me, Riley. You’re indebted to me. And I will be collecting. Not today, not tomorrow, and maybe not even next week or next month.”
He gently tugs on my hair and my lips part with a silent gasp.
My heart thuds in my chest. Indebted?
“But when I come to collect the debt of life you owe me, you will know.” His eyes glint with smugness. “In the meantime, you will just have to tolerate me and my presence. Go ahead, call me an asshole, a heartless jerk or any other cruel names you can think of. I am all those things and I’ve never claimed to be different. But get used to having me in your life now. I’m going to be your permanent shadow.” His voice drops low, a deep timbre that resonates through my whole body, causing a tingle in my lower belly.
I want to pull away, but I can’t.
I can’t move.
I can’t breathe…
His warm, musky scent surrounds me. His maddening touch and the burning intensity of his gaze— I can’t bring myself to pull away from them. My body and my brain are on two different pages.
Colton leans in, his breath fanning across my lips. “And you know what?” He purrs gruffly, and it’s both rich and masculine. “I was going to let you go, Little Wallflower. But it’s kinda your fault we’re in this situation right now.”
His mouth brushes along my jaw, moving lower and then pressing against my throat. Right over my rapid pulse. A soft caress of his lips. “For having a soft heart and for being so stubbornly beautiful.” He breathes against my skin.
My stomach flutters.
His teeth graze my flesh, a small nip that has been sucking in a sharp breath, before he pulls away. Colton releases my hair, and he takes a step back. A roguish smirk tugs at the corner of his mouth. That damn, wicked smirk.
I hate it.
He shoves his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “I’m going to tell Lila that I’ll be driving you back home.”
Colton doesn’t wait for my response before he’s stalking away.
I thought he was terrible before, but now he’s going to use the fact that he saved my life to continuously bait me. I don’t know what he wants from me, but I know one thing for sure. Colton is going to enjoy vexing me. I saw the mischievous challenge in his eyes.
I close my eyes, leaning back against the pillow. He infuriates me.
I hate him.