Chapter 27
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Theo
My fingers slide under the page as I finish reading the final words, flipping to the next one. I have a Kindle, but there’s something about reading from an actual book that is so satisfying.
If I ever told Finn that, he would make fun of me for weeks.
Feet pad down the stairs behind me. I know it’s Riley because she’s the only other person home right now, but I would know it was her anyway. There’s a certain cadence to her steps that is uniquely her.
Wow… How pathetic is that? I’m so into her that I pay attention to the way she walks. I need to touch grass or something.
Too bad it’s winter and all the grass is buried beneath feet of snow.
She sets her laptop down on the coffee table, then sits down beside me. She scootches over until she’s tucked in right beside me.
Using my finger as a bookmark, I rest the book on my leg. “Hi.”
She gives me a quick kiss. “Hey.” Her eyes dart to my book. “What are you reading?”
“A new mystery that came out a few days ago.”
“And you’re almost done… already?”
I’ve always been a fast reader. It isn’t like I do it on purpose; it’s just the way my brain works. I’ve tried reading slower, and it made me want to pull all the hair from my head, one strand at a time.
“I like to read.”
“You act like I don’t know you, Theo,” she says, resting her head on my shoulder.
There aren’t many people outside of my family, if any, that truly know me. I don’t let many people in to see the real me.
It’s easier not to let people in because then they can’t hurt you. They can’t choose someone else over you.
“I know you, too,” I tell her. Anything I don’t already know, I want to discover because I want to know what’s within each of her layers.
That sounds dirty in some twisted way, but I genuinely want to know everything there is to know about her. It’s oddly intimate to know someone better than any other human on Earth.
She nods against my shoulder. “You do.”
We’re both quiet for a few minutes, content to just exist next to each other.
“I really don’t want to check my emails,” she groans. “I think I need something to motivate me.”
“What do you usually use?” I ask.
“Candy,” she says, tilting her head back. A slight smirk lifts the corner of her mouth upward.
“Sour candy, I assume.”
“Yup, nothing but the best. I don’t have any, though.”
I make a mental note to pick some up the next time I’m at the store. “I’ll kiss you after each email you finish.”
“My inbox is full.”
“Lucky me,” I say with a wink.
She smiles, grabbing her laptop. She situates her legs crisscross beneath her with her computer resting on her lap.
Her fingers start tapping across the keys, so I start reading from the page I had marked. I only make it through a few more pages before she turns to look at me again.
“Done,” she says after only a couple of minutes. “Kiss time.”
More than happy to comply, I lean over and press a gentle kiss to her lips.
“I think this could work,” she says, shimmying her shoulders. “You need to be careful, or I might just get a little too comfortable having you around. I might always need you with me when I’m working.”
I could tell her that I would love that. I want to be wherever she is. That sounds a little stalkerish, so I keep those thoughts firmly locked away.
I smile at her before turning back to my book. This goes on for close to an hour until her eyes grow heavy and she’s yawning more than she’s working.
“Tired?” It’s a dumb question because obviously she is. As if on cue, she yawns again.
“I was up working last night.”
“Why don’t you take a break?” I pat my shoulder. “Just close your eyes for a few minutes. You don’t even need to sleep.”
I have a feeling she’ll be out within a few minutes, but if this is what it takes to get her to relax, so be it.
That’s all the convincing she needs. Her laptop is set back on the table. I wrap my arm around her so she can lie her head against my chest.
“Comfy?” I ask.
“Mmhmm,” she hums into the well-worn fabric of my sweatshirt.
It takes hardly any time at all for her body to relax against me as her breathing evens out. My book is left abandoned beside me. I’m far more interested in the woman in my arms than anything in the pages of the book.
My fingers lazily draw patterns along her arm. For once, I’m actually not tired enough to fall asleep in the middle of the day.
I press a kiss to the top of her head because I can. I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to, so I’m going to make the most of it while she’s still here in Aspen Springs.
The creaking of the garage door sliding open drifts in from outside. If Finn’s home from the gym, he’s probably going to wake Riley with how loudly he always stomps around the house or by doing it intentionally to be a menace.
If it’s Cole, I don’t really know how he’s going to react. He said he’s fine with whatever Finn and I have going on with Riley, but I feel like he said that more to convince himself than Finn and me.
He told us to keep it out of his face, but it isn’t like we’re doing anything wrong. Minus the kiss, this is something friends would do.
Really close friends… But still.
Cole freezes as soon as he sees the two of us on the couch. He briefly looks at me, but then his eyes focus on her. Longing, pain, frustration, anger, and finally defeat flash through his eyes in quick succession.
Most people would never be able to tell what he is feeling, but I’ve known Cole my whole life. I can read him as well as I can read the book beside me.
He’s so confused by the emotions he has for Riley swirling inside of him. Despite how hurt he was by her departure years ago, he still has feelings for her.
Love isn’t just a switch you can flip on and off. If it’s true love, very little can be done to erase it completely.
His eyes fall closed as he shakes his head slowly. “I’ll be in my room.” His quiet steps move up the stairs.
I wish they would just talk to each other. It’s obvious feelings still exist on both sides that are buried beneath layers of what I’m assuming are massive amounts of miscommunication.
I could be wrong, but I know both of them. I also saw how head over heels they were for each other back then. Either of them doing anything to intentionally hurt the other seems unfathomable.
But instead of just talking to each other, they’re doing everything they can to avoid one another and the much-needed conversation. It’s like an overly complicated dance they are forcing themselves into.
Cole is probably hunched over his journal, moodily scribbling down all his thoughts. Don’t get me wrong, I’m so glad he’s found a way to process things, but it doesn’t do much to face the issue when she’s right here beside me.
I can’t help the feeling that Riley is only exploring things with Finn and me as a distraction of her own. I want to believe she genuinely has feelings of some kind for us, but those doubts linger on the edges of my mind.
If she and Cole were to smooth things over, would she ditch us?
When is she going to realize that either of them is better than me?
I quietly groan, not wanting to wake her. I pull my glasses off, setting them on my book. Carefully, I adjust the way I’m sitting, so I can lay my head against hers.
I have no idea if any of my worries will ever see the light of day. All I know is that she’s in my arms right now, and I’m going to enjoy every second of it.