Chapter 15 Riot
Riot
Once we’re a safe distance away, I pull Eloise into a small clearing beneath a massive pine, careful to kick away any spiked fruit lying in wait for her delicate feet. Once I’m sure we’re safe, I pass Eloise her pants and bra, strategically keeping her shirt for myself.
“Um… you wouldn’t happen to have my underwear, would you?”
I shake my head, feigning an innocent expression. In reality, the lacy pink thong is stuffed deep in my pocket—but she doesn't need to know about that. “Sorry. Must have dropped them somewhere back there.”
She narrows her eyes but doesn’t question me further. Instead, she nods to her crop top still clutched in my hands. “Can I have that?”
“You already have a shirt.”
“Yeah. Yours.”
“I fail to see the problem.” I shrug. Then, with a smirk, I pull her crop top over my head. It only reaches the top of my nipples, and I’m definitely stretching out the fabric beyond repair, but Eloise doesn't seem to mind.
In fact, she’s losing her ever-loving shit.
“I think you pull it off better than me,” she says, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. “That’s fucked up, Riot. So not cool.”
“I’m glad you approve. That means we can get going.”
“Going where?”
I just grab her hand, tugging her in the direction of my motorcycle. “Somewhere you’ll like.”
“Welcome to Rusty’s Anchor.” The teenager pauses briefly at the sight of me in Eloise’s ill-fitting crop top but doesn’t make any comment. “Just the two of you?”
“Just us two,” I say, looking down at Eloise with heated eyes.
“Alright.” He looks over his shoulder at the mostly empty diner before facing me again. “Sit anywhere you like. Someone will be with you in a minute.”
I squeeze Eloise’s hand, and she pulls me farther into the restaurant, eager to sit and peruse the menu. Apparently, she’s never had greasy diner food—before or after midnight—and it’s something I have to rectify now that I’m privy to the information.
Eloise picks a booth next to the window overlooking the ocean, sliding in close enough to press her nose to the glass. She only turns when she feels me sliding in next to her.
“Something wrong?”
She shakes her head. “No, I just… thought you were going on the other side.”
“But you’re over here,” I say, resting my hand on her knee. “And I like being where you are.”
Her face heats, but she doesn’t pull away from my touch. Instead, she grabs one of the paper menus sitting at the end of the table and places it between us so we can look over the options.
“See something you like?”
Eloise bites her lip, looking at me out of the corner of her eye. “Too many things. That’s the problem. I’m between the birthday cake pancakes and the apple-pie-stuffed French toast.”
“Get both, then. I’m paying.”
“I can’t! That’s so wasteful.” She crinkles her nose. “And way too much sugar for one person.”
I shrug. “Whatever you say.”
At that moment, our server comes over, wearing a pleasant smile despite the dark bags under her eyes. “Hi, guys! I’m Wendy, and I’ll be taking care of you. Do you need a couple more minutes?”
“I think we’re ready.” I give Eloise a sly glance. “I’ll have an extra-large stack of the birthday cake pancakes, and she’ll have your apple-pie-stuffed French toast, please. Extra syrup.”
Eloise gapes but doesn’t have the time to disagree. “Any drinks? Coffee, water, tea?”
“Two coffees,” I say. “One black, one with cream and sugar.”
“Sure thing.” She grins, and then she’s gone, leaving me with a narrowed-eyed Eloise.
“What?”
Her eyes squint further. “Really? You wanted the extra-large stack of birthday cake pancakes? With those abs?”
“I think I’m entitled to a treat every now and then.” And I want to give you everything you’ve ever wanted. Starting with sugary, dye-filled pancakes.
“Mm-hmm.” Eloise turns back to the window, but before she does, I catch the slightest hint of a smile. “Thank you, Riot.”
“For what?”
She gazes at me out of the corner of my eye. “For being nice to me.”
I’m not quite sure what to say to that, so I say nothing at all.
The way she says it makes me think that kindness isn’t something Eloise experiences often—and that thought destroys me.
How could someone so good, so kind, be treated with the exact opposite?
How could this world be so cruel to a soul as beautiful as Eloise’s?
Instead of talking, we sit there in the booth for a while, enjoying each other's company in silence. It’s comforting, knowing I don’t have to fill the space with mindless chatter. Knowing I don’t have to perform for anyone, not even for myself.
I just hope she feels the same way too.
A few minutes later, Wendy comes back with our food and a large carafe of coffee. She fills our mugs, looking between us with a nostalgic glint in her misty eyes.
“How long have y'all been together?” Wendy asks.
Heat floods Eloise’s face as she lets out a small choking sound, and Wendy chuckles under her breath. “I don’t mean to pry. It’s good to see a young couple in love. It’s getting rarer and rarer these days.”
Eloise looks helplessly toward me, and I just grin, throwing my arm over her shoulders and pulling her closer. “I’ve lost track of how long. With her, time just flies.” I look deeply into Eloise’s eyes, hoping she sees the sincerity in mine. “All I know is it will never be enough.”
“You two are too cute,” she says. “Just wave if you need anythin’ else.”
“Thanks, Wendy.”
I turn back to Eloise with a look of feigned hurt. “I can’t believe you’re embarrassed to tell people about our love, Eloise.”
She smacks my knee. “I can’t believe you told her we were dating!”
“Well, aren’t we?”
Eloise freezes, her eyes going wide as I stare into hers. “I… no?”
“Do you want to?”
Her breath hitches, the vein in the side of her neck thrumming rapidly. “What?”
“The question was fairly simple, Eloise,” I murmur, reaching up and cupping her cheek. “I don’t need an answer now. Just think about it.”
“Okay…”
I release her, using my free hand to push the plate of sugar-filled food toward her. “You should eat. It’ll get cold.”
She nods, her cheeks flaming, hands shaking ever so slightly as she reaches for her fork. As soon as she takes a bite of her food, she lets out the cutest little moan, and my cock strains—clearly misreading the room.
I watch Eloise out of the corner of my eye, enamored by every aspect of her being. Just being in her presence is invigorating, inspiring. It makes me want to write, to put into words how being in her orbit makes me feel.
As she takes her second bite, I slide out of the booth and head toward the hostess stand, returning to the table with a pen in hand.
“What’s that for?” Eloise asks, placing her fork between her crumb-coated lips.
“A surprise.” I slide in next to her and grab a napkin, doing my best to cover what I’m writing from Eloise’s prying gaze until it’s ready. When I’m satisfied, I straighten, pushing the napkin toward her, strangely nervous.
Her eyes move over the lines, her lips tipping upward as she reads. “Song lyrics?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“They’re beautiful,” she murmurs, brushing the corner of the napkin with her forefinger. “You just thought of these?”
“Just now, yeah.” I stare at her profile, unblinking, my heart thudding wildly against its cage. “I had to get it out, get it down on paper.”
“Get what out?”
“Feelings,” I say. “Too many feelings.”
She nods, her finger hovering over the first line briefly before tapping down on a word. “This one, here… What if it said, ‘spark in the haze’ instead of ‘light’?”
I draw the napkin back toward me, scratching out the line and adding the lyrics she suggested.
I see you in the crowd, like a spark in the haze,
A smile cuts through, sets my nights all ablaze.
Your love’s out of reach, but it lingers in my veins,
A fleeting kind of fire that I’m chasing through the rain.
Damn. That is better.
I look over at her, my pulse spiking when I find her eyes already on me. “Thank you, Eloise.”
“For what?”
“For being you. Wonderfully, magnificently you. For filling my heart with sound, when it had been so horribly silent. For inspiring me.”
“I… inspire you?”
“Only every moment we’re together, and even the ones we’re not,” I whisper, leaning in close enough to smell the sugar on her perfect pink lips. “You’re my little muse.”
We finish eating, pay, and head back out into the night. The moon is high in the sky, illuminating the constellation of freckles spread across Eloise’s face, the spark of joy hidden deep within her sky-blue eyes.
“Thank you for tonight, Riot.” Her voice is barely a whisper, yet it’s like fireworks in the charged silence between us. “I know I’ve said it already, but thank you for giving me this night. I had…” She looks off into the distance, her eyes welling with unshed emotion. “I had a lot of fun.”
Instead of answering, I step closer, wrapping my arms around her waist and tugging her close. I place my finger under her chin, drawing her gaze up to mine, demanding her attention.
“You don’t need to thank me for anything, little muse. This time with you has been a gift, one I’ll always treasure.” I lean in, breathing in her intoxicating scent. “At least until next time.”
She blushes, but instead of pulling away, Eloise presses on her tiptoes, her brows scrunched in concentration. Before I have time to ask what she’s doing, before I have time to blink, she places her lips against my cheek.
Time slows as the sky opens, raining down millions of heated sparks. They cover my skin, burrow into my bloodstream, and flood my being with pulsing, burning light.
“Eloise…” Her name rolls off my tongue like a prayer, and I just stand there for a moment, frozen under the weight of her smile.
“Something to keep you until next time,” she says, suddenly shy.
I shake my head, tugging her closer as my heart threatens to jump out of my throat. “I don’t think I’ll make it.”
She giggles, pulling out of my hold. Everything inside me begs me to hold her tight, to keep her with me just a little longer. But I know if I do, I’ll never be able to let her go.
“I should probably get going,” she murmurs, her voice suddenly sad. “It’s getting pretty late.”
I nod, my heart cracking as I’m forced to agree. “The motorcycle is still at the beach. I can walk you home—”
“No, that’s okay!” Eloise waves her hands. “I don’t want to put you out.”
I raise my brow. “You won’t. I need to make sure you get home safe.”
She worries her lip. “I’ll be plenty safe. You really don’t have to worry about me.”
She really must not want me to see where she lives… but why? “At least let me call you an Uber.”
She sighs reluctantly. “Okay.”
A few minutes later, the car pulls up. Thankfully, it’s not a male driver, so I’m slightly more at ease as Eloise slides into the back seat.
“Call me if you need anything—and I mean anything, Eloise.” I reach out, cupping her face in a tender goodbye. Her pupils blow as she meets my eyes, and my cock tightens at the lust swirling deep in her gaze. “I’ll see you soon, little muse.”
“See you soon,” she whispers, reaching up and placing her hand over mine, giving it a gentle squeeze. “I’ll text you.”
“Yes, you will,” I murmur, leaning in to place a chaste kiss on her cheek, lingering a little longer than I should.
I pull back and close the door, watching the car pull off down the street, then stare at the spot where it disappeared long after it's gone. Absentmindedly, I reach into my pocket, smirking at the feel of her lacy panties between my fingers.
Mine. All mine.
After a few more minutes of reminiscing, I start walking in the direction of the beach, needing to recover my motorcycle before I head home for the night.
The salty breeze cuts through the humidity and allows me to take deep, clear breaths.
It reminds me of Eloise—but then, all the beautiful things in the world do.
Anything that brings me joy, or that’s filled with light, or is simply exceptional.
All of these sights and sensations and daily little miracles remind me of her, remind me that there’s something good left in this world. Something to stay and fight for.
And I will fight for her. From the sidelines, if I must, but I will do it. There’s nothing else for me. Nothing I can do. It scares me—the finality of it all. Like some great beast has been woken within me, and I can’t banish it back to where it came from.
As I walk, the urge to put these feelings down on paper intensifies, filling every corner of my mind with a deep, pulsing need. It’s filling up my heart, flooding my soul, and I need to get it out before it consumes me.
With the pressure mounting, I grab my motorcycle and speed back to my hotel suite, in such a hurry to get the lyrics out that I don’t bother locking the door behind me.
Filled with adrenaline and a strange sense of duty, I grab the nearest sheet of paper I can find and begin scribbling onto the blank canvas, filling it with hurried symbols and jagged letters that converge and spread with wild abandon.
When I’m done, I’m filled with more energy than before—a force begging to be put to use.
So I clean my shithole of a hotel suite—grabbing empty bottles and takeout containers by the fistful—and stranger still, I sing the whole while.
It’s been years since I’ve done it so casually.
Years since I’ve been happy enough to let that caged bird in my heart sing. Even longer since I listened.
Just as I’m finishing, my phone dings with a text, and I nearly trip over myself trying to get to the phone sitting on my nightstand. With trembling fingers, I open Eloise’s text—but I’m wholly unprepared for the picture that’s enclosed.
Eloise, lying in bed, in my shirt, and nothing else.
My eyes scour the frame hungrily, all the blood rushing to my cock as I take in the tops of her silky thighs and the pouty expression on her angelic face.
Thanks for the shirt (;
I’ve died. I’ve died and gone someplace much, much better. At least, that’s the only explanation for me being gifted something this wonderful. Someone this enchanting.
I’ve never seen anything more beautiful. Good night, little muse.
Good night, Riot <3
I stare at my screen for a long while after, staring at the little heart she sent while mine is about to combust. As I stand there, my pulse thrumming in my ears and my knees fixing to give way, I realize something shocking.
I think… I think I’m happy. Happy for the first time in a long, long while.
If only it was meant to last…