Chapter 10
~Hudson~
I never anticipated Riley kissing me, at least not today, but once it happens, I have no intention of letting the moment pass. My rules about not hitting on her be damned; if she feels an attraction to me the same as I do to her, why should we ignore it?
When her lips touch mine, it’s everything I hoped it would be: soft and warm, a little hesitant.
Just testing the waters, but fuck, they’re nice waters.
I can’t help the grin that spreads across my face as I pull back, so when she begins to blush and look embarrassed, I tell her straight out that I’m interested in her in a romantic way, just so there isn’t any confusion.
Her reaction, however, isn’t exactly what I hoped for.
“Let’s… uh, let’s go somewhere and talk,” she stutters, pulling her hands away from mine and sliding out of the bench as the ride begins to empty.
A knot begins to form in my stomach, but I nod, letting her take the lead as we head towards the small café tucked into a quiet corner of the park.
The scent of freshly-brewed coffee fills the air as we enter, and the soft hum of background music helps drown out the noise of the rides, making the space feel more intimate.
Riley and I grab herbal teas, and she settles into a chair across from me. The teacup warms my fingers, but it’s nothing compared to the warmth in my chest at the possibility that this incredible woman might feel the connection between us the same way I do.
“I didn’t mean for that to happen,” she finally blurts out, her fingers nervously tracing the rim of her cup.
“Not because there was anything wrong with it. There definitely wasn’t.
You’re great, and I’ve had a wonderful time today, but I’m still kind of messed up over the way things ended with Trevor, and I don’t want to rush into anything.
I’m sorry for giving you the wrong idea. ”
I swallow my disappointment with another sip of my tea, trying to keep my tone light. "Don’t worry. I get it. You and Trevor were together a long time. It must be a big change for you."
Her shoulders slump as she looks down. “A huge change, and I’m not in the right headspace for dating. It wouldn’t be fair to you.”
I don’t necessarily agree, but I don’t argue. “That’s fine, Riley. I’m a patient guy; I can wait until you’re ready. I’m pretty sure you’ll be worth the wait.”
Her pretty blush creeps back up her cheeks.
“It’s not just about timing, though. With Trevor, because our lives were so intertwined in every way, when things fell apart with him, I lost everything.
My skating club, my friends, even my city.
I literally moved to another country to get away from him, and I’m still trying to figure out who I am without him. ”
Her words land heavy in the air between us, weighed down with a sadness that makes me wish I could do something to make it better. I don’t know exactly what happened between them, but it doesn’t sound like the break-up was her choice at all.
“I made a decision then,” she continues, her voice quiet. “I’m not going to date anyone I skate with. I can’t risk starting over again. It’s nothing against you, but I don’t want you to hold out hope that something’s going to happen between us when it won’t. When it can’t.”
Fuck. Her words hit harder than I expected, and I feel the sting deep in my chest. For the first time in a very long time, I thought I might actually be ready to get close to someone again, and just as I was starting to take that step, she closed the door in my face.
Still, just like she said, this isn’t about me. She’s the one still hurting, and if I want to help her move past it, I need to understand more about exactly what happened.
“Do you mind if I ask why you and Trevor broke up?”
For a moment, I think she’ll refuse to answer, but eventually, she relents with a sigh. “It sounds so cliché, but he cheated on me with my best friend.”
“Ouch.” My hand presses against my chest, a tiny fraction of the pain she must feel rippling through me. “That sucks. I’m sorry.”
“Yeah. Me too.” Her voice cracks slightly as she speaks, and my heart aches for her even more. “It’s still pretty raw. I haven’t talked about it very much.”
“Maybe it would help to? I mean, that’s what my therapists always say. And I’m a pretty good listener, if I say so myself.”
Riley doesn’t comment on me mentioning ‘therapists’, plural, probably assuming I mean the sports psychologists we all speak to. That’s part of it, but it’s more than that too. I can explain later, when it’s appropriate. For now, we’re focused on her.
She offers me a shaky smile. “I wouldn’t know where to start.”
“Let’s keep it simple to start with. Who’s your best friend?”
When she flinches at the words, I realize I should have used the past tense. Seems logical that they’re not best friends anymore.
“Evelyn Harding.”
Shit. “As in: American champion Evelyn Harding?”
“That’s the one.” Her smile comes out a little stronger this time, but it’s grim and lacking any real humour. “We’ve known each other since we were twelve. We grew up in the sport together, and we trained together too.”
“So, you left the club not just to get away from him, but from her too.”
“Exactly,” she replies, her voice barely above a whisper. “I couldn’t be around either of them.”
The carefree woman who played mini-golf with me earlier today is a distant memory. She looks smaller, somehow, and frailer, and I hate that anyone has the power to make her shrink this way. I wish there was something, anything, I could do to make her feel better, but all I can do is sympathize.
“Cheating’s fucking selfish.”
Riley grimaces. “Yeah. I mean, if he wasn’t happy, why not just say so? Why go behind my back?”
“Is that what he said? That he wasn’t happy?”
Her head shakes, her eyes still down. “No. He hasn’t said anything. I haven’t spoken to him at all.”
“You haven’t…” I trail off, trying to understand her words, but failing. “What do you mean you haven’t spoken to him?”
“Exactly what it sounds like. I found them in bed together at Skate America and I haven’t spoken to either of them since. There’s no good excuse for what they did, so what do we have to talk about?”
When she glances up at me, her eyes blaze with indignation. At least the tears have disappeared, but her anger doesn’t make me feel any better for her.
“He was texting you the other day,” I remind her. “What does he say in the texts?”
She shrugs. “I don’t know. I haven’t read them.”
Damn. She’s not messing around. “Aren’t you curious? I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from looking.”
Again, she shakes her head. “Like I said: it won’t help, so why give them any more power over me? I’m moving on, literally. I moved here, I’m going to focus on my career, and no matter what, I’m not going to make the mistake of getting involved with someone I work with again.”
There it is again: the line she’s drawn in the sand. She’s not ready, and I get it, but part of me is still frustrated. I don’t want her to carry the weight of Trevor’s betrayal around anymore than she already has.
The problem wasn’t being with someone she worked with; it was being with a jerk who couldn’t keep his dick in his pants.
But I don’t press the point. Riley has to come to that conclusion on her own.
Like I told her, I’m a patient guy. Our kiss earlier confirmed she does feel something for me, and our chemistry is just as good as I imagined it might be.
That’ll be enough to keep me going until Riley sees that the only thing her ex and I have in common is our sport.