A muscle pulsed in his jaw as he dropped the cigarette, crushing it slowly with the heel of his sneaker. Something unreadable flashed in his expression when our eyes met, and my heart faltered. His eyes shuttered just as quickly though, erasing whatever it was I thought I'd seen.
“One might be.”
My lungs seized in my chest at his words, my whole body freezing as tears formed behind my lids. I looked away, blinking quickly. Rolling my lips together, I turned back, feigning mild interest. “Interesting. Who is she?”
I needed to know. I wanted to see her, know her name, her hair colour, hear her voice. The girl who mattered to Reno. I wanted to know what she had that I didn't.
What I should have wanted to know, was why the hell I cared enough that it felt like my heart was breaking open in the old auditorium in front of a guy who'd sooner toss it on the ground and snuff it out like a used cigarette before accepting any part of it. I shouldn't be feeling anything for him. I could never let him near me.
He smiled softly. “Nobody you know, Ri.”
I sucked in a breath. “So, a college girl? You guys fighting over an older woman, huh? That's pretty cliché.” The joke sounded feeble even to my ears. There was no lightening this situation, not for me, anyway.
He stood, rising to his full height and towering over me. His size should have been imposing, but it wasn't. He made me feel small in the best way, like he could pick me up, wrap me in those sturdy arms and keep me safe forever. Not that he would, and not that I'd let him. The line between us was laced with pheromones and arsenic. We skirted it, but neither of us was that crazy.
He reached out and tucked a hair behind my ear, his fingertips lingering on my bare skin. The surprisingly tender gesture caught me off guard, and I felt my head lean into his touch, my eyes drift closed. I snapped them right back open.
No! God, no.
These weren't feelings. It was lust. Pure, unfiltered, primal lust. Chemical, physical. It wouldn’t be smart to go confusing myself. I didn't care for him, and he barely tolerated me. He knew he could twist me up in knots and I sort of enjoyed being twisted. But that was where it began and ended. It wasn't deep or meaningful. It was a game. One I wasn't sure I wanted to play anymore. I was losing whatever grip I might have had on this situation, and that was way more dangerous than I had prepared myself for. Forcing myself to take a step back, Reno’s hand fell to his side and his darkened eyes flitted away.
“She's not older,” he murmured, then brushed past me and left me standing staring after him until he was long gone.
Glancing down, my gaze landed on the almost full packet of cigarettes that sat discarded on the stone ledge.
All of this had to end. Yesterday.
Seven
Riley
“This is the worst idea, Liss.”
“Oh, quit bitching.” She gave my hand a tug. I shook my head, refusing to budge. Another tug.
“Fine. But he's still pissed as hell with me.” Striding past her, I pushed through the tree line, heading for the now dead cornfield that served as the stomping ground for pretty much every teen in Claremont.
“So? Does that mean you have to sacrifice your social life? And still?” She paused, hands on her hips. “God, that guy! I mean, you ended things two weeks ago, and it's not like you were a married couple. You jerked him off behind a dumpster while he fondled your boob once a month. Get the fuck over it, dude. Move on with your life!”
I pulled up short, affronted. “Hey! That's... that's…” pretty accurate but come on. “Not exactly true.”
“Yeah, yeah. Move your ass. It's your birthday weekend, and I'm done with your pity party. So quit sulking, start walking.”
She criss-crossed her fingers in front of my face in the universal sign of walking. I resisted the urge to bite them.
“Whatever. But when it all goes to shit, don't say I didn't warn you. The guy has either outright ignored me or thrown sly digs at me for the past week. Ever since this mysterious fight that nobody can explain to me.” Seriously, no one. Not Mack, Danny, or Jase. And I’d asked.
Rolling her eyes, she grabbed my hand and pulled me behind her, slim arm straining with the effort and my petulant resistance. Trailing her with lackluster steps, I deliberately dug the unfamiliar heels she'd forced on me into the mud. I wouldn’t make this easy for her. Who even wore heels to a muddy field? People who would turn seventeen in two days... was the gist of how that conversation went down.
The bonfire came into view despite my attempt to walk slowly enough to go backward. And with it, Reno and Leon.
Urgh... and Raya, who glowered as we approached.
“Raya looks happy to see us, as always,” Lis quipped.
I fought the urge to tuck tail and run.
Please God, don't let them be fighting over Raya Mitchell. They'd sorta patched things up, but there was still this weird tension between them. Like if I caught Le looking at Reno while he wasn’t watching, he’d be glaring daggers at his face. But, like I said, if anyone knew what caused the rift, they weren't talking.