“He asked questions and I answered them.”
“What did he ask?”
“If there was anything going on between us.”
“What did you say?”
“It was none of his business.”
“Well, yeah. I was there for that part. Is that all he asked you?”
This was largely rhetorical. She knew for a fact that her brother would not have dropped it at ‘It’s none of your business.’
“No.”
She really wished at moments like these that guys were better communicators. If she was having this conversation with Katie, she would have every last thing that happened in the room, what was said outright and what was implied, and how each party felt about every single step along the way.
Ugh, men!
“Well, what else did he ask?”
“If I was in love with you.”
Holy catfish! She knew that curiosity killed the cat, but that didn’t stop her.
“What did you say?”
“That it didn’t matter because I was leaving tomorrow.”
Her heart plummeted to the floor. She knew this day was coming - so why did she feel so shocked?
“Tomorrow?” She asked, just to make sure.
He nodded.
“I wanted to say goodbye.”
Her knees felt like they were going to give out on her. She didn’t trust herself to remain standing. Tears were forming in her eyes, and she refused to cry in front of him. That was NOT going to happen!
In order to avoid that, though, she needed to wrap this up…now.
She put on her bravest face as she smiled up at him. “Okay. Well, bye, then,” she said as lightly as she could, waving as she moved to shut the door.
The next thing she knew, Riley had stepped inside, shut the door, and had her backed up against the wall.
She shook her head in disbelief, “You’re like a ninja.”
He smiled down at her. She loved when he smiled. She wished he did it more often.
He stepped even closer to her and her knees started to shake. Her body was flushed with arousal. Just his nearness alone was enough to rev her engines, but combine that with the overpowering intensity he was focusing on her, and she thought she might be more turned on than she had ever been in her entire life.
He reached up and wiped his thumb across her bottom lip. She stopped breathing when he slowly moved across it again.
He lifted his thumb away and she saw that there was chocolate on it.
“Was the ice cream good?” he asked. His voice caused goosebumps to form on her arms.
She nodded, unable to speak.
She traced her tongue along her bottom lip, trailing it slowly across the path he had just left with his thumb, making sure there was no more chocolate on it.
He watched her greedily as she did this, and a groan escaped his mouth. His hand was fisted at his side, causing his biceps to pull his shirt tight across his skin.
She wanted him so badly. She knew it wasn’t the smart thing to want. She knew he was leaving. Tomorrow. She knew another night with Riley would be playing with fire.
But, hell. She had spent her whole life being safe, doing what was right. With Riley, she just wanted to do what she wanted – and, right now, she wanted him.
She loved him. If this was going to be her last night with him she wanted to make it count. She would have plenty of time to mend her heart and pick up the pieces when he left.
Decision made. She just had to clear up one thing, “Were you seeing Megan for last few months?”
He took a step back, his brow furrowed, “What?”
“Megan told me you two were together for the last few months and that you just stopped talking to her. That it was because of me.”
He shook his head, clearly annoyed, “We had been exchanging messages and, yes, I had planned on hooking up with her when I was here. But we weren’t together. Not by any stretch of the imagination. And the first night I got home, I told her it wasn’t going to happen...”
“Okay,” she interrupted him.
He looked at her intensely, “Chelle, I swear…”
“I believe you,” She assured him, “I've seen how women get with Eddie. I know how they can build things up in their head.”
“I never led her on.”
“I know.” She let out a strangled laugh, “Believe me, I know.”
His eyes grew serious, “Chelle, don’t do that. You’re nothing like Megan. You’re different. I… I…”
“You what?” Chelle knew that it wouldn’t change anything if she heard him say he loved her, but she still wanted to hear it. He had made her say it, dammit. She deserved to hear it.
Even if it was only once.
--- ~ ---
Riley looked into Chelle’s eyes and knew what she was waiting to hear. Hell, he knew what he wanted to tell her. But he couldn’t. He wasn’t about to give her any hope that they had a future.
“It doesn’t matter, I’m leaving tomorrow.”
He saw a look of disappointment flutter across her face. But it was quickly replaced with something soft. Vulnerable. Sexy.
She swallowed hard. “But we still have tonight.”
He knew what she was offering and he wanted more than anything in the world to take her up on it. But that would be selfish, and he had been selfish enough when it came to her. He didn’t want to be that anymore.
He should have never come inside the house. That was the wrong move. But, dammit, when she had started closing the door, and he pictured her going back and crying in her ice cream, he couldn’t stop himself.
Now, standing in front of her, his heart was racing a mile a minute. All of his blood that should have been feeding his brain had flowed down to his rock-hard shaft. He was having a difficult time thinking straight while dealing with the overwhelming feeling of arousal pulsing through him.
He wanted her. He needed her. He shouldn't. But he did.
Somehow sensing his indecision, Chelle lifted herself up on her tippy-toes and pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth. God, her lips were so soft.
“I know you're leaving,” she said as she moved to kiss the other side of his mouth, “I know this won’t change anything.” She pressed her lips firmly against his before lowering back down to her normal, flat-footed stance and stripping off her tank top. She looked up at him with a seductive smile, adding “But we do still have tonight.”
He snapped. All the self-control he had been doing his best to hold onto vanished, slipping through his fingers as easily as sand.
He reached out and grabbed her waist pulling her to him and lifting her up off the ground. He took two steps forward, stopping when her back was firmly against the wall. Her legs wrapped tightly around him and he dipped his head and sucked her taught nipple in between his lips, running his tongue across the surface.
“Oh God, Riley,” she whimpered as her nails dug into his shoulders.
He couldn’t bring himself to walk away without holding her, feeling her, kissing her, making love to her at least one more time. Even though he knew he deserved to be in the Guinness Book of World Records for “Most Selfish Asshole” he just couldn’t resist taking what she was offering - one more night together.
But he needed to get one thing straight first. He lifted his head and stared into her eyes, “Chelle I need you to know you are nothing like Megan.”
Her gorgeous heavy-lidded eyes were filled with a heartbreaking combination of confusion and need. She stared at him, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck, through her labored breathing she tentatively answered, “Okay.”
Her response was far from convincing. He wished he could spell it out for her. He wanted to be able to tell her what she meant to him. He wanted to tell her how much he loved her, how much he needed her, how desperately he wished things were different. That he was different.
“Chelle,” Her name came out as a growl even to his own ears. Frustration boiled up in him. His hands
tightened as his fingers dug into her hips.
He felt a tremor run through her body as she moaned in pleasure from the pressure his flexing grip caused. All confusion vanished, her eyes now filled only with desire. Damn, she was so sexy. It took every ounce of the self-discipline his military training had instilled in him not to get side-tracked.
“I need you to know you’re not like her or anyone else Chelle.” It was part plea part command. He knew he didn’t have the right to demand anything from her, but that didn’t stop him. He had to know that she knew she was different. Special. Perfect.
He leaned in closer to her, his lips brushed against hers as he asked, “Do you? Do you know that?”
“Yes.” She answered as she rolled her hips against his straining erection. Her head fell back against the wall. She relaxed her arms as she ran her fingers down the back of his neck, across his broad shoulders, finally landing on his biceps where she traced the lines of his muscle several times, almost as if she was committing the feel of his upper arm to memory.
He was already rock hard and just the simple sensation of her soft fingertips brushing up and down his bicep was so erotic he felt as though he was going to explode before he was even inside of her.
“Do you know that?” She asked him, her attention still focused on her slender fingers trailing his up and down his arm.
“What?” The intense arousal pumping fiercely through his entire body made it difficult for him to follow her line of questioning.
“Do you know that you are not like anyone else?” She asked sweetly as she lifted her eyes to his.
Fuck. His heart broke wide open inside of his chest. That was Chelle. His Chelle. Even now she wasn’t thinking of herself. Her only concern was him.
He couldn’t speak. He couldn’t breathe. He hadn’t cried since the day of his mother’s funeral when he was twelve years old, but he felt moisture filling his eyes.
He needed her. Now.
He crushed his mouth to hers as he stalked down the hallway, carrying Chelle to her bedroom. He laid her on the bed and as he looked down at her he saw the same level of desperation and desire that was flooding through him mirrored in her eyes.
Neither spoke as they both quickly stripped out of their clothes. For a moment time felt as though it had stopped. Riley stood above Chelle, they both just stared at each other. Naked. Bare. Raw.
Chelle’s eyes hungrily traveled down his body. When her gaze fell to his raging erection he felt it jump at the attention. A blush crept up her cheeks and she licked her lips.
God, he loved her.
As he climbed on the bed she opened her legs and wrapped them around him. He pulled her arms above her head and held her wrists in place with one hand. With the other he gripped his shaft positioning it at her core. He rubbed the head of his swollen erection up and down her opening. She was wet. Swollen. Ready.
A sound of need escaped her mouth as she tilted her hips seeking connection.
He leaned down and kissed her full lips softly as he pushed his length inside of her slowly. Savoring every sensation. Her body beneath him. Her lips pressed to his. Her inner walls squeezing him as he slid deeper into her.
He may not be able to tell her with words how he felt, how much he loved her, craved her, needed her. But he damn well could show her.
He knew that maybe they did only have tonight. Maybe this was the last time they would ever be together – hell, maybe it was the last time they would ever see each other.
If it was, then he sure as hell going to make it count.
Chapter Twenty-six
Riley and Alex made their way to the back booth of Gerard's Diner where Jason and Bobby were waiting for them.
Riley had left Chelle’s around six a.m. He hadn’t wanted to wake her, she was sleeping so peacefully. His sleeping beauty. But now he was wishing he would have gotten just one more kiss.
Yeah, right. Who was he kidding? Riley knew ‘just one more’ would never be enough when it came to Chelle.
“Man, you look like shit,” Bobby said as they approached the table.
“Hey, watch it, junior. I can still kick your ass,” Riley said as he and Alex sat down.
“I wasn’t being a smartass. You really don’t look good,” Bobby clarified, looking concerned.
“I just haven’t been sleeping well.”
“Speaking of sleeping…” Alex began turning towards him.
From his tone, Riley could already tell he wasn’t going to like what he said.
“Where exactly did you sleep last night, Cassanova?”
Riley was silent as he looked over the menu, completely ignoring Alex.
“Where did he sleep?” Jason asked Alex, looking confused.
When no one answered Jason looked at all three of them and asked, “What am I missing?”
Hazel, their waitress, appeared with a carafe of coffee and four cups. She put the cups down, poured them each coffee, and then pulled out her pad and pencil to take their order. Even though Hazel was pushing seventy and had known them her entire life, she still blushed when Alex asked if she was still taking her Pilates class.
When she moved away from the table, Jason asked once again, “What’s going on? Where did you sleep?”
Riley did not want to discuss this, so he took a drink of his coffee.
Alex, never one to let something drop, chimed in, “Maybe we're asking the wrong question. There may not have been a lot of sleeping going on.”
Riley shook his head. He knew if he let him see he was getting to him it would only make things worse, but he was having a tough time hiding his frustration.
“How was the honeymoon?” Riley asked Jason in a clear attempt to change the subject.
“Great,” Jason answered before asking again, “Where were you last night? And why am I the last to know?”
Alex nodded his head towards Jason, “Gotta love middle child syndrome.”
Jason gave him a look that clearly telegraphed how unamused he was.
Alex smiled, “All I know is that after that little slideshow yesterday Rambo over here pulled me into the kitchen and wanted to kick my ass for 'hanging all over Chelle' at your wedding.”
“If I had wanted to kick your ass, you would've got your ass kicked.”
“Hey, look who decided to join the conversation.” Alex smiled smugly.
“You spent the night with Chelle?” Jason sounded genuinely shocked. “Does Eddie know you hooked up with his sister?”
“She is not a hook-up.” The words came out of his mouth before he could stop them. Great, he all but admitted that something had happened between him and Chelle.
Jason’s eyes grew wide, “Holy shit! You love her.”
Riley took another drink of his coffee.
“What the hell is wrong with you guys?” Alex shook his head in disgust, “You’re droppin like flies. First Bobby, then Jason, now you. What? Is there something in the water? I better stick with bottled just to be safe.”
“What are you going to do about it?” Bobby asked sounding much older and wiser than his twenty-four years.
Damn, Riley thought, the kid didn’t say much but when he did he got right to the point.
“Nothing. I’m leaving.”
“That’s your big plan. Just leave.” Alex mocked.
Riley shrugged.
“Well, good, then. I'll tell you the truth. All this talk of me and Chelle has made me think...might not be a bad idea. I might want to get to know her a little better,” Alex goaded Riley.
Riley knew Alex was just trying to push his buttons, but that didn’t change the fact he wanted to punch him in his face. His hands flexed.
Jason, always the peacemaker spoke up, “Alex, stop being a dick.”
Hazel came bustling out of the kitchen with a large tray of their food. After distributing it all she said, “It’s so good to see all of you boys in one place. I bet your mama’s lookin down from heaven just as pleased as punch with how you all turned out.”
As she moved away from the table, an awkward silence fell. They never discussed their mom.
Bobby broke the silence, “What was she like? I don’t really remember her.”
Jason and Riley looked at each other, and then Jason said reluctantly, “She was sad a lot, and when she wasn’t sad, she was really happy. She would stay up for three days straight and then be in bed for weeks.”
“I remember that,” Alex said quietly. “She was never a normal mom.”
“Some people just aren’t cut out to have a family.” Riley added.
They ate their food in silence, a pall having fallen on their mood of lightly-combative camaraderie. Riley remembered the times he had shared with his mom, good and bad. Now that he thought about it, there had been more good times than he would have estimated.
“So is that what you think?” Bobby asked Riley.
“What?” Riley asked, the question pulling him roughly back out of his reflections.
“Do you think you’re not cut out to have a family?” Bobby clarified.
Riley just shrugged.
“Why would you think that?” Jason asked. “You’re nothing like her.”
Riley remained silent.
“You think you’re like her?” Alex asked incredulously.
“Dad always said I reminded him of her,” Riley said matter-of-factly.
Alex looked at Riley as if he was crazy, “Dude! That’s because you are the only one who has her hair and eye color. Not because you act like her.”
“I left, didn’t I?” Riley snapped back.
“Whoa, you left to go into the military.” Jason leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table, “You dedicated twelve years of your life to serving your country, and you did it well and without complaint. Mom couldn’t even hold down a job waitressing here for more than a couple weeks. She was ill, Riley. She was bi-polar. You’re not.”
Riley shook his head. “It doesn’t matter, anyway. I’m leaving.”
“Wow, and I thought that David the Douchebag was a prick for what he did to Chelle,” Alex said, shaking his head slowly.
Bobby and Jason exchanged glances, clearly thinking that there was a better-than-even chance that Riley was going to kick Alex’s ass for saying what he did. But, Riley wouldn't do that. Alex was right, he was only speaking the truth. Riley was a prick for leaving Chelle. Alex was doing nothing more than simply pointing out the obvious. Riley knew it. He also knew that – dick move or not - it was for the best. She deserved better.
My Last - Riley & Chelle Page 23