ItsASafetyMeasure says: Oh....OK. I guess I'll go check it out.
KissesR2die4 says: Thanks, Landon.
I signed off and got up. In the time it took me to get ready, I had called Riley's house twice and her cell phone once. Either she was ignoring everyone, or something was wrong. The road to her house was wet, but I managed to get to her place in fifteen minutes. I noticed the strange car in the driveway and decided to park across the road. Before I got out of the car, I tried calling once more from my phone, but there was no answer. I started crossing the street with an ominous feeling in the pit of my stomach. While going up the porch steps to the door, I heard shouting coming from inside.
"What the hell is wrong with you? Do you not have anything better to do than to mess up everyone's lives?"
That was Riley, but who was she talking to? I knocked on the door. Things went quiet inside. I didn't like it, so I turned the knob and found that the door was unlocked. I pushed it open and stepped inside. Riley was standing a few feet in front of me and across the room was some old guy.
"What are you doing here?" Riley asked.
"Bridgette asked me to come over," I said, closing the door. "She was worried." I noticed how stiff she looked as she turned her attention back to the old man, who I guessed was her grandfather.
"Come on, Riley," the man said.
"No! I don't want anything to do with you. The day you walked out this door on my mom and uncle is the day you stopped being a part of this family. Therefore, I don't have to listen to you."
"Alright, then," I said. I walked across the room and, before Riley could say anything, I punched the guy in the head. That may seem a bit extreme, but I had pretty much beat up any guy who made Riley cry when we were younger and I sure as fuck was not going to stop then. I hit the guy again and Riley yelled my name. I would have stopped if the man hadn't grabbed me. I was ready to hit him again until I heard the sirens. I jumped up and moved away from the guy just as cops came into the house. I looked at Riley to find her sitting on the stairs , looking pale as a ghost. A phone was in her hand and there was a cop in front of her, trying to get her to talk.
"Just get him out of here," Riley kept saying.
All I really paid attention to was her voice. My arm was killing me and I could only see out of one eye. The other one was more than likely swollen. I had taken a hit or two there. I then dropped down onto the couch and sighed, my good eye on Riley as she slowly made her way over to me.
She collapsed next to me. "I was terrified of what would happen. That's why I didn't answer the phone. I figured that, since you and Bridgette both called my cell, one of you would at least come over and help somehow."
"Miss Pratt." Both of us looked at the cop standing over us. "We're taking Mr. Summers into custody now. We will be calling your parents later to discuss what happened and what will be happening with Mr. Summers."
"Okay," Riley said.
"You're lucky your boyfriend came over on time," the cop added.
"Oh...he's not really my boyfriend," Riley said.
The cop just nodded, however, and then left the house with Mr. Summers in handcuffs. I could tell Riley was looking at the wounds on my face.
"Let me get some ice for your eye and lip," Riley offered. I gingerly reached up and touched my lip with a wince. I knew I was going to be in pain for a while. Riley went to the kitchen and I followed a few seconds later. God, she had grown up nicely! It seemed so hard to believe she was the same tomgirl who would chase after the boys and tackle them. She was always the girl who sneered at dresses and got dirty with the boys whenever there was a chance.
I gratefully took the ice from her when she handed it over and placed it gently on my eye, but removed it quickly. "Ow!"
"You baby," Riley teased. We sat down at the table and she carefully put the ice to my eye. "Have you never had a black eye before?"
"Nope," I said, shaking my head.
"Don't do that!" Riley said, grabbing my chin. "Hey-look at that stubble. You didn't shave."
"I just woke up, for heaven's sake!" I said. Riley stuck her tongue out at me.
"Hold this," she instructed, taking my hand and putting it over the homemade ice pack. She got up and made up another, smaller one, before returning and placing it on my lip. "You don't look so attractive with a swollen lip. Looks like you were stung by a bee."
"Why must you mock my allergies?" I asked.
"Because you mock everything wrong with me!" Riley cried.
We were silent for a while after that. I thought about our relationship and how much we still needed to grow up.
Riley:
I didn't know why I said that. Now everything was quiet and awkward. My eyes were moving all over the place, trying to find something else to look at, so I wouldn't need to look at Landon. The truth was that I should have been able to apologize for my insensitivity, but I couldn't do it. I was screwed-I knew that much.
The phone rang, making both of us jump. I walked over to the counter where I had left it.
"Hello?" I said.
"Riley, oh my God, is everything okay?" Bridgette asked.
"Yeah, everything's fine now. That man did come over to bother me again, but Landon kicked his ass long enough for me to call the cops."
"Is Landon alright?" Bridgette asked.
"He's got a black eye and a split lip that's kind of swollen."
"And my arm is killing me," Landon said.
"Sore arm, huh? Wait a minute," I said. I walked over to Landon and gingerly poked him in the shoulder. He winced and moved back from me. "Oh, Bridge..."
"Yeah?"
"If your mom is home, can you ask her to come over?" I asked. "Landon's arm doesn't seem too good."
"Sure," Bridgette said. I heard her calling her mom. "She'll be over there soon."
"Okay, thanks, girlie," I said.
I hung up and bit my lip. Landon had his hand on his shoulder.
"Can you move it?" I asked. He lifted his shoulder a bit and winced. "Okay, don't move. Put the ice pack on it for a while, until my aunt comes over. She's a nurse and will know what to do," I said. Landon looked relieved when I told him that.
"This has been quite an eventful day. And I'm still in my pajamas," I observed. Landon just laughed and the tension of the past hour dissipated.
It didn't take long for Aunt Shauna to get over and look at Landon's injuries. During this time, I excused myself to take a quick shower and change. When I got back, Landon had his arm in a sling.
"Try not to move it too much and don't lie on this side when you're sleeping," Shauna said.
"Good thing I don't roll around," Landon joked.
"His shoulder popped," Aunt Shauna said when she saw me again. "It's not a bad one, luckily, but he still needs to take good care of it and stay in the sling for a while.
"How long is 'a while' going to be?" Landon asked.
"Four days to a week, depending on what you do," Shauna said. She looked at me. "I'm heading home now. Please tell your mother to call me when she gets in, alright?"
"I will, Aunt Shauna. Thanks for everything," I said, nodding. Aunt Shauna left and then I sat next to Landon. "Do you want anything to eat or drink?"
"I'm fine, thanks," Landon said. "Good thing I can drive with one hand, huh?"
"Yeah. Landon, I'm so sorry that you had to get involved and hurt yourself in the process."
"Rye-it wasn't your fault. The guy's a jerk and should know when to quit bugging your family. It's obvious you guys don't want him in your lives after all these years. And, speaking of getting hurt, this wasn't the first time I've come to your rescue. The first time was just a couple weeks after we met," Landon said.
"Landon, we met when we were toddlers."
"Yeah-remember daycare?" Landon asked. "I stole your blocks, according to your mom. Then I gave them back, but some other kid stole them. Then I hit that kid, and all three of us were crying."
"Oh, yeah," I said, laughing. "Mom loves telli
ng that story."
"See? It's okay for me to pick on you, but no one else," Landon said. I mock glared at him and lightly punched him on his good arm.
"Hey, I'm wounded enough as it is!" he protested.
"Aw, does the baby want his owsies kissed to make them feel better?" I asked in a baby voice.
"I think so-how about starting with this one?" Landon said just before he leaned over and kissed me. His good arm went around me as he moved closer and the kiss deepened to where I found myself moaning and moving closer to him. It vaguely crossed my mind that this might be irritating his lip, but if it was-he didn't let on.
Then I remembered something: If my "grandfather" was in custody, the cops would tell Mom and Dad. If they knew that, they would rush home to make sure I was fine. I pulled away from the mind-blowing kiss and put some space between Landon and me.
"Sorry," Landon said.
"It wasn't you; it's just my parents," I explained. "They'll probably come bursting in at any minute now and you know what they might think." He finally caught on and nodded. We sat on the sofa for a few minutes before the door flew open and both of us turned to see my parents rush into the room.
"Riley! Oh, thank God!" Mom shouted, coming at me and hugging me.
"Are you okay, Riley?" Dad asked.
"Uh, yeah, I'm fine. Actually, Landon took the hits, not me."
"Landon, are you okay?" Mom asked, letting go of me and examining him.
"Yeah, just a bit beat up. I'll live."
"Aunt Shauna has already looked at him," I said. "The worst he's got is a dislocated shoulder, but she said that it's not bad."
"I'll fucking kill that guy!" Dad screamed.
"Orion!" Mom cried.
"Well, it's true!" Dad said. "Who the fuck does he think he is, coming here like that and abusing our daughter's friend?"
"In all honesty, I started it," Landon admitted.
"You did it to help me," I reminded him. "Mom, Aunt Shauna would like you to call her as soon as you can."
"I will," Mom said. She grabbed the phone and went into a different room.
"Are both of you sure that you're okay?" Dad asked.
After Landon and I assured him that we were, Dad nodded and left us alone.
"Riley, I think I'll head home now. I'll see you later, alright?"
I walked with him to the door. "Thanks again, Landon."
"Hey, no problem," Landon said. "That's what I'm here for." I kissed him quickly, then playfully shooed him out the door into the cold.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
I LOVED CHRISTMAS parties since I was a little girl. Obviously, these days I wasn't into the finger painting and silly Christmas songs like when I was little. But I still liked going to the ones geared more towards adults, now that I was older. Especially when the party was held at the recording label that the girls and I were soon going to be signed on with.
"I love this so fucking much!" Faith crowed. I laughed as the four of us danced together and simply waved at Preston, who opted to sit out for this song. "We get to party and get presents! How fucking awesome is this!"
"Faith, watch the swearing," I warned her, as there were a number of older and somewhat more conservative employees hovering in the background. Faith just shook her head and spun around in a devil-may-care fashion.
"How many hot guys our age work here?" Alice asked.
"Not a lot. I'm betting they're just employees' kids that you see," I said.
"Well there's one I like," Faith announced, slipping away from us. Alice disappeared soon after, so Bridgette and I returned to our seats next to Preston. I was pretty surprised when he said he would come and then actually did. I had been getting tired of him breaking dates. But then, since there was no school now during the holidays, there was no reason for him to tutor Mia.
"You guys looked like you were having fun," Preston remarked.
"Loads. It's too bad you can't dance," I joked.
"Oh, I so can," Preston retorted. He grabbed my hand and pulled me back to the floor. I knew he could dance, I just enjoyed working him up a bit. He kept me dancing all the way through four songs and by the end I was exhausted. Thank goodness they called for everyone to get ready to do the present stuff now. The younger ones-thirteen to fourteen year olds-got their gifts first. The oldest kids attending were eighteen and looked disinterested waiting for their gifts, but were actually pleased to get some signed memorabilia from the label's top recording artists.
The party lasted until about midnight. I wanted to go home earlier because the next day would be the day Landon would 'move in' for the holidays. But, of course, I had to stay for the whole party and fell asleep on the ride home.
I was in quite the foul mood the next day, but I wasn't sure why. After waking up, nothing seemed to go right. It was pouring rain and one in the afternoon by the time Landon showed up. Just walking from his car door to the trunk and then into the house had him dripping wet. I shivered as the cold air blew into the house. I had been shivering all morning and I could not get warm, even though I had on a thick hoodie and track pants. I had even gone so far as to put on a pair of thin gloves, but they weren't very helpful, so I took them off.
"So where is Landon going to stay?" Noah asked, grinning as Landon grumbled and brushed snow off himself.
"He'll have to stay in your room," Dad reminded Noah, as they had already discussed the matter. "The basement is too full of junk and there's no way he's staying with Riley."
"Well, Riley can help him unpack because I've got to meet up with Charlotte. Her parents are taking the family to the movies today and I told her I would go," Noah said.
"Be careful driving out there," Mom said. They had given Noah his keys back once I managed to convince them that he was telling the truth about the drug thing.
"I will," Noah said.
Noah left and I grabbed Landon's suitcase.
"Lead the way, Ryes." Landon said. I led him upstairs to Noah's room. "There's nothing I need to worry about in here, right?"
"Like what?" I asked.
"Like Noah and...Charlotte," Landon said.
"Oh no-my mom's not very fond of her and neither is Dad, really. She doesn't come over much. Noah goes to her house a lot more. Her family really likes him."
There wasn't much setting up to do. A few years ago Dad got a few of his friends and Uncle Andy to help expand the house and so Noah's bedroom was made larger. Mom's lived here practically her whole life and the place wasn't all that big when she was growing up, but Dad wanted more space for everybody. Grandma Barbara decided to move to a condo at that point.
Noah had already gotten his futon set up, so all we had to do was put blankets and pillows on it. There was a lot of space in the room, even with the futon and Noah's queen size bed. My own room was big enough for my bed, nightstand, computer desk, dresser and I still had room left over.
"So how was your party last night?" Landon asked, sitting down on his temporary bed.
"It was fun," I said, sitting on Noah's, "but I just feel like crap today. Last night was the first time in a month that Preston hadn't blown off a date and I don't know how I feel about that." Landon made a noise. "What?"
"Huh?" Landon asked.
"You made that noise," I replied.
"Oh, it's nothing," Landon said. I frowned. "Trust me, Riles, it's nothing."
"Well, okay," I said.
"Hey, do you want to go play in the rain?" Landon asked.
"Play in the rain? Dude...no."
It only took him five minutes to finally convince me. I kept my hoodie on and went downstairs and pulled on my boots, gloves and coat. He was already outside waiting and we walked to the park. We didn't stay too long, because it becoming colder and rainier all afternoon. By the time we got inside, we were completely drenched. Mom wouldn't let us step onto the carpet until we were relatively dry, then she treated us to mugs of steaming hot chocolate with marshmallows and whipped cream.
"So, what now?" Landon
asked as we headed upstairs to change clothes after downing our hot chocolate.
"Well, we have a new hot tub on the back porch," I informed him. "I can turn up the temperature now, so it will be ready by the time we have our bathing suits on."
"Your dad's gonna let us sit in there by ourselves?" Landon asked.
"Sure, why wouldn't he?" I questioned Landon, giving him one of my looks of displeasure.
"Riley, your dad and I are leaving now for poker night," Mom called up the stairs.
"There's your answer," I said to Landon. "Okay, Mom, be careful on the road, and have fun."
"You too, Sweetie." We waited until the front door opened and closed. Then I went onto the screened-in porch to turn up the thermostat.
"I don't have a swimsuit because...uh...it's the dead of winter," Landon admitted.
"You can borrow one of Noah's, or just go in your boxers."
"Fine," Landon conceded. I grinned and went into my room, changed into a red bikini, grabbed a green towel and went downstairs.
I was adjusting some more things on the hot tub, when Landon came out the back door. Unless Noah bought a pair of trunks that I wasn't aware of, then Landon decided to go with just his boxers. They were sleek and showed the outlines of his anatomy. Now I knew he was showing off, the way I had with my bra and panties.
I was going to get into so much trouble that week.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
"HOW ABOUT THIS one?" Landon asked.
"No," I said, glancing at the book.
"This one?" Landon asked.
"No!" I said, laughing a bit.
"Come on, Rye. I want to hear something," Landon whined. He flipped through the pages and stopped again. I looked at him as his eyes scanned the page in front of him. "This one...I definitely want to hear this one."
"Which one? Oh no, Landon," I complained, looking at the song he wanted me to sing. "I wrote that song four years ago. I don't even know if I could still do it."
"Try, please." Landon said, rolling over and sitting up, before handing me the book. I turned my computer chair around, so that I was facing the keyboard as I propped up the book, feeling defeated. I sighed and started playing, then singing.
If I Never Knew You Trilogy Bundle Page 19