Fall For Me

by Melanie Marks

  But I didn’t run away or jump in his arms. Instead, I just stood in the doorway, trying to remember what Porcha had instructed me to do. “Look sexy.” I could remember her saying that, but the way Riley was staring, I was pretty sure I had that covered.

  Riley cleared his throat. “Is there something you need, Jones?”

  “Uh, yeah. I need next Saturday off. My little sister, Jillian, has a dance recital, and Justin has his first soccer game.”

  Okay, I realize this wasn’t what I was sent in to ask for. And I realized it at the time as well. But I did need next Saturday off and it was way easier to ask for that than the new air conditioner. I mean, Riley knew we needed a new air conditioner. And everyone had already been nagging him about it. All of a sudden I just felt dumb coming to his office to bring it up again. I mean, he already knew.

  “Okay. Done,” he said.

  Well, that was easy.

  “Oh, thanks.” I tried to smile, but it was hard because I knew what was coming next and it was lame.

  I trudged into his office, but tried to be sexy about it. I perched myself on his desk, showing off a little leg. Riley watched me with great interest, studying my legs as though lives depended on it.

  “Um, want to grab some lunch?” I offered.

  He raised his eyebrows. “Really?”

  “Uh-huh.” I dabbed lightly on my sweaty chest, just as Porcha had instructed, then flung my hair. “It’s so hot in the kitchen. I’m dying.”

  Riley flinched his jaw, gazing from my sweaty tank top, back to my legs, then up into my eyes. “Do you really want to play this card?”

  My stomach dropped. “What card?”

  “The one you’re playing, Jones. ‘Cause I’ll give you what you want. You want Saturdays off to be with your family, you want an air conditioner?—I’ll give them to you. But don’t mess around with me, Jones. You mess around with me and you’re going to have to back it up.”

  As if to prove his point, he lightly skimmed my legs with his rough, hot “Riley” hands, making me jump off his desk with a yelp.

  The move had my pulse racing and my heart jerking all spastic and wild, but he totally only instigated the move to make a point. And he made it. Loud and clear.

  “Okay. I get it. I’m sorry,” I said all contrite and stuff, only then added kind of whiny, “But, Riley, it’s hot.”

  He opened the door for me. “Work, Jones.”

  The weird thing was, not much later that night, a delivery man came in with a brand new air conditioner. Everyone patted me on the back and called me their hero, but I wasn’t even sure the air conditioner had anything to do with me. For all I knew, Riley had already ordered it. He probably had. Still, I accepted their gratitude and sat with a group of them huddled in a booth—at their request (shock!)—when my shift was over.

  Aiden, The Hot Bartender (that’s what we called him, since we also had Aiden, The Not-Hot Busboy), squeezed into the seat beside me.

  He whispered in my ear, kind of seductive-like, “Let me buy you a drink.”

  I choked on the French fry I’d just popped in my mouth. Did I mention Aiden was hot? And twenty-two?

  Now he was looking at me all: Why-hadn’t-I-ever-noticed-you-before? And: I-want-to-stick-my-tongue-down-your-throat-like.

  I choked again and took a sip of my water. “Um, I don’t drink.”

  I was also going to blurt out that I was only seventeen and had a boyfriend, but I wasn’t really sure that conversation was quite relevant to the situation. Besides, sadly, I could also add I had a Free Pass. But sigh. I didn’t want to. That was just too depressing to talk about.

  “I’ll make you a virgin creation,” he said. “No alcohol—just for you.”

  I beamed. “Okay.”

  Wow. I watched him hurry off, totally amazed. He was being so nice. Everyone was. Apparently, it totally, totally paid to have an air conditioner show-up right after humiliating yourself with the boss. Who knew?

  Aiden’s drink was really good. So good. When he saw me slurp it down, he smiled and quickly brought me another. Then he started bringing me more—different variations—one after the other. All awesome. I chugged them down, slurring, “Keep ‘em coming!”

  At some point, Aiden smiled, tilting his head. “Maybe you’ve had enough.”

  “No, no,” I protested—really loud. Really, really loud. Not sure why.

  It just seemed necessary as the world was kind of tilting and spinning and reminding me of a roller coaster where you have to speak really loud to the person next to you or they can’t hear what you’re saying. “Your drinks are so good, Aiden. I love them. And I love your eyes, and that little hat thing you wear, and—and wow, it’s getting hot in here—and spinny—don’t you think it’s spinny?”

  Aiden grinned at my rambling. “Maybe I should take you home.”

  “Oh. No, no, no,” I slurred. “I have a car. I’m seventeen. I have a car.”

  His smile grew. He played with a lock of my hair. “You’re in no condition to drive.”

  “Well—” Even as I tried to protest, Aiden helped me to my feet and walked me towards the exit, then, surprisingly, out the door.

  Once out in the dark parking lot, I did have to admit, I felt sort of funny—dizzy and unsteady. Good thing Aiden was here to hold me up.

  “You’re into guitars, right?” Aiden said conversationally as he dragged me along. “I have a guitar. Want to see it?”

  I looked around the secluded parking lot, amazed. “Is it here?”

  “No, itw RoTs at my house. Hey,” he coaxed as I started to stumble towards my car, “don’t go over there. I’ll give you a ride home.”

  “Awww. That’s so sweet of you.”

  Coming to think of it, he had been sweet all night, making me non-alcoholic drinks, whispering in my ear, playing with my hair, and now he had his arm around me, holding me tight as he steered me toward his car.

  Then, from out of nowhere—

  “Hey, Aiden, I got her.” Riley was at my side. He pulled me from Aiden, wrapping his arms around my shoulders to keep me from falling.

  “You bought us an air conditioner.” I smiled up at Riley, snuggling into his warm shoulder, all affectionate and dreamy and slightly dizzy, totally amazed he was suddenly here, beside me, holding me. How cool.

  Aiden slinked away, looking shamefaced for some reason.

  “Aiden was being so sweet,” I told Riley. “He made me drinks and was going to give me a ride home.”

  “Yeah,” Riley sounded like an adult counseling a small child, “you probably shouldn’t let Aiden give you drinks—or rides home. You should probably stay away from Aiden.” He helped me into his car, fastening my seatbelt, then muttered under his breath, “Shouldn’t be too hard, since Aiden’s not going to be working here anymore.”

  “Oh.” That made me feel sad, but only for a second.

  Riley was being so sweet. I wanted to tell him that. But suddenly I was so tired I couldn’t keep my eyes open.

  I started to drift off, but blinked, just realizing something—why I felt so woozy. “Hey, I think there might have been alcohol in my drinks!”

  Riley raised his eyebrows, giving me a sardonic look. “You think?”

  That epiphany was it. All I had left. I instantly fell asleep, and probably snored, only waking when I suddenly felt sick.

  My head was spinning, my stomach too. The whole world—spinning. So bad. I knew what was going to happen, but it was too late to do anything about it. I puked in my lap. And all over Riley’s fancy car.

  ***

  Me puking in Riley’s car probably had nothing to do with him buying a new one only a few weeks later, but you never know. In any case, he was very pleased with his new purchase. He showed it off to all of us when he came in to work the next day. It was actually the first time I’d seen him happy since Ava dumped him. It was weird that a car could have such an affect on a guy. But I was glad to see Riley happy.

  And, speaking of cars
having affects on guys—Riley’s car had Finn drooling.

  When Riley came to pick us up for The Wave concert in it, Finn stopped talking in mid-sentence to salivate.

  “Man, I wish I was rich,” Finn sulked.

  I nudged him, teasingly. “Money can’t buy everything.”

  “No, but it can buy a lot.”

  “Like back stage passes to meet The Wave!” Courtney, Riley’s date said. “Woot!”

  Courtney was nice. I wished Riley liked her, so he could be happy, since she obviously adored him. But I could tell he wasn’t that into her. I mean, he was friendly to her, and flirty and attentive and all that stuff, but his eyes didn’t get that spark, not like when he looked at Ava.

  Then again, I wasn’t sure I’d like Riley to get that spark when he looked at Courtney either.

  Gah! It was confusing.

  I wanted Riley to be happy. I did. But to be honest, I didn’t really want him to like a girl—unless the girl was me. And well, I had a boyfriend, so I was—seriously, desperately—trying not to like Riley. Trying so hard. So, really, it wasn’t fair that I wanted him to like me. But blah. That’s what it seemed I wanted.

  Stupid.

  The concert was fun—pretty much. But Bianca ended up being there. When I came out of the bathroom, there she was, cornered with Finn, acting all intimate and we-have-a-thing-like. It made me feel sick and it ruined the rest of the night for me, though after that, Finn treated me extra sweet and gave me extra hugs and kisses and ice-cream.

  “I love you so much,” Finn whispered to me on the way home from the concert. “Please, don’t let Bianca come between us—Zoey, please.”

  I sat ridged and trembling, not knowing what to say or think. It seemed he was the one letting Bianca come between us. I mean, he sure didn’t look hostile towards her when they were huddled together in that corner. You know that spark I was talking about? The one Riley got in his eyes when he looked at Ava? It seemed Finn had it in his eyes tonight when he was talking to Bianca.

  It made me clutch my stomach and want to cry. But I let Finn hold me in the car and try to make me feel better. I wanted to feel better. So bad. I wanted things to go back to the way they were—when we were happy and totally into each other and in love. I wanted things to be right between us again. But … it didn’t seem they could.

  Not anymore.

  But I wanted to be wrong.

  ***

  A week after the concert, Finn and I took my little brother and sister with us to the fair. We stopped by Riley’s on the way, trying to coax him into coming too—and I tried coaxing him into bringing Courtney, but Riley smirked.

  “Why are you trying to sell me on Courtney, Jones?”

  I shrugged, turning red. “She’s nice.”

  “And the total opposite of Ava.” Finn nudged me playfully. “Zoey hated Ava.”

  Riley raised an eyebrow. “Oh yeah? Why’s that?”

  I could feel myself turning even redder, ‘cause I wasn’t quite sure anymore why I didn’t like Ava. Was it because she was a self-centered snob … or because Riley like, craved her? I was pretty sure it was a little of both, but I didn’t want to discuss it.

  I didn’t like talking about Ava with Riley around, anyway. I didn’t like her name even being brought up in his presence anymore because it made his eyes look all sad and lost these days. Though, actually, they didn’t look sad or lost right now. Right now they looked … guarded.

  “Come on, Riley!” Justin called impatiently through the open window of Finn’s car. We stood talking in Riley’s front yard longer than my little brother could tolerate. “I want to ride the Ferris wheel with you!”

  “I’d like to come, buddy—really.” Riley sounded torn, regretful. He didn’t often tell Justin no—in fact, he never did. Only, well, he did now, saying he had already made other plans.

  “Oh!” Finn whooped with a grin. “Riley’s got another girl—is she inside? Who is it? The red-head from the mall?”

  Riley shook his head, looking sober. “It’s not the red-head.”

  “Who is it, then?” Finn’s interest was piqued by Riley’s reluctance to spill.

  Riley rubbed the back of his neck, eying me. Then he set his jaw. “Ava.”

  It was like a punch in the stomach. For some reason. Though, really it was none of my business. I knew that. It shouldn’t matter to me who Riley dated. Of course. Still … ouch.

  “Oh.” Finn laughed, awkward-like. “Zoey doesn’t hate her that much—I was just messing around. Bring her with us—she and Zoey can duke-it-out in the fun house—actually make the house fun.”

  I tugged on Finn’s arm, wanting to get away. Riley obviously didn’t want to come. The way he was acting, it was kind of tense.

  “I already invited Ava to come,” Riley said. “But she didn’t want to.” He ran his hands through his hair, not seeming to want to go on, but he finally did anyway. “I guess her and Jones—their feelings are mutual.”

  I opened my mouth in indignation, but Finn laughed. “Well, okay then,” he said all merry as can be, “see ya.”

  ***

  The next day at work, I was filling drinks at the soda fountain for a table, and Riley was standing nearby, getting ready to leave. But when he saw me, he hesitated, then came over and mentioned maybe the kids and Finn and I shouldn’t come to his house while Ava was around anymore.

  “She seems to be, I don’t know, a little bit, uh, jealous,” he said.

  I widened my eyes. Ava was beautiful—like gorgeous. Super gorgeous. She was jealous of me? I was kind of surprised, and mystified.

  “Jealous of me? Why?”

  “Well, not you. Or maybe you. The whole situation really,” he said, not seeming to want to talk about it. “She has it worked into something it’s not.”

  “Riley,” I said, hoisting up my full tray, “what are you talking about?”

  “She thinks you guys come over a lot—which you don’t. And she thinks you take advantage of me—which if you do, I haven’t really noticed. But,” he picked up my second tray for me, then didn’t go on, but started on a new tack. “Look, if she’s at my house, could you not be?”

  It wasn’t like I went to Riley’s house. I didn’t. I used his extra parking spot, ‘cause he lived right at the beach and finding parking was a pain during the summer. But I hardly ever actually went in to his house. The kids did—they adored Riley and he seemed to have adopted them since Dad died. I mean totally bonded with them—so they’d go in his house sometimes after swimming in the ocean to warm up in his hot tub, but I never did—went in with them—except on “occasion” with Finn. But I had always tried really hard to get out of it … ‘cause, you know, I used to think Riley hated me.

  Still, I shrugged, like his request was no big deal—like I wouldn’t dream of going to his house with Ava there, ‘cause really I wouldn’t. For so many reasons.

  “Sure,” I said breezily, though feeling slightly punched in the stomach, though really it seemed I shouldn’t feel hurt or even care—except that Ava was a witch and it sucked that Riley chose her over me. Okay, it was totally irrational of me to feel that way—I knew that. I did. I mean, she was his girlfriend and I had a boyfriend of my own—though Finn seemed to have the hots for another girl these days—a skank. Still, I tried to reason with myself—there was no reason to begrudge Riley happiness with the girl he adored—despite what a witch she was.

  Anyway, that was the end of the conversation.

  But then a few nights later, Finn and I took my little brother and sister to the fair again since when it’s in town that’s all the kids want to do—go to the fair—and well, their dad just recently died, so we took them and then—wham—ran into the “couple”—Riley and Ava.

  Justin, of course, wanted to go on the bumper cars with Riley and Jillian dragged him over to the ring toss wanting him to win her a stuffed animal.

  Riley seemed thrilled to see us. He really, truly, genuinely loved Justin and Jillian. He did. A
nd they loved him. It was a beautiful thing. But I saw Riley glance over at Ava, like: What can I do? They love me.

  Ava rolled her eyes, the witch. So, I tried to drag my siblings away—since Riley had, nicely, asked me to back off when she was around. But the kids wouldn’t leave without a fight, and Riley didn’t seem to really want them to go.

  Finally, Riley came up with a compromise of sorts, suggesting, “Jones, we’ll take the kids for a while. You and Finn can be alone—like a date—go on the rides and stuff.”

  That was a strange offer from Riley. Finn and I had been “dating” for over four years, we didn’t need an excuse to be alone … but, well, come to think of it, since my dad died, Finn and I hadn’t been alone much. Or “dated” much. I liked having my family near me these days. Had Finn complained to Riley about that? Suddenly, I had the sinking feeling he did.

  But maybe that wasn’t it.

  Maybe it was just Riley’s way of asking me to get lost, so he could hang out with the kids but still get lucky later with Ava. Only, I was at the fair for the kids—that’s the only reason I came again, since we’d just been here a couple days ago. But the kids wanted to hang out with Riley, and Riley couldn’t hang out with me … it seemed.

  So, Riley got his way, that day.

  But …

  A few days later was a bright, beautiful Saturday. So, of course, Justin and Jillian wanted me to take them to the beach. I called Finn, practically begging him to come with us.

  “Zoey, I can’t,” he said, sounding out of it. “I’m so beat. Last night I didn’t get home from the fund-raiser at the pool until after two, and I have to work this afternoon at one. I just want to sleep.”

  “Okay,” I said, trying to be a good girlfriend, understanding and all that.

  “Have fun, though.” Finn yawned, then added, “Park at Riley’s. You’re not going to find a spot anywhere else—not on a day like this.”