Page 48 of Now and Again

Riley had no more to say and no more to pack. She got in the car. The second the door shut, India peeled out like a getaway driver.

And that was that.

Mia looked up at her. ‘Why’s Riley gone?’

‘She’s… she’s a grownup. She had to move out sometime.’

‘Why?!’ Mia demanded.

It was a good question. Last night, Juliet could feel them getting close again, and she’d thought, she’dhopedthat this time, she wouldn’t run. Now Riley couldn’t get out of there fast enough. But Juliet obviously couldn’t say any of that to Mia, so instead said, ‘It’s just the way it is.’

Mia didn’t look particularly satisfied with that but didn’t ask again. Juliet fully expected her to pick it up later, but hopefully, she could ask her mother instead. Because Juliet was out of answers.

Twenty-Two

Riley didn’t understand how she was where she was, with the people she was there with—at a cheesy bar, on a double fucking date.Her and India versus two entirely interchangeable men.Identical haircuts, identical accents, identical personalities. Riley was fairly sure hers was the one on the right, but she couldn’t be a hundred percent on that. His name was Jake. Or Blake. Maybe the other one was Blake.

India seemed in their thrall, anyway; this whole thing had been arranged by her as a surprise. Or rather, she hadn’t wanted to give Riley the chance to say no, pitching it as a done deal forty-five minutes before they were due to meet these men—her hunk of the month and his friend at a bar at eight. Riley had put up a decent fight before India had said, ‘I thought it would be nice for our first night?’ and Riley was stuck.

India was laughing at something Blake or Jake had said. Riley decided it was easier to think of them as Left and Right.

‘So, you girls just moved in together today?’ Left asked.

‘Wow, what a house of hotties,’ Right said.

India was delighted. ‘Well,Ididn’t say it.’

Left and Right chuckled. Right said, ‘Maybe we could go and check out the place?’

Riley wasn’t letting that idea gain traction. ‘Oh. No. I don’t think… My shit’s everywhere. We’re not ready for company.’

‘She’s exaggerating. There’s barely anything,’ India jumped in.

Riley fixed India with a look. ‘It’s been a long day.’

India’s smile dropped fractionally. ‘Oh. Alright.’ She turned to Left and Right. ‘Sorry, boys. Another time.’

They looked deeply put out but didn’t say so. Riley was relieved. She wasn’t gonna sit around India’s living room, watching her flirt with one of these guys while the other one tried to glide his way into her good graces. It was a waste of a night. She didn’t want this, any of it. It was happening in too quick a succession to the previous night. Juliet wasn’t hard to be around. She was easy, amusing company. You talked without even realising you were doing it. These sleazy douches were the definition of hard work. They talked in brags, chat up lines. Nothing real. The whole evening felt transactional. Exchanging sex for attention, distraction for affection. It was quite awful. And this was India’s whole life.

After they’d ditched the not-so-dynamic duo, Riley and India went back to the flat. India was pouting. ‘I feel like you didn’t try with them. You had a face on you all evening.’

Riley sighed and slipped her shoes off. ‘Sorry.’

‘What was it? Why couldn’t you just relax and have a bit of fun?’

‘I didn’t find those guys very fun,’ she confessed.

‘They could have been if you’d given them a chance. I mean, I know they weren’t going to be the loves of our lives or anything…’

‘So what’s the point then?’ Riley asked, too tired to listen to this.

‘The point is that we’d have a few drinks and get laid.’

‘But I didn’t fancy Blake,’ Riley said flatly.

‘Yours was Jake,’ India informed her.

‘It doesn’t tell you anything that I couldn’t remember his name?’

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