Page 29 of Savage Truth

It was still hard to believe that I had zero interest in anyone other than Riley.It has to be my obsession with running her and Raelyn out of town.I ignored the other voice in my head that called me a liar.

“Why are you here, Eliana?”

She pushed her hair over her shoulders. “I heard about the fight and your suspension. I thought you could use some company. Maybe a way to relieve some stress?”

It was a bad idea, but I opened the door wide, and she entered. With a mischievous grin stretching her mouth, she trailed a hand across my abs as she passed. I wasn’t even a little bit interested, but—I grinned back—Riley might find Eliana’s presence annoying.

I shut the door and led her through the house and into the family room, where I was honing myCall of Dutyskills and switching toMaddenwhen that got old. She sat too close on the couch, touching her leg to mine, and chattered about school gossip. It was perfect because I didn’t need to say a word.

I stayed hyperaware for Riley’s arrival. Every once in a while, I could hear the water splashing from her laps in the pool. It’d been a half hour at least since she went out there.How much longer can she keep that up?

Bored, I tossed the controller onto the couch and switched to a recorded football game. I leaned back, and Eliana plastered herself to my side, tangling one of her legs with mine. My irritation level spiked. I didn’t push her away because the sounds in the pool had stopped.

“Maybe you should have a party.” Her high-pitched voice shattered my focus.

“Probably not.” My dad’s patience was stretched thin. I didn’t need to aggravate him more when I wanted him to take me seriously about Raelyn’s deception. I’d called them grifters and was still shocked there had been no reaction on his part.Does he know what they did?

“Oh, okay. I guess that makes sense.”

I wanted to shove her out the door. Of course, it made sense.

“Piper’s having a party this weekend. Do you want to go with me?”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Did you hear that Jarrett threatened to sue? He didn’t return to classes, either.” She wrung her hands. “What are you going to do?”

I paused and studied her behavior.Looks like she has a crush on Jarrett.“He won’t sue.” My dad would take care of it, or I would chat with Jarrett and convince him to get over it while issuing another warning to stay away from Riley.

A shuffle sounded outside, and I glanced toward the patio door. Riley was gathering her things and heading inside. She had a towel wrapped around her body, hiding her curves. She spotted us, rolled her eyes, went upstairs, and slammed the door to her room.

It was all I could do not to shove Eliana to the floor. Since that kiss I gave her in the hallway to make a point to Riley, she’d morphed into a stage-five clinger. In front of Riley, I was fine with that, but without her around, it wasn’t serving much purpose.

There was another way I could get under Riley’s skin. I took Eliana’s hand and pulled her off the couch and behind me. She jogged to keep up with my long strides. I found a playlist on my phone when I got to my room and turned the volume up—anything to annoy Riley.

After five minutes, she still hadn’t come out to yell. Eliana pressed herself against me. I turned my head when she linked her hands around my neck, went onto her toes, and tried to kiss me. I couldn’t take my eyes off the door.Any minute now.Riley had a temper. The loud music and Eliana being in the house had to trigger her.

It seemed like Eliana had eight arms with how much she kept touching me, and I batted her away. It was like being caught in a spider’s web. Overpowering floral perfume enveloped me in a headache-inducing cloud. And it smelled vaguely familiar. “Are you wearing the perfume Piper wears?”

“Yeah,” She flashed a coy smile then backed up. “I thought you would like it.”

“Not particularly.” I preferred the lilac-and-honey scent that clung to Riley’s skin.

“Well, maybe you’ll like this better.” She grabbed the hem of her form-fitting shirt then whipped it off. She advanced in a lacy white bra just as my door slammed open so hard that it bounced off the wall.

Perfect timing.

“Turn the music down!” Riley stomped to my dresser, still with the towel wrapped around her swimsuit-clad body, grabbed my phone, and hit the button to pause the music. Then she turned to me, spotting Eliana wearing only her bra. The fight left Riley’s face, and her expression shuttered. Anything else she might’ve said died as she handed me the phone. She walked out, slamming the door behind her.

I hated it. I wanted to know what she was thinking and feeling. When she put that wall back in place, it left me feeling cold.

“What’s she doing here?” Eliana frowned.

She hadn’t seen Riley downstairs because her back had been to the patio door. But she was full of shit. Miss Gossip Queen knew why Riley was living here. I’d had enough.

“Time to go.” I ushered a protesting, shirt-clutching, half-naked girl downstairs and out the door. Once she was clear, I shut and locked it.

I could admit to myself why I’d let Eliana in—I’d wanted to make Riley as insanely jealous as I’d been when Jarrett touched her shoulder at lunch, and she hadn’t done a damn thing to stop him.

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