Page 111 of Wicked Minds
I think that’s wise for now. Without saying another word, I leave him behind and head up to my room. Once there, I fill a duffel with enough clothes to last me the rest of the week, along with any notebooks and textbooks I need for class, before carefully setting my drawing tools on top and zipping it up.
With Grayson’s destruction trailing me, I walk out of the house.
“What are the stakes this time?” Riley teases with a confident smirk later that evening. Logan is at hockey practice, so I have her all to myself for a few hours.
Even after our conversation in the library earlier, she still looked broken and defeated when I picked her up after class. I fucking hate that look. It’s a look that makes me realize I’m as immoral as my father because I’d have doneanythingto take away the weight pressing down on her shoulders.
Beat the shit out of Ben.
Extort her mom.
Kill motherfucking Bertram.
Nothing is off the table when it comes to protecting this girl.
Riley James whollyconsumesme.
Every single thing she does holds me captivated.
The way her eyes light up when she smiles.
How she chews on her bottom lip when she’s anxious, or bites her nails when she’sreallynervous.
The blush that creeps over her skin when she’s turned on. I fuckinglovethat blush. Love when I’m the cause of it. How it turns a deep crimson when I talk dirty to her.
Even now, just sitting across the table from her, the chemistry between us is off the charts, practically reaching a boiling point.
A Gin Rummy rematch had sounded like a good idea when I’d suggested it. Especially with the way her eyes lit up for the first time since Grayson laid waste to her reality.
Now, I’m thinking we should have gone out somewhere public because it’s taking everything in me to stop my hands from slipping to places they shouldn’t.
“How about the winner gets to ask the loser a question?” I respond, subtly readjusting my junk beneath Riley’s tiny kitchen table.
She smirks. “You sure about that, Royce? I could end up learning a lot of things about you tonight, and I can guarantee you’re not going to learnanythingabout me.”
I love this confident side of her. I never get to see it. Logan says she was the same way when she was tutoring him. Makes me wish I’d failed a freshman class so she could be my tutor.
Tapping my finger against the worn tabletop, I drink in the bright glint in her eyes. She’s enjoying this… knowing she’s going to kick my ass. It’s a boost to her faltered confidence and the distraction she needed.
“I’m sure.” I give her a cocky smirk in return. I might hate to lose, but honestly, Iwanther to ask me questions. She’s so respectful of my boundaries, never voicing the questions Isee brewing behind her eyes. She doesn’t poke or prod at my wounds, and I’m so shut down that I don’t even know how to open up to her. I want to, but years of keeping to myself, of trusting no one outside of Logan and Grayson, make it nearly impossible for me to flip that switch and tell her things.
So I’m using Gin Rummy as a way to get her to crack the casing surrounding me.
“Alright. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
She shuffles the deck before dealing out the cards, and despite wanting her to win so she can ask me questions, I do give the round my all—because, like I said, I’m a sore loser.
“How?!” I bark when she knocks on the table and calls outGin.
Her tinkling laugh is my only response, and I scowl at her. It only makes her laugh harder, knowing damn well there’s no heat behind it.
Sinking back in my chair, I wave a hand. “Alright, ask your question.”
Still smiling, she taps a finger against her supple, pink lips, eyes narrowing on me as she tilts her head in consideration.
“How long have you been fighting at The Depot?” she eventually asks.
“On and off since starting at Halston. I only used to do it in the off-season, not wanting to damage my hand while playing, but it’s become a weekly thing since last summer.”
