Page 46 of Wicked Minds
He shakes his head. “Forget about it. It’s nothing.” He goes to walk away, but I yank him back by the neckline of his top.
“No, it does matter. You’ve been a moody bastard recently. You look like shit, and you’re never here.” I scour his face with a frown, trying to understand. “Tell me what’s going on with you.”
With another shake of his head, he says, “I can’t right now. I’ve gotta go meet with my dad’s lawyers. You going to Logan’s hockey game tonight?”
I nod. “Yeah. You should come. He’d appreciate the support.”
“Yeah, maybe,” he responds noncommittally.
“What about tomorrow night after my fight?” I suggest in a bid to fix this shit between us. “The three of us sit down with a couple of beers and talk.”
He pauses for a moment, debating before finally agreeing. “That works.”
“I mean, really talk, Gray,” I emphasize. “This shit has gone on long enough. We’re a family, it’s about time we started acting like one, yeah?”
Despite the shadows around his eyes, his posture straightens like a load has been lifted off him. “Yeah. I’d like that.”
With a small smile, he walks off, and I call after him, “Come to Logan’s game tonight!”
All I get is a two-finger wave over his shoulder as he climbs the stairs to his room. Alone, I check the time, deciding I have enough time to burn off some of thesetortured thoughtsas Logan so kindly put them before I need to get ready for his game.
I can berate myself for giving into my desires all I want, but at the end of the day, Logan’s right. I don’t plan on leaving Riley unprotected, and so long as I’m around her, what will happen will happen. Neither of us has any real control.
There might be some truth in his words… if I can bring myself to open up to Riley. If I can let her in, let her get to know me, then perhaps what we have won’t end in disaster.
If there was ever a woman who stood a chance at getting to know me, it’s Riley… I just have to figure out how to open up to her.
15
RILEY
“Girls’ night!” Isabella squeals when I open my door on Saturday night. Since I wasn’t scheduled to work, I suggested a girls’ night to Ava when I ran into her at the dance studio during the week. We haven’t had a chance to catch up recently. Between her spending Christmas with her mom and me hiding away from the world for the remainder of winter break, we are overdue a chill night in. Just the three of us.
Isabella is already in her pajamas with a fuzzy pink robe on and Monsters, Inc. slippers on her feet as she flounces into my apartment, a blanket in one hand and a new-looking tablet in her other.
I’m smiling to myself as I watch her get situated on the sofa, even as shards of glass embed themselves beneath my skin because I haven’t seen or spoken to my daughter since Christmas Day. Nearly three whole weeks. Usually, by this point in the month, Mom is harassing me for money, and I can use that as leverage to get a few minutes with my little girl, but all I’ve received is the odd text telling me she’sbusy.
Hopefully, this week, she starts to get desperate for money.
The distance from Rora never gets easier. Perhaps I should have adjusted to it by now. After all, I’ve been away from her forsix months, but it still hurts not being able to see her every day or talk to her. I don’t know what shows she’s watching at the moment or who her best friend is, and it’s killing me.
“Whatever you’re cooking in here smells amazing,” Ava says, pulling me out of my dark thoughts as she follows her daughter inside.
“Thanks. It’s nothing much, but since my cupboards are overflowing with food I thought I’d cook something up for us.”
“It’ll go perfectly with the wine I brought.” She holds up a bottle of white wine for me to see before grabbing two glasses from my cupboard. Twisting the lid, she pours a hefty measure into both glasses, and we sit down in my kitchen to chat while I wait for the timer on the oven to go off as Isabella entertains herself on her tablet.
“Did you have a good time at your mom's?” I ask.
“We did. Isabella loved spending so much time with her.”
“How is she doing after her fall?”
“She’s great. I’d worried that was the beginning of a downward spiral with her, but she’s recovered fantastically. Was running around after Izzy better than I can.”
I chuckle at Ava’s wry grin, before she asks, “What about you? Did you have a quiet Christmas? See any family?”
Shaking my head, I respond vaguely, “I mostly just stayed in and read.”
