Page 24 of What Are the Chances
“Will is with a girl,” Tripp said.
Levi cleared his throat. “How do you know?”
“Two pairs of shoes.”
Riley’s eyes widened. If she wasn’t regretting sharing my swag last night, she sure as hell was now.
“So what?” Levi checked. “You creeps planning to hang around here waiting for them to get up?”
Ryan chuckled. “Well, yeah.”
“Hell fucking no,” Levi snapped. “Start on clean up duty. Both of you. Hughesy is hungry and she’ll have all our balls if we don’t hit the road soon.”
“But–”
“Now,” Levi barked.
The captain command did the trick. Both Tripp and Ryan shuffled off, but not without mumbling complaints under their breath.
Once I was confident they were gone, I slowly removed my hand from Riley’s mouth. She kept her focus on me, her lips parted. Even beneath her many layers of clothes, her chest rose and fell heavily. That’d been closer than either of us were prepared for.
When things became silent once more, Levi crouched closer. “Will. You awake?”
“Yeah.”
My voice was gravelly.
“The coast is clear, but I don’t know for how long. If you and your – ugh – friend don’t want an audience, then I suggest you clear out quickly.”
He didn’t need to tell Riley twice. The moment Levi’s footsteps retreated, she was zipping open the swag and slipping out. Albeit more reluctantly, I got up too, pulling on my hoodie as I did.
A low fog was trickling over the campsite, and there was a thin layer of ice on the windshield of my car. When Tripp said he’d slept in the back, I wasn’t sure whether he meant the backseat or tray. Either or, I was hoping he’d slept alone. My truck was barely a year old.Ihadn’t even had sex in it yet. If Tripp had beaten me to it, it was sad as hell.
Riley put enough distance between us that I doubt anyone would believe me if I told them we’d cuddled last night. After slipping on her Uggs, she combed her fingers through her long hair then settled her beanie back in place.
I tried buying time by slowly pulling my shoes on, though even once they were in place I still didn’t know what to say. Turns out Riley didn’t either. She rubbed at her arms. I shifted from foot to foot. She lowered her gaze to the ground. I scuffed the gravel with my sneaker.
After an uncomfortable amount of silence, she finally cleared her throat. “Last night doesn’t change anything.”
“I didn’t expect it to.”
She nodded curtly before stuffing her hands into her jacket pockets and walking away.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Case closed
RILEY
Last night had changedeverything.
Parker was sitting at the island feelingextremelysorry for herself. I was on coffee duty, though my head was so far up in the clouds I’d stirred the milk too hard. It sloshed onto the counter, making a mess.
I’d driven Parker’s dad’s van back while her, Beth and Kayla had slept in the back. Not exactly safe, but wanting to escape, I hadn’t been overly focussed on road safety.
Parker was too hungover to debrief about last night. If she had, Beth would’ve mentioned she’d hijacked the van, then Parker would’ve questioned where I slept and I would’ve been forced to fess up about Will. As it was, I’d escaped the interrogation.
Usually I liked talking things through with Parker, but not this. I didn’t know what to make of it, not that there was anything to make. I’d found myself in a shit situation. Will had bailed me out. We had a past, so I guess he figured he owed me. That was all there was to it. Settled. Case closed.
