Page 60 of What Are the Chances
After pulling herself back together, she straightened.
“Are you good?” I checked.
“I am now. I just needed fresh air.”
When I blocked her from returning inside, her defences shot back up quicker than my snapshot.
“What are you doing, Caufield?”
“You’re not going back in there, Riley. You’re done.”
Her eyes widened in astonishment. “And what makes you think you have the right to decide that?”
I didn’t. We both knew it. Though as the sober person, I had a duty of honour from preventing anything bad from happening, and letting Riley go back into Lastlings was practically signing off on something bad. Like Hayes fucking Braddock for starters.
“If I hadn’t turned up, you’d currently be getting felt up by Braddock.”
Riley squared her shoulders. “That wouldn’t be new.”
Well, that was like a fucking puck to the face. No, it was more like a thousand pucks being fired at me without protective gear. Now I was the one feeling nauseous.
“Hayes Braddock?” I snapped. “Fuck me, Riley. You can do better.”
She shrugged. “Like you?”
Placing her hands on her hips, she held my gaze. If she was aiming for a stare off, I was quite confident I would win. Her eyes were cloudy and currently more closed than open.
“I’m hungry,” she hiccupped, shifting the conversation entirely. “Can you take me to get food?”
She stumbled backwards, catching herself on a light pole. Reaching for her, I sighed. You couldn’t converse with a drunk person. And if it got her out of here without complaint...
“Sure.”
The door opened. Levi walked outside with Grace. Her walking ability was almost as wobbly as Riley’s, and Levi looked equally as unimpressed as me.
“Ryan and Tripp are staying.”
I snickered. Of course they were. Those guys were incapable of saying no to a party. I should’ve known this would happen when they offered to come with Levi and me.
“I left them with the girls. They’ll make sure they get home safely.”
Grace dropped Levi’s hand and skipped over to Riley, lowering her mouth to whisper something in Riley’s ear. With her mouth gaping open, Riley listened intently before they both giggled.
Levi stared his girlfriend down. “Care to share, babe?”
“Nope. But I would share a cheeseburger with you.”
When Levi reached for Hughesy’s hand, she tugged him to a halt.
“Wait, Levi. I lied to you.”
Levi looked nervous as all hell. He swallowed. “About what?”
Grace’s serious expression was unnerving me too. Both Levi and I braced, waiting for her to drop a fucking bombshell.
“I don’t want to share a cheeseburger with you,” she whispered. “I want my own.”
Exhaling heavily, I took my keys from my pocket. “Looks like we’re doing a drunken food run.”
