Page 30 of A Lesson in Obedience
CORRIN
Thank god. I’ll let you know what my mom says about the dampener and all that. We’ve got you.
I sent her a heart emoji and then set my phone back down. My head was a little woozy from lack of sleep and any information that River tried to give me would just not sit right without my undivided attention. His pillows looked so comfortable and even though my face wasn’t buried in his sheets, I could smell his scent wafting off of them.
“Just let me, I guess, recharge, and wake me up in a few hours. Don’t just let me sleep till whenever, okay?”
He placed his hand on my knee, sliding it up so that his fingers hid beneath the bottom of the shirt. “I got you.” He ran his fingernails along my chin as he curled his fingers into his palm, pulling his hand away. The amount of restraint in his expression was palpable.
He tilted my chin towards him and kissed me. The kiss was chaste and sweet, probably what I needed right now. He walked over to his dresser, pulling out my silk pillowcase and tossing it at me, so I could replace the one behind my head with it. The door closedbehind him and I settled into his cool sheets. In a matter of two minutes, I had ultimately been told in one way or another that I wasn’t alone. Whether it was through text or through spoken word, it came out with conviction. I should probably start believing them.
10
Riley
I’d woken up earlier than I wanted to, but trying to get back to sleep was harder than I imagined, so I stopped trying. I sat up in River’s bed and reached for my phone. I tried to read a few pages of one of my ebooks but I couldn’t focus. I don’t know why I did it, but I went to my photo app. I swiped through until I found ones of me and Marianne. I should have closed my phone and stopped, but I didn’t. I clicked through more pictures, each and every single photo filling me with a kind of sad rage that I’d never felt before.
I had no idea what the chancellor had done with her after I blacked out. I hated that she was scared when she died. I hated that she had been a part of my life and this is what happened. I shut my eyes, letting my phone fall from my hands. The last picture I’d seen was the one from when we’d driven all the way to Los Angeles because she had done so much research and was determined before she went off to college to get a real celebrity sighting. And by ‘real’,she meant a celebrity she deemed as A-list and would make all the others at Virginia Tech jealous.
It never actually happened, but we spent an entire weekend in the city and way too much money, but that time was something I’d always remember, and it made my heart hurt. I opened my eyes and tears spilled down my cheeks. I quickly wiped them away when the door cracked open.
River poked his head in and his eyebrows raised when he noticed I was up. “I was coming to wake you.”
I tossed my phone on the end table and put my hands in my lap. I looked around the room. “Where’s Beau?”
River nodded beyond the door. “He’s napping on the couch. I took him for a walk, fed him a sandwich and then I put on some cartoons for him to watch in the living room.”
I laughed softly. “You fed him a sandwich?”
“Well, we don’t have dog food here, so I made him a sandwich. Don’t worry, all dog-friendly items. It was like peanut butter and ham. He thought it was delicious. That’s at least what he thought to himself.”
I made a disgusted face. “That sounds gross.”
River shrugged, walking further into the room and closing the door. “He liked it. That’s all that matters.” He didn’t make a move to sit on the bed, but instead just stood near it as if he was contemplating his next words. “Can we finally talk?”
I lifted my head towards the ceiling and sighed, “Did you talk to Grayson while I was asleep?”
“I did. He asked how you were for the tenth time. I let him in on what’s going on and despite what you might think, he isn’t loyal to my dad or Chancellor Fowler. He wants to help and…”
I widened my eyes as if to tell him to keep going.
“And he called his parents and told them he was going to head back to the dorms early before school opens back up, but he’s actually just going to stay here, in the guest room.He doesn’t want to bother you until you’re ready, but he is on your side, Riley.” He almost started to flinch like I was about to argue with him.
“He can do whatever he wants. We can cross paths for all I care; I’m not ready to look at him and say much of anything. He isn’t the problem, but he’s a constant reminder.” I mumbled the last words under my breath, pulling myself together. “Now inform me on why school is so fucking important.”
River had a relationship with Grayson, one that went beyond ours and I knew he was hurting in a different way then I was. I couldn’t just forget what happened for the sake of my boyfriend. I loved River, but he didn’t live in my head and see the continuous fucking pain that liked to replay.
He started pacing as he spoke. “Asher went to see our dad and well, your dad was there too.”
I fisted the sheets, tampering down my anger. “That manisn’tmy dad.”
River slowed his steps and looked at me, nodding. “Right, sorry.” He started up again, clearing his throat. I let him tell the entire story and he tried to gauge my reaction when he’d mentioned his dad being a part of how mine died. I swallowed hard, knowing something had always been off with Oliver St. James. I didn’t want to pat myself on the back about it because I didn’t like being right, not about this.
When he was done, he finally sat down in the middle of the bed, facing me. “Does it all make sense now?”
All the information suddenly made my braids feel far too tight and I rubbed my scalp. “What?”
“Asher’s insistence.”
