Riley stared in dismay at Ben. "You didn't read my book," he stated shakily, hurt in his eyes. That wasn't the first time Ben had forgotten him, and it surely wouldn't be the last. But this one had by far hurt the most.
The book was the one this Riley had taken seriously outside of his technological career. All of the times Ben and Abby had asked him over, he declined. Not because he didn't want to, but because of the book.
Writing a book was hard, it took a lot of research. You also had to make sure it wasn't dull. And his book wasn't.
After a while, the invites stopped. Riley took it to mean that they didn't really care. So neither did he. He made himself sick, but still didn't stop. He wasn't eating much, not sleeping more than ten minutes, never going out. Nothing else mattered. He had a few groceries delivered to his door, but he rarely at them. And when it was finally finished, Riley made sure Ben got the first copy.
Now, a month later, Ben was just opening it. Not that Riley was suprised. He just didn't think it would hurt so much.