AN: Sorry for the delay in the update this time, sometimes life gets in the way more that it should! Here's an extra long chapter to make up for it, so get comfy! Shoutout to the guest reader who called me out on Riley's jesus sandals. You are so right. You should enjoy this chapter.
"Quick! Somebody get me the purple paint! I have masterpieces to make!" Riley declared as she burst into the art room. Riley skipped over to her easel and twirled before taking a seat.
Maya laughed at her best friend. "Someone is happy today…"she sang as she handed Riley her beloved purple paint.
"Oh Maya, with freedom, books, flowers and the moon, who could not be happy? Oscar Wilde said that you know." Riley happily sighed and began to smear the paint onto the canvas with her fingers.
"I bet this happiness also has to do with a certain Huckleberry." Maya teased.
"Maybe…" Riley paused to observe her work before continuing. "Lucas and I talked this morning, he apologized. The whole thing was a just a misunderstanding."
"And so what happens now?" Maya asked.
"I don't know for sure, but he is giving me a ride home after football tonight!"
Both girls squealed.
"I do have one question for you honey…" Maya started.
"Ask away." Riley continued to work on her painting.
"Are those the Jesus sandals I thought I threw away?!"
Riley froze. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
Maya laughed. "Come on Riles. Jesus sandals? Really? You're better than that!"
"Miss Matthews, I better not see another purple cat…" Mrs. Creo's warning tone interrupted the girls' laughter.
"I suggest you look the other way then!" Riley answered through her giggles.
Lucas was about to lose his damn mind. Coach Thompson posted the official football team roster at the end of fourth period. As he anticipated, he was named the starting varsity quarterback. It didn't take long for him to grow tired of the constant starring. Some members on the team, like Josh, enjoyed the attention. Lucas however, found it ironic that most of these people didn't care about him at all until he was named quarterback. At least Riley warned you. He thought.
To make matters even worse, Missy Bradford forced her way next to him at the football players' table during lunch. Lucas was officially repulsed. If he had to sit through one more minute of her breathy, whiney voice, he would probably have to knock himself out just to end his misery. Lucas tried not to scowl as yet another student he didn't know congratulated him.
Unable to take anymore of the nonsense, his eyes searched the busy cafeteria for a certain brunette, but her couldn't find her. He remembered she wasn't in the cafeteria the previous day either. Lucas considered asking Josh if he knew where his sister was hiding, but after what happened after practice earlier, he figured that wasn't the best idea. He even tried to keep an eye out for Maya. Apparently, if you found one, the other was surely not very far away. But he remained unsuccessful. He considered his options. If he asked Zay about Riley, he'd have to deal with Zay's loud mouth for the rest of the day.
"Hey Zay, have you seen Maya?" Lucas attempted to ask causally.
"Uh...no?" Zay was cut off by a breathy laugh.
Lucas rolled his eyes.
"Like Maya Hart would sit with us! Her and that freak Smiley are probably hiding in the art room or something. Ugh did you see Smiley's hideous sandals today?"
Lucas felt his blood boil. He stood up from the table and stormed out of the cafeteria. He blindly stomped through the halls until he found the art room. He glanced in the open door to find Maya, but no Riley.
"What do you want Huckleberry." Maya snapped at him, not bothering to look up from her painting.
Lucas ignored the nickname. "I'm looking for Riley."
"Why? Are you going to go all bipolar on her again and be a jerk." Maya remarked.
"I've already apologized to her. It won't happen again."
"It better not Huckleberry."
"So do you know where she is or not?" Lucas was about to lose his patience.
"Yes. Follow the Rileytown breadcrumbs. That'll lead you right to her." Maya answered cryptically.
Lucas stood confused in the doorway. What kind of sick game is she trying to play?
"Oh my god. If you don't get out of here in two seconds, I will literally fling this paint at you." Maya threatened, raising the paintbrush in her hand.
"Message received." Lucas backed out of the room and into the hall.
Well that was a complete waste of time. He glanced around the hall for any sign of "Rileytown breadcrumbs"
A slight sparkle caught his eye.
He looked closer and realized there was a trail of purple rhinestones on the ground. Lucas followed the trail down the hall and around the corner where he ran into the auditorium doors. Of course.
He opened one of the doors and spotted Riley sitting crossed legged on the edge of the stage, strumming a purple bedazzled ukulele. Her soft voice reached his ears.
"There was a time when I was alone
Nowhere to go and no place to call home
My only friend was the man in the moon
And even sometimes he would go away, too"
Unnoticed by Riley, Lucas walked along the rows of seats to the front of the stage. Her song continued,
"He said, 'Peter Pan, that's what they call me
I promise that you'll never be lonely,' and ever since that day
I am a lost boy from Neverland
Usually hanging out with Peter Pan
And when we're bored we play in the woods
Always on the run from Captain Hook"
Her signing abruptly stopped. "Hey QB one." She greeted.
Lucas let out an exaggerated sigh and then pulled himself up onto the stage next to her. "Not you too…" He groaned.
Riley grinned. "What? You don't want to be the school's football star?"
"No, I just wish people wouldn't assume that's all I am."
Riley nodded and began to strum the sparkly instrument again. "Well if it's any consolation, I don't see you as just an athlete."
Lucas smiled at the brunette beauty. "Thanks Beautiful. What's that song you were signing? Did you write it?"
Riley blushed, "uh, no it's called Lost Boy by Ruth B."
"It sounded beautiful. You have an amazing voice." Lucas nudged her shoulder with his own.
Riley looked up at him. "Thanks." She whispered.
"So do you usually eat lunch here?" Lucas asked, motioning to the empty theater.
Riley shrugged her shoulders. "Sometimes, but not always."
"Why today?" Lucas pressed, "I was looking for you in in the cafeteria."
Riley looked down at her ukelele. "You were?"
Lucas lightly lifted her chin to look in her eyes. "Of course I was."
"I figured you'd be a little pre-occupied with the football roster being posted and all." Riley muttered.
He narrowed his eyes at her. "You weren't there yesterday either."
"Sometimes it's easier if I don't go to lunch." Riley glanced down at her hands. Lucas could tell there was much more going on that she lead on.
"Riley…"
"Lucas please, I don't want to talk about it right now." She insisted.
Another day. Lucas thought to himself. "How do you even know what I was going to ask, huh?" He teased instead, gently nudging her shoulder again.
Riley's smile slowly started to reappear. "I'm sorry, go on…"
Lucas reached down to take one of her small hands in his own.
"Are your hands purple?" He brought her hand closer to his face to further inspect it.
Riley felt tingles run up her arm at his touch. "Um...I got a little carried away in art class." She giggled.
"Oh yeah?" Lucas raised his eyebrows at her and laces his fingers with hers.
Riley nodded, unable to speak at their new contact. Calm down, he's just holding your hand. No reason to freak out.
Lucas felt himself getting lost in Riley's smile. He couldn't explain the feeling yet, other than an intense pull towards her. Like something greater than him wanted them together. He felt a need to protect her. He wanted to be there for her. Suddenly he craved seeing her eyes light up when she smiled more than anything else.
The warning bell brought both of them crashing back to reality.
"We should probably get going. We can't be late to my own father's class." Riley pulled her hand from his and stood up.
"See you later man!" Josh waved to one of his football teammates as he walked through the near empty halls. He was taking his sweet time getting to english class. Out of nowhere, a hand reached out and grabbed the front of his shirt. He let the hand pull him into a nearby supply closet. The door slammed shut behind him.
"Hello Kitten."
A dim light clicked on. He noticed Maya's eyes were filled with fire.
"You know Kitten, if you wanted me that badly there are much more private places in this school than a supply closet." Josh reached out to wrap his arms around her waist, but she slapped them away.
"Ow!"
"What in the hell were you doing getting into a fight with Lucas!"
Josh rolled his eyes. "I was protecting my baby sister."
"She's not a baby!" Maya barked. "You promised Riley you wouldn't interfere."
"Technically I didn't." Josh pointed out.
Maya shoved her pointer finger into his chest. "If you do anything to screw this up for her, I will personally make your life a living hell."
Josh scoffed. "Oh really?"
Maya looked up at Josh with wide doe eyes. "Oh! I'm sorry Mr. and Mrs. Matthews, I didn't see you there. I can't believe you caught me sneaking into Josh's room this late at night." She feigned surprise.
"Gee, maybe your mom should take acting lessons from you. Then she might be able to keep a decent job for once." Josh spat.
"Suck a dick Josh."
"I would, but I just had a big lunch so…"
"Fucking ass." Maya shoved his chest and moved to leave the closet.
"Maya wait!" Josh grabbed her arm. "I swear I won't do anything to interfere with Riley and Lucas...unless he deserves it as deemed by you."
"Promise?" Maya insisted.
"Yes."
"Good."
"Should we seal it with a kiss?" Josh smirked, pulling Maya against him.
Maya glared at him. Josh brought his lips to hers in a hurried kiss.
"Maybe one more for good measure." Maya mumbled as he pulled away. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him back in a searing kiss.
"Maya you're late." Mr. Matthews announced.
Maya sauntered into the history classroom a good 15 minutes late. "Ah, but you wrote me a note." She shoved a small piece of paper into his hand.
"Oh? I did? Let's see…" Mr. Matthews opened the note.
"I, Mr. Cornelius Matthews, herby excuse Maya Hart's tardiness for today's class. Signed, Cornelius Matthews. Huh. Impressive. How'd you manage to do my signature so perfectly?"
"Years and years of dedicated practice." Maya smugly replied.
"Interesting. This is pretty convincing. You know what gives it away though?" Mr. Matthews asked casually. "It's written in crayon! SIT DOWN!"
The class laughed as Maya took her seat next to Riley.
"Peaches…" Riley reprimanded.
Maya shrugged her off with a wave of her hand.
"Okay class, back to the topic. The dawn of civilization began as cavemen…"
"And women!" Riley interjected.
"Yes and women. Began to communicate with each other. How can a society grow if they cannot communicate? That's your assignment. I'll put you in pairs and you will learn how to communicate with each other, without cell phones or social media. Learn about your partner, make a connection with them, face to face. You will present what you've learned to the class."
Mr. Matthews began pairing up the class until he reached the final four students. "Riley and May...NO!"
"What Mr. Matthews?" Maya teased.
"Like you two could possibly communicate anymore with each other! Riley and Lucas…"
Riley glanced back to meet Lucas's eyes with hers. He grinned and gave her a quick wink, which did not go unnoticed by Mr. Matthews.
"NO!" His head searched around the classroom desperately. "Maya and Lucas. Riley and Zay. There that settles it." Mr. Matthews declared, frantically waving his arms in the air.
"Howdy there Huckleberry!"
"Maya, play nice." Riley warned her best friend.
After a brief moment of shuffling, the class settled in with their assigned partners.
"So Cupcake, talk to me." Zay turned around backwards in the chair in front of Riley.
"Zay you've known me for like two years." Riley laughed.
"Yeah, but that's as 'Josh's Little Sister' tell me something about Riley Matthews."
"Um...well I'm thinking about auditioning for the school musical…" Riley offered.
"Tight! You should totally do it." Zay encouraged.
"Thanks! Have you heard from your dad lately?" Riley asked.
"Nah. We're supposed to facetime this week though. The internet access is really limited in Syria. But I hope he calls, he'll be pumped to hear I made varsity again."
Riley gave him a reassuring smile. "That's great! When you talk to him, tell him I say hello."
"You got it Cupcake. Hey want to hear a funny Lucas story?"
"Alrighty Huckleberry, tell me all about life down yonder on the farm." Maya gave her best hillbilly accent.
Lucas laughed. "It's a ranch, not a farm."
"There's a difference?"
"Yes. A farm grows crops. A ranch raises livestock." Lucas answered. "There's not much else to tell. I was born in Germany, while my dad was stationed there. We moved back to the family ranch near Austin right after that."
"How exactly does a Texas army brat end up all the way in Cold Springs, New York?" Lucas could tell she was fishing.
"My dad got a new position with the government about three years ago." He explained.
"Why wait years to move?" Maya narrowed her eyes at him.
"Originally, my dad wanted me to stay on the ranch with my mom and grandad, so I could go to high school. Texas schools get more attention for college football recruitment, but things happen." Lucas answered evasively.
"Rumor has it you got kicked out of school." Maya stated.
"How about we talk about you now. What happened in your life that makes you put on such a tough exterior, huh?" Lucas attempted to turn the tables on her.
"Oh you know. Typical dad walked out on me. Mom spends all of her time chasing after losers to replace him. What'd you get kick out of school for?" Maya dismissed his question.
"Wouldn't you like to know." Lucas jeered.
"I'm just saying, it would be better for Riley to hear it from me, someone who cares about her, rather than the nasty rumor mill."
"What makes you think I don't care about her." he hissed lowly.
Riley stared out at the student parking lot. Lucas messaged her would meet her at his truck after football practice. "Black truck. You can't miss it." The message read.
Well that was a huge understatement. Riley thought as she spotted the truck. The giant blacked out truck with enormous tires stood out like a sore thumb in the modest student lot. As Riley approached the truck, she noted even the large all-caps letters on the front spelling out "Ford" were black as well. She strolled to the back of the truck. As if the giant vehicle didn't scream "Lucas" enough there was a small Texas flag sticker, just under the black "Raptor" logo on the tailgate.
Riley hesitated before deciding to open the heavy tailgate. Much to her surprise, it glided down almost on its own. She attempted to pull herself onto the bed of the truck, but her complete lack of upper body strength, made it difficult. She stood back for a moment to analyze the situation. On a whim, she moved to the side of the bed, placing her hands on the edge of the truck to pull herself up, and using the large tire as a step. With the new leverage, Riley easily climbed into the truck bed. She hoped Lucas wouldn't mind, but there was still quite a bit of football practice left and she simply couldn't be cooped up inside the school any longer. Storm clouds gathered in the distance. Riley closed her eyes and inhaled, she could almost smell the late summer rain.
Lucas couldn't help but grin when he saw Riley. She was sitting cross legged on the edge of the truck bed, a book open in her lap. The two buns gone from the top of her head, her hair flowed down in long soft curls instead. His mind quickly drifted to the other things he could do with Riley in his truck bed. Stop! Don't be an ass! He shook his head to erase the vision.
"Whatcha readin Beautiful?" Lucas let his awkwardly large football bags drop to the ground and placed a hand on each of Riley's knees.
Riley smiled up at him, closing her book for him to see the cover.
"Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire." He read aloud. "I prefer Prisoner of Azkaban, myself."
"You like Harry Potter?" Riley grinned.
"I mean, I've read the books once or twice….or a few dozen times." Lucas answered, giving her knees a playful squeeze.
Riley's mouth dropped open. Could he be any more perfect?
Lucas chuckled at her reaction. "I hope you weren't waiting too long. We ran a little late voting on captains."
"Didn't even notice." Riley held up the book as an explanation. "Is it okay for me to sit here?" She added.
"Of course it is. You're so tiny, it's not like you'll break anything. I'm actually kinda surprised you even got up here." Lucas referenced the height of the truck.
"Me too. It took pure determination." Riley giggled. "Which reminds me…" She uncrossed her legs and stuck her book in the bag next to her. "...mind giving me a hand back down?"
Lucas moved his hands from their spot on her knees to grip her small waist and easily lifted her from the tailgate.
"Thanks." Riley whispered as he placed her on the ground.
Unconsciously, Lucas began to rub small circles into her hips with his thumbs.
"Anytime Beautiful." He brought his head down to rest against hers. Riley could see small droplets of water left in his hair. He must have showered after practice. No! Riley stop picturing Lucas in the shower! You're making it weird!
"Whatcha thinkin about?" Lucas grinned at her slightly flushed cheeks.
"N...Nothing." Riley stuttered.
"Oh yeah?" Lucas pulled her hips against his.
"Yeah."
His eyes drifted down to her lips and then back up to her eyes.
"Hey QB, good practice today!"
Riley jumped away from Lucas at the sound of his teammate's voice.
"Thanks. You too man." Lucas answered with a rough edge in his voice.
"We should probably get going." Riley suggested.
"If you say so." Lucas grinned. He grabbed his bags from the ground, as well as, Riley's bag from the tailgate, then slammed it closed.
Riley followed him to the passenger side of the cab. Lucas unlocked the truck and placed the bags in the back seat, before offering his hand to help Riley climb in the passenger seat. The large leather seat practically swallowed her. Riley glanced around the cab. Geez who knew cowboys enjoyed such luxury? The cab was a, not surprising, all black with huge soft leather seats. Riley noticed a small lines of bright blue stitching in the detail of the material. The dashboard featured a tall, shiny, all touch-screen command center, with many other buttons and knobs beneath it. Riley was sure it belonged in a space ship rather than a truck.
"Ready?" Lucas asked from behind the wheel.
Riley buckled her seatbelt as the engine roared to life. Country music screamed through the base-filled speakers.
Lucas quickly turned down the volume. "Sorry about that. You probably don't like country music as much as me." He joked.
Riley shook her head. "You never know, I could surprise you. I happen to like all genres of music"
"Alright then." Lucas grinned at her.
"Your truck is insane by the way." She stated.
"Maybe to a city girl like you." He teased.
"It even has coat hooks!" Riley exclaimed, looking around the cab once more, her eyes settling on the odd hooks along the rear window.
"What?" Lucas followed her gaze then laughed loudly.
Her face fell slightly. "What?"
"Riley, those aren't coat hooks, it's a gun rack."
"WHAT?!"
Lucas continued to laugh.
"You have guns?! In the car?!" Riley panicked.
Lucas noticed her nervous tone. "Of course I have guns, they're not in the truck though." He clarified.
"What do you need guns for?"
"Well for hunting mostly. And protection." Lucas calmly stated.
"Why?" Riley squeaked.
"I'm from Texas, everybody hunts. And I lived on a ranch. You never know what you might come across. You have to be able to protect yourself and your livestock." He explained.
Riley remained silent, processing the information.
"Riley?" Lucas placed a hand on her knee.
"Guns are really dangerous Lucas." Riley turned to him.
"I know. Especially if you don't know how to handle them. They're not as scary if you know what you're doing. Don't worry, I've had plenty of gun-safety courses and my dad taught me himself, he's been in the military for almost 20 years." He gave her knee a gentle squeeze. "You'll always be safe with me Riley."
That seemed to ease her nerves a little. "Promise?"
"I swear. I would never let anything happen to you. Besides, Maya would kill me if I did."
Riley giggled. "That's for sure."
"There's my smiling girl." Lucas moved his hand from her knee to tickle her side.
He called you his girl. Riley squealed on the inside. Be cool.
"I live on Third street. Do you know where that is?" Way to kill the mood Riley.
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I live a few blocks over from there." Lucas laughed.
"How are you liking AHS so far?" Riley asked.
"I'm surprised how much I like it. I really like Mr. Vector and my AP Bio teacher."
"Not my dad's class?" Riley joked.
"No, he's great too, I'm just more of a science guy."
"Okay Bill Nye." Oh my god Riley, you did not just call him Bill Nye the Science Guy. "But yeah, his classes can get a little personal." Nice save. Not.
"How many times has he been your teacher?" Lucas asked.
"Hmm..pretty much every year since seventh grade."
"Damn, I thought that kind of stuff only happened on TV shows or something."
They both laughed. Lucas turned the truck onto Riley's street.
"It's the last house on the left." Riley pointed in the direction of her house.
Lucas pulled up in front of a large two story colonial home, with a bright red front door. He killed the engine.
"What are you doing?" Riley asked as she undid her seatbelt.
"Walking you to the door." Lucas stated as if it were obvious.
"Lucas you don't have to really…"
He shook his head at her. "I want to."
Riley climbed out of the truck while Lucas grabbed her bag from the back. He threw it over his shoulder and followed her up the walkway to the front door.
"Um thanks for the ride. I'm sorry Josh put you up to it." Riley muttered. Be brave.
"Anytime. And Josh didn't put me up to anything." Lucas handed her the bag.
Brave. Riley. Brave!
Riley leaned up and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek.
Lucas felt his insides burning. He quickly looped his arms around her waist. Her bag fell to the ground as he pulled her closer to him. Riley tucked her head under his chin. God he smells amazing. She felt his lips kiss the top of her head.
"You have no idea what you do to me Riley Matthews." Lucas murmured into her hair. He pulled away slightly to look at her face and gently brushed a stray curl out of her eyes.
"Why don't you enlighten me?" Riley whispered.
Lucas brought his head down, but a loud clap of thunder caused them both to jump back.
Her face turned bright red. "I'm sorry. I ruined the moment." Riley winced.
Lucas shook his head. "Don't worry about it. When I have my moment, it will be my moment. You should get inside before the rain starts."
Riley nodded, a small smile on her face. "Yeah...text me when you get home so I know you made it safely." She unlocked the front door.
"I will." Lucas grinned. "See you later Beautiful."
He waited until she was inside before returning to his truck.
Riley leaned against the door, unable to control her wide smile. She slid down the door until she was sitting on the floor. I've gotta tell Maya!
Maya leaned against the counter and attempted to work on her still incomplete Algebra assignment. It was a slow night at the diner, thanks to the storm it was completely empty. The bell on the diner's door dinged as it opened.
"Take a seat, I'll be right with you." Maya greeted without looking up from her textbook.
"Take all the time you need Sugar."
Maya rolled her eyes at Zay's voice. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm sorry, is this not a public establishment?" Zay asked playfully.
Maya looked up from her book at him. "You know what I mean."
"You see Sugar, I got home from the gym this evening and found myself craving some quality diner food. So I said to myself, oh self, if only there were a delicious diner in town with a smokin hot waitress working…" He took a seat on a stool in front of the counter.
"The usual?" Maya smirked at him.
"Yes Ma'am."
Maya went to the kitchen to put in Zay's usual order of chicken fingers, grabbing a large basket of fresh fries on her way back out. She set the fries in front of Zay and poured him a glass of ice tea.
"Thanks Sugar." Zay tore open a packet of sweetener to dump in his tea.
"Ack. I don't know how you drink that." Maya made a face at the number of sugar packets he was adding to the drink.
"I'm from the south. We like our tea with a little sugar." Zay answered cooly.
"A little?" Maya pointed to the small pile of empty packets.
"I like extra sugar in mine." Zay winked. "Is that the Algebra homework?" He nodded in the direction of her open textbook.
"Yeah. I'll have to get Riley to help me with it later though. Numbers aren't my thing." She grumbled.
"I can help you with it." Zay offered.
"Yeah right." Maya mocked and plucked a fry from the basket.
"Really. What do you need help with?"
Hours and many, many glasses of ice tea later, Zay and Maya were laughing at the counter, her homework long since completed.
"And I shit you not, he flew right off the damn thing!" Zay animatedly explained.
"He did not!" Maya gasped.
"Little shit didn't even last a second." Zay added.
Maya's phone dinged. She wiped the laughter induced tears from her eyes and looked at the message.
"Oh boy." She muttered.
"What?" Zay asked.
"Nothing. It's just Riley." Maya typed a quick reply.
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah, she wants me to come over after my shift. Something must have happened with her and Lucas on their ride home." Maya sounded slightly worried.
"What do you think happened?" Zay prompted
"I don't know for sure. Hopefully nothing bad." Maya sounded less than optimistic.
Zay shook his head. "Nah, Lucas wouldn't do anything to her. I've never seen him so into a girl before."
"Which reminds me, do you know why he got kicked out of school?" Maya was desperate to find out.
Zay hesitated. "I don't know Sugar. It's not really my story to tell."
Maya pouted and batted her eyes at him. "Please Zay? For me?" She ran her hand down his chest.
"Well...let's just say he made a few bad decisions."
Maya drifted her hand back up his chest. "What kind of bad decisions?" She purred.
"He's a fighter. He got into too many fights. His last one sent the other guy to the hospital in pretty bad shape." Zay couldn't keep himself from giving in to her.
"WHAT?" Maya snapped her hand back.
"Don't say anything. Please. He's trying to start over." Zay pleaded.
"Why didn't you tell me? Or Josh! He shouldn't be around Riley if he's dangerous!" Maya yelled. It was a good thing the diner was empty.
"He's not! Something is changing in him!" Zay shouted right back.
"And how do you know?"
"Because he was able to control his anger when Josh attacked him. I've never seen him do that before." Zay explained.
Maya's phone dinged again.
"Riley again?" Zay asked as she looked at the phone.
Maya slammed the phone down on the counter. "No. My mother."
Zay nodded. "Is she staying out again?"
"Yes. She's got some new loser. Doug or something. She hasn't been home for almost a week."
Zay reached over the counter and covered her hand with his. "I'm sorry Maya."
Maya looked away from him. "It's like she doesn't even remember she has a daughter anymore." She felt hot tears beginning to fall.
"Hey now Sugar, none of that." Zay wiped a tear away. "Do you want me to give you a ride to the Matthews' house?" He offered.
Maya quickly pulled her hand away from his. "If you don't mind. My shift's over in a few minutes." She wiped her cheeks with the back of her hands. Be strong for Riley. She needs you. She chanted to herself.
"Not at all Sugar."
"Thanks. I'll be right back." Maya refilled his tea and hurried back to the kitchen. She splashed her face with cold water from the sink.
"You alright Hart?" Chubby, the diner's owner and cook, asked.
"I'm fine. Just tired." She mumbled.
"I brought milkshakes!" Maya declared as she burst through the Matthews' front door.
"Awe, how thoughtful of you." Josh cooed from his sprawled out position on the living room couch.
"Not for you. For Riley." Maya was in no mood for his sass at the moment.
"Peaches? Is that you?" Riley called from the stairs.
"Honey I'm home!" Maya answered.
Riley skipped down the stairs to the living room. "How'd you get here? I was just leaving to come get you…OH! Milkshakes!"
"Zay hung out at the diner with me tonight, he gave me a ride." Maya handed Riley her chocolate shake.
"As much as I would love to hear your girly chit chat, I'm trying to watch something here." Josh grumbled from the couch.
"Bay window." Riley pulled Maya upstairs to her room.
Both girls plopped down in the bay window.
"Okay Honey, what's the emergency?" Maya asked calmly.
"Lucas and I almost kissed!" Riley blurted out.
"Almost kissed?"
"Twice!" Riley nodded.
"How do you almost kiss?" Maya questioned quizzically.
"Almost kissed, like we would have kissed if we hadn't of gotten interrupted both times." Riley explained before taking a long drink of her milkshake.
"Interrupted by what?"
"Well first his teammate and then by the thunder."
Maya remained quiet. She had not been expecting this. She was convinced the emergency was going to be Lucas admitting his past to her.
"You don't seem happy for me...I thought you'd be excited too." Riley began to feel dejected.
"No Riles, I'm happy for you really…" Maya trailed off.
"But?"
"But, I don't want you to get hurt. You barely know this guy."
Riley frowned. "What are you saying?"
"I don't know. I guess I just don't think you should move too fast."
"I'm sorry Maya, but I can move at whatever pace feels right to me. Lucas feels right to me." Riley looked closer at her best friend and noticed her eyes were slightly swollen. "Maya what's wrong? Have you been crying?"
"No. I'm just really tired. I didn't sleep well last night. Do whatever you want. I'm going to see if Josh wants the rest of this." Maya rushed from the window with her strawberry milkshake in hand and out of the room.
Josh sat unmoved from the couch, watching the latest UFC Fight Night weigh-in. A floating pink styrofoam cup blocked his view of the TV.
"Leave your door unlocked tonight."
Josh took the cup. "Always for you Kitten."
Oh my that was a long one! Virtual cupcakes for everyone! You guys are amazing. Thank you so much for your support! It means the world to me. Without saying too much, I wanted to give you all a quick PSA; things are a little rough right now, but let's all try to spread joy, not hate.
Please review, like, follow, favorite, all the things! What did you think? Were you surprised at Lucas's truck? What has been you favorite part so far? I feel like it's time to pick up the pace a little bit…. ;)
Lilly.