Page 67 of Riley

“You got my cards,” he mumbled, like some dazed teenager.

“I mean, itisbar bingo, and it’s a game. You know how I like games. I think you like them too,” I said, flashing him with a smirk.

The blush that crept onto his cheeks was my answer.

“I do. Like games, I mean, but... Eric...”

My eyebrows furrowed as his tone turned soft, worried.

“Is something wrong?” I asked, panic striking me.

Riley sighed, sliding his dabber up toward me. He tapped his long fingers on the table, biting his bottom lip before he said, “There’s something I need to tell you.”

“Actually, there’s something I need to tell you too,” I said, and took a sip of my drink.

“Really?” he asked, deadpan.

I nodded. “Yeah, but, uh, you first.”

CHAPTER 31

Riley

It was now or never.

“I, uh... came across something yesterday,” I said, my entire body shaking like a leaf.

Eric’s eyebrows furrowed with concern, and I let out a deep breath.

“I saw you. Online, I mean...” I said the words, and the moment they left my mouth I felt relief.

But that relief soon dissipated as I watched Eric’s smile falter, as I watched his furrowing brows tighten, and his shoulders sink.

He didn’t deny my words, or try to refute them.

But the sight of his sadness pulled at my heart and all I wanted to do was hug him.

But I was frozen in place, watching him.

“I can explain...” he said softly.

“I don’t know if you need to, but...”

“I wanted to tell you, but I didn’t know how. I worried that maybe?—”

“What?” I asked, my voice faraway as I let myself get lost in his sapphire gaze, his youthful effervescence.

“I was worried you might... you know... want to stop whatever... this is.”

“What is this?” I asked curiously, motioning between us. “Because ever since I met you, I haven’t been able to define what this is. We’re friends, I thought at first, but ever since the weekend, since the hotel, I?—”

My words were jumbled in my brain as I tried to make sense of them, as emotion plagued me.

“I have friends. I don’t feel a fraction for them, what I feel for you.” I looked at him with a mixture of fear and hope.

Would he understand?

That he was worth it?

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