Page 6 of Marked

She throws me a quick smile while bringing the orange juice to her lips, emptying the bottle with a final swig.

“See? Was that so hard?”

The hint of a frown flashes on her face, but she quickly replaces it with a smile.

“Benevolence comes easy on a filled stomach,” she admits.

“Then why refuse the food?”

Riley shrugs. “It won’t happen again.”

“I hope not.”

I gather the wrapping paper from the sandwich and the empty bottle, placing both inside the basket and taking it with me as I rise from the bed. I’m just about to turn to the door when her voice holds me back.

“Stay for a while?” she asks, much to my surprise.

Hope is blossoming on her face as she looks up at me now, an innocent smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.

“Stay for what?” I ask.

She shifts awkwardly on the bed, evading my eyes as a gentle blush colors her cheeks.

“Just… I don’t know… company?” She looks up at me under batting lashes and an apologetic smile blossoms on her face. “It gets lonely down here.”

I try to catch her gaze, but her eyes scurry around nervously, never latching onto anything for longer than a split second. And it seems she’s especially careful about meeting my probing—and quite frankly, slightly confused—stare.

What is going on with her? Is she trying to play me?

“Since when do you value my company?” I inquire, already moving back to the bed.

Her shoulders sink and her eyes wander idly across the sheets, eventually locking onto her fingers as they fiddle nervously.

“I know you can make me feel good, despite everything,” she murmurs with her head still lowered. “Even if it’s not real or doesn’t mean anything, you… we are quite good together when we…”

Even with the way she’s sitting now—her gaze low, her hair framing each side of her face as it falls over her shoulders—I can still see the blush emerging on her cheeks.

“Quite good, huh?”

I step closer and she finally tilts her head to look at me.

“Yes, you make me feel good,” she admits, her face surprisingly stern. “You can make me feel good. And don’t you think you owe me that?”

Owe her?

She should not have said that.

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