Page 31 of Dungeons and Drama

“Riley?”

My head snaps up and I almost groan out loud.Whyis he still talking to me? There’s nothing more to say.

“Uh, hey.” I look around for Hoshiko so I have an excuse to bolt, but remember she stayed behind to talk to our French teacher about the upcoming test.

“So…I’ve been thinking about what happened at your dad’s store and I want to clear the air.” He slides his hands into his pockets, looking relaxed and self-assured.

My stomach locks into knots, but I force a calm expressionon my face. “There’s no air to clear. It’s perfectly breathable right now.”

What am I even saying? I’ve got to stop blurting out mortifying stuff around him.

“Listen, I should have given you more time after the breakup to…you know, feel better or whatever, instead of bringing Lainey there with me. That wasn’t cool.”

He’s right, it wasn’t cool, but that doesn’t mean I want to talk about it. Plus, I can never tell what his motives are. Is he really worried about my feelings or is he just trying to clear his own conscience? Probably the latter. I’m tempted to tell him off, but I don’t want to get into a fight in the middle of the cafeteria. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Yeah? Cool. And we’ll just forget about that whole Nathan thing.” He winks, then mimes locking his lips and throwing away the key. It’s like he’s dumped a bucket of ice water on me. I have to stop myself from picking up that imaginary key and shoving it somewhere else on his person.

“What Nathan thing?” My voice is barely above a whisper.

He leans in like we’re sharing secrets. “You know…where you pretended he was your boyfriend? Don’t worry, I won’t say anything about it.”

Anger races through my body so fast I’m surprised my favorite floral dress doesn’t burst into flame and leave me naked like I’m in one of my classic nightmares. I don’t care that he’s 100 percent correct. He shouldn’t justassumethat.

If there was even the tiniest possibility before of me telling him the truth, he’s just blown that to smithereens. I’mnevercoming clean now. Not when he’s acting like he’s doing me some big favor or keeping a shameful secret for me. I’mdigging my heels in until the soles of my shoes melt from the magma in the core of the earth.

“I wasn’t pretending.”

He scoffs. “Riley, come on. It was pretty obvious.”

My nerves skitter and I glance around the cafeteria, even though I have no idea where Nathan could be right now or what period he eats lunch. Suddenly, I’m desperate for him by my side. If he were here, we could smack that expression off Paul’s face. That’s all I want in the world—to watch Paul realize he’s wrong.

And then I see Nathan striding toward me, seeming to appear out of nowhere. His face holds a small reassuring smile as if he knows exactly what I’m thinking and is saying,We’ve got this.

“Hey.” His voice is warm. “I’ve been looking for you.”

I’m so grateful that I don’t think; I just wrap my arms around his stomach and pull him tight. He stiffens for the slightest moment before returning the gesture. I take a deep breath. His T-shirt smells good.

I pull away and Nathan keeps his arm around my waist. He looks up at Paul. “What’s up, man?”

Paul’s gaze flicks back and forth between us. “I…” He trails off, his eyebrows furrowing as he takes us in. “Uh, just talking with Riley.”

“Yeah, I can see that.”

Nathan’s fingers gently press into the skin at my waist. My heart thumps faster and I’m distracted by the fact that he’s touching me. The lengths of our bodies press together so I can feel the rough seam of his jeans through my dress.

I turn to Nathan. His eyes are a glittery green behind hisglasses. “We were just talking about you.” I turn back to Paul and smile. “Weren’t we?”

Paul looks so shaken by this turn of events that his mouth has gone slack. I want to soak in this moment like it’s the most luxurious bubble bath in the world. It’sglorious.

“Um, well…” Paul shuffles his feet.

“We were talking about you and me dating,” I continue on, unwilling to let Paul off the hook just yet.

“You don’t say,” Nathan replies. “That’s my favorite topic of conversation.” He shifts closer and his hand moves slightly, leaving five warm spots where his fingertips had been.

“Mine too.”

He turns to Paul. “Are you okay? You look kind of queasy.” Nathan’s voice is even and calm, almost tinged with concern, but there’s also the hint of a challenge. His performance is a beautiful thing to behold. Tony-worthy, for sure.

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