Page 8 of Dangerous Love

“Yeah?” Her gaze lifted, light-brown eyes meeting mine. They flooded with unshed tears as she registered the change of my pitch.

“I’m sorry for how things panned out.”

Her hands strangled her cup as her breath hitched. Blinking a couple of times, she remained silent before taking a sip of her hot chocolate. “No worries.”

There she was again. Hardened like a concrete wall. No different from how she always was—barricaded inside her mind where only she could see her pain.

“Sienna.” My voice deepened. “You know who you’re talking to, right?”

She narrowed her eyes to slits. “Last I checked.”

“Then, I want you to know I’m sorry. I wanted to say goodbye properly, but everything went to shit, and neither Avery or Jarryd thought it was a good idea at the time.”Considering we had my father pointing guns to our heads as you hopped on your plane, they were probably right.

She scoffed, her jaw clenched, then she tossed her crap into the open bag on the chair next to her. “I think I'm gonna go now.”

I rushed my hand to hers, stopping her frantic packing, and lowered my voice. “Sienna, don’t run. I didn’t mean to—”

“I don’t want to talk about it, Riley.” She eyed my hand pinning hers in place. “Not now. Not ever.”

I sighed. “Okay.”

She settled back on her chair, the silence stretching between us. Then she added, “I already know everything there is to know.”

“Do you? ‘Cause from where I’m standing, you’ve created your own reality and you’re not having a bar of anything else.”

“Yeah? And what’s that, Mr Youth Worker?”

I rolled my eyes and shook my head slightly—enough to hook her in. “It’s Mr Almighty Youth Worker these days, Sienna. Keep up.”

Her lips flattened, crimson colouring her cheeks. “Oh, I’m sorry,” she deadpanned. “Would Mr Almighty Youth Worker care to enlighten me?”

It took every muscle in my face to fight the emerging grin. “You bet.” I leaned back on my chair, my hands resting on my head. “For one, you live in your own world. You’re like a Care Bear that’s always pissed.”

Her eyes widened. “Fuck off, mate. I’m not pissed.”

“Ha. Jesus. That’s the joke of the century.” I pointed a finger right in front of her face. “Actually, I might as well call you Grumpy Bear from now on and save us the time.”

“Go on. I dare you.” Arms crossed against her chest, she held my stare.

And I held hers, making sure she didn’t notice my heart rate spiking. This woman was crazy at the best of times. “Grumpy Bear needs to sit back down and finish her muffin.”

Her hand flew across the table, and before I had the inclination to stop her, my blueberry muffin was halfway down her throat. “I think I’ll try yours instead.”

“How dare you?” I said in mock distress, before I snatched half of hers and drew it to my mouth. “Only fair, right?”

A smile curled her lips, and I relaxed when she finally dropped her bag back down next to her. “You’re an idiot, Riley Williams.”

“Nothing new, Sienna Curtis,” I said between two bites of her muffin. “But that makes you the best friend of an idiot. How do you feel about that?”

She tossed a crumb my way and chuckled. “I haven’t seen you in three years. I think that downgrades you to more of an acquaintance status, dude.”

“Well, let’s see what we can do about that.” I winked. “I’m surprised you’ve managed to escape the wedding planning. I won’t lie.”

She sighed. “I agreed to wear whatever they wanted, and they were happy with that.”

My jaw dropped. “Really?”What kind of girl doesn’t want to pick her dress?

“Yeah, why?” She shrugged.

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