Page 7 of Dangerous Love

Terrible. “Great.” I swallowed hard. “Working. Writing. Living the life, you know?” A forced laugh escaped my throat, and it sounded faker than Barbie’s plastic tits. I wasn’t about to tell him I worked as a checkout chick for our local supermarket, that my writing was really only a bunch of exercises from my therapist, and thatliving the lifehad consisted of avoiding the whole lot of them for the last three years. “What about you?”

“I’m doing quite a bit of work with Jarryd and Avery lately.” He paused, his eyes locked on mine. When I didn’t react, he continued. “And I’ve been playing at the restaurant once a week. I’m not saying I’m amazing, but it’s generally a pretty good turnout. You should come one night.”

I lightly crunched the cardboard cup between my hands. When he eyed it, I relaxed my fingers until I almost looked like a normal person. “Yeah, maybe one day. You’ll need to give me the details.”

The details, I’d had for some time. He played every Friday night from six, and on that night, if I didn’t already have a shift, I turned up at work nonetheless. Anything to avoid their Brady Bunch gathos.

“We all miss having you around.” His tone grew quiet.

I flinched, my heart rate spiking as my hands flattened the empty cup. The plastic lid flew across the table. Heat instantly warmed my cheeks when Riley’s eyes opened wider. To his credit, he didn’t comment.

He pointed towards the remnant of my drink. “I’m going to get us some more, okay?”

I nodded, surrendering to the fact that the ghost of my past was intent on haunting my present.

Where is Evelyn when I need her?I focused on taking deep breaths as I called upon my senses to ground me in the moment. My therapist would have given me a thousand lashes, because after everything she’d taught me, seeing Riley in the flesh made it all spew out of my scarecrow brain.

You’re having a meltdown over nothing. Just accept the no-strings-attached moment.

“Care for a muffin?” I lifted my gaze, and right above me, full smile on display, Riley held a tray with a couple of hot drinks and warm muffins. “On the house.” He leaned down and placed a small plate in front of me. By the looks of things, this had to be butterscotch and white chocolate.He had to pick my favourite, didn’t he?He laughed when I rolled my eyes. “I do remember what you like.” He chuckled. “We are friends.”

Are?Deep breaths shook my lungs, almost as much as they shook my resolve to avoid Riley forever. When staring at him in person, his usual warmth and appeal alluring me, things no longer felt as threatening. And maybe getting over my heartache wouldn’t be such a bad idea.

I ran my finger across the top of my pastry, the caramel goo sticking to the tip, and rushed it through my lips. “I officially hate you.” I closed my eyes, my mouth curling as my tongue danced to the flavours.

“No, you don’t.” Riley laughed, his tone light. “You just hate how I know all your secrets.”

I rolled my eyes. Then, tossing all good sense out the window, I took a huge bite of the cake, ready to finally hear Riley Williams’s updates. “I suppose we only live once.”

He waggled his eyebrows, digging into his own treat before filling me in on all the family gossip. As my heart somersaulted in my chest, all I hoped was that I was strong enough to survive this man a second time.

CHAPTER4

Riley

Sienna’s laughter travelled through the whole café as she swiped through photos on my phone. She wiped a stray tear with the first napkin she found and leaned back against her chair, exhaling deeply as she settled from her chortling fit—at my expense of course.

I shook my head, a smirk lifting my mouth, as old memories flooded back into my subconscious. The same girl I’d secretly sworn to protect all those years ago teased me, holding no punches. In the good old Sienna way.

“Dude, I’m sorry, but you asked for it.” She pointed at the image on my screen. “You looked ridiculous.”

When she started giggling again, I tossed her napkin back at her. “Stop it.” I laughed, snatching my phone away. “I was doing your brother a favour.”

“Oh my god, let me talk to him about his choice of themes then. Line dancing is so outdated.” She covered her face with her hands, her shoulders shaking with each snort. Emotional contagion set in, my snickering matching hers, and I narrowed my eyes, the fake argument not unlike our bantering the last time we were together.

Together? You were never together, Riley.Like I’d jumped fully clothed in the Antarctic Ocean, I paused, Avery’s voice lecturing me in my mind. Sienna wasn’t doing well, and my role was to guide her. Support her. Not confuse her with the things I could never give her. No. What mattered was getting her back into the fold, surrounded by her family.

“You’ll definitely need to come and save me. He plans on throwing some lame '80s party at the restaurant, and I am not dealing with your brother alone.”

Her face relaxed, the crinkles around her eyes smoothing. “I don’t know...”

I leaned back, my feet pushing on the legs of my chair. “What do you have to lose?”

She tugged on her earlobe and said, “I’ll think about it, okay?”

I nodded. Clearly, Sienna was still Sienna. Stubborn. Headstrong.Beautiful. I shook that last thought out of my mind. As she held my stare across the table, hands back around her cup, she was so much more grown up than the last time I’d seen her. None of what had happened was our fault, but guilt continued to flood me when I thought about how we parted ways.

A deep breath filled my lungs, and I let it out slowly. “Sienna?”

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