Dirty Little Secret

six | secret

Riley

"What are we doing, Riley?" Lucas asks me as we lay in his bed.

I peer up at him through my lashes. "I don't know."

"I can't keep doing this without some sort of explanation." He sighs, his fingers stalling on my arm.

I push myself up slightly so I can look at him better. "What do you want to do?"

"I can't stop myself from seeing you, that's one thing I do know."

"I don't want to stop either," I admit.

Lucas makes me feel so alive, and Gabe makes me want to die.

Lucas sighs and stares at the ceiling. "I don't know what you're doin' to me." He sits up, slightly pushing me off of him. I lean back on my elbow, staring at his muscular backside. "This'll break him, y'know?" He looks back over his shoulder.

My expression falls.

This won't break Gabe.

If Gabe finds out, he may actually kill me.

"Yeah," I whisper, staring down at the comforter. "Which is why he can't know. I can't- Lucas I can't stop this anymore." Lucas hangs his head low with a heavy sigh but remains silent. I continue speaking after heaving out a sigh myself. "If you want to stop, we can. Just-"

"I don't want to stop."

"But it's the right thing to do." I hesitantly say.

"I've never done anything right," Lucas mutters. I sit up with furrowed brows.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Dylan is at Harvard Law. Gabe is on the path to the NFL. What have I done?" He shrugs. "Bandaged up some fish. What's so important about that? I'm not even enjoying hockey anymore."

I scoot to the edge of the bed so I'm beside Lucas. "I think you're pretty cool."

We share a soft chuckle.

"No, seriously." I place my hand on top of his. "You're good at hockey--I think. I don't know the first thing about that sport." Lucas chuckles again. "What's not important about bandaging up some fish? You're helping save their lives, right? Everyone loves animals." I nudge him with my elbow. "Besides, I think you do more than slap a band-aid on 'em, don't you?"

Lucas turns his head and looks at me. "You should come to the Institute sometime. You know, for research purposes and all."

I laugh. "Oh, definitely for research purposes. One animal medical worker to another."

"Thank you."

"Anytime." I smile up at him. "Are you playing tonight?"

"Yeah."

"You haven't been playing much lately." My brows furrow. "How come?"

"Not really my thing anymore. Plus I'm super busy now that hockey has started picking up." Lucas shrugs. "I'm basically their backup now. The guys just argue all the time anymore. It's no fun."

"If you're not enjoying something, you shouldn't do it anymore," I inform Lucas.

"Wise woman."

My smile grows. "I am pretty wise for my age, aren't I?"

"You have an old soul."

His words make my smile grow even wider, if possible. "That's what my Gran used to tell me." I fidget with the locket on my chest.

"She died, right?"

I nod. "When I was fourteen."

"Were you close?"