Riley and the Boxers | ✔️

Twenty-Two

I gulped again as Orio's words rang through my mind. Hoping that he wouldn't see right through me － which is one of his amazing skills － I replied not-so-honestly this time. "N-no. Sorry..." I laughed nervously out of habit. Dammit, nice one Riley. You probably blew it－

After scanning my eyes(which caused me to tense, gulp and sweat all at once), he cursed in his language. "Well that's fine." Hold up, did he not catch all that? Much to my utter surprise he grinned, which is something he rarely ever does, and patted my back. "Welcome back, Riley."

Oh-em-gee, John just smiled at me!

And that's a big deal, because he never smiles at anyone... Or at anything really. Just before he could exist the kitchen, I hurriedly asked, "So who are the cupcakes for anyway?"

He halted in his tracks, his back yet to be turned around. I, however, could clearly see his face in the fancy, mahogany mirror in front of him. I almost choked on air once I saw the colour rush to his cheeks as he replied with, "Someone..."

Wait a minute... John made cupcakes for somebody? Wait a second minute － is John blushing?!

He's not crushing on anyone... or is he?

Oh who am I kidding, John would never crush on someone. Rather he'd literally crush them.

Before I could question him any further to ease my confusion, he rushed out through the door, leaving me baffled at and taken aback by his unexpected reaction. 

I smiled. My stomach may be growling, but it's also telling me another thing: I got to－no, I need to－do my 'research' about this.

✦✧✦✧

"Riley dude, you're back!"

The two red-haired-football-valuing twins launched at me as if I were a limited edition football, wrapping their arms around my neck and pulling me into their gigantic bear hug.

But for me, it was so suffocating that I couldn't 'bear' it.

Hah, pun intended!

"H-hey..." I managed to choke out as they continued to obliviously dislocate my neck away. "Missed... you guys... too."

Finally, much to my relief, they released their grasp. However, their hands were still laid on my shoulders and the close proximity of their faces didn't help my ears either.

"It's great to have you back, man!" Ethan beamed, patting my shoulder ever-so intently.

"Yeah Riles, it was so quiet without you!" Evan added. "But dude, you've got a lot to catch up with training. Both boxing and our football team."

"Wait, I'm still part of the football team?" I questioned, the puzzled tone evident in my voice. It's been ages since the last time I've kicked a football, and a swoon of butterflies hit my stomach after the memories of auditioning for their team had rolled into my mind. Ah, those were some goood times.

"Yes you idiot, you didn't forget, did you-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa Ethan, remember Elva's policy? Respect your elders!" Evan scolded his brother in a mature manner. Tears mentally rolled down my eyes.

Evan, he grew up so fast.

Ethan sighed before muttering an apology under his breath.

I grinned. "It's okay, my fault for forgetting－"

"RI-I-I-LE-E-E-Y!" Jacob's muffled voice became more clear and audible as he neared the living room, running towards me and engulfing his arms around my waist. The next thing I knew, I was screaming for dear life as he swooned me 360 degrees continuously through the air for the next few seconds. Not only did it take me by surprise, but it had me secretly praying for the umpteenth time that my wig wouldn't fall off at any given moment. Much to my luck, it stayed on and he eventually(and thankfully) released his grasp, leaving me to view the sight around me with a four-eye vision.