Hurricane Love

Eighteen

'Okay,' I said, nodding slowly. 'If you want to wait for me then that's your choice, but I'm not making any promises.'

'You don't have to,' he said. 'I know you'll come back to me; you love me.'

'I won't deny that,' I said, quietly.

'Then I won't beg or harass you anymore,' he said, caressing my cheek with his palm. 'I'll be here when you're ready.'

Without another word, he walked right past me and continued down the hall, leaving me stood there feeling guilty and like a complete bitch. I did feel bad, but I had to be honest with him. The way he had been acting had made me rethink our relationship and I did just need some time apart from him.

Shaking my head and putting the conversation to the back of my mind, I headed up the corridor and out of the main doors to meet Abbie at the gates.

'What was that all about?' she asked.

'Nothing,' I sighed. 'I'll tell you later. Let's go get some food.'

'Pizza parlour?' she suggested.

'Where else?' I chuckled, as we crossed the street and headed towards the town centre.

An hour later, we were both sitting feasting on the biggest pepperoni pizza ever and downing the most amazing shakes you could ever get. I'd filled Abbie in on the Mason conversation, only for it to set her off about Ryker again.

'Abbie, will you please stop saying that there is something going on between us,' I groaned.

'I'm not saying something is going on,' she replied. 'I'm saying that I think there are some small feelings there on both sides.'

'Are you forgetting who Ryker's best friend is?' I asked. 'Best friend since they were kids!'

'I know,' Abbie said. 'That's what makes this so complicated.'

'It's not complicated,' I said, throwing my arms up in the air. 'Ryker absolutely loves Mason to pieces; he would never ever cross a line by even slightly crushing on his girlfriend.'

'Ex-girlfriend,' she mumbled.

'That's even worse!' I cried. 'As for me, stop saying I like him. He's an arsehole.'

'Then why does he keep playing the hero when it comes to you?' she asked. 'He just kicked the shit out of someone for what they did to you.'

'That is hearsay,' I told her. 'Based on Cassie's information. It's not reliable.'

'Well, we will find out, won't we?' she replied. 'Nothing stays secret around this town. If Ryker beat him up then we'll know for sure soon enough.'

'Okay, okay,' I sighed. 'It is likely that it's true; I can quite believe that Ryker did beat him up, but not for me! He warned those guys about getting out their phones and clearly one of them didn't listen to him. He kicked that guy's arse because he didn't listen to him.'

'Convince yourself of whatever you want, Amelia,' Abbie said. 'I know what I'm seeing from the outside.'

'And I know exactly what is going on on the inside,' I told her. 'He doesn't have feelings for me, he doesn't like me, he doesn't care about me, he doesn't even want to be friends with me.'

'What about you then?' Abbie asked. 'Where do you stand with all of those things?'

'Well,' I sighed. 'I don't have feelings for him or like him. I don't care about him and I don't really want to be his friend either.'