Wiltshire. Tom Wiltshire.

Chapter 13 - Reality Bites

Riley's POV

It had been over three months since we came back to the city. Everything was pretty much back to normal. Work, eat, sleep, repeat.

We had been out with the guys a few times too.

Well, apart from Tom.

We all stayed in touch and had a group chat through WhatsApp. Tom was on there too but remained incognito and didn't really say much. I kept a low profile too, unless I was being directly asked or mentioned.

I hadn't seen Tom after that steamy night in the hotel room. We fucked until we were both exhausted. He was relentless. We shared something special, for sure. He was rough, hot, yet gentle and passionate. He looked into my eyes full of adoration as we did what we did. It was about five in the morning when we both fell asleep. He pulled me in his arms whilst he was spooning me from behind. However, he was already gone when I woke up a few hours later, which didn't really surprise me at all.

I stayed in my room for hours and tried to process what had happened that night. I was worried how to face him that day in front of our friends. Only to find out later that day that he went back to London on that exact same day.

Reality hit me.

Yes, yes of course I did say to him it's just a one off, but still, I'm disappointed a little why he didn't at least say goodbye.

However, it was better off that way 'cause I didn't want to see the regret in his eyes.

The girls didn't know about what happened.

What is there to tell?

Although Biddy still thought that Tom and I had a little something in Bournemouth, I just couldn't be bothered to correct her.

There's a big difference between not denying and hiding away the truth. Silence is better than lying.

I finished my shift and grabbed my jacket in the staff room when I received a text from my mother. She asked me if I was still coming home in two weeks time. I sent her a reply saying that I was still coming. Then all of a sudden, her name popped up on the screen.

"You know I bumped into James the other day and he was asking how you are."

"Hello to you too, mother!"

"I mean, when did that boy grow so big? You should meet up with him, darling. Your dad and I raised you well. You know it's not right to hold grudge on to people."

I furrowed my eyebrows as I got out of the hospital.

"Mum, first thing is, I don't hold grudge to anyone even if it's James. And secondly, why would I want to meet up with him? We have our own different lives now."

"Oh good! Because your dad invited him for dinner with his parents this weekend. Could you not come this weekend instead?"

I stopped in the middle of the train station.

"What? Why would you guys do that?" I was in disbelief. "Sorry." I apologised to the person behind me who wanted to get passed to the barrier. I moved to a quiet corner.

"Oh you know, just a bit of company. They used to come around a lot, but Sarah and Ed might still be embarrassed about what James did. We used to be good friends and we kind of miss their company. Plus James was practically like our son too. They're family."

I didn't know how to react. I could feel a big lump in my throat. I was covered with guilt. I always knew them as a strong couple and always happy to have each other. But I didn't realise how lonely they might get at times. It made me feel how awful of a daughter I was for not visiting them regularly. I thought they were happy travelling around, jumping from one country to another.