Riley was sitting in the passenger seat of Kendra's car as she glanced at the clock on the dashboard again. 8:04am. Nervously she encouraged herself to turn over her phone, which was face down in her lap, and she tapped through to her messages.
Noah
12:05 am
You're late. Where are you?
12:10 am
Seriously Riley, you better be on your way home
12:20 am
Do you need me to pick you up?
12:22 am
Just let me know you're okay
12:28 am
Please just answer the phone
The text messages from Noah went on every few minutes. There must have been close to 100 of them, asking if she was okay and just begging her to let him know she was safe and how much he loved her. He must have been going out of his mind.
She felt so bad putting him through this. Noah had been through enough in life and she couldn't even answer the phone to put his mind at ease. Her fingers started tapping away, writing a quick message to let him know she was heading home. She was such a coward for sending a text message, but she couldn't even think about calling him right now.
Riley
I'm okay. Heading home now.
Once she sent the text message, she switched over to Jason's messages, even more fearful of what he had to say. Unusually, there was just one single message, and she gulped.
Jason
Call me. Now!
"So, how dead are you?" interrupted Kendra. "On a scale of quick gunshot to the head or full on AK47 assault rifle type of dead."
"More like slowly being mauled to death by two hungry bears, type of dead."
"That painful, huh?"
"I screwed up Kendra," sighed Riley as she let her phone drop to her lap and rested her head on the back of the seat.
"It's okay. They'll forgive you. It was one night out. I'm sure they've done it plenty of times before."
She didn't say any further. It was different for her family. They were closer than most. After going through hell and back together, there was an unspoken bond between them that no-one else would understand.
The drive back to her house wasn't nearly long enough as she tugged on the sleeves of her maroon dress, fidgeting nervously in her seat. Not only had she stayed out past curfew, she also drank, got high on weed (even if it was unintentional) and slept in Kain's bed. She literally broke all four rules that Noah set for her before leaving. Don't be late, don't drink, don't do drugs and don't talk to boys. She was so dead. And she hadn't even had time to think up a good cover story.
Eventually Kendra made the turnoff and drove up to Riley's house, parking on the gravel outside. Her stomach churned as she thought about what her brothers would do to her.
"I didn't see much of your house in the dark last night. It's cute," said Kendra, trying to ease the tension.
"It's not much, but it's home," Riley replied as she got out of the car, already nervous about what Jason and Noah were going to do to her when she got in. She gulped visibly as she grabbed her bag from the back of the car.
"You look nervous. Do you need backup?" asked Kendra.
Thinking about it for two seconds and glancing up at the house, she decided this may be a way to negate the outburst that she was sure Jason would have the minute she walked through the door.
"Do you mind?"
Kendra let off a laugh. "Not at all. Besides, I'm curious to meet these brothers that you keep mentioning," said Kendra as she hopped out of the car.
Riley let out a nervous laugh as they both started the walk to the front door. Before she could even get close, the door opened, revealing two very pissed off brothers. Jason walked out of the door first, standing next to the doorframe with his hands folded over his chest. Noah came out two seconds later, shirtless and with a towel rummaging through his hair.
"Where the hell have you been?" shouted Jason.
"We were worried sick," seethed Noah as he casually tossed his towel over the porch railing.
"I'm sorry, I..." started Riley, completely unsure of what she was going to say before Kendra interrupted her.
"Hot Daaaammmmnnn," said Kendra as she let out a low wolf whistle.
All Riley could do was laugh as Kendra's mouth dropped, taking in the sight of her two brothers, who I'm sure to her at least, looked incredibly hot. Jason's muscles flexed under his dark green linen shirt as his way to try and intimidate Riley, who was clearly in a lot of trouble, and Noah's eight pack was on clear display with his grey sweat pants hanging off his loosely.
She saw Noah and Jason both trying hard not to smile as Kendra blatantly checked them out, her eyes moving up and down their bodies. This girl had no shame, but at least Kendra was helping to diffuse the situation. Even Riley let a small smile cross her face.
"You might want to close your mouth Kendra so the drool doesn't get out," said Riley as Kendra was drawn slowly out of her dazed and dreaming look. Riley reached over and popped her mouth shut with her hand.
"Well, it kinda makes sense," said Kendra.
"What does?" asked Riley, confused.
"You," she said. "And them. Your family has some wicked hot genes."
Riley raised her eyebrows in confusion. Sure her brothers were good looking she guessed, but her? No way. She was cut from a different cloth.
"Oh, come on. I'm no lesbian, but you're drop dead fucking gorgeous Riley. And let's just say if I was, I would be all over you," Kendra continued.
Jason cleared his throat, bringing them away from the conversation and back to his harsh gaze.
"Inside, now!" pointed Jason to the open front door. "Thanks for bringing her home, Kendra," he said in a slightly softer tone.
"Thanks Kendra. I'll see you at school," said Riley as she walked up the porch steps, passing in between her two brothers and heading into the house. She turned around last minute and waved goodbye to Kendra, who gave out a sympathetic wave and headed back to her car.
Once Kendra was heading back down the driveway, her brothers came inside, closing the door behind them.
Noah went over to the kitchen counter while Jason stood, leaning with his back against the closed door. And Riley just stood there between the kitchen and front door, dangling her bag between her legs with her head hung low. She was in so much trouble.
There was silence for a while. The only noise filling the air was the frustrated sound of Jason as he fidgeted and started pacing up and down in front of Riley.
"You know what. I can't even do this right now," said Jason as he grabbed the keys from the counter and turned back around to open the front door. "I'm going to work. And you. You're grounded. Forever!"
Jason slammed the door shut, leaving Noah and Riley standing there alone. It wasn't until they heard Jason's car squealing down the driveway that Noah walked over to Riley and hugged her. It wasn't a normal hug, either.
He held her tightly against his chest, his arms wrapped around her protectively, and he didn't move for quite some time as she just sunk into his chest, feeling his biceps flex around her every so often.
"I was so worried," he said after a while, still not loosening his hold on her.
"I'm sorry Noah. I didn't mean to," said Riley into his chest. And if she wasn't mistaken, she felt a tear from Noah as it splashed gently against her head. Noah's arm moved up, wiping away the stray tear before stepping back from Riley.
"Do you want to tell me what happened?"
Riley nervously started fidgeting with her hands. "You're not going to like it."
"I know that," said Noah, ushering her to take a seat at the kitchen counter. "Why don't I put on some breakfast and you can start by telling me why you're wearing that outfit."
Noah set about grabbing some eggs from the fridge as Riley looked down at her maroon coloured dress and thigh-high boots. Shit! The least she could have done was change back into her outfit.
Grabbing a moment to collect her thoughts, she realised she may as well confess. Noah had a knack lately of knowing when she was lying. But she certainly wouldn't be telling him about Kain. No way in hell was she going to be having a discussion about a boy with her brothers.
And with that decided, she opened her mouth, ready to retell most of the events of the night.