Chapter 9
"How was your weekend with Lucas?" Missy had her arms folded and her weight on one hip.
"Not that it's any of your business. But, great. We had a lot of fun with our friends." She tossed her backpack over one shoulder, but Missy wasn't moving. "Can I help you with something else?"
"Nope." She continued to glare at Riley.
"Oh my gosh, are you trying to have a staring contest with me?" The teammate was getting agitated that she couldn't get underneath the brunette's skin. "If that's all, will you please move out of the way?" She sidestepped giving her just enough room to squeeze by. "Like I said Missy, it's up to you what happens between you and Lucas. Leave me out of it." She exited the locker room and ran into another unwelcome face on the way to her locker. "Seriously, every morning?"
"I heard from a little bird that you spent the weekend with that Lucas guy." He was only a few steps behind her, as she practically jogged down the halls.
"The little birdy speaks the truth. And tell that little bird to mind her own dang business next time." Riley knew who the little bird was. "Not like it's your business either, we aren't together anymore." She made an abrupt left.
"I've been extremely patient Riley." She leaned down and entered her combination.
"First of all, no, you haven't been patient. And this," she gestured at the space in between them, "is completely pointless. You cheated, and I ended it, that is how this conversation will always go. We are staying ended." His face turned red and he balled his fists up. "I'm sorry."
"Oh you're sorry, you're a fu-"
"Stop. And walk away Charlie. I'm not going to let you talk to me like that anymore." Lucas turned the corner to meet Riley at her locker. He saw Charlie's clenching hands and then the fear Riley was trying to hide in her eyes.
"I'm not going anywhere!" Out of instinct Lucas ran and tackled him into the lockers, hurriedly punching him in his arrogant face.
"LUCAS! STOP!" She carefully placed her hand on his shoulder. "Come on, he isn't worth it. I'm not worth you getting expelled. Come on, get off." Before the running back left he grabbed Charlie's collar.
"Leave her alone Charlie. I'm serious." Lucas' voice was trembling and it sounded incredibly gruff, it frightened Riley, among other things. He stood up and adjusted his shirt that had risen enough to reveal his abs. "Come on Riley." He escorted the cheerleader to the classroom and took their usual seats. "You okay?"
"I'm fine. I just wish you wouldn't have done that, you could have gotten into a lot of trouble." She mumbled.
"I could care less about trouble, I care about you. He had his hands in a fist and you said yourself you didn't know if he'd hurt you, wait you didn't actually say anything. Either way the look in your eyes said enough." He caressed her face, and Riley gave into the moment.
"Like I said earlier, he isn't worth the trouble and neither am I." The brunette raised her eyebrows as if to get some sort of agreement out of him."Okay?"
"Of course you are." He reached into his back pack and pulled out one rose, that somehow stayed intact. A smile approached Riley's face and she took it into her soft hands.
"Thank you. It's beautiful." Mr. Matthews walked into the room.
"WHAT'S THAT?" He was pointing towards the flower.
"Oh, I gave it to her sir."
"WHY?"
"Daddy, sit down and calm down. I love you, but this is a classroom full of teenagers. And, I think you're scaring 'em. They aren't used to you yet." He did as his daughter instructed and she turned to smile at Lucas, then mouthed the words "your welcome."
"For what? I have to win him over some time. Why not start now, you're my future girlfriend remember?" The brunette rolled her eyes.
"By the way, I had a run in with Missy this morning. She is going to be all over you, so be prepared." Riley warned.
"Did she say that?" He laughed. "That's bold."
"She doesn't have to. That's who she is, she has to sink her claws into the new kid." The brunette started to feel jealous as the words escaped her mouth. "And, you are like the king of bold. What difference does that make to you?"
"Okay class, excuse my recent outburst." The brown eyed girl looked at Lucas and after a small grin she faced the front.
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Lucas walked into second period, thinking about Riley as usual and sat down in his desk. "Hey Lucas." He closed his eyes and turned his head to the left.
"Missy, how are you?"
"Great. I bet you are too now that you're back in Burleson." Hoping to bash Riley.
"Actually, I wish I didn't have to come back. We all had so much fun and the lake was awesome." Missy was leaning up against the desk in a skirt that hardly passed dress code and a low v-neck shirt. He couldn't help but notice how hard she was trying.
"Anyways," She rolled her eyes. "Are you going to the party at the Pit on Friday after the game."
"This is the first i'm hearing about it. So I don't know."
"Well, i'll be waiting for you. There will be a bonfire, dancing and alcohol." He kind of frowned still avoiding eye contact.
"I'm not much of a drinker."
"Why not? I bet you'd be fun drunk. You know how everyone has a different personality. I get lovey." She winked.
"That is exactly why I don't drink. It completely changes who you are. And, if I do I have one." Missy was pretty shocked at his response.
"So, save me a dance?" She placed her hands on his desk and leaned forward, hoping to show some cleavage.
"We'll see. But, for now class is starting."
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"Hey Luke, i'll see you out there man." Josh ran to the weight room, leaving Lucas in the locker room hurrying to get ready.
"Lucas, how was this weekend bro? I heard you went with Riley."
Chase sauntered out of the rows of lockers, "It was great man. A lot of fun." He took off his shirt.
"So, tell me bro. How was she?"
"Excuse me?" Lucas put on his athletics shirt and turned to his team mate.
"You two aren't dating?" Lucas had only known Chase for a few weeks, but knew almost instantly they weren't going to get along.
He grinned. "No, not yet."
"So, i'm hearing she's available."
"Not for long." He slammed his locker shut and looked him in the eyes. "Why?"
"No reason. No reason at all." Lucas watched Chase walk away and his stomach turned at his mischevious grin. Chase was good looking, bright blue eyes and blonde hair. But, he was a known player and kind of like Charlie always got his way.
"COME ON! UP UP, 1 MORE." Josh dropped the weights and he switched places with Lucas.
"Does Riley go out to the pit?" He grabbed the bar and started chest press.
"Occasionally. She used to go out there with Charlie all the time, but he'd get drunk and be an asshole. I heard you punched him this morning." Josh grinned.
Lucas put the weights back on the rack. "Yeah, it felt good too."
"You two seem to be having quite a few run in's." Lucas nodded his head in agreement. "Get a punch in there for me next time."
"You got it." He sat down on the weight bench across from the running back.
"So what's the deal with you two? Are y'all dating?"
He sighed. "Well, we aren't dating yet. But, we will be."
Josh perked up. "She said that?"
"No. I did. She doesn't want a boyfriend because she wants to go away for school and is afraid that having a boyfriend would hold her back. Hell, I've even thought about going to UT."
"I knew she didn't want a boyfriend, but I didn't know why. Dude, you should've told her that." Her uncle encouraged.
"I should've. But, if I told her I would go to UT with her, she'd think I was changing my plans around for her. I'll apply first and if I get in, i'll tell her then."
"Well, hopefully you get together before then. You can't apply till January and it takes about a month to hear back. That's a long wait."
"She's worth it." Lucas shook his head before he continued day dreaming, "I don't know man, I just met her and she has me wrapped around her finger."
"Yeah, I understand that. I've been there for awhile." He laughed. "It can get you into trouble, but it sure feels good."
"YOU'VE GOT 10 MINUTES BEFORE NEXT CLASS BELL RINGS! SHOWERS GENTLEMAN, ARE HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!"
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"Hey beautiful. Ready to walk to health?" He hugged her and Riley's heart jumped.
"I'm ready for the walk but not the class. I've been meaning to ask, are you working tonight?"
"Yeah, I am. Why?"
"I was wondering who I was going to be training."
He placed his hand on the small of her back and walked up the stairs. Which, was a good thing because her foot got caught in a step and landed in his arms. Her heart was beating fast and not just because of the scare from the fall but his face was only a few centimeters away. His open mouth turned to a smile and Riley felt like her knees had given out. "You okay?"
"Yeah. I'm not very coordinated." Which was weird considering she was a cheerleader and practically relied on balance a good portion of the time.
"That's what i'm here for." He brought the cheerleader up to stand on her own two feet while she tried to regain her balance. "You got it?"
"Um, anyways I was wondering who I was going to be working with tonight. I haven't worked with Paden yet." She was still smelling his cologne.
"Well, i'm glad to be working with you tonight." He opened the door.
"Thank you." She whispered.
"Do you need a ride home? I completely forgot about your car. I can probably get over to it this weekend." He set his stuff down and leaned towards her desk.
"Oh, you don't have to do that. I can have my dad get me."
"Okay, so it's settled. I'll be taking you home." His smirk melted her heart.
She leaned over and whispered in a stern voice. "You can't smile at me like that every time just to get your way."
"Can't I? Let me take you home." The whisper in her ear formed goosebumps on her arms. "Oh, do I make you nervous Ms. Matthews?"
"Fine, you can take me home." She replied hoping to avert their conversation.
"You didn't answer my question?"
"Class, we're going to take a walk around the track today. We have to do this at least 3 times a week. So let's go."
"So, hey I have a question." Lucas was looking towards the ground, kicking rocks as he walked.
"What's up?" She watched the blades of grass shake from the wind. The next gust brought Lucas' cologne with it and Riley closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"Are you going to The Pit on Friday night?"
"I was thinking about it. Why?" A grin started to approach her face. "Missy invited you didn't she?"
"Yeah. But, I am only going if you go." She glanced at him.
"I'll let you know, but don't let your decision be based off of mine." The wind blew again and got something in her eye. "Ow. Something's in my eye." Lucas stood in front of her grabbed her face, and wiped away a thin blade of grass. The couple gazed into eachother's eyes. "Your eyes have flecks of gold in them. I've never noticed that before." She shook her head realizing what she just said and Lucas' smile couldn't have been any bigger.
"I'm irresistible Riles, just go out with me already."
"You know what?" Lucas' heart started beating faster, he didn't realize she'd cave in so easily. "I think," She continued to drag out her sentence. "I think that I am going to the pit on Friday night."
"Oh really?"
"Yes, would you take me? Not as a date. Purely platonic, I just need a ride. The guy I asked to fix my car won't help me out!" The brunette joked.
"It's a date. Friday night after the game." He looked super smug, "I didn't think you'd cave that fast."
"This isn't a date." He picked her up and put her on his shoulder. She started slapping his muscular back and laughing.
"Yes it is. I have a date with Riley Matthews. Get ready for me to charm the hell out of you." He set her back down on the ground gently and moved some hair out of her face while they both laughed.
"Thank you for my ride on Friday." Her smirk woke the butterflies in his stomach. She was so beautiful.
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"You can only push in 6 carts at a time. That's maximum. Even I could push more, but it becomes a safety hazard. If you use the automatic cart thing, I forgot what it's called you can load up to 20. Quik Cart, that's what it's called! So, we use the quik cart when we are especially busy."
Lucas had his arms laying across the handle of the cart. "You're beautiful."
"And, you aren't paying attention." She smiled.
"I am to!" He exclaimed. He always looked so good in his uniform. His biceps hugged the shirt and his back muscles were prevalent.
"Then tell me what I said."
"You said, and I quote 'I can't wait for our date on Friday night. I'm definitely going to cave and be your girlfriend'."
"Wow, you really were paying attention." She rolled her eyes, "Let's start over." Riley went back into her speech about how many carts to push. He just continued to stare at her, watching her beautiful curled hair flow in the wind. And, without even realizing it tucked her hair behind her ear. Riley closed her eyes and enjoyed the gesture.
"I really like you Riley." He sounded so genuine and honest. It was like a breath of fresh air for her.
"I like you too Lucas." The brunette wanted to face palm herself for what she had just said. But, he was so happy and looked adorable, it was too late to take it back. And honestly, she didn't want to. "Come on, we have to clean out the corrals."
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What'd you think about Charlie getting a good knock to the jaw?
Or about the Rucas feels right at the end?
I love the banter between them two, let me know what you think!