Please remember this story is rated M for mature audiences. Not necessarily in this chapter but in others there are sexual scenes and cursing.
Chapter 2
"Maya, dance!" Limelight, a 3 story club in an abandoned church. It was one of the most popular in the city and their favorite hang out as of late. Since she started working at the hospital, she needed to let off some steam come the end of the week. Riley had a bad of habit of getting attached to her patients, and a few cases would trickle in, where the outcome wasn't always so positive. The brunette drug her best friend to the dance floor, with Smackle following right behind them.
Girl I gotta know, how you dance like that, dance like that, you dance cause your putting on a show? Can I take you back? Take you back? I just gotta ask you to show me yours, i'll show you mine. Don't you worry you're to fine, we got one thing on our minds. We got plenty of time. Girl I gotta go, i'm finished with the show. If you wanna fuck me I won't say no.
"Easy Riles, not everyone has double jointed shoulders." The brunette let go of her friends arm and she immediately started shaking it out. "What's going on with you?" Maya knew exactly what was happening.
"Just dance with me. I gotta get away from him."
I want you, want you, want you now. Cause you want me, want me, want me now.
"Crap, it's starting. What'd I say Riles? Make him work for it. Take that feeling, the one you hated so much after you broke up and cool out." Riley didn't want to tell her that he had so much affect over her. Maybe this wasn't a good idea to come out tonight? No! He can't have this much control over what she does.
"I'm trying. He just, when he touches me-"
"Spare the details."
"Maya, we've been with you the whole time. Nothing's happened." Smackle cleared her throat, while she danced. At least, that's what the shecalled it.
"I hate to interrupt. But the guys are headed this way." Touchin' on my, while i'm touchin on your. You know that we ain't gonna. 'Cause I don't give a, I can't get you out of my mind. The way you walk. Lucas couldn't seem to get her out of his mind, not tonight and not for the past few years. He tried dating but he would end up finding ways to get out of it, or even called one girl Riley, so that hurt his chances quite a bit. Cause some like fast, and some like slow. Ladies come and ladies go.
Riley turned around and was in his arms. He pulled her slightly away from the others and spun her around where he was behind her. She missed his arms being around her waist, and that cologne he wore. She knew he wore it, but he never admitted to it, this was his 'natural scent'. His green eyes saw her leg muscles patrode as she squatted and swayed from side to side. "You've gotten better at dancing."
"I don't know whether to take that as an insult or not?" He spun her around and they were face to face, which was worse for Riley. His eyes were still die for. Girl I gotta go, i'm finished with the show if you wanna fuck me, I won't say no. Ta-ta-touchin' on my, while i'm touchin' on your. You know that we ain't gonna, 'cause I don't give uh.
"Definitely not. Have I ever insulted you before?" YES! She wanted to scream out. But, not intentionally, he insulted her when he left, and when he called Texas home.
"Can't think of a time." He dipped her from left to right and pulled her back up. Her hair didn't cover up her chest anymore and he got chills as he dipped her. She was so sexy, and what made her sexier is that she didn't realize it. "I've been coming here more often."
"Hm, I guess I never would've thought about you going clubbing often." She giggled, up until a few months ago she wouldn't go.
"Well, you've been gone a long time." He knew that, he knew that she had changed. But, somehow she seemed like the same old Riley, more confident, but she felt familiar.
"Don't remind me." He whispered. Black dress with the tights underneath. I got the breath of a last cigarette on my teeth. And she's an actress, but she ain't got no need. She's got money from her parents in a trust fund back east. "What made you start clubbing?" Riley snapped herself out of the daydream his whisper put her in.
"I needed a release from work. I have a habit of getting attached to my patients, and sometimes that isn't a good thing." Lucas grinned, she hadn't changed. To-to-to-tongues. Always pressed to your cheeks. While my tongue is on the inside of some other girls teeth. Tell your boyfriend, if he says he's got beef that i'm a vegetarian and I ain't fuckin' scared of him.
He missed holding her, touching her and he hated himself for being gone for so long. What was he thinking? He wanted to prevent her from hurting, but unannounced to him, it only hurt her more. "Do you work in ICU?"
"Yeah. I don't know how much longer I can do it though. It's emotionally draining, but no one is jumping at the opportunity to work in that department. Eventually, if i'm lucky i'd love to work in labor and delivery." She felt like she was yelling. Riley glanced up and saw Zay and Maya getting cozy. Won't trust a hoe, won't trust a hoe that won't trust me.
"Miracle of life."
"Secret of life." He grinned and wrapped her arms around his neck, to touch foreheads.
"People change people."
"In my case children change me." Her heart was beating faster. What's worse, is he knew he had this affect on her. Shush girl, shut your lips. Do the Hellen Keller and talk with your hips. Shush girl, shut your lips. Do the Hellen Keller and talk with your hips. She wants to touch me, wah oh, she wants to love me wah oh, she'll never leave me wah oh, wah oh, oh, oh.
"Riley you're so beautiful. Inside and out." Riley knew she had to pull herself out of the situation.
"I'm going to, ya' know yeah." The brunette turned on her heels when she felt a gentle hold on her arm.
"Where do you think you're going?" He smiled, and when she returned the endearment, he felt like his knees were going to buckle.
"I was trying to get away from you. Silly me, clearly that isn't going to happen." Her tone was joking, but she was more than serious. Was he doing this on purpose? Driving her crazy on purpose? There's still a possibility he isn't moving back here, and he's stirring up the dusty pot of feelings she's had for him all these years. What Riley didn't know, was that his pot o' feelings never stopped stirring.
"Yeah. Silly you." Thank goodness she felt a tap on her shoulder, she was pretty sure Lucas was about to kiss her.
"Let's get a drink." The blonde tugged her best friend away, and a wave of relief washed over her.
"Luke!" Zay stood beside him. "What are you doing?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." He kept staring at her and Maya while they waited at the bar.
"Don't play dumb. I haven't seen you act this way, since the last time you saw her. Don't pull on her heart strings bro. Especially since you don't know if you're staying yet or not." He looked down to the ground and grinned.
"I freakin' better be. You know I've never stopped caring for her, you were there when I would stay home all weekend, studying to get me to stop thinking about her or looking at pictures of her. Little did I know, pictures don't do her justice." Zay chuckled. Was he being serious right now? Guys don't talk that way.
"So, how do you plan on seeing her after tonight?"
"How do you plan on seeing Maya after tonight?" Lucas took his eyes off of Riley and looked into his best friends.
"Oh geez. I doubt they'd let me." His grin was mischievous.
"Why don't we take this reunion out of state?"
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Riley sat at the bar with her best friend. Freaking out, trying to chill out, and feeling the judging eyes of Maya. "Do you want to be with him again?"
"What?" YES!
"You heard me? You can barely pull yourself away from him. Take those feelings Riles. Get mad at him." The brunette took a swig of beer and went to pay for it.
"Oh, no. It's been paid for by that gentleman down there." The bartender pointed to a man at the end of the bar who had a sexy smirk on his face, and looked extremely familiar. Unfortunately he was headed this way.
"Later hater." The blonde left her and the stranger alone at the bar.
"Hi, thank you for the drink. I'm Riley." She put her hand out to shake and was met with a pair of soft hands.
"Anytime. We've met before actually, you don't remember me?" Her eyes narrowed, I mean she did think he looked familiar, but she sees tons of people at the hospital daily. Hell, it could be from when she was here and the alcohol won't let her remember. "Oh, that hurts." Riley laughed.
"I'm sorry. I work at a hospital so, I see lots of people everyday."
"Yeah, I know. You helped take care of my niece. Olivia, car accident about a month ago." Her jaw opened and she started to smile.
"I remember now. You're her-"
"Uncle. She calls me chip."
"You can't get her to stop?"
He laughed. "That's funny. But you can call me Charles. Just a way of thanking you for helping her." The brunette took a sip of beer.
"It's my job, but Olivia was a very sweet little girl. I was glad to help her." Normally Riley would take off and run, but she wasn't getting a creeper vibe from him like most guys give her.
"Can I have your number? I'd like to thank you by taking you out to dinner." Her eyes widened and she almost spit out the beer in her mouth.
"What was that? 2 minutes? Impressive." Her laugh was heard from where Lucas was and he turned around to see their exchange. Like a knife, it cut right through him. She may be the same person, but now she got a lot more attention. "Here." She passed him a napkin with her number on it, Riley was hesitant but like Maya said, make Lucas work for it right? "I'm going to get back to my friends. It was nice to meet you, again Charles." Riley slid off the stood and just in time since Lucas was on his way over.
Nice legs, daisy dukes, makes a man go *cat call*. That's the way they all come through, like *cat call*. Low cut, see through, shirts that make you *cat call, cat call*. I just set them up, just set them up, just set them up to knock them down.
Riley grinned at Maya who was giving her the thumbs up. "Oh sugar, you're provoking a beast." Maya laughed.
"He lost the opportunity to get jealous." Zay moved a strand of hair out of her way. "If Riley wants to be with him again, fine. But, he has to work for it."
"What about me? Do I have to work for it?" Her blue eyes rolled and she turned away.
"Hey Riles, who was that?" The brunette's heart smiled and started dancing while taking a drink.
"I had a patient about a month ago, who was in a bad car accident. That's her uncle." She offered up her beer for him and he happily accepted. Farkle and Smackle were watching the exchange and grinned at each other. Great minds, think alike.
"You gave him your number?" Her brown eyes locked onto his green ones. She didn't realize he saw that. But, why act surprised. She didn't do anything wrong.
"Yeah, he said he wanted to take me to dinner to repay me for helping his niece. He paid for my beer, least I can do." Lucas' jaw clenched. L-O-V-E just another word I never learned to pronounce, Tight jeans, double d's making me go *cat call*.
He grabbed his ex and pulled her in close, making her grin as she took the beer away. "What are you doing tomorrow?" You know that type of, shh, just don't work on me. Whistlin' and tryin' to flirt with me. Don't take it personally, cause we were never in love. It doesn't really matter who you say you are. Singin' out the window of your car, find another girl at the bar.
"Who's asking?"
"Me." She bit her lip. Riley really wished Maya would whisk her away. "I can bring some food over to your place, cook you dinner. Shrimp? I have a feeling it's still your favorite." They touched foreheads. He freaking knew, he knew what he was doing. Riley body rolled and took another drink of beer. Maybe this is what she needed, to get him alone, and then yell at him. That makes sense right? That's what she was going to do, right?
"Sure." A huge smile approached his face.
"Really?" He cleared his throat. "I mean, if you're sure." She laughed.
"Are you having second thoughts?" Act cool Riles, act cool. Don't let him see you sweat.
"Never." He cupped her face and tried to kiss her, luckily she turned around. Her heart was about to explode, what was she doing? Lucas felt a little let down, but he didn't think it was possible for him to show back up after 5 years and Riley drop everything for him. He may have felt like a middle school kid, but she didn't. Not anymore at least, not since he broke up with her.
"It better be some damn good shrimp though." She laughed.
"Riley Matthews, the language." Lucas bit his lip, Riley scoffed and turned around to see that. He only bit his lip when he was nervous or, turned on. Which one was it? Riley strategically maneuvered them closer to their group. Maya kept a close eye on them for the rest of the night, and was luckily able to get her out of Limelight before she was a complete puddle of butter.
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Riley woke up the next morning and laid in bed. Going over every possible detail of the night before. Her fingertips grazed her arm and she remembered how it felt when he touched her. How after all these years did he have so much power over her? She searched for her phone on the bed and saw something she wasn't used to. "Lucas."
Hey, what time can I come over?
Riley glanced at the time and it was past noon. What the, she never slept this late. She sat up, and realized she hadn't slept that great in a long time. The brunette felt refreshed and rejuvenated.
-I'm going to work out later, so around 5? I actually live at my parents old place.
You're going to work out for 5 hours?
-Excuse me sir, but that includes time to get there, time to get back and shower time. I'm not one of those girls who walks on a treadmill the entire time.
Lol, make it 4 and you have yourself a deal.
-I didn't realize this was a negotiation.
Yup. 3:30 it is!
-Wait! What? No, you said 4.
He never replied back so she hurriedly got dressed and after eating a banana ran to the gym a few blocks over for a warm up. Riley was curling a 40 pound bar and trying to get rid of all of her frustration. She was in too deep already and she knew it. He was coming over tonight, leaving them alone, no Maya to dig her out of her own grave. The grave she dug herself, Riley decided to let him have it tonight. She was going to get mad. At least, that was her plan right now, but the brunette was pretty sure it was just the adrenaline pumping through her. "2:30. Crap." She set the bar down and shook her arms out on her way out of the gym.
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"I really think you should wait for the results before you do this Luke." Lucas was staying at Zay's indefinitely and though he loved his best friend, Zay was not dropping this.
"I'll take it again if I have to. I passed the Texas one, why couldn't I pass this one?"
"Life sucks man. That's why." The green eyed man scoffed. "What are you planning anyways? For her to fall back in love with you?" He didn't like the notion that she ever fell out of love, but how was he to know. He never stopped loving her. "I'm just sayin' you know our friends. They get one whiff of this and they'll be plotting."
"Well, i'm hoping my best friend might deter them off the path of conniving." He started packing food up from their fridge and freezer for tonight. "Who am I kidding though, you'll probably be the one heading up the operation?" Zay's jaw dropped.
"Who? Me? I think you're mistaken."
"Oh am I? Pretty sure I distinctly remember you and our friends getting us together in the first place. Because for some stupid reason I didn't have the balls to do it."
"And you're welcome by the way." He rolled his eyes. "Maya may or may not be coming over tonight just a heads up." Lucas raised his brow. "More on the may not side right now, but i'm working on it." He laughed, revealing his gorgeous smile.
"I'll see you later man." He left the apartment with a recyclable bag full of groceries, now that he was alone, he was nervous. They were out in public last night, which made things slightly easier. A little glimmer in the back of his mind made him wonder if Zay was right, should he wait for the results? His green eyes rolled, they hung out one time and she already gave out her number, he didn't have the luxury of waiting. Especially not, if he wanted her back. And he'd take the test again, for her.
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Riley was sitting on the couch playing Call of Duty when there was a knock on her door. "Just a minute! Well 2 actually." She heard a laugh from the other side of the door and once she finished the brunette took a deep breath and let him in. "Sorry, had to finish the match."
"Match? You boxing now or something?" The door closed and he made himself at home, like he never left. He kissed her on the cheek, causing some serious butterflies then sauntered into the kitchen to put away his groceries.
"No, Call of Duty." He smirked.
"You used to never play video games." Riley wanted to tell him that in college she did it during her free time so she wouldn't think about him. Before she answered she thought about the adrenaline rush from the gym.
"I played in college in my free time. It helped take my mind off of things." They locked eyes and he knew what she meant. His smile faded.
"I'm sorry." She laughed and after bumping him out of the way she offered him a beer then took one herself. Riley had a feeling she was going to need it. "You can hit me if you want." She laughed spewing beer everywhere. He smiled and grabbed a towel off the oven.
"Bay window." A huge grin came to his face as they entered her old bedroom that was empty now. Except for the few books she read to occupy her time when she didn't feel like killing stuff on COD.
"This is weird. I'm expecting your dad to come take my shoe any minute." Riley giggled and curled herself up on the window.
"No, not this time. This time it's just you and I." He liked the sound of that. Just them, they hadn't had a moment alone since he left. Since he made probably one of the biggest mistakes of his life. Not probably, as of right now it was the biggest mistake. But, how was he to know that at the time? It didn't take him long to figure that out though, the day after he left, he grabbed his phone to text her the usual good morning message and remembered everything. This bay window held a lot of memories, mostly great ones and other ones he wished he could forget. Like when Riley was being bullied, or when they got back from Texas and she asked him about Charlie. "You can sit down." He smiled and took the spot right beside her feet. She knew he was trying to be close to her, which didn't help her nerves.
"We only ever came to this place to talk." He swallowed the lump in his throat.
"We need to don't we? To figure out what's happening here. We're friends right?" He glanced at her then back at the ground. Riley thought she'd enjoy the idea of them getting back together but it really irked her, infuriated her really. "You want more than that?"
"If I said yes?"
"Then I might just take you up on that offer of hitting you." He let out a sigh mixed with a chuckle.
"If I said no?"
"I might still hit you." The vet threw his arms up, realizing this was a lose, lose for him. But, he didn't expect anything different. "Lucas, you were the one who broke it off with me. You wanted to go off to college single, and you can't just waltz back into my life and act like nothing's changed."
"I didn't break up with you because I wanted to be single in college. I dated maybe 3 girls the entire time and we never got past a second date." He took a swig of beer. "My intention was to get in for this reunion, then get out, clearly I can't do that. I never expected things to be the same either, I know you've changed but it only makes me even more attracted to you." She took a swig of beer to hide the fact she was biting her lip.
"Why did you break up with me? You never gave me a definitive reason." The question he dread, he had a stupid reason for a very good question.
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Oh boy, what do you think of Maya and Zay?
Maya being Riley's backbone.
What about Charles?
All the Rucas #intense LET ME KNOW!