RILEY
Riley woke up Saturday and stretched happily, still a bit dazed at the night before. She went to bed in only a shirt one of them had left in her apartment. They came over a few times over the last month just to hang out with and sometimes clothing go left behind since a few of them just seemed to wear too many layers. A sniff to the shirt told get it was Troy’s. He was an exotic scent she couldn’t where it was from. Gabe’s was the only one similar and she couldn’t pin point the origin of his either.
She pulled it off and stepped in her tiny shower. She was getting spoiled at the mansion and she knew it. They were letting her shower there at nights when she was done doing a workout run after work. They hung out, joked, played cards while listening to music in the den. She’d never had friends like this, ones who just wanted her company for the sake of her company.
That would end if she started sleeping with them, wouldn’t it? She didn’t want to screw up on this, which was why she came home the night before instead of following through on what she and Zachary had started. She had to be certain she could handle being with them and in a pride with them at the same time.
She just didn’t want to hurt any of them. Andrew’s confession shocked her the most though. He thought it was hot to see her with another guy? That was wild. He was the sweet kind one of the group and he seemed to have a secret fetish. The others just didn’t seem threatened by each other. Brenton knew he would always be the told of the food chain and Alpha. The leopard brothers knew they would always have each other. Zachary was… Zachary and now she knew him quite well…
She was half nervous of all of them and she still knew so little about them. Sure, they had told her their parents death but nothing really specific. They told her about school and college, how they grew up home schooled. She couldn’t really blame them for not opening up though. She hadn’t told them much about herself either. Her past was in the past. Wild Junction was always supposed to be fresh start for her. Not even Haley knew exactly what lead her here.
Fuck. Haley. She had been so pissed at Riley on Thursday. She needed to talk to her. Stepping out of the shower, she grabbed her phone and sent a quick text.
Riley: Want to talk. Don’t like us fighting. :(
She tossed the phone on the bed and dried off. As she was getting dressed, her phone dinged.
Haley: Dinner? We can go to the deli on the square.
Riley smiled and sent a quick confirmation text. They agreed on seven o’clock and that was that. That gave Riley a whole free day to play with Star and do some artwork.
She had spent a lot of money in the last couple weeks on new art supplies because she could finally afford it. Since her paychecks were now just spending money or savings for the hopeful future car, she had a lot more extra cash then she was used to.
She wandered into her living room, where Star was meowing loudly for breakfast. She fed Star after giving some good scratches behind her ears. Star hadn’t changed at all since she first came home. She didn’t react differently to Riley since last night either, which made Riley really happy. Star was still her baby.
She grabbed a quick breakfast, laughing at the amount of food she had in the apartment. Andrew had taken one look at what she normally ate and took her to Joey’s. He was not letting her starve here while they all ate like basically kings at the Estate. Most of the food in her fridge was stuff he taught her to cook, simple recipes that she could eat for three or four days by keeping it fresh in the fridge. Some of it was leftovers he sent her home with or had cooked for just her when she wasn’t feeling seeing them after a long day.
Spoiled, Riley snickered. Totally rottenly spoil by them They might not have talked a lot about the deep stuff but once she accepted joining the pride, they started treating her like family.
She had missed that feeling more then she realized. She hadn’t had family since before her father left her. Before he walked away her and never came back. She swallowed the tears, since she stopped believing he deserved them years ago. She had a new family, however fucking weird it was.
A family that she was supposed to date? She shook her head incredulously, eating as she sat on her counter. When she was done, she dumped the dishes into the sink. She would clean everything later in the day before she left to see Haley. Star was also done eating, so Riley took her bowl and cleaned in and left it dry on the counter. Star immediately ran to her cat tree and climbed up for a post meal nap. That, Riley thought, seemed like the perfect life. No drama, just eat, sleep, play. She left out whatever Star seemed to do in the litter box that smelled awful.
Oh God, her new sense of smell was going to make the litter box so much worse to deal with. She groaned at the idea. She would just avoid it for the rest of the day. How did the guys handle it?
While Star napped, Riley opened her sketchbook and turned on Netflix on her television. It was another dumb thing the guys did. They got her one of those Apple TVs that had Hulu and Netflix on it and a ton of other apps.
“We won’t let you just sit here and live off nothing, Riley.” Brenton, the only time he ever dared to enter her apartment. Riley thought they just had too much money to spend and they were happy to throw more of it away. It almost made her a little sick but she got over it since none of the gifts were super outrageous. The TV was the most expensive so far and it replaced her old piece of shit.
She flipped on Friends and began to sketch. She did more of the guys and their cat forms. This would be the sketch full sketch book of them she did. She was lucky none of them ever looked through her work. It was a bit embarrassing really.
The day seemed to fly by as she doodled. Star eventually woke up and wanted to cuddle on the couch. She tried to sketch around Star but the cat found it fun to try and swat her pencil. Riley would laugh, move Star, get back to sketching only for Star to crawl back in her lap for more. No matter what, Riley would need to stop sketching and cuddle. Star sat on her chest as Riley laid out on the couch until nearly six thirty. At that point, she moved Star off of her.
“Alright, baby girl, I have to go make up with my friend. You haven’t met Haley yet and I think you would really like her,” Riley couldn’t stop herself from talking to Star. It was a problem and someone was going to think she was crazy.
She went casual. No reason in Riley’s mind to get over dressed to eat dinner at the deli. It also only a ten minute walk since some of the snow had melted off. She locked her front door and put her headphones in, jamming out to Halestorm for the walk. Riley was a rock girl, she had no shame in it. She wanted to get pierced, she would need to ask the guys how that worked for shifters. She had her ears pierced but she only wore earrings when she was dressed for it. She wanted her bottom lip pierced though not just her ears.
She made it to deli, waving to Joey as she passed him at his grocery store. Haley was already inside, sipping a water.
“Hey girl,” Riley smiled at best friend of two years. Haley smiled stiffly back, not a good sign.
“Hey Riley.”
“Want to order with me? I’ll buy.” Riley pointed to the teen behind the counter, waiting on the women.
“Sure,” Haley stood up slowly. They walked to the front together and Riley ordered her usual turkey sub. Haley only got a couple cookies. Not really much of a dinner, Riley noted.
Riley paid in cash and told the kid to keep the change. She was trying to keep her good mood even if it looked like Haley wasn’t.
“So, are you going to tell me what I can do make you less upset?” Riley finally asked after a few minutes of silence.
“Stop running around with those rich guys,” Haley shrugged. “It’s me or them.”
“Why, Haley? I don’t understand.” Riley was getting tired of this. It was worse every time they talked about it. Haley never offered her anything more then ‘because I know and you don’t’ as a reason to listen. “I need you to spell this out.”
“And I want you to just trust me. You think this town doesn’t have secrets? Those guys and there families are at the center of all of them. Plus, they are just assholes. Andrew fired Winter today-”
“Winter needed to be fired, Haley!” Riley rolled her eyes. “She was trying to sleep with him.”
“Well, she said it was because you told him to. Which would make you a bit of a bitch.” Haley snapped. Riley only gave her a blank stare.
She and Andrew had a rule not to talk about work at home or vice versa. They didn’t want to mix the two.
“I don’t talk to Andrew about any of that. We do have lives outside the diner, Haley. You know this, you’re married and have a life outside the diner.” Riley was so done with this judgmental nonsense. “And if I’m suddenly a bitch, then why did you agree to meet me?”
“To try and talk you out of your shitty friendships with them one more time. There’s rumors that you must being all sorts of shit to keep their attention this long. They aren’t like this!”
“It’s been ten years since they left! Why can’t anyone let go who they were as fucking teenagers?” Riley knew the rumors and only got a laugh out of them. She ignored stuff like for years, she could keep doing so. “On top of that, they’ve been better friends to me then I expected or even wanted! They’ve been better then you recently. They don’t judge me who else I talk to or hang out with. Only you do that. Phoebe doesn’t even care.”
Haley sputtered and Riley saw her face flush. She could smell Haley’s anger at this and hidden deep, hurt over the situation. But Riley couldn’t bring herself to care. Haley had a month to explain to her why she needed to stop hanging out with the guys and she never had any real reasons.
“I’m just trying to look out for you. A lot of people in town don’t like that they came back. I don’t want you to be on the side with them. I want you on my side.”
That was new. Nearly everyone in town liked the guys and no one had mentioned anything about people not liking them here. Sheriff thought they were trustworthy, for God’s sake. And Haley was one of the people who didn’t want them here at all.
“Why didn’t people want them coming back, Haley?” Riley was whispering now, eyeing her friend. Haley shook her head.
“No, I won’t get into that with you. You weren’t born and raised here so it really isn’t your concern.”
“Then, I guess neither is being upset that they are here,” Riley threw her hands up. “Looks like we are at an impasse, Haley.”
She could smell Haley’s pain over the situation but didn’t know how to fix it without giving up one of the best thing that ever happened to Riley.
“What do you see in them?” Haley finally asked impatiently. “Seriously, Riley.”
“They treat me like family,” Riley answered honestly. And she didn’t like how Haley paled at the statement. She didn’t like the fear and disgust she smelled coming from her friend. “And I haven’t had family in a really long time. Not even you made the effort to get that close to me. You’ve always kept me at arms length since you have Jeff at home. You might be my best friend but you always kept me out of half your life and never tried to be apart of mine.”
“Then I guess we’re done. I won’t be around while you associate with them,” Haley grabbed her purse. “Thanks for the bite to eat, Riley. Have a good life with your… family.” Haley’s sneer on the last word pissed Riley off but she let it go. Haley’s anger was irrational and she was done fighting over it.
It was only seven-thirty, Riley sighed. She could call the guys to hang out but she needed some quiet time. She hung out in the deli until it closed at nine. She waved again at Joey, who was busy closing up his store as she passed.
It was a beautiful night. There wasn’t much light pollution in Wild Junction, so they had a gorgeous night sky. She took a the long road home, an another hour of just wandering the town as people went in out of the bars and diner. It was a little cold but nothing too horrible. It was a warmer evening really for February. It was perfect in Riley’s eyes.
She finally made it back to her apartment around ten-thirty, her soul a little lighter. She climbed the stairs slowly, saw her door was ajar and the doorknob broken.
When she opened it up, she screamed.