Faithless (16 page)

There was suddenly a knock on the front door and I
jumped out of his lap and practically ran to get it. I cursed myself for doing
so the minute I saw who stood on the other side. I pulled back the door, with a
scowl on my face.

"Can I help you, Nancy?

"Oh hi there, Riley. I just wanted to come by
and check on you. You know, see how you're settling in and all that jazz."

"I'm settling in fine, thanks. Well now that
you've checked on me, I guess I'll see you later." I went to close the
door, but her perfectly manicured hand flew up preventing me from doing so.
"Was there something else?" I growled.

"Actually, I had a quick question for
you." This should be good. "Do you happen to know Tr-" Her
sentence trailed off and I looked behind me to see what had caught her
attention. Of course it was London, who was able to shut her up.

"Well hello there. I'm Nancy, it's nice to meet
you." She extended her hand out not to shake his, but for him to kiss
hers. She really was a snotty little princess.

"Hi, I'm London?" He lightly shook her
hand, and then dropped it in absolute confusion.

"Oh my gosh, what happened to you?"

"A little scuffle gone wrong."

"I should say so. You look like you're in
pain."

"Nope, not at all. Are you a friend of
Riley's?"

I quickly glanced between Nancy and London and
answered for him. "Um, no she most definitely is not my friend. She was my
mother's lawyer."

"Sorry." He whispered in my ear. This
caught her attention and now she had the scowl and I was wearing the smile.

"Well it looks like you two are busy, so I'll
be on my way. See you soon London."

"I hope not." He said under his breath
and I let out a small giggle. "See you later, Nancy." I slammed the
door quite a bit harder than necessary, but I wanted her to get the point that
she was no longer welcome here.

London and I made our way into the kitchen to
figure out dinner, when my cell phone started ringing. Nobody had my number
except for the hospital and Mr. Rollins, so I quickly ran to grab it off of the
couch.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Riley."

"Tristan?"

"Yeah, sorry I got your number from Tony at
the hospital. I hope that's okay?"

"I guess so." I quietly told London I
would be right back and went out to the deck to finish my phone call.
"Tristan, why are you calling me?"

"I just wanted to talk to you. It's been hard
not seeing you everyday or talking to you. I just wanted to make sure you were
doing okay." I could hear the sincerity in his voice, but it still didn't
change the fact that I was helping the very guy whom he had hurt.

"I'm actually doing great, Tristan. I'm even
going to a gala in a couple of weeks for abused children. I've been asked to be
one of the speakers actually." I don't know why I said it. Maybe I was
just trying to make him hurt like he had hurt me. I wanted him to know that I
could be okay without him.

"That's amazing, Riley. I'm so happy for you.
And how is London doing?"

"Do you really care?"

"Of course I do. I said I was sorry Riley, and
I meant it."

"I know you did. He's doing fine. Thanks for
asking."

"Alright, well I have to go for now. Remember,
you can call if you ever need anything. Anything at all."

"I know, Tristan. Thank you."

"I'll talk to you soon, Riley."

"Good-bye, Tristan."

I hung up the phone and went back to tend to
London. We eventually decided on macaroni and cheese for dinner, his blended of
course. After dinner, we snuggled up on the couch and watched a movie. Within
twenty minutes, London was passed out and I was officially bored. I glanced at
the clock on the wall and blew out a big breath realizing it was only eight
thirty at night. I moved myself off of the couch, covered London with a blanket
and then grabbed one for myself as I headed out to the beach.

The minute Riley told me about the gala, I ran back
into the condo in search of my sister. She was sitting on the couch like usual,
and I went running over to her, practically knocking her over.

"So I'm going to guess the conversation went
well?"

"She's going to the gala. She's going, Grace.
This is the perfect chance for me to get her alone and talk to her, to win her
back."

"I agree. There's just one little thing you're
forgetting."

"What?"

"Now you have to call dear old mom and see if
she can get you in. And don't forget, you have to sit and chat with her."
Grace started laughing hysterically.

"Not funny, Grace. Keep laughing and I'll tell
dear old mom that you're here."

She immediately went serious, "You
wouldn't?"

"Oh, but I would baby sister. Now shush so I
can make a call."

Grace sat with her arms crossed over her chest
pouting, and I couldn't help but laugh at how big of a baby she was being. "Hello?"

"Hi Mom, it's Tristan."

"Well how did I get so lucky, huh? Twice in
two days. Everything okay?"

"Yeah. I was actually wondering, I wanted to
know if the offer to go to your gala thingy was still open?"

"Of course it is. Oh Tristan, that's wonderful
that you're coming. I can't wait to see you. Oh and don't forget, it's black
tie."

Add that to the list of reasons I didn't want to
go. "Okay, sounds good. When is it and what is the address?"

"It's on the twenty fourth. I'll email you the
address. Oh I can't wait. Talk to you soon, son."

"Bye Mom."

"So...when is the big day?" Grace chimed
in.

"Ha ha very funny. It's in a week. Oh and it's
black tie."

"Nice! Looks like we will be going
shopping." Grace clapped her hands and jumped off of the couch.

"Where are you going?"

"We are going shopping. Come on, we have a tux
to buy."

"Grace it's eight thirty at night, there are
no tux shops open right now. We will go tomorrow morning before I go to work,
okay?"

"Fine."

"I'm going to head out to the beach and get
some air."

"You mean check on Riley?"

"Maybe. I'll be back in a little bit." I
left my sister sitting on the couch as I walked out onto the sand. I started
making my way down the beach, in the direction of Riley's place, not expecting
to see her, but I got lucky when I noticed a dark shadow sitting in a lounge
chair right by the water. I wasn't sure if she would speak to me, but I took my
chances.

I made my way over to her slowly and quietly as not
to frighten her. When I was close enough to know it was definitely her, I
cleared my throat to let my presence be known. "Hi Riley."

"Tristan. What are you doing here?"

"Well, I was actually just taking a walk and I
saw you sitting out here. I guess I figured I would try my luck and see if you
wanted to talk for a bit."

"Um, sure. You want to sit?" She pointed
at the chair next to her. I didn't hesitate to take the seat before she changed
her mind.

"So what are you doing out here?"

"I was bored. London fell asleep and I had
nothing else to do. Thought I would come out here and try to relax, or think, I
don't know."

"I see. You feel like talking about it?"

"Actually...Tristan I have to tell you
something."

"You can tell me anything, Riley. You know
that." When her amazingly blue eyes met mine, all reason and thought went
right out the window. I was finding it hard to concentrate on her words, but I
needed to know what it was she needed to tell me.

"I miss you. I miss you so much it hurts. I
guess I just needed you to know that."

My heart began to race. "I miss you too.
Riley, I want us to be friends. I want us to be able to talk to each other
without worrying that we might scare the other off. I want to be one hundred
percent honest with you all the time, no matter the consequences."

"I agree. I need you in my life, Tristan. If
friends is all I can have, then I'll take it."

Damn it. That's not what I meant. It was too late
to take it back now, but I guess if her friendship would keep her in my life
for good, then I was willing to take that as well. "So are you excited
about the gala you're going to?"

"I am actually. I wasn't at first, but I guess
I just feel like I can make a difference. I want to try and help someone deal
with their abuse, and if sharing my story helps at least one person with that,
then I guess it'll all be worth it."

"I think so too. I'm excited for you."

"Thanks, Tristan. I'm glad you ran into me,
and I'm glad we talked. I feel better about where we are now."

"Me too. Well, I'm going to head home and let
you relax. I'll talk to you soon though." Disappointment was written all
over her face, but I didn't want to push my luck with her. It was going to take
time for her to fully trust me again, and I
needed
her to trust me.

"Oh, okay. Well, have a good night."

"You too, Riley. Sweet dreams."

I turned around at least three times on my walk
back, just to see if she had turned to look at me. When I turned the last time,
I caught her staring at me with a giant smile swept across her face. At least I
could sleep well knowing that I still had an affect on her.

When I got back to my condo, my sister was passed
out on the couch. I tucked a blanket around her and headed to bed myself. For
whatever reason, I was suddenly extremely exhausted and I knew come tomorrow
morning, I was going to be thankful that I had some rest.

The next week and a half flew by with minimal
run-ins with Riley, which left me disappointed and pining for her. It wasn't
for a lack of trying though. I went surfing practically all day every day, just
to try and catch a glimpse of her. The few times I had been out running past
her place, she had come out to say a quick hello. I asked how London was, just
so I appeared to be the nice and caring guy she had once fallen for, but it
didn't seem to be working. I wasn't sure if maybe she had really moved on, or
if she was just having a hard time seeing me.

I rarely saw London outside and I was thankful for
that, only because I wasn't exactly sure what to say or even how to act towards
him. He had the luxury of seeing the one girl I had only ever truly loved every
day, and I had to wait around patiently waiting for my turn. It was completely
infuriating and if I wasn't trying to win her back, I would've knocked him out
a week ago.

My sister and I had been hanging around the house
all day, doing absolutely nothing and being bored out of our minds.

"This is getting so lame, Tristan."

"I know, Grace but what do you want to
do?"

We were both sitting on the couch with our feet
kicked up, aimlessly staring at the boring television show that had been on for
the last forty-five minutes. I reached for my phone to check the time, and was
severely disappointed when it showed that it was only five in the afternoon.

"Let's go down to the beach. I need some sun
and you look like you could use a distraction. So you go surfing and I'll just
take a nap on the sand?"

"Fine." I whined as I pulled my tired
body from the couch. At least I didn't have to worry about staying in shape
anymore. All this surfing was definitely giving me a workout. I pulled on my
board shorts and headed out to the living room. My sister was waiting for me,
towels and water bottle in hand. I grabbed my board from the porch and we took
the back stairs down to the beach. There weren't too many people out this time
of night, and given the fact that it was practically a private beach, we pretty
much had the place to ourselves.

"Alright, I'll be back in a bit. Enjoy your
sun." I laughed as I ran out into the waves. I took a quick glance at
Riley's place and nearly tripped over my own feet when I saw her standing by
the water, her hand shielding her eyes form the sun, as she looked my way.

As much as I wanted to wave or react in some way, I
decided to let her feel what I had been feeling for the last week. I pushed my
board down and dove under the first wave as I paddled out past the break. I
didn't waste any time catching a wave and I could feel the adrenaline surge
through me as I glanced over, noticing Riley watching me.

God, he looked so amazing out there in the water. I
caught a small glimpse of his sculpted body just before he had gone into the
water. I couldn't take my eyes off him. Not only was he one of the best looking
guys I had ever seen, but also the way he rode the waves, was mesmerizing. I
sat down on the sand just far enough back so the water would lap up onto my
feet, as I watched him catch wave after wave.

I noticed he kept looking back at the beach in
front of his condo, but I wasn't sure who or what he was looking at. I also
didn't have a very good view from where I was sitting. I leaned back on my
hands and watched as the sun glistened off of his wet, defined torso. My mind
began going to places it probably shouldn't have, but I couldn't help myself. I
couldn't help thinking back on the night he had made love to me so
passionately, so gentle and so loving. My eyes began to gloss over as I could
feel my excitement for him started to build. I wanted him more than I have ever
wanted anybody or anything in my life. I imagined him running over to me, water
dripping from every part of him and landing on my scorching skin. His hands
reaching out for mine and slowly gliding over my bare shoulder, making its way
up to the back of my neck as he captured my mouth with his. I could almost feel
his warm salty lips against mine and my fingers flew up to my lips, wishing it
would've been reality instead of a fantasy.

"Hey, whatcha doin' out here?" London's
voice shocked me, making me jump in my own skin.

"Jesus, London. Make yourself known
much?"

"Sorry, didn't think I would scare you.
Sorry."

"It's okay. How's your jaw feeling today? You
sore at all?"

"No, it actually feels amazing to be able to
open my mouth. I'm just relieved I didn't have to keep it wired shut any longer
than I did." His relief was eminent in his tone and I started to feel
guilty again.

"I'm so sorry, London." I started playing
with the sand below me, as I tried to not look in Tristan's direction.

London's hand came up to my bare shoulder and I
shuttered. "It's not your fault, Riley. How many times do I have to tell
you that?"

"I know. So, what do you want to do for dinner
tonight?"

"I was thinking maybe we should go out
somewhere. You know, celebrate the fact that I can use my mouth again."

I let out a small half-hearted laugh, "Okay,
let's go out."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, but I don't want to go anywhere fancy.
Let's save that for tomorrow night." London had his hand stretched out to
help me up. I took his hand and stood, wiping the remnants of sand from the
back of my shorts.

"Let's go, beautiful."

I glanced over my shoulder as we made our way back
up to the house. Just as I had suspected, Tristan had watched our entire
interaction. I could tell because he was quickly paddling back to shore. My
heart ached for what he must be feeling as he watched London and I together,
but I just wished he would understand that it was just me helping out a friend.

"You okay?"

I turned back towards London, shaking my head to
rid all thoughts of Tristan. "Yeah, I'm fine. Let's go."

I ran up to my room and quickly changed into a long
sundress, more suited for a restaurant. When I came down the stairs, London was
waiting for me in the kitchen.

"You ready?" He asked.

"Yeah." I had London drive to the place
we were going. My mind just wasn't in the right place to be driving right now.
When we passed Tristan's complex, my heart skipped a beat when I noticed that
his car was gone. I hated that we hadn't been talking that much, so I had no
idea what or who he was doing.

We pulled up to a small little bistro just up the
street a few minutes later. There weren't too many people out right now, so it
was nice to not have to deal with a crowd. We were seated in a back booth and I
couldn't help but wonder if London had specifically asked for that to happen?
It felt weird to be tucked away in the back corner with just him and me.

I tried to relax and have a nice time, but
something inside of me was raising the warning flag. Unfortunately, I didn't
get the warning until too late. "Riley, I've been thinking a lot about us
lately. Don't you think it's time we tried to take our "friendship"
to the next level?"

Holy hell, what was he thinking and why was he
referring to our friendship like it was some sort of cover for my real
feelings. "London, can we please not talk about this right now?"

His smile faded as he took in my serious tone,
"I guess so, but don't think you're getting off that easy. We'll come back
to this, soon."

God I hope not too soon. I silently chastised
myself for making him feel as though he stood a chance. I never expected him to
think that I felt like
that
for him.
Now I was starting to feel
really
bad.
Had I been leading him on? I had, but he also made it seem like we were just
friends.

Dinner seemed to drag on in a slow monotonous
manner after that. I swear he was dragging it out on purpose, but all I could
think about was getting home and curling up in my bed.

A little over two hours later, London had finally
finished his dinner and drinks and we were on our way back to my house. Of
course I opted to drive, seems how he had taken the opportunity to celebrate,
very literal. When we pulled into the garage, London could barely keep his eyes
open and he was starting to slur his words.

"London, maybe you should just go lay
down."

"I think you're right. All right pretty lady,
I'm off to bed. If you get lonely, don't be afraid to come on in."

I rolled my eyes at his directness and left him at
the bottom of the stairs. I was going to go up to bed as well, but then I heard
the crash of the waves out back and I couldn't help but feel pulled in their
direction. I grabbed the light blanket off of the back of the couch and made my
way down to the water where I had left a lounge chair earlier that morning. I
wrapped the blanket around me and snuggled up into the chair. My head slowly
fell back onto the part that was back and I took in the vast darkness that
hovered above me. Every star looked smaller tonight than they had the previous
night. It was still amazing to me how magnificent the night sky looked without
all of the city lights around.

Part of the blanket fell from my shoulder and when
I glanced back up at the sky after fixing it, a bright shooting star blazed
across the sky, leaving a bright burning trail behind it. I quickly closed my
eyes and wished with all my might. The last time I wished on a star, I was
eleven years old and I wished to be free of Gavin and his home. My wish hadn't
come true just then and I highly doubted it would come true now, but part of me
still wanted to believe in the magic of it all. When I opened my eyes, I was
face to face with the deepest blue I had ever seen. I shook my head, thinking
it had to be a dream, but when I blinked and he was still there, I silently
thanked god for making my wish come true.

"What are you doing here?" I whispered.

"I couldn't go another night without seeing
you."

My heart melted a little bit and I could feel the
butterflies that had been laying dormant start to take flight. "I
see."

"Do you? I don't think you understand what it
does to me, not being able to see you every day or night for that matter."

"I think I have a good idea." He slowly
took a seat by my feet at the end of the chair. I wasn't sure if he was waiting
for permission, but he sat down regardless. "You looked great earlier. I
mean, you and the waves, you looked great riding the waves. Oh just never
mind." I sighed in surrender.

"I knew what you meant." He laughed.
"You looked great too."

I could feel the blush rising up my cheeks as I let
a smile form on my lips. "Thanks. Were you out there with someone? Oh god
sorry, I guess that's really none of my business. It just looked like you were
looking back at someone on the beach a few times."

Tristan's hand went to my knee to calm my nerves,
and man did it work. I was instantly a puddle of mush under his touch. "My
sister was out there with me."

"Oh! I didn't know you had a sister. You never
said anything."

"It's a long story." He seemed to get a
little depressed.

"I'd like to hear it one day." I
whispered and he perked up a bit.

"Really?"

"Of course. Tristan just because I asked for
some time to deal with things, doesn't mean I want absolutely nothing to do
with you. I still lo...care for you, a lot."

"Me too." His reply caught me off guard.

I let my hand make its way over to his, and then I
intertwined my fingers with his. I stared at our hands that were now combined
as one, before my eyes sought out his. When our eyes met, something took over
me and I was almost lunging at him as my lips closed in around his. Our mouths
moved in unison before I slid my tongue along his bottom lip. He easily granted
me access and the taste of mint and salt were more present than ever before. It
was a calming taste and it almost felt like coming home. Despite what had gone
on between us, Tristan's touch made me feel safe and comfortable, and that was
all I wanted in this moment.

His big hands aggressively made their way up my
neck to my face, cupping it in both of his hands as he deepened our kiss. His
eagerness to claim me was present in the way he kissed me, and at this point
there wasn't anything that could make me say no to him.

One of his hands moved down my neck, across my
collarbone and finally came to rest on the top part of my strapless dress. His
fingers nudging at my skin, made me privy to the fact that he wanted more.
Without hesitation, I let one of my hands come up and guide his down the front
of my dress and helped it make its way underneath my dress. I could feel my
want for him between my legs. I was shaking in anticipation of feeling his skin
against mine. His deft fingers started moving my thin lace panties to the side,
and before I knew it, they were pushing deep inside of me.

I gasped at the overwhelming pleasure of it all.
His lips were still devouring mine, muffling the noise, but he still knew
exactly what he was doing to me. His fingers began to move faster and deeper,
and I quickly found myself on the verge of falling over the edge. I took in a
deep breath as his thumb circled its way around my swollen nub just as his
fingers thrust inside me. I yelled out as my orgasm took over my entire body.

Before I had time to recover from the first one,
Tristan was moving the top part of the chair down and gently pushing me back
against it, as he nestled between my legs. I wrapped the blanket around his now
bare backside as I wrapped my legs around his waist. He hiked up my dress
around my hips and I could feel his need for me at my entrance.

I was busy taking in the amazingly gorgeous sight
in front of me when I heard his voice break through the night. "Are you
okay with this, Riley?"

My eyes flew up to his as I nodded my head.
"I've never been more okay with anything in my life."

He started to push into me slowly and gently, but I
wasn't in the mood for slow and gentle. I wanted Tristan to take me. I wanted
him to make me his, claim me as his own. I dug my heels into his backside,
urging him to go deeper and as if he almost knew exactly what I was asking for,
he slammed into me. I let out a yell of pleasure and pain as he pulled back and
repeated the exact same motion. Every time his cock hit that amazingly
pleasurable spot deep inside of me, I cried out. My hands flew up to his
shoulder blades, allowing my nails to rake across his flesh. I could feel the
blood trickling down his skin as I dug in deeper with every thrust. When I felt
myself getting closer, I slid my hands down his back, grasping onto him for
dear life. I was holding out for him to come with me this time, and when he was
finally at the point I was, he whispered the most amazing sentence I had ever
heard.

"Let go with me Riley."

I know it wasn't romantic or anything, but it had such
meaning behind it when he said it. Seconds later, we came together. We both
cried out each other's names as we took that jump hand in hand. Our breathing
was erratic and loud as he collapsed on top of me. I let out a small laugh when
his heavy body forced all of the air out of me. I pushed against his chest,
trying to raise him up off of me, but he was putting all of his weight on me as
he laughed. His melodic laughter echoed through the night sky and I could only
imagine what it would feel like to be like this with him,
every
night. With one last push against him, he let out a loud
laugh and sat up, pulling me onto his lap. I tucked my head under his chin,
smiling against his dewy skin.

"This is nice."

"I agree. Riley, can I ask you a
question?"

"Of course." I could hear the worry in my
voice.

"Do you ever picture what you want your life
to be like?"

"Every second of every day." I choked
back a sob, as I looked up at him from under hooded eyes.