I didn’t know where I was going, only that I needed to be anywhere else in the world.
Chapter 14
Kaiden
“Shit.”
I slumped back down onto Riley’s sofa—the place where my dreams had almost come true—and closed my eyes in despair. I was half-naked and completely ruined. What the hell had I done? How had I managed to fuck that up so damn badly?
I wouldn’t have offered to have a baby with her just because I was fucked up over what Serra did. I’d made that decision with the clearest head I’d had in a very long time. Having a child with Riley seemed like the right thing to do—for both of us—but she’d pushed me away and said that she wanted to have a baby out of love, obviously assuming I didn’t love her.
She was wrong about that.
In the moments in which I’d come up with the baby idea, I’d come to a stark realization. I’d been right the other night. I’d loved Riley in a pure, innocent way as a child, and now that I was all grown up, that hadn’t changed. I still loved her. Not in such an innocent way anymore, but still…I fucking loved her, and I’d never stopped.
And she had no idea.
Fuck. I should’ve told her.
Riley had been so wrong about my intentions, but I could understand why she ran out on me, now that I was thinking about it properly. What I’d suggested could have been the start of something amazing, but I’d managed to give her the wrong impression by kissing her the way I had. She’d obviously thought it was nothing more than a passion-filled spur of the moment decision for me that I’d later regret, and while it had been a snap decision, it was one I knew I’d never regret. Not with her.
Shit, why did I always seem to screw everything up around her?
I thought about going after her and trying to explain myself further, but the look on her face had suggested that I was the last person in the world that she wanted to be around right now. I was the issue, and my presence was only going to make things worse, so I’d have to do the one thing I wasn’t very good at; I’d have to give her space. She needed time to cool off, and I was going to have to put my own shit aside and allow her to have that instead of being a selfish prick.
Even though it probably would’ve been best if I went home, I decided to stay at Riley’s apartment to wait for her return. I might’ve been giving her some leeway, but I wasn’t a saint. I wouldn’t be able to sleep knowing she was mad at me, so when she’d finally gotten the ‘alone time’ she needed wherever she’d run off to, I’d be here waiting to talk to her.
Moping in my misery was getting me nowhere, so I switched the TV on. I tried to get lost in the documentary that was playing, but my mind was solely concentrated on Riley, and nothing was going to distract it.
I doubted anything ever would.
***
Knock, knock.
I was shaken out of my reverie by a loud knocking at the front door. My brain instantly jumped to Riley, but of course it wasn’t going to be her. This was her home; she would just walk in if she wanted to get inside.
Knock, knock.
At first I decided to ignore it, feeling that I didn’t have the right to interfere with Riley’s life, but whoever was on the other side of the door just kept on hammering away, refusing to leave. I was going to have to tell them that she wasn’t in, and that this was a bad time.
I headed over to the door, and as it swung open, I found myself face to face with a slim red-haired woman with sparkling green eyes. I flashed a weak smile at her, but I was too upset about Riley to make it genuine. “Hi.”
“Hey,” she said, returning my smile. “Where’s Riley? Opening a bottle of wine, I hope.”
“She’s not in right now. Sorry,” I said. “I can tell her you came by when she gets back, though.”
“Oh. You’re Kaiden Cross, right?” she said, cocking her head to the side.
I nodded.
“What are you doing here?” she asked. “And where did you say Riley is? She’s meant to be here.”
Before I could say anything else, she’d strolled inside.
“Riley isn’t here,” I said, but she sat down regardless. It was becoming increasingly obvious that I wasn’t going to be able to get rid of her anytime soon, whoever she was.
“Where is she?” she asked. She stared up at me, throwing her feet up on the coffee table. She was obviously comfortable here, as if she spent a lot of time in Riley’s home, but I still had no clue who she was.
“I’m not sure, to be honest. She sorta ran off. We had...err…a fight, I suppose.”
With those words, she sat up straight. “Like a lovers spat?” she asked, her eyes narrowing slightly. “What’s going on with you two?”
“Who are you?” I finally asked, unable to leave it any longer.
“I’m Alexa. I’m Riley’s best friend. I’ve been away, so I haven’t been able to see her for a while. Hence why I don’t know too much about you.”
She allowed that to linger in the air for a moment.
“We were supposed to catch up tonight. Didn’t she mention it?” she finally said.
“No, sorry.”
Alexa looked confused at that, thrown by Riley completely forgetting her. Obviously this was very out of the ordinary for Riley, but then again, she’d been through a very unique experience today.
“She’s had a bit of a crazy day. Crazy week, actually,” I said by way of explanation. I had no idea what I should and shouldn’t tell this girl. She could’ve been lying about who she was, and there was no way I could know for sure without asking more.
“Anything to do with Meadowlands?” Alexa asked.
Meadowlands, huh? Maybe Riley had confided in her more than I’d thought. “Yeah, sort of,” I said.
“Okay. Well, you’re gonna have to tell me everything, since Riley isn’t here to do so.”
“Everything?” I said, running my hands through my hair and scratching my head. I was still uneasy about telling this girl Riley’s private business.
“I can’t help her if you don’t,” she said with a shrug, knowing I couldn’t disagree with that.
“Okay.” I sat down beside her, finally giving in. She was right, after all. “I knew Riley when we were kids, but we hadn’t seen each other for years until the other week. She was hired to be my new PR rep.”
“Uh-huh. I knew that much already. But why did you need a new PR rep again?” she asked.
“Mostly because of this whole mess with Serra Silver. She was going around saying that she was having my baby.”
“You have a baby on the way? God, I’ve missed so much! But wait…with Serra Silver?”
Alexa was struggling to fit the pieces together; I could see it in her eyes. If she’d just let me finish…
“Well, Riley was suspicious, and she eventually discovered that it was all a lie. So we confronted Serra today, and she was so drunk that she actually admitted it in front of the entire film crew for Meadowlands.”
Alexa was speechless, and I was sure everyone else would be the same when the video of today’s confrontation came out on the gossip blogs. The true Serra was vastly different to her public image, and now the world would finally know the real her, all because she’d gotten high and drunk and been unable to rein herself in for once.
“So, er…” I began, trying to think of what to say next. I was really starting to lose myself. So much had gone on, and it was difficult to remember it all. “While that was going on with me, Riley had some medical tests done.”
I paused, letting that sink in. This would determine how much this girl actually knew about Riley, because I knew she was a very private person, so only those closest to her would know the truth about her problems.
“You mean the cancer gene? I know she was worried about that.”
My shoulders slumped with relief. Okay, that confirmed it. Alexa really was Riley’s best friend.
“Yeah. I really shouldn’t be the one to tell you this, but it’s related to why she ran off
earlier. It turns out she does have the gene mutation, and the doctor basically told her that if she wants a child, she needs to have one now, before having an operation to remove her ovaries and uterus.”
“Oh my god…poor Riley!”
The next thing I had to tell her was already starting to sound stupid in my mind, and I was dreading saying it out loud. “So anyway, I offered to have a baby with her, and she freaked out. That’s why she left tonight.”
I could feel my cheeks heating up with every single word, and Alexa arched an eyebrow.
“Wow,” she said, leaning back and allowing the information to digest. “So that happened tonight?”
I nodded, waiting for the barrage of hate that I deserved to come my way.
Instead, Alexa snorted as if she found it amusing. “You asked her to have a kid with you? Jeez, no wonder she freaked. I mean, at least buy a girl dinner and flowers first.”
“I know it sounds really fucking crazy, but I just wanted to help. I wanted to be the one to give her what she needs.”
“But it isn’t just that, is it?” Alexa asked, eyes narrowing slightly with suspicion. “There’s more.”
“What do you mean?” I asked. Her gaze was making me feel vulnerable, like all my secrets were out on the coffee table for her to dissect.
“You really care about her,” she said. This wasn’t a question, just a clear-cut statement. “You love her, don’t you? I can tell.”
Jesus. Was I that transparent? I’d been thinking it earlier, but hearing someone actually say the words out loud made it all too real, and heady emotion slammed through me. Shit, I needed to see Riley right now; tell her everything I felt for her.
“Wait there,” Alexa said before I could even respond. She dug around in her handbag and pulled out her phone. “I’m calling her,” she mouthed at me, and I nodded.
A moment later, she sighed. “She’s not picking up,” she said, sounding concerned now. “Maybe you should go after her. It’s getting late, and even though this is a pretty decent area, you never know what could happen out there.”
I nodded again, knowing that she was right. “All right. Will do.”
“I’m gonna go home and let you two sort things out. Can you please tell Riley to message me and let me know that she’s okay when you find her?”
“Sure,” I replied. “And thanks for the chat.”
“No worries, Kaiden,” she said, eyes twinkling. “Go get our girl.”
I grinned. Oh, I was gonna go and get her, all right.
Chapter 15
Riley
I had no idea where I was going, figuratively and literally.
I was wandering aimlessly up and down the streets, breathing in the cool evening air, and Kaiden’s earlier words were still swimming around in my mind, making me more confused than ever.
‘You’ve seen that I’ll be a good dad. Let me do this for you. Let me get you pregnant. Let me help you the way you used to help me.’
I mean, that was crazy, right? Sure, I’d helped him when we were kids, but I’d never helped him by offering to have a baby with him….and besides, regular people didn’t awkwardly offer their sperm up on a plate like that, like some sort of baby-making machine.
Well, at least he hadn’t actually offered his sperm to me on a real plate, only a metaphorical one, because that’d probably be the one way of making this whole thing even more awkward.
Oh, and the way he’d kissed me, making it obvious he wanted to conceive a child the proper way—that was not the way two platonic friends would usually go about such an endeavor. So what had it meant? Did he want to be with me on some level? He’d never said so, so I had no real way of knowing.
The worst part of it was that I actually had genuine feelings for him. I’d known that for a while, of course, but everything that had just happened had brought those feelings to the forefront and made them crystal clear.
I loved him, and part of me always had.
A normal woman would’ve probably said yes when the man she loved went and offered her everything she wanted and needed, but instead, I’d run a mile without even bothering to ask him how he truly felt about me underneath it all.
Why? Because I was an idiot, that’s why.
Frustrated tears blurred my vision, and I kept walking, listening to the sound of my footfall on the hard concrete in the hope that the answer to everything would somehow miraculously come to me if I just took one or two more steps.
I heard a gruff voice call out to me a moment later. “Hey, miss.”
I ignored the guy, as I really wasn’t in the mood to be talking to anyone right now.
“Hey, you in the blue!”
Okay, he was definitely talking to me, and I suddenly felt bad. Maybe the guy just wanted to know the time or get some directions from me. And speaking of directions, where the hell was I? I’d been wandering around looking at my feet the whole time, and I didn’t even know where I was. I stopped and jerked my head up, and I was stunned to find myself in a dirty alleyway that I didn’t recognize.
I turned to look at the man who’d been calling out from behind me, and I immediately regretted stopping. He looked quite rough, and he was smirking at me, so I turned and hurried towards the other end of the alley, which I regretted even more as a second man stepped out of the darkness. This one was even bigger and rougher-looking than the first.
I was effectively surrounded, and I wasn’t even sure who would hear me if I screamed. What the hell had I been thinking, wandering around alone at night?
I hadn’t been thinking at all, obviously.
“Uh…excuse me,” I said quietly, barely able to mask the tremor in my voice.
Both men moved closer to me, boxing me in. They must’ve been following me for a while, and the bigger one had gone up ahead to block me into the alley while the other kept me from turning and running away. Jesus, what kind of people actually planned stuff like that?
“That’s a pretty outfit you’ve got on there, baby. We were just heading to a party, and we thought you might wanna come with us and have a little fun,” one of them said, half-slurring his words.
“Um, no thanks, I was just on my way home,” I said, desperately praying they were just two drunk guys who didn’t understand social cues.
No such luck.
One of them reached out to grope me, and the other pushed me closer towards the left wall of the alley. I shrieked and quickly yanked my phone out of my pocket as they did so, but one of the men spotted the action and deftly knocked it from my hand. It fell to the ground with a loud clatter, and the sound shot my fear levels higher than they’d ever been before.
“You aren’t going to need that, sweetheart.”
The bigger guy grinned, moving even closer to me, and it wasn’t long before I was completely backed up against the wall with the two men towering over me. The stench of alcohol was overwhelming, and I stammered at them.
“Please…let me go. I just want to get home.”
They took no notice. One of them began to run his hand up underneath my top, and my trembling body quickly froze with shock. I told myself to scream, to kick, to yell, to do anything…but I was paralyzed.
No one knew where I was, and I was quickly being overpowered. If I didn’t do something soon, I was going to be sexually assaulted, maybe even beaten up…or worse. That thought allowed me to break free of the icy chains seemingly holding me in place, and I struggled against the men to no avail. I had no chance against them. In fact, I quickly realized that the more I tried to fight them off, the more it seemed to encourage them.
I tried to punch, to kick, to push, but against these two men, everything I did was feeble. I was like a weak little child throwing a tantrum.
“Holy fuck, Riley!”
A familiar voice burst out, sounding just like an angel. Kaiden. I was certain that it was my imagination; that I’d dreamed him up to transport me away from the horrifying situation, but to my surprise, the men reacted to the voic
e too.
“Hey man, back the fuck off,” one of them growled, having no idea who he was talking to. “This chick is ours.”
“Oh, is she? I had no idea,” he replied, voice dripping with sarcasm. I could hear the rage on the tip of his tongue, but I couldn’t yet see him, so I had no idea how angry he looked. I imagined that he looked like a force to be reckoned with, though, if he looked anything like he had in the cage on the night I’d gone to one of his fights.
“Get the fuck away from her,” he said, stepping closer. His voice was dangerously icy, and the atmosphere in the alley was thick with tension, like a flickering match in a gasoline-soaked room.
One of the men stepped further in front of me, blocking me from Kaiden’s view. “Dude, we don’t want any trouble, so just do us a favor and fuck off, okay?”
“Sure,” Kaiden said. “I’ll leave. Right after I’ve done this.”
I heard a loud crunching sound as a fist connected with a jaw, which was followed by the guy in front of me flying to the ground, only just missing me as he went. Kaiden’s face was finally revealed behind him, features twisted with rage.
In a flash, the other guy was on him with full force; the alcohol obviously making him feel invincible. He was slightly bigger than Kaiden, but Kaiden was smart, sober, and trained to perfection. With every punch the big guy delivered as his friend struggled to get up, Kaiden got in three. Every kick was dodged, and every elbow the guy threw earned him a punch to the solar plexus.
“Get out of here, Riley,” Kaiden shouted at me as he blocked another vicious assault from the other guy, who’d just gotten up again.
He sent a kick flying into the guy’s kneecap, and I instantly took off, knowing it was the right thing to do. I didn’t want to leave, but I’d only be in the way if I didn’t, and Kaiden could sure as hell take care of himself against that pathetic pair. He could defend himself against anyone.
Despite this knowledge, I couldn’t make myself go too far. I needed to be able to see that he was okay, just in case. I found the first set of trash cans around the corner from the alleyway, and I crouched down behind them, panting heavily. Adrenaline was flooding through my system, and I tried to comprehend what just happened. It was like some sort of horror movie, and I had no idea what would’ve happened to me if Kaiden hadn’t shown up.
Bad Boy Brit (A British Bad Boy Romance) Page 35
