#Riley will tell Lucas about the novels soon

[yuniesan]

A Moment in Time [Rucas Adult AU] - Chapter Four

A Moment in Time

Synopsis: Riley Matthews needs to get out of New York, after her parents advised her to go to her great grandmother’s house in Texas she’s on the first plane to the Lone Star State. Lucas Friar is a single father trying to live up to his family’s legacy but he knows he’s overworking himself to please his mother. The moment the two of them meet they realize what they had been missing all along, but family and their past will threaten their relationship.

[Previous Chapters]

A/N: This chapter got a little heavy very quickly, but the two of them are talking so that’s the start of something. I’m trying to build their relationship a little better, while moving the story along. Also if you want a preview of the next chapter.... read the tags

Chapter Four

“Wake up sleepy head,” someone said next to Riley. Someone she wanted to kill for waking her up because she was having a particularly dirty dream about having her way with Lucas. Riley opened her eyes to see her very pregnant friend sitting on the edge of the bed.

“What do you want Maya,” Riley said yawning as she turned over to face her. “Do you have any idea what time it is?”

“Yes, it’s after 2 in the afternoon, geez Riles what time did you go to bed last night?” Maya said as she stood up.

“I think it was 10 in the morning when I crawled into bed,” Riley sighed sitting up and moving towards the edge of the bed. “I need some freaking coffee.”

“Let’s go get you some, and you can tell me about your date with Lucas that the whole freaking town is talking about but I have no idea what happened because my best friend didn’t think to send me a message about. What did I do to deserve this Riley?” Maya said acting fake hurt.

Riley rolled her eyes as she brushed her teeth. “Not my fault Maya, I kinda stayed up all night writing, but you’re welcome to read it if you want.”

“Oh my god you wrote the night into a novel didn’t you, I was just joking about that, but you went and did it. Give it to me now,” Maya said walking out the door before Riley could stop her.

By the time Riley had showered and changed into clean clothes, Maya was waiting in the study reading through what Riley had written, with a cup of coffee waiting for her. Riley sat down on the soft couch next to the desk and waited until the blonde had finished reading.

“Shit Riles, is this all true?” Maya said looking over at her. “I only know the part of the plan was for you to get ideas from Lucas for your books.”

“I talked to Charlie about this,” Riley sighed thinking about her earlier conversation with her other best friend. “And I know he told you about this crazy plan to use what happens in real life in my novels but seriously I think I may have added more than usual into that story.”

“Riles did Lucas go down on you on the front porch,” Maya said bluntly, and Riley knew that there was no way she could lie to her best friend.

“Yes he did, and he didn’t ask for anything in return either.”

“Wow, and according to this you think that the reason why he didn’t do anything more is because he thought you were drunk, Riley you’re literally writing your encounters with him. Everything else is made up unless he came to the house on a white horse, but yeah you’ve written everything else down. By the way where did the horse come from?”

“He works on a ranching business, I think I just let my mind get away from me on that one,” Riley felt herself sink in the couch as she looked at her very pregnant best friend. “Is this okay, I mean the writing about our almost sex life in the book.”

“I think it is because this is hotter than anything you’ve written before, and you’re writing better smut now than before. God I could kick myself for letting you date Evan at all because apparently he never inspired you to write literal porn.”

Riley groaned at what Maya was saying before standing up. “I’m going to get some food, and while we eat we need to discuss the possibility of me seducing a certain cowboy and how to do it because I was just winging it last night.”

Maya smiled at her and followed her out the door, the two of them gathered bagels and donuts in the kitchen before settling on the porch to take in the summer breeze and so that Riley could clear her head. She needed to get the image of Lucas out of her head but it was permanently trapped in her mind.

“You and Josh aren’t really friends with him,” Riley said as they started eating.

“We’re kind of outsiders here, we only moved here because they offered Josh the job so we only know a few people, anything personal about Lucas that I know comes from what Josh hears at the station but the man is a very private person.”

“What do you know?”

“Only that there’s a family who wants to marry into the Friar family, that everyone loves him, and that he was divorced but that’s it. For some reason he’s very private and makes sure that his business stays his.”

“Wait he’s divorced? For how long?”

“According to some of the ladies in town it’s been nearly eight years, he married young but got divorced a year or so later.”

“That’s something new, but I did meet the girl whose family wants to marry into Lucas’ family, she’s nice and engaged to someone else so that’s never going to go anywhere.”

Maya sighed. “Why does this feel more complicated than it should be?”

“When is my life not complicated, I’m the middle child of the power couple of the world.”

Before Maya could say anything else a white car pulled up to the house, and Missy got out smiling at the two of them, before going to the side of the car and grabbing something.

“Hi Missy,” Riley said smiling. If she needed any information on Lucas why not ask the woman that was supposed to be his wife. “What brings you over today?”

“Well I made some sangria and thought I would share, and also I don’t have a lot of girlfriends, mainly because this town is small and everyone judges me because of my family so I thought you would be the best person to talk to… um about… well about wedding stuff.”

“Wow, well I’m honored,” Riley said smiling at the woman. “Missy this is my best friend Maya, her husband is my Uncle Josh, you know the sheriff.”

“Oh, wow I guess I should have introduced myself to you a long time ago,” Missy said as she walked towards them. “The sangria is non-alcoholic, because I’m driving so Maya you can have some.”

“Oh thank god, I miss drinking, and I miss girl time, being pregnant is a blessing and all but it’s depressing when I can’t have a drink,” Maya said making Riley laugh.

“How about I bring out some cheese and crackers and we can talk about your wedding,” Riley said standing up. “And maybe you can help me with my own problem.”

“What problem is that?” Missy asked as she sat down.

“The Lucas problem,” Maya answered. “Riley likes him, and well they’re getting close but he sometimes gets really quiet around her so it’s hard for them to form a connection.”

“I can definitely help with that because you’re helping me even more by being with him. My dad is dead set on marrying the two of us and as much as I love Lucas, well it’s more like a brother sister thing.”  

Riley couldn’t help but laugh at what Missy said, it reminded her of Charlie and how she had tried to force herself to stay in that relationship because everyone had once told them that they would be perfect for each other, but she saw him as a brother and nothing more. Now they were the best of friends and she was happier than she had ever been. Except Evan had happened. Riley set the food around the patio table and brought out cups for them to drink out of, she grabbed the speaker she had brought with her from New York, and hooked it on to her phone. The music was soft, classic summer songs so that they would be able to talk and have a little fun while they were at it.

“So,” she said once everything was set up. “What can you tell me about Lucas.”

“He doesn’t like liars, or people who think it’s okay to use someone, blame his ex-wife for that. She ran off and sent him the divorce papers like it was nothing,” Missy said. “He found out afterwards that she had used him to get some money from him.”

Riley felt like scum all of a sudden, because in a way she was using her experience with him to help her out. One to get over what happened with Evan, and second to help her with her book. She wasn’t meant to deceive people.

“Well that’s interesting, I hadn’t known about that,” Maya said looking at Riley. Maya knew so well how her mind worked and of course she was trying to divert anything Riley was thinking but it was already in her head. She didn’t like to lie to anyone, her pen name was more for her career than anything else.

“Tell me something about yourself Riley,” Missy said interrupting Riley’s rampant thoughts. “I heard you’re a write but I don’t know if I’ve read your stuff. Then again I’m not the most avid reader.”

“I write fiction, both of the books have been on the Times Bestseller list, but I’m on a break right now trying to figure out what to write next,” Riley said which was technically the truth since her next big fiction book was still being plotted out. “My mom suggested I come down here because this was my great-grandmother’s house, and well Maya and Josh lived here.”

The three of them talked about Riley’s books but her heart wasn’t in it, she was tired and she couldn’t help but feel like she had lied to Lucas even though he didn’t know about it. She wondered if she should come clean but after Missy left Maya had tried to convince her to keep it a secret for a little while longer. The only thing she learned from Missy about Lucas was that he was incredibly hardworking and had done so much before turning thirty.

When she was alone that night she poured her heart into her writing, and giving her story’s protagonist the same dilemma she was facing. Whether to tell the truth about who she was, about what she was hiding. At this point Riley was hiding a lot, not only from Lucas but from her friends and family and she didn’t know how long she could hide it from them.

Lucas had a rare Saturday off, his mother had taken Liliana to the city for a ballet that was in town, and they were going to stay the night over there. He finished his rounds in the stables early and was trying to find something to do, but all of his thoughts went to Riley. It had been three days since he last saw her, and his skin was itching to run over there and ask her out again. Instead he grabbed a cold shower and finished up the last of his paperwork before he found himself in his car driving into town, only to turn the car around and drive towards Riley’s house. She was a drug and he needed her so badly.

Zay had told him that he needed to just go with the flow when it came to Riley, she was a city girl and in the end she would leave. So he shouldn’t get too attached to the brunette, but he craved her. It was a strange feeling, he wanted to give her everything without taking anything in return.

So now he was sitting in his car outside of her house trying to gain the confidence to knock on her door. He took a few deep breaths before getting out and walking towards the front door, he noticed once he was there that the door was wide open which was normal for people who lived in town because everyone knew one another, but for Riley he thought it was strange, because city people always locked the doors even when they were home.

“Riley?” he said out loud but when no one answered he walked inside to look for her, worried that something had happened.

He found her asleep on a couch in the study, with the air conditioner on full blast, Riley curled up into herself as if she was trying to keep the warmth in. The air wasn’t freezing cold, since the air conditioner wasn’t a large model, and the door was open so the heat from the rest of the house was keeping the room from cooling down. For some reason he saw her as vulnerable in that instance, and not the confident woman he had come to know. They had barely known one another for two weeks but this was the first time he felt as though he were seeing the real person.

“Riley,” he whispered trying to wake her but she whimpered next to him and mumbled something he didn’t understand. He placed his hand on her shoulder and slightly shook her, “Riley.”

Instead of waking up she leaned into his touch, and he thought it was the sweetest thing he could ever see. Her eyes began to flutter open and his were met with a familiar brown.

“Lucas,” she said looking at him confused before sitting up to realize that he was real and in front of her. “What are you doing here?”

“Well I had some free time, and was trying to figure out what to do so I thought that maybe we could have another… well another date,” he said not knowing why he felt so nervous asking her out. “But we can stay in and watch movies, and maybe get to know one another a little better.”

She smiled at him in that moment. “That would be nice, and maybe we can order some take out because I’m starving. I was working all night and I took a walk this morning only to crash right here.”

“Alright, the only good take-out in this two is from the taco place run by the Diaz family so I can put in an order, so why don’t you freshen up and I’ll get to ordering our dinner.”

“Give me ten minutes, and can you order some nachos for me, if they have,” she said as she rushed out of the room and ran upstairs.

Lucas thought it was adorable the way she went from flustered to determined, he couldn’t understand this attraction they had to one another but he didn’t mind pursuing. Riley had made him feel alive for once and not the person he had become. He loved being a father but for some reason it didn’t make him feel whole, and it made him feel like a bad father because he couldn’t give Liliana what she needed. He could blame his parents but in the end the blame was his for what had happened when he got divorced.

He ordered the food and sat around in the warm living room watching as the sun streamed through the curtains. This was a beautiful house, one that he had always admired growing up because it looked so loved, unlike the monster of a house he had inherited from his family. His mother didn’t live with him because of all the memories the house held, but it always felt more like a shrine to his family than a home. It was yet another reason he felt that he was a failure as a father.

Riley stood in front of him once she changed smiling at him, “We should eat outside, it’s a nice day. Plus, it’s hot in here and I don’t think I can stand to be in the heat any longer.”

“Whatever you say milady,” he said gesturing with his hands before leading her out to the porch.

“I’m amazed you didn’t go snooping around while I was washing up,” she smiled as though she would have done it if she was at his house.

Lucas laughed at what she was saying, “If you were at my house would you have snooped around.”

“Well considering from what I can anyway, your house is the biggest in town so I’m thinking there might be a secret room somewhere and I would want to find it because maybe on the inside I could find a secret gold stash or something.”

“There’s no secret room in that house, but I swear the ghost of my ancestors haunt the place.”

Riley laughed at him, it was sweet how he humored her and she liked it. She had also thought about her conversation with Missy and Maya, and since she didn’t want to tell him about the romance novel she was writing, she did want to be more honest with the man. She couldn’t deal with having a bad relationship with Lucas of any kind. So while they waited for their food she set the table on the porch, and thought about how to talk to him.

It was strange in a way, she had kept most of her deepest secrets from everyone, but if they were going to start a relationship of any kind she wanted to be truly honest with him about it. Once they sat down, with some left over sangria that Missy had left behind Riley knew that it was the right decision.

“So I thought that we should be up front with whatever this is,” she said staring up at the green eyes in front of her. “I’m only here for a short time, and while I like what’s happening between the two of us I think that you should know that there’s well a time limit.”

“I wanted to talk to you about it too, and well I was going to suggest we just go with it until you had to leave. I mean I knew you weren’t going to stay here permanently considering I’ve never seen anyone stay in this house more than a few months,” he said automatically regretting it when he saw her face shift. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay, at least you’re being honest, and as much as I like this house… well it’s not really my style. My office at home has a bay window and I miss it so much.”

“Can I ask something?”

“Sure, since we’re being honest here. Ask away,” she said looking at her drink.

“Why are you here? Other than the fact that you’re here to drive me crazy, and I don’t really mind because I don’t normally ask anyone out, but for some reason you’re the exception.”

Riley knew that she would have to tell someone, no one other than her mother and the NYPD knew about what had happened before she left. She made sure that it never got out because of who she was, but since the conversation with Missy and Maya, Riley knew that she needed someone to know about it while she was in Texas.

“Well… um… it’s a long story, and one that I don’t really like to share and if I tell you,” she could feel her hands shaking as she tried to figure out a way to tell him. “Well you have to promise me that no one else will know.”

“I promise, but Riley why are you shaking?” he asked but she shook her head the moment she saw the food delivery car pull up. Lucas needed to be the only one she told, she didn’t want anyone else involved. She watched Lucas pay for the food and was thinking about telling him to forget about it but her mother had said that she needed to talk to someone.

When Lucas came back and sat down, he gave her a small smile and that’s when her resolve crumbled. She started crying and couldn’t stop, the weight of her life pushing down on her shoulders. Lucas didn’t make a comment, he only wrapped his arms around her waiting until she calmed down enough to start talking again.

“Sorry,” she said to him as she wiped the last of the tears from her eyes. “I’ve been a tough couple of years.”

“I can understand that,” he said to her. “How about I share my story with you and when you’re ready you can share with me what you want to say.”

“Okay,” she said her voice a quiet whisper.

“Okay, well I’m pretty sure someone told you that I’m divorced, especially since I know Missy’s sangria anywhere. I’ve been drinking it at barbeques for years. When I was in college I met my ex-wife, we had been together I think for six months before she told me she was pregnant, and of course being the nice small town boy, I married her. Everyone told me that it was a lie, and a mistake, which I should have listened to them, although the pregnancy wasn’t a lie and I do have a daughter.”

“You have a kid, why haven’t I heard about that?” Riley asked him surprised about what he was saying.

“Let me finish, and yes I have a kid, she’s sarcastic and snarky at times, she would rather stay home and read or climb trees instead of going to ballet classes, and whatever instrument class my mother has signed her up for. Anyway, we moved back here and into that giant house. I thought we were happy, until the day after my daughter was born when my wife disappeared leaving behind divorce papers and a letter stating that since she hadn’t signed a prenup she was entitled to half of everything. I don’t think she realized that we were living in my parents’ house and that none of that was mine, so her got half of my inheritance, which wasn’t huge to begin with and I got to keep my daughter.”

“How can someone just leave their child like that?” Riley was truly astonished at how someone could do something so cruel to a child.

“I ask myself that every day, but I love my daughter and I would leave everything I have to my ex if it meant that I got Liliana.”

“That’s sweet,” she said to him, taking his hand in hers and squeezing. “Okay my turn,” she took a deep breath realizing that this was something she needed to do. “Two years ago, I found my boyfriend in bed with another woman… and another man. He always said I was a prude, because I didn’t do anything with him. But I realized since that night on the porch here with you that, well that wasn’t the case, maybe it was something that went off in my head that I ignored, and well most people didn’t know that he was involved in a threesome because I kept it from them… well anyway, I got angry at him because… well he never really said anything nice to me to begin with. Well at first he did, but after we moved in together he started to chip away at my self-esteem, I didn’t know it was happening.”

Lucas was about to say something but she stopped him and continued. “Let me finish, it’s a little hard to say anything about this and the only people that know are living in New York. Anyway, instead of leaving like I should have, I stayed and tried to make it work, but all it took was one moment between the two of us to change everything. I thought I loved him, you know that real kind of love, but in reality it was just him manipulating me. At the time I was finishing up my third novel, the book never came out because I felt that it was tainted by what happened, you see he took my work and changed it before submitting it to a publisher, the book was going to be published last year but they found out that he had taken it from me.”

“Really, this guy seems like scum,” Lucas said interrupting her.

“That’s not the half of it, when I confronted him he hit me, he told me that I was useless and worthless and that he shouldn’t have wasted so much time on me. I decided to leave and go stay with my mother,” Riley stopped for a moment, because as much as everyone knew the beginning of the story, no one knew the ending because it hurt too much. “We got into a fight as I was leaving, and I hadn’t known at the time or else I wouldn’t have confronted him. The first time he hit me pretty hard, I thought I felt my brain shake in my head. He told me that he would take everything from me and make sure that I was left with nothing. I was so shocked that I didn’t think to fight back, I only thought that I should just walk away.”

“Riley,” Lucas said pulling her closer, but she shook her head.

“I made it to the stairs before he grabbed me again, only this time he punched me and I fell. The next thing I knew I woke up in the hospital, and they were telling me that my boyfriend had saved my life. He had told them this story about me being mugged outside of the apartment and how he rescued me, when I saw him in the hallway he gave me this smile that made me want to scream.”

She didn’t scream, although she wanted to and at that moment she wanted to scream too. “Lucas I’m telling you this because a lot of stuff happened, but my ex is still a free man, even though I filed charges against him, even though I told the police what had happened. He’s free because of who he is, so I did what I could, I left my mother helped me find a new place, and helped me move forward while she worked behind the scenes to make sure that something stuck. But what made everything worse was that I was pregnant when he pushed me down those stairs, I hadn’t known at the time and I thought it was just stress that was making me sick.”

She cried I his arms, she hadn’t told Maya about the baby, she hadn’t told her mother or anyone except for her therapist. She held it in for the last two years because she couldn’t fall apart. Evan got the apartment, but she took everything that mattered to her. She didn’t want to think about him, but telling Lucas at this moment gave her a little freedom from the life she had left behind.

“I told Maya that yes it was only for the summer, but in my mind I told myself that if I liked it here, maybe it would be a good place to start over. I didn’t know I was going to meet you, or even Missy who is the sweetest person. I didn’t know I had missed my best friend so much until I was sitting around talking to her. New York had always been my home, but now it feels like I could have a home anywhere.”

Lucas sighed, he didn’t know what to think, but he knew that if he could have something with Riley he was willing to take a chance on it. Even when he felt awkward around her and started babbling, as long as she smiled he was alright.

“I have a proposition for you, and well it’s a… it’s a little weird since well the other night and well… um… you know what happened,” he said stumbling over his words. “Anyway, how about we start this, whatever it is, all over again. Forget about whether this is temporary or permanent, how about we start this off like a normal relationship, this being our third date, because I’m counting the hospital visit as a date.”

Riley laughed at him but nodded making his body relax. “I would like that, plus you’re nice, and everyone I’ve met loves you, and you have a kid so maybe you can’t be that bad,” she said. “I would like that. I think it would be good for the both of us, considering how people jaded us in the past.”

“That’s one way to put it,” he said smiling. “I’m sorry your ex was a dick to you.”

“And I’m sorry your ex didn’t know what she had.”

[joeygoeshollywood]

My 25 Favorite Films of 2018

It’s hard to believe that 2018 is already coming to a close. Here’s my 25 favorite films from the year!

25. Black Panther

Roughly twenty films into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the franchise certainly needed a pallet cleanser. Black Panther was certainly the antidote. Not only did we get a standalone film from a superhero we didn’t know much about, it took us on adventure in the fictional high-tech nation of Wakanda. Chadwick Boseman brings a freshness and a unique charm to the Avengers table and he’s accompanied by a very talented cast including Lupita Nyong’o, Letitia Wright, Dana Gurira, and Michael B Jordan, who was easily one of Marvel’s best villains to date. Writer/Director Ryan Coogler (Creed, Fruitvale Station) has established himself as a filmmaker on the rise and his career will not be stopping anytime soon. 

24. Boy Erased

Based on a true story, Boy Erased follows the son of a Baptist preacher and his unsettling experience at a gay conversion program. Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea, Ladybird) continues to prove he’s one of the greatest actors from the millennial generation as a young man who struggles with his sexual identity. Joel Edgerton, who wrote, directed, and starred in the film, strikes a balance between intensity and raw emotion. And Nicole Kidman also gives one of her strongest performances in recent memory as the religious mother who goes on her own journey in embracing her son for who he really is. 

23. Sorry to Bother You

Sorry to Bother You cannot be defined by one genre. Part comedy, part fantasy, part sci-fi, and even part horror, this film from newcomer Boots Riley is an imaginative satire that tackles race, class, and capitalism. This marks the biggest and best role from Lakeith Standfield (Atlanta, Get Out) who stars as a telemarketer who quickly climbs the ranks only to find out that the company he works for has nefarious ambitions. There are a lot of WTF moments in this film that cannot be unseen, but it’s all worth it. 

22. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

What ended up being the best animated film of the year and of the best Spider-Man movies ever, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse reimagines the origin story of this classic Marvel superhero with a new cinematic web-slinger Miles Morales, who teams up with other Spider-Men from other dimensions in order to stop the threat to all of their realities. Between the unique forms of animation, a fun script, and a solid voice cast, Into the Spider-Verse rises above in a year filled with superhero flicks.  

21. The Cloverfield Paradox

When the latest chapter in the Cloverfield franchise dropped on the night of the Super Bowl, everyone rushed to Netflix for the surprise release. And while the critics weren’t exactly kind, The Cloverfield Paradox was still a wild, captivating installment. A group of scientists in space must solve the energy crisis that is causing chaos among nations on Earth, but while doing so find themselves entangled in alternative realities. Gugu Mbathu-Raw, Daniel Brühl, Chris Dowd, David Oyelowo, John Ortiz, Ziyi Zhang, Aksel Hennie and Elizabeth Debicki round out this strong, diverse ensemble. 

20. Mission: Impossible - Fallout

At 56 years old, Tom Cruise continues to defy all odds as he keeps his now 20-year-old franchise alive. Ethan Hunt’s latest mission was fitting enough to be his last as his efforts to once again save the world also has him grappling with questions about his own mortality and the loved ones in his life. One of the best action films of the year, Fallout is a ton of fun and filled with well-choreographed sequences and stunts from Cruise himself. 

19. Bad Times at the El Royale

What is fascinating about Bad Times at the El Royale is how much it felt like a puzzle. With its non-linear editing, every scene felt like an individual puzzle piece that once they come together give you a complete picture. Drew Goddard, the mastermind behind the modern cult classic The Cabin in the Woods, returns with a 60s-era crime thriller with a superb soundtrack, awesome production design, and a stellar cast that features Jeff Bridges, Jon Hamm, Dakota Johnson, Cynthia Erivo, and Chris Hemsworth. 

18. Support the Girls

Support the Girls is a small indie comedy from Andrew Bujalski about a general manager of a sports bar and grill who reaches a boiling point with her life. Regina Hall, best known for her role in the Scary Movie franchise and more recently in Girls Trip, gives the best performance of her career as the heartwarming and heartbreaking Lisa, who while hating her job puts her young waiting staff first. Support the Girls is one of the few films that’s grounded in reality and is a comedic display of ordinary life and the struggles that come with it. 

17. A Simple Favor

What was easily the most Hitchcockian film of the year, A Simple Favor marks a sharp tonal turn from director Paul Feig (Bridesmaids, Spy). Anna Kendrick stars a single mother who investigates the strange disappearance of her new friend (played by a terrific Blake Lively). Filled with unexpected turns and a few good laughs, A Simple Favor is a sexy thriller that expanded Feig’s talents.                                                                        

16. Thoroughbreds 

Part psychological thriller, part teenage dark comedy, Thoroughbreds resembles a contemporary Heathers. Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch, Split) stars as a girl who relies her sociopathic friend (Olivia Cooke) to plot the murder of her awful stepfather. Newcomer Cory Finley makes an outstanding feature debut and is able to strike a balance between the tragedy and humor of this unlikely friendship. 

15. A Quiet Place

John Krasinski wrote, produced, directed, and starred in his second and best feature to date, A Quiet Place. Set in a post-apocalyptic world, a family adapts to living in complete silence in order to keep themselves out of harms way from these deadly creatures who hunt their prey by the sounds they make. Despite the script with barely a page of dialogue, A Quiet Place speaks volumes with high intensity and terrifying performances from Krasinski’s wife Emily Blunt as well as from child actors Millicent Simmonds and Noah Jupe.  

14. The Death of Stalin

Veep creator Armando Iannucci knows a thing or two about satire. This time, he takes his talents to the big screen with his political comedy The Death of Stalin. As the title explains, the film follows the death of Russian dictator Joseph Stalin and the tug of war over power among his Council of Ministers. The intellectual humor in the screenplay combined with the comical performances of an ensemble cast which includes Steve Buscemi, Simon Russell Beale, Rupert Friend, Andrea Riseborough, and Jason Isaacs marks one of the best comedies of the year. 

13. Hereditary 

Like a modern day Rosemary’s Baby, Hereditary is an unsettling horror film that surrounds the supernatural occurrences of a grieving family after the passing of its estranged matriarch. Writer/Director Ari Aster masterfully crafts a remarkable yet unexplainable thriller with the help of a career-best performance from Toni Collette. 

12. Three Identical Strangers

Sometimes life is stranger than fiction and there is not a better example of that than Three Identical Strangers, a documentary that tells the real-life story about triplets who were separated at birth who discover each other’s existence in college and their journey to discover the grim circumstances that pulled them apart in the first place. What really felt more like a suspense thriller, Three Identical Strangers is an unpredictable, fascinating film about family and the bonds that hold us together. 

11. Widows

Widows is a grade-a heist film from 12 Years a Slave director Steve McQueen and Gone Girl screenwriter Gillian Flynn. Viola Davis stars as a widow who settles one final score that was all set by her dead husband (Liam Neeson). Suspenseful and emotional from beginning to end, Widows is a female-dominated drama that features one of the best ensembles of the year, including Elizabeth Debicki, Michelle Rodriguez, Cynthia Erivo, Colin Farrell, Brian Tyree Henry, Daniel Kaluuya, and Robert Duvall. 

10. Game Night

There was not a more laugh-out-loud funny comedy this year than Game Night. It surrounds a group of friends whose game night takes a wrong turn when what’s supposed to be a fun murder mystery becomes very real. Not only does the plot have plenty of twists and turns, the abundance of self-awareness in this wacky film elevates it from the rest. Rachel McAdams and Jason Bateman do their best comedic work in years and they’re accompanied by a hilarious ensemble cast. 

9. Overlord

You don’t often hear of WWII horror films, but Overlord certainly delivers. The J.J. Abrams-produced flick follows a troop of soldiers who stumble upon a gruesome scientific lab where humans are the unfortunate subjects. Overlord is truly an adrenaline rush and the most badass movie of the year. After all, when it comes to Americans kicking some Nazi butt, the gorier the better. 

8. Annihilation 

Annihilation is one of those remarkable films that is so hard to describe. Natalie Portman stars as a biologist who joins a pack of armed explorers in a territory of land where mysteriously the laws of nature are nonexistent. Thought-provoking, captivating, and extremely intense, this female-led sci-fi drama felt like an out-of-body experience. 

7. Crazy Rich Asians

Easily the most enjoyable film of the year, Crazy Rich Asians offers plenty of sights, laughs, and heart. Based off the best-selling novel by Kevin Kwan, this romantic comedy follows NYU professor Rachel (Fresh Off the Boat’s Constance Wu) and her struggle to win over her fiancé’s very judgmental, very crazy, and yes, very rich family. Crazy Rich Asians features eye candy visuals, a fun soundtrack, and a talented ensemble cast. 

6. Roma

Oscar-winning filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity, Children of Men) makes his return with his most personal film yet, Roma. Set in Mexico City in the early 1970s, the Spanish-language film chronicles the life of a middle-class family a maid named Cleo (played by newcomer Yalitza Aparicio). Shot in black and white and with incredible cinematography Roma is timeless story about family, class, and the human spirit. It is easily Netflix’s best original film to date. 

5. If Beale Street Could Talk

Oscar-winning writer/director Barry Jenkins (Moonlight) makes a strong return with a tragic love story about a pregnant young woman who struggles to get her fiancé out of jail after he was wrongfully accused of a crime. Based off the book of the same name, If Beale Street Could Talk felt more like watching a play. Along with the gorgeous cinematography and a moving score, this romance is carried by its two leads Kiki Layne and Stephen James as well as Regina King, who gives an Oscar-worthy performance as Layne’s mother. 

4. Eighth Grade

Middle school is the worst and no film has captured the experience better than Bo Burnham’s debut film Eighth Grade. Despite the ever-changing times, this indie comedy manages to connect adult audiences with eighth grader Kayla Day, who struggles to navigate through her adolescence all while attempting to build her presence on social media. Young actress, Elsie Fisher gives a grounded, comical, and sometimes painful performance and Josh Hamilton gives a strong supporting performance as her single father who tries to lift her spirits. 

3. Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

If you grew up on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, then this film will certainly hit home. Won’t You Be My Neighbor? showcases the life of a Presbyterian minister who developed of the most iconic, impactful children’s shows in television history and the struggles he faced along the way. The documentary features interviews of his family, the crew, and cast members, all who give insight of the genius that is Fred Rogers. Won’t You Be My Neighbor? is an emotional film that, if you’re lucky, will restore your faith in humanity. And be warned; there was not a dry eye in that theater. 

2. American Animals

Director Bart Layton has an incredible gift of making hybrid films. His underrated 2012 documentary The Imposter felt more like a mystery thriller. And with American Animals, since it’s based on a true story, he injects documentary elements into what normally would be a heist film. The story surrounds these four college kids who plan to steal an extremely valuable book from the campus library. The four leads do outstanding work, but Evan Peters (of American Horror Story fame) particularly gives the best performance of his career as one of the irresponsible thieves. With great editing and strong source material, American Animals is the best film of the year that virtually no one saw.  

1. The Favourite

It’s no surprise that The Favourite is the favorite film of the year. Yorgos Lanthimos, the previously unsung filmmaker behind The Lobster and The Killing of a Sacred Deer, brings the real-life 18th Century story of Queen Anne to the 21st Century and injects his twisted sense of humor. Olivia Colman stars as the neurotic, but hilarious ruler and Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz compete for her affection. Beautifully shot and superbly written, The Favourite is a remarkable, flawless cinematic masterpiece. 

[katdvs]

Author Note: Sorry I didn’t get this up yesterday. I had to babysit unexpectedly last night. I hope you enjoy this little Rucas fic, it was made from requests from this post. Xoxox Kat

I’ll Be Home for Christmas

He could remember the taste of her berry flavored lip gloss, the sun in her hair as she forced herself to be strong. He could remember the tremble of her lips as she studied his face once more, “I love you Lucas, I’m going to miss you every single day that you’re gone.”

He brought the last letter she wrote him to his nose, sniffing the sweet scent of her perfume from when she hand wrote the letter. He studied her handwriting, seeing the parts that made her nervous, the difference in her slants and crosses, the way she dotted her I’s.

Stuffing the letter into the bag, he looked around him. The only items not packed sat on the small table next to the bed. His phone, and the black velvet box. He picked the box up, putting into the interior pocket of his jacket, he stuffed his phone in the pocket of his pants and took one final look around.

This was it.

The life he’d known for seven years would be ending, and a new life would be beginning. The life that flashed before his eyes the first time the bubbly brunette fell into his lap that fateful morning. His heart filled with joy as he thought about her smile, how she would smell of vanilla and sugar.

He was dressed in his civilian clothes now that he was one, as he found his seat on the airplane. His hands shaking as felt in his jacket for the box, thankful it was still there. He pulled his phone from his pocket, quickly sending a message to Farkle and Zay, that he was on the plane and would text as soon as it landed.

Throughout the flight his leg bounced with his nervous energy, the woman sitting next to him sending him a dirty look before she stuck her head into her well worn romance novel with handcuffs on the front.

When he arrived at JFK he texted Farkle, who was already waiting for him at baggage claim. “Don’t worry, she has no idea you’re arriving.”

“Are you sure she hasn’t figured it out?” Lucas wondered how anyone had kept it secret.

“None at all.” Farkle insisted. “She’s moping around about how you won’t be home for Christmas.”

Lucas grabbed his bag from the carousel, “Well, in a few hours I don’t think she will be moping, at least I hope she won’t be.”

“Don’t second guess you’re self, she’s going to be beyond excited.” Farkle led him out to the car, his driver taking Lucas’ bags, loading them in the trunk for him.

“So, you have the key to the apartment?”

“Yes, and with Zay and Maya’s help—yes Maya knows, we got everything set up.”

Lucas scratched the back of his neck, “You don’t think she’ll be upset, think I was presumptuous, or anything right?”

Farkle chuckled, “Lucas, she will say yes, you two might not leave that apartment for a few days—don’t worry I stocked the fridge, champagne, and a few goodies as well as some real food.”

“Thanks Buddy” Lucas ran his hands over his jeans, “This is just it, you know, no more deployments, I’m out, I’ll start at the hospital down the street in the New Year, and I know Riley’s been waiting all this time, I had to be sure I could give her the life she deserves.”

“Lucas, you are an emergency medicine doctor, you’ve seen the worst of the worst out there. You’re a hero, and Riley, well she might not let you leave the apartment until February.” He teased.

“Dude, come on.” Lucas smirked as he pulled the box out from his jacket, opening it, “Think she’ll like it?”

“It’s the most Riley ring possible.” Farkle studied the simple diamond, it wasn’t tiny but it wasn’t over the top either. “She’s going to love it, and she probably won’t even look at it right away.”

Lucas snapped the box closed, “I just, I want this to be perfect.”

“It will be, because whatever happens, it will be the moment you two have been waiting for, for longer than I think any of us ever realized.” Farkle pulled his phone out as it buzzed, reading the message, “She still has no clue, Maya just texted to tell me that Riley is currently plotting a run to the craft store. She had to talk her into crafting with the supplies they have in the apartment.”

Lucas chuckled, “Good, not that Riley is stress crafting, but that Maya has her busy, though I’m dying to see her.”

“We’ll be at the apartment soon, you can get freshened up, set up, and Riley will be at your door before you know it.”

“It’s finally happening Farkle, all these years.”

“Yes, finally, and it’s been a long journey, but you have so much to look forward to.” Farkle reminded him.

When they arrived at the building, Lucas took it in for the first time in person. Farkle and Zay had helped him find it, with maybe a little help from Mrs. Matthews. As they rode up in the elevator, his heart raced knowing that in a few minutes he would enter his new home, and that hopefully in a couple of hours he would propose to Riley, and she would agree to be his wife, share this home.

Farkle unlocked the door for him, the apartment was already furnished, and a Christmas tree set up in the bay window. A fire was already going in the fireplace, and the apartment was already decorated for the holidays. Lucas took it all in as he dropped his bag to the floor, “This is more than what I asked you guys to do.”

“Zay might have gone a bit overboard.” Farkle smirked, “We left you two the tree to decorate together, we know that’s kind of your thing.”

“This is really above and beyond.” He couldn’t believe the lengths his friends had gone to, “She’ll like the furniture I bought right?”

“Riley basically picked it out herself.” Farkle explained, “Maya told her she needed help with setting up vision boards for her students. All the pieces are ones Riley picked out.”

“They’re exactly what I would’ve picked.” Lucas marveled as he picked up his bags to find the bedroom. “Farkle, this is a bit much don’t you think?”

Farkle quickly caught up to him, finding the bed covered in Rose petals and LED candles set up around the room. “This is all Zay and Maya.”

Lucas rolled his eyes, “Cute.”

“Go and shower, I’m going to text Maya to make sure Riley is ready for the Christmas party we told her we were all going to tonight.”

Lucas glanced at the bed once more, “You sure she doesn’t know?”

“I’m positive.” Farkle told him. “I’ll see you in a couple of hours.”

“Thanks again, really, I mean it.”

“I know, and really it’s nothing.” Farkle gave his friend a hug, “I’m really glad that you’re finally home, and if I’m relieved, Riley is going to be really relieved.”

“Honestly, so am I.” He confessed before Farkle left. Once alone Lucas took a hot shower, shaved and put on his favorite pair of jeans and the Christmas Sweater that Riley had made him three years before.

He grabbed the ring from his jacket, he looked at the tree trying to figure out how to balance it. Running a hand over his growing hair, “Agh! I just want this to be perfect.” He sighed before his eyes caught sight of a roll of purple ribbon on the kitchen counter. He cut a long length off before first tying it around the box, and then gently tying it to the tree branch.

He moved into the kitchen setting up the champagne in an ice bucket as well as the champagne flutes. His stomach twisting in knots, as he glanced at the time. He pulled up her favorite Christmas playlist on his phone, letting it play on the Bluetooth speakers hidden on the mantle.

She would be here soon.

He wasn’t sure if he could handle waiting much longer. He began pacing around the living room, noticing the pictures of him and Riley throughout the years. He was behind the tree when he heard the door open.

“Hello?” Her voice was nervous, “It’s Riley. Maya, Farkle, and Zay are on their way up. They somehow missed the elevator.”

He was frozen when he heard her voice, oh how he’d missed it.

“Is anyone here?” Riley looked down at her phone, then at the number on the door confirming that they matched. When she looked up, she gasped as Lucas came out from the other side. “Lucas, what are you, how are you?”

“I’m home.” He could see the tears in her eyes, “I’m done.”

She threw herself into his arms, “Thank God” she burst into tears as they clung to each other.

Lucas breathed her in, “I’m home Riley, I promise you.”

“I’m so thankful for this.” She moved back to look in his eyes, “I love you, please don’t ever leave again.”

He smiled, “Look on the tree.”

She knitted her brows in confusion before he guided her to the tree, where she saw the purple ribbon. “Lucas?”

He pulled the ribbon, freeing the box, letting it drop in his hand before he dropped down on one knee, “Riley, we were so young when we met. But I knew, when you were in my lap that first day you would be important to my life. I didn’t know just how important until I thought I lost you.”

“Lucas, you never really lost me.”

“I know that now, but a scared teenager, I had no idea.” He kissed her hand, “Riley you’ve stayed by me, through everything over the years, even all the time I was deployed. You had every right to give up on me.”

“I could never give up on you.” Riley reached out to brush the hair away from his eyes, “I can’t remember the last time I saw your hair this long.”

Lucas chuckled, “I hope you never will, Riley, will you please do me the distinct honor of marrying me?”

“Yes, of course!” She was pulling him to his feet as he tried to open the box, she felt the ring on her finger, but all she could look at were Lucas’ green eyes, the eyes of the man she had loved her whole life. The eyes she’d yearn to stare into for far too long. “Kiss me.”

He did as he was told, letting his lips land on her apple cider flavored ones as her arms snaked around him, clinging to him as they got lost in the moment.

“How did I not know you were coming home?” She finally questioned when they pulled away as Lucas went to open the champagne.

“I made everyone promise not to tell you.” He kissed her forehead, “They helped me get everything here set up.”

Riley jumped when the cork was removed, “So this is your apartment?”

He pulled her close to him, “This is our apartment. I don’t want to rush you to have you move in, but as soon as your ready, I want to share this space with you.”

“Wait Lucas, if your out, what are you going to do for work?”

“I’m still a doctor Riley, just not for Uncle Sam any longer. I’ll be working at the hospital just a block away.”

“You thought of everything, didn’t you?”

“I hope I did, I think I did.” He thought for a moment, “You really had no idea I was coming home?”

“None,” she started to really look around the apartment, “But I should’ve. I picked this couch out, and this table.”

“Maya, was in on it.”

“They all were, weren’t they?” She picked up her flute of champagne, “I’ve been so sad you wouldn’t be home.”

“I’m home now,” He picked up his own champagne, “Home for Christmas, you can count on me Riley.”

“I always knew I could.” They clinked their glasses before taking a  quick sip and kissing again.

[maryeemeeh]

Wolves of Manhattan

SUMMARY: He is the rich kid from the Upper East Side with a troubled past and a dysfunctional family. She is from Greenwich Village who is pulled into the world of the rich and famous when her parents receive promotions. When their paths cross, a spark is ignited and the tables are turned when they learn they are far more connected than they thought. AU.

Originally posted on fanfiction.net 

CHAPTERS: One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight

CHAPTER NINE

"So is it true?"

Lucas looked up from his Geometry textbook. Class was about to end as students slowly began to pack up, ignoring the teacher's final words in the lesson. "Is what true?"

Thor threw his messenger bag over his shoulder. "What everyone's saying." Lucas knitted his brows together, waiting for him to elaborate. "Rumor has it that you're back on the baseball team to play in the Championship game."

Lucas quietly chuckled at the thought. "Uh no. I won't be playing until next season."

"I heard it from Coach himself." His teammate, Dave who plays shortstop said next to him. "You're in, man."

Lucas gave a confused look and opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by the sound of the bell, signaling that second period has ended. Students rushed out from the classrooms and scattered the hallways. Lucas walked through the rift of students and eventually found himself in the library during break period. They were nearing the end of the school year, which also meant finals were around the corner. It was expectantly full of anxious students cramming restlessly for finals week. He walked in further past the computer lab and up the stairs to the second floor, scanning a familiar face until he caught sight of Zay and Farkle at a corner table near the tutor center.

"Hey, guys." Lucas took his seat between the two of them, ignoring the stares and the giggles from his female classmates as he walked by. He looked over at Zay who stopped scribbling down notes and leaned back on his chair, shaking his head at him. "What?"

"All you have to do is sit there and look pretty, man." He remarked with a glare, gesturing over to a group of girls staring at their direction. "You don't even have to try. Girls just line up for you."

Zay continued his rant as Lucas idly gazed around the room. He was about to make a witty retort when someone from across the room caught his eye. She was sitting down a few tables away, chewing on her bottom lip—her brown eyes fixed on a novel she had lost her mind in. He found himself staring at her out in the open, trying not to be obvious about it. His palms began to sweat as he gingerly opened his notebook.

"Hey." Farkle broke him out of his trance, nudging his shoulder. Lucas jerked back, unaware. "Are you alright?" His voice had snapped Lucas out of his reverie. He rapidly blinked for a moment, and then came back to reality.

"Huh? Yeah." He murmured rather unconvincingly, absently twirling his pen between his fingers while trying to read his Biology notes. Farkle and Zay exchanged matching grins, realizing the reason for his odd behavior as they peeked at her direction.

"So…have you asked her to the dance yet?" Farkle could not resist asking the question that had bugged him since this morning. With the annual end of the Summer dance fast approaching, everyone seemed to be excited about it as the endless chatter of dresses and dates filled the school.

Lucas melodramatically fell back onto the chair and groaned inwardly. "How do I ask her to the dance?"

"How about, 'Riley, will you go to the dance with me?'" Zay suggested, his tone hinting slight sarcasm. Lucas sat up and glared at him.

He was not known for being an awkward guy. In fact, Lucas had a reputation for being quite the ladies' man—always getting the attention of girls with his dashing good looks and athletic abilities. It's not like he never asked a girl out before. He had dated girls in the past, took them out to see a movie and accompanied them to school dances. There wasn't much effort on his part. Girls did most of the asking. He was a smooth talker, he hardly ever had a problem picking out the right words. But with Riley, it was different.

"You better ask her or someone else will." Maya joined their table just moments later. He tried not to think about it, but the very thought of another boy asking her unsettled him.

"If you don't ask her then I will." Thor joked playfully as he grabbed a chair nearby and sat down between Lucas and Farkle. An uneasy silence filled the air for a few moments as the core four eyed him suspiciously. "What? She's quite a catch." He then turned to Lucas and whispered. "By the way, I was only kidding about the asking her part."

Zay's eyes furrowed and he gave Thor a puzzled look. "So…are we like supposed to be your friend again? Because I'm confused as to why you're sitting with us." He turned to Lucas questionably.

"It's okay, guys." He said, nodding reassuringly as he looked from Zay to Farkle, and then at Maya. "We're…we're okay."

Maya scoffed. "Well, I still don't like you." She retorted as Thor simply shrugged it off and flashed her a crooked smile.

A whole minute passed as a heavy silence fell upon them once more. Lucas swallowed hard as his nerves picked up again. The group eventually breaks into conversation, talking about the Baseball State Championship and Lucas being back on the team, which apparently the whole school knows about, but him. Lucas proceeded to tune them out, mentally reminding himself to talk to Mr. Matthews regarding the matter.

"Dude, why haven't you moved yet?" There was amusement in Thor's voice as it pulled Lucas from his thoughts. "Go ask her. She likes you."

"What makes you—"

"She likes you." Thor clarified with a knowing look.

Lucas bit the inside of his lip and felt a very nauseous feeling rise in his stomach.

"What's the harm in trying?" Maya asked, sensing his distress. "The worse she can say is no."

"Yeah, and you'd still have half of the girls in the school to choose from." Zay added bitterly.

Except there was no one else he would want to go to the dance with.

"Oh what the hell." Lucas stood up abruptly, his courage found finally after a whole week of contemplating as he grabbed his belongings and forged ahead. He knew that he must seem calm on the outside, but his mind was racing, and so was his heartbeat. His hands were sweating more than ever as he clenched his fists and unclenched them, making an indirect route to her table until he finally stopped behind the seat in front of her.

"Hey." He breathed nervously. Lucas felt his heart skipped a beat or two when she looked up and smiled brightly at him.

"Hi, Lucas."

"Um…may I sit here?"

She blinked after a few seconds and replied quietly. "Yes. Yes of course."

He sat down across from her as they fell into a comfortable silence with only the sounds of pages turning and chairs squeaking with their occupants' shifting.

"What are you reading?" He asked, genuinely curious and happy to have time to speak to her.

"Me before You." She replied enthusiastically as she showed him the book cover.

"Sounds…romantic."

She closed the book, marking her spot between the pages with a pen. "It's tragic really. I read it like three times, hoping for a different and happier ending." Lucas raised a curious brow. Riley tensed up a bit and blushed in embarrassment as his green eyes focused on her. "You must think I'm weird."

His smile crossed his face before he could stop himself. "Not at all."

Lucas felt like he was flying just talking to her. It has become one of his favorite feelings in the world. Once he got pass the initial awkwardness, the conversation flowed seamlessly. They talked about the upcoming finals week, her favorite novels, little league baseball, and their plans for summer break. Then after a few moments of silence, Lucas watched her pull out her Physiology textbook and flipped through the pages while occasionally writing down notes.

Then he remembered why he was there in the first place as he frantically rehearsed in his head on how to broach the subject. "So…are you going to the dance?" He asked softly, his heart thumping wildly in his chest.

Riley shrugged. "I don't know. I guess if someone ask me."

He took a deep breath and readied himself for either answer, and promised that if she rejected him he wouldn't react.

"Will you go to the dance with me?"

His reply had been instantaneous and right to the point as he tried not to cringe under her disbelieving stare. He felt more self-conscious than he'd ever felt before in his entire life. His heart started to beat faster and faster with each passing moment. What was she going to say? Yes? No? His mind raced, and he was sure that he was going to have a heart attack if she didn't answer soon.

"Y-you're asking me to the dance?" She mumbled faintly, blushing nearly as deeply as he was.

He swallowed and his heart was sinking fast. She was going to reject him. He was sure she was going to say no, and he was never going to be able to look at her again. "Yes, I am."

Lucas stiffened as Riley opened her mouth again, and he was clutching the sides of his chair so tightly his knuckles turned white. The dread was already settling in his stomach as he agonized through five more excruciating seconds.

"I'd love to."

Riley rushed back home from school with a flurry of excitement. The absolute glee on her face and her carefree posture made it feel like her heart was soaring high in the clouds.

She was going to the dance.

And she was going with Lucas Friar.

It wasn't supposed to be like this. At least not how she imagined her high school life would be. Riley tried to tell herself she wasn't exactly Lucas' type. She wasn't the type of girl guys like him would notice. She was just…Riley. Because really, why would a handsome and most popular guy in school go after a clumsy, over-the-top, average nobody like her?

Riley shook her head vigorously, trying to expel such thoughts. She had no idea when it had started, or how it began. Sure, he was quite a vision to look at, but she didn't expect to enjoy talking to him. He made her smile, laugh, and even just feel good about herself. But the one thing that the girl with long, brunette locks couldn't deny was that she was falling for him.

Riley was still beaming joyously by the time she arrived at the doorstep that led to the apartment. A few quiet murmurs could be heard from behind the door as she opened it and stepped inside.

A completely unpleasant silence filled the room. The kind of silence that her well-trained instinct tells her something was wrong. Her parents, her brother Auggie and her Uncle Josh were all in the living room, facing each other as they turned to look at her as she entered. Suddenly her excitement from earlier had dissipated, and anxiety coursed right through her when she noticed their somber expressions.

What's going on?"

"Honey, come sit down. We have something to discuss with you." There was a mixture of restrained anger and sadness in her mother's voice as she patted the empty seat on the couch beside her.

"What is it?" Riley asked as she slumped down onto the couch, seeing the look of disbelief on her mother's face.

"There was a School Board meeting today." Her father began, reaching over to grab his wife's hand. Riley shifted her eyes to their joined hands and watched as her mother gave his a squeeze. She looked up and frowned as a pained expression began to dawn upon his face. "There were parents who shared their concerns about how I run things at the school. Particularly, the disciplinary action I imposed on one of the students." Riley simply nodded, her silence prompting him to continue. "I have always taught you and your brother to stand up to what you believe is right even if faced with opposition."

"I know..." Her mind was still wrapping around his words, trying to understanding the meaning of all this. "What are you saying, Dad?" Riley's breath hitched and worry flooded her voice.

"I was let go, Riley. I am no longer the Dean at the school."

To be continued…

[gilbertandanne]

                                                     Partition

A/N: Takes place two years before the events in ‘Crash Course’, so you don’t have to read it to understand what’s going on.  I tried to interlace some plot points revealed in CC and it’s sequel, Infinite, but again, you don’t have to read them to understand what’s going on.

Song: ‘Partition’ by Queen B

Pairing: Rucas with brief mentions of J/M and F/S

Rated: M

Word Count: 14,221 (I still don’t know HOW it ended up this long)

Totally dedicating this one to @jenn0bi bc without her calling me out on not using this song (after I promised), this would never have been written. I *really* hope you like it, Jenn. <3

Maya groaned as she cradled her phone between her ear and her shoulder.  She hated it when he made sense.  The most annoying part of it was that her boyfriend always made sense—especially when it came to the subject of his niece.  “It’s been two years,” she reasoned as she reached for her concealer.

“Yeah, but we both know that she’s different now.  She’s not the same person she was in high school.  She’s not the same person she was since they broke up.”

Maya cringed.  She hated it when he used her words against her.  “But it’s Farkle’s birthday.”

“I know.  And I know she’ll be there and try to not let it affect her, but Maya, we still don’t know the whole story.  We don’t know who broke up with who.”

“There are going to be a ton of people there,” she reasoned.  “Maybe they won’t even cross paths?  Maybe she’s doing better than we think she is?  Maybe…maybe she is over it?”  She looked down at the counter as she quickly debated on which eye shadow to use.  “She has been dating around…and has gone on like four dates with this new guy.”

Josh frowned.  “Really?  Who is he?”

She frowned.  Nothing she had was going to work with her dress.  “Uhhh…Caleb, I think?  I only met him once.”

“Is he coming tonight?”

She sighed.  The good thing about living with her best friend was that she was welcome to borrow her things—including her makeup.  “I think so.  He’s friends with Farkle too.  That’s how she met him.”

“Then maybe we only need to worry about Lucas?”

Maya scoffed.  “You can worry about Lucas.”

“Come on, Maya.  I know you still talk to him.”

“Maybe I do, but when it comes to break ups, us girls have to stick together.”

Riley took a deep breath as she examined her appearance.  Was she actually going to do this?  Was she going to willingly go somewhere she knew he would be?  There were only two reasons that kept her from changing into her sweatpants and spending some much needed time with her Netflix: the first was because it was one of her best friends’ 21st birthdays and the second was because she had a date.  That should be enough of a buffer, right?  Surely, they won’t end up in a tangled heap on her bed, like every other time she’s seen him since he left for Texas two years ago?

Would that be so bad though?  She had only ever been intimate with one person in her life, and that one person knew exactly where to touch her to send her to the peak of pleasure.  He knew the deal just as well as she did.  They agreed that it was only physical—that the feelings they once shared no longer existed.

Two years, and Riley Matthews lived happily in the land of denial.  

But what about Caleb—her actual date for the evening?  He was supposed to be her distraction, her way of forcing herself to move on from the toxic non-relationship relationship she found herself in with her ex-boyfriend.  He was a nice guy.  They got along great and had a lot in common.  There was only one problem—he wasn’t Lucas.

“Stop it,” she growled at herself before she brushed her hair out of her eyes.  No, Caleb wasn’t Lucas, but that didn’t mean that there couldn’t be something between them.  It wasn’t fair to compare eight years of history to four dates, but she had very little else to compare it to.  She never made it past the second date before, and with this guy, she had already doubled that landmark.  She needed to see where this could go.  She needed to end this cycle with Lucas.

She needed to move on.

//See me up in the club with fifty-eleven girls Posted in the back, diamond fangs in my grill Brooklyn brim with my eyes sitting low Every boy in here with me got that smoke//

The lights were dimmed, the drinks flowed, and everyone was dressed to the nine’s.  As soon as Riley stepped foot into the ballroom, she felt like she had walked straight into a Fitzgerald novel.  His parents spared no expense to celebrate the first 21 years of their brilliant son’s life.  There was a jazz band at the front of the room, an open bar along the back wall, and a massive dance floor in the middle of it all.

“Riley,” she heard the man of the hour call out to her.

She spun around as a warm smile graced her features.  “Well, if it isn’t the birthday boy.”  She opened her arms as she hugged one of her best friends in the world.  “Happy Birthday, Farkle.”

“Thank you,” he smiled as he pulled back from her.  “Where’s Maya?”

“She went to pick up Josh.  You know her…fashionably late and always wanting to make an entrance.”

“So, they’re finally going public, huh?”

Riley nodded.  “The real question is when did they actually start dating?”

“What do you mean?”

“Come on, Farkle.  She hasn’t dated anyone in the last two years.  You can’t tell me they weren’t sneaking around.”

He wrinkled his nose.  “You really think she’d do that?”

Riley glanced around the room.  “Yeah.  I mean…if she thought people would disapprove or condemn her for it…why wouldn’t she keep it a secret?”

He shook his head.  “I can’t imagine doing anything like that.  If I was with someone I cared about…someone I loved…I’d proclaim it from the balcony of this place.”

Riley gave him a half smile.  ‘Of course you would,’ she lamented.  “Where is Smackle?”

He turned around as he surveyed the ballroom.  “Somewhere in the crowd,” he chuckled.  “I want to thank you for coming tonight.”

She knit her eyebrows together.  Why would he thank her for attending his party?  “Thank me?  It’s your birthday.”

He nodded.  “I know, but I also know that you haven’t seen…you know…since he left for Texas.”

She slowly nodded before she released a deep breath.  “Yeah.  Well…that’s what the open bar is for, right?”

He frowned.  “But you aren’t—“

She pinned him with a look.  Was he really going to stop her from grabbing a few drinks?  True, she still had about eight months to go until her own 21st, but this was a party.  She was determined to celebrate with her friends.  “Speaking of…is he…here yet?”  While she tried to sound as nonchalant as she could, it felt like her heart had done a back flip.

Farkle glanced around the ballroom once more.  “I’m not sure.  I haven’t seen him.”  He paused.  “I thought Caleb was bringing you?”

“We thought it would be easier if we met up here.  Kind of take some of the pressure off.”

Farkle nodded.  “He’s a good guy, Riley.”

“I know,” she smiled.

Farkle watched her for a moment as her eyes lowered to the ground.  He had no idea what happened between Riley and Lucas in Europe two years earlier, but whatever happened must have been really awful.  Neither of them ever talked about it, and they always seemed to shut down at the mere mention of the other.   To his knowledge, neither of them had yet to engage in another romantic relationship.  “You don’t have to force it you know.”  When her head snapped up, he gave her a small smile.  “We just want you to be happy.”

“Thank you,” she said softly.

“The bar is open…no ID required, but if you do drink, please use the chauffeur service my parents set up in the lobby.  Limousines for all my guests to get home safely.”

Riley’s eyes widened.  “Limos?”

He nodded.  “It’s not every day that their only child turns 21.”

She laughed lightly.  “In that case, how about we share a celebratory drink in your honor?”

//Every girl in here got to look me up and down All on Instagram, cake by the pound Circulate the image every time I come around G's up, tell me how I'm looking babe//

One drink turned into two, then three.  She felt numb.   She felt nothing.  It was exactly where she wanted to be if she was forced to come face to face with him in front of a crowd of people.  She had been there for nearly an hour and a half by the time she finished her fourth drink.  Caleb had showed up around drink number three, and whenever they weren’t around the bar with Josh and Maya, they were on the dance floor.

To everyone else, she looked like a woman who didn’t have a care in the world.  Despite the numbness, the anxiety she felt in the pit of her stomach grew more and more as the minutes droned on.  At any moment, he would walk in.  At any moment, she would become completely undone.  In front of all her friends, she knew she would have a complete meltdown.  She wasn’t over him.  She had convinced herself that she was—she had to in order to survive.  She broke up with him.  She refused him.  She had no right to still love him.  She had no right to still dream about him.  And she definitely didn’t have a right to want him to be next to her every single second for the rest of her life.

God, she was a terrible person.  In front of her was a perfectly nice guy.  Caleb was everything she could ever want, but all she could think about was the missing Texan.

As Caleb twirled her around on the dance floor, something in the doorway caught her eye.  Her head lifted just as he walked in.  Her heart raced as his eyes immediately locked onto hers.  

He came.

For the first time since their breakup, they were in the same place and completely surrounded by their curious friends.

Suddenly, she couldn’t breathe.  She couldn’t think.  She couldn’t stomach the idea of seeing him like this.  She wasn’t ready.  It was hard enough to keep her secret from her friends when he wasn’t in town.  There was no way she could spend the next few hours with him in the same room and pretend that they weren’t what they were—friends with benefits without the friend part.

She suddenly stood rigid as she felt the color drain from her face.  “I-I-‘m sorry,” she apologized to her date.  “I think I had too much.  I need…I need to go home…lay down.”

“That’s ok,” Caleb assured her.  “I’ll go with you…make sure you get home safely.”

“No,” she gave him a small smile.  He was such a nice guy—far nicer than she ever deserved.  “That’s ok, Caleb.  Farkle has this car service for everyone.  I’m just…going to use that and go home.  Stay.  Have fun.”  She looked around the ballroom.  “It’s a great party.”  

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” she nodded.  “Absolutely.  I’m just need to go lay down.  I’m not…I’m not going to be good company.  Besides…I need someone to tell me everything that happens.”

He smiled.  “You got it.”

//Boy this all for you just walk my way Just tell me how it's looking babe Just tell me how it's looking babe (How it's looking babe)//

She escaped the ballroom through the only other exit as quickly as her legs could carry her.  She had to go home.  She had to leave and avoid him completely.  She was weak.  She knew it.  One look from him and she was about to fall apart.  They had carried on this ridiculous non-relationship relationship for a while now.  They didn’t speak when he was in Texas, but whenever he was in the city, their paths always crossed, and when they did, she couldn’t resist him.  She never could, except for Paris.

Why couldn’t she be that strong now?  Why couldn’t she look him in the eye and tell him that what they were doing was wrong and that it was only going to cause a greater rift between them in the end?  She wanted him in her life, but as they were now, he was only in her life when he was in her bed—or his bed at his parents’ place—or her couch—or the kitchen counter at her parents’ apartment—or a few other places.

She shook her head as she chased the thought of them tangled up together out of her mind.  She had to be strong, or as strong as she could be at the moment.  That meant fleeing.  That meant bailing on one of her best friends’ birthdays.  There were easily 200 people in that ballroom, but in that split second when her eyes landed on his, only two people existed.

It was too intense, especially considering the fact that she was insanely inebriated.  Little Riley Matthews, who rarely did anything wrong, was drunk and running away from her ex-boyfriend/current affair.  If only her thirteen year old self could see her now.

She sprinted through the lobby as she made her way outside.  She had forgotten her jacket, but there was no way she would dare go back inside.  She spotted a valet outside and quickly told him that she was at the Minkus party but needed a ride home.

Her fingers tapped against her clutch as she waited for her ride.  It felt like an eternity had passed by the time a limousine pulled up in front of her.  She smiled at the elderly driver as he stepped out of the limo to open the door for her.  “Thank you,” she said as she walked toward the door.

“Riley,” a voice called out from behind her.

She froze as she gripped the door.  She closed her eyes as she quickly assessed her options.  She could climb in the limo, pretend that she hadn’t heard him, go home, and sleep…or…she could face him and get this over with.  She took a deep breath as she turned around to face him.  God, even under the bright lights of the city she loved, he looked positively god-like.  She was never able to resist him, but there was something about Lucas Friar in a suit that always drove her crazy.  She swallowed as her eyes slowly took in his appearance.

“Miss,” the limo driver questioned as he waited to close the door behind his passenger.

Riley smiled at the driver as she gave him the address to the apartment she shared with Maya.  “I can get the door,” she kindly told him.  She waited until he slid into the driver’s seat and shut the door before she dared to look at Lucas once more.

“Where are you going?”  It was a pathetic question, he knew it, but he wasn’t sure what else to say.  She was the first person he saw as he entered the ballroom.  She looked like a vision in red, but unfortunately for him, she was twirling around on the dance floor with someone who wasn’t him. ‘Because you aren’t together,’ he bitterly reminded himself as he engaged in what felt like an hour-long staring match with the girl he had once been able to call his own.

When she left the ballroom, he followed her.  Farkle was one of his best friends, but Riley was—everything.  One of the biggest reasons he decided to fly in for the night was on the off chance that he would be able to see her, maybe even talk to her.  Their current relationship status, or lack thereof, was driving him to the brink of madness.  He wanted her—not just her body—but all of her.  He wanted to be hers and he wanted her to be his again.  His world hadn’t felt like his world since that ill-fated trip to Europe.  All he wanted was to wake up from this nightmare and move forward with the girl who had captured his heart nearly a decade ago.

“Home,” she said simply as her heart pounded.  She smacked her palm against the door as she bit her bottom lip.  She knew she shouldn’t.  She knew that nothing good was going to come from it, but there was something about him that she had never been able to resist. She wanted to blame the alcohol for her weakness, but even in her bewildered state, she knew it wasn’t that.  It was him.  He was her weakness.

She finally pushed the door open.  “Coming?”  

//I do this all for you baby just take aim And tell me how it's looking babe (How it's looking babe) Tell me how it's looking babe, looking babe//

She briefly closed her eyes when she heard the door shut.  She was going to hell.  She knew it.  This was insane.  She left the party to avoid him, and now, he was going to go back to her apartment with her?  She swallowed before she opened her eyes.  As the limo pulled away from the curb, she looked around the spacious car.  “Pretty nice, huh,” she commented.

“Yeah,” he released a breath.  “Farkle’s parents set this up too?”

She nodded.  “That way everyone can get home safely.”

He looked at her.  “Why did you leave so early?”

She glanced out the window.  “I wasn’t feeling well.”  Her eyes fell to her lap.

“You seemed to be doing fine when I saw you…dancing around with…”

“Caleb.”  She slowly turned to him.  “That was Caleb.”

Lucas’s lips formed a thin line as he debated his next question.  He had to ask.  He had to know.  “Boyfriend?”

Riley shook her head.  “We’ve been out a few times.  Nothing…serious.”

“Do you want there to be anything serious?”

She shrugged.  “I don’t know.  He’s nice.  He’s friends with Farkle.  He’s…everything a girl could want.”

Lucas nodded.  “Looks like it.”  He paused.  “So, if he’s Mr. Perfect, then why isn’t he in here with you?”

Riley knew that this was wrong.  She knew that she should give Lucas some stupid reason and use Caleb as an excuse to end things, but she couldn’t.  She felt like a moth drown to the flame, and it had been four months since she last saw him at Christmas.  Four months since the last time he was in her bed.

Four months too long.

She didn’t answer him as she slowly raked her eyes over his body.  She allowed the alcohol to overtake her, to quiet the annoying voice in her head that screamed at her that this wasn’t right.  She didn’t want to think.  She could think tomorrow.  Right now, tonight, she wanted to feel.  She wanted to feel something that she had only ever felt with him.

Riley slowly lifted her hand before she placed it on his thigh.  She knew what she was inviting in.  She knew that Pandora’s box had suddenly flown open, but she didn’t care.  Lucas Friar was sitting next to her, and all she wanted was to feel him inside of her.

He was jealous.  Knowing that the guy who spun her around on the dance floor was also someone she had gone on multiple dates with made him more than a little hot under the collar.  He knew he had no say in who she dated, but God, did he want one.  He wanted to keep her.  He wanted her.

As soon as her fingers grazed his thigh, he became undone.  The woman next to him completely possessed all of his senses.  He knew that this wouldn’t end well, but what he wouldn’t give for one more taste of heaven—of the goddess who haunted every dream he had since the day they met.  “How long…until we reach your place?”

She blinked. “It took me half an hour to get here.  Considering the traffic…maybe forty five minutes?”

He slowly inched closer to her before he ran his index finger along her cheek.  “Say it,” his suddenly hoarse voice pleaded with her as his hand cupped the side of her face.  “Tell me you want me.”

She watched his eyes darken as he commanded her to tell him the truth.  “I want you,” she found herself answering as she closed the remaining space between them.

He moved his hand to the back of her neck before his lips met hers in a searing kiss.

//Drop the bass, mane, the bass get lower Radio say "speed it up", I just go slower High like treble, pumping on the mids Ya man ain't ever seen a booty like this//

As soon as she felt his lips on hers, everything else melted away.  It was part of the reason why she felt so intoxicated by him.  With every touch, every kiss, every lustful whisper, they were transported to a place where time, space, and everything else that kept them apart didn’t exist.  They simple were.  They merely existed to show one another just how perfectly well they fit together.

Riley opened her mouth against his as she eagerly invited his tongue to re-familiarize itself with hers.  Her hands gripped his forearms as he cupped her face in his hands.  She knew this wasn’t right.  She knew that they were in a limo and that they could get caught doing whatever it was they were about to do, but she didn’t care.  She had been forced to be away from his touch for the last several months.  She didn’t want to sit in awkward silence for the next forty-five minutes while she could be re-familiarizing herself with every square inch of his muscular body.

She quickly slid his jacket down his arms.  Lucas broke away from her lips long enough to toss it to the other side of the limousine.  This wasn’t them—at least not completely.  Three years ago, he never thought they would be well on their way to fulfilling a stereotype about limousines, but three years ago, he never imagined that they wouldn’t be together.  She had changed a lot in the last two years.  She was more serious now.  They didn’t talk about much when they were together.  Somehow, they both thought it would be easier.  For him, it certainly was.  He knew that, given the opportunity, he would beg her to take him back, to forget about that trip after graduation.  

After she slid his tie off, he quickly unbuttoned his shirt.  He was grateful for the fact that he thought to take her ring—the engagement ring that he wore around his neck—off before he left his parents’ house.  If she ever saw it, if she knew that he wore it like a chain around his neck for all to see his ultimate failure, she would never speak to him again.  He couldn’t help but wear it though.  In some demented, self-deprecating way, it made him feel closer to her while he lived two thousand miles away.

As he slid the white shirt down his arms, he watched her scoot closer to him before she quickly pulled his undershirt off.  She then lowered her head in order to plant kisses across his bare chest.  He closed his eyes as he leaned his head back.  What he wouldn’t give to know that this was real.  He knew he had to put it out of his mind.  He knew that he had to forget, for a little while, that the heavenly creature beside him not only possessed his heart, but his mind, body, and soul as well.

His mind nearly exploded when she slowly sank to the ground in front of him.

//And why you think ya keep my name rolling off the tongue Cuz when he wanna smash I'll just write another one I sneezed on the beat and the beat got sicker Yoncé all on his mouth like liquor//

She had to forget that he still had the capacity to rip her heart to shreds.  She had to forget that she left Farkle’s party to avoid this exact situation.  She wanted the alcohol to wipe away every shred of feeling she had for the man who sat in front of her.  It would be easier that way.

She bit her bottom lip as she pushed every angst-filled thought away.  She could chastise herself for being weak later.  Right now, he was half naked in front of her.  He really was built like a Greek god.  Had he been working out?  The muscles in his chest seemed more defined than the last time she saw him.  She was beginning to think of him like a fine wine—only getting better with age.

It was the opposite of what she had hoped for.  She hoped that they would outgrow whatever this was.  She hoped that one day she would wake up and not love him.  It had been almost two years since she broke up with him, but here she was—kneeling in front of him—completely in awe of every square inch of him.

She scooted closer as her hands reached for his belt.

As she reached her arms out, he did as well.  He didn’t want her to kneel in front of him—at least, not yet.  He wanted to be inside of her.  He wanted to send them both to the peak of ecstasy.  He wanted to taste her.  He wanted to become completely lost inside of her.  He wanted to hear that melodic moan—the one that had haunted him since their last encounter.

Riley pulled back from him as he reached for her.  “No,” she commanded.

He raised an eyebrow at her.  “No?”

She shook her head.  “You climbed into my limo, remember?  Pretty sure that means I get to make the rules.”

“Riley,” he groaned,  “You don’t have to—“

Her eyes darkened.  “I want to.”

“Well, I want to be inside you.  I want to taste you.”

//Yoncé all on his mouth like liquor//

She placed her hands behind her as she leaned back on the floor of the limousine.  Her head slowly rolled to the side as she stared at him.  “How about this,” she slowly drawled out as the four drinks she pounded earlier began to take effect.  The old Riley Matthews would never discuss sex as freely and as plainly as she was about to, but she wasn’t the old Riley.  She hadn’t been the old Riley since she got back from Europe two years ago.

He watched as she slowly stretched back.  The act may have seemed innocent enough at the time, but while her body moved back, her dress remained stagnant.  He licked his lips as he was graced with the sight of her cleavage.  How was this fair?  He was only half dressed while she hadn’t so much as taken her shoes off.  “I’m listening,” he finally murmured.

//Yoncé all on his mouth like liquor//

“I get what I want on the way to my place…and when we get there…you get what you want.”  Her eyes slowly lowered from his own eyes, down his chest and finally toward his crotch.  She slowly rolled her head to the other side as lifted her eyes back up to his.  She was completely inexperienced when it came to the art of seduction, but those drinks at least gave her the illusion that she was doing something right.

“Or,” he countered as he slowly leaned forward, “I get what I want now…take you to a place you’ve never been before…and when we get to your apartment,” his eyes slowly roamed down her body, “you beg me to do it all over again.”

//Yoncé all on his mouth like liquor Like like liquor, like like like liquor//

Riley slowly inhaled as she watched him inch closer and closer to her.  His eyes had locked onto hers, and she couldn’t make herself look away.  She took several shallow breaths as he slowly sank to the floor and straddled her.  As he slowly leaned forward, her breath completely caught in her throat.

He placed his hands on either side of her as his lips inched toward hers.  He was tired of the space in between them.  He had to deal with it 99% of the time.  He was going to be damned if he would allow it while they were alone together.  

He lowered his eyes to her lips as his face drew closer to hers.  “Do we have a deal,” he rumbled before his lips lightly brushed against hers.

//Yoncé all on his mouth like liquor//

She closed her eyes at the contact.  God, he was much better at the whole seduction thing than she was.  As he slowly nibbled on her bottom lip, she felt herself beginning to cave in.  Did it really matter who was in control?  All she wanted to do was lose herself in him.  All she wanted was to pretend that her entire life wasn’t completely screwed up.

Lucas couldn’t stop the smile that formed when he heard a soft moan escape her as he lightly ran his tongue across her bottom lip.  She tasted like vodka, and he hated it.  He hated that she had been drinking.  He wasn’t going to ask how much.  He knew if he did, that it would all be over.  As much as he wanted her, he wasn’t in it strictly for the sex.  He was in it to keep some kind of connection with her.  He hoped that one of these rendezvouses would result in their reconciliation.  He hoped that, maybe one day, he would be able to possess her heart just as she had always possessed his.

For now, he had to accept their relationship for what it was—and that meant ignoring the vodka on her lips.

//Yoncé all on his mouth like liquor//

A shiver shot down her spine as his tongue slowly tasted her lips.  Could he taste the alcohol she had drank?  Did he know how drunk she was?  Did he care?

No.  She wasn’t about to allow her train of thought to stray from the intensity of the moment they were engaged in.  Her temporary restoration to reality made her realize that she wanted to be in control—at least for a while.  She wanted the power to administer, or withhold, pleasure from him.  She wanted to dominate him—just as he dominated most of her thoughts.

She nudged him back as she turned her head to the side.  When he sat back on his heels, she turned to him once more.  “No deal,” she purred.  “You can either sit back up in that seat and experience the best,” her eyes lowered to his crotch for a beat before she looked back up at him, “Or we can sit on opposite sides of this limousine until I get home, and then you can go back to the party.”

He took a deep breath.  “That’s not fair.”

She smirked.  “You won’t think that if you agree to the terms…trust me.”

//Yoncé all on his mouth like liquor Like like liquor, like like like liquor//

She sat up as she crossed her arms over her chest.  “Well,” she asked softly before she touched her lips with her index finger.  “Do we have a deal?”

He had no other choice.  He’d be her willing slave if she asked him to.  “You get a say now, and I get a say later?”

She nodded.  “And don’t worry…I’ve got the place to myself for the entire night.”

He raised his eyebrows.  “Really?”

She nodded.  “So, what’s it going to be, Friar?”

//Driver, roll up the partition, please Driver, roll up the partition, please I don't need you seeing 'Yoncé on her knees//

“You’re so going to pay for that,” he told her as he slowly rose and sat back in the seat.

Riley smirked as she leaned forward and began to unbuckle his pants.  “Promises, promises.”  She unzipped his pants and slid them down while Lucas kicked his shoes off.  Riley took his pants off and tossed them in the direction of the rest of his discarded clothing.  She tilted her head to the side as she briefly admired the sight of him clad only in a pair of black boxers.  ‘He could totally be an underwear model,’ she mused as she hooked her fingers underneath the band of the last remaining garment he wore.  Slowly, almost painfully so, she slid his underwear down.  She sat it next to her before she slid in between his legs.

She knew that they didn’t have long before they reached her apartment.  She knew that he ended up with the better deal, but about six months ago, she had a dream about Lucas Friar that she hadn’t quite been able to rid herself of—and it started out a lot like this.

She slowly looked up into his curious eyes.  As she lowered her head, she maintained eye contact with him.  She wanted to see his pleasure.  She wanted to know that she had some control over him—at least for a little while.

She placed her left hand on his thigh while her right hand hovered over his penis.  She slowly ran her index finger down the length of his shaft.  When he jumped at the contact, she knew that she had the potential to affect him just as deeply as he affected her.  She smiled as she watched him slowly relax as she ran her fingers over him once more.  

While his body may have relaxed against her touch, his mind nearly exploded.  What was she thinking?  What did she want to do so badly that she had to resort to threats to get him to acquiesce to her desire to take charge?  All he wanted was to reach for her, pull her close, and bury himself inside of her.  Screw the outside world.  Screw the last two years.  Screw everything that made her keep him at arm’s length.  What if he moved back home?  Would that solve everything or would that only push her further away?

He closed his eyes and hissed as her hand wrapped around his aching erection.  She was teasing him.  She had to know that she was driving him insane.  God, it was taking everything in him not to reach for her, to beg her to return to him.

//Took 45 minutes to get all dressed up We ain't even gonna make it to this club//

When he closed his eyes, Riley felt a warmness spread through her.  He was enjoying this, and she had barely started.  A surge of confidence shot through her as she lowered her lips to his throbbing member.  Her tongue darted out as she stared at the man before her.

Lucas moaned as soon as he felt her tongue slide over him.  This wasn’t the first time she had ever gone down on him, but he had forgotten just how intoxicating the sensation was.  He felt completely paralyzed as she wrapped her lips around the head of his penis.  He took a deep breath as she slowly slid his length between the heavenly gates of her lips.

With every inch she took in, she could feel the control she had over him.  It was empowering to know that she could do whatever she wanted to him in that moment and would comply.  While she was the one who rejected him, the one who ended it, she often felt like she was the one who was held captive in their new ‘relationship’.  She couldn’t explain the feeling, except for the conclusion she had reached, and then tried to bury, nearly nine months earlier—that she was still in love with him.

//Now my mascara running, red lipstick smudged Oh he so horny, yeah he want to fuck He popped all my buttons, and he ripped my blouse He Monica Lewinsky-ed all on my gown//

She clenched her fists as she finally took him completely in her mouth.  She wasn’t going to get emotional with him.  Not now.  She could lament the absurdity of her life once he left the city.  For now, she only wanted to give, and receive, pleasure from the only person she had ever experienced it from.  She focused on the task at hand as she began to bob her head up and down.  She wanted to fully give into whatever they had become.  She didn’t want to think about the consequences.  She only wanted to feel.  She wanted him to beg for her.  She wanted him to need her just as much as she needed him.  Everything else would either fade or work itself out over time.

Lucas gripped the seat as he leaned his head back.  He had to keep his mind focused on the most revolting things to keep himself from exploding as she continued to lick and suck him.  He thought about cold showers, the starting lineup of the Yankees, even the ill-fated trip to Europe—all to no avail.  She had been moving against him for only a few minutes, but he was almost at that pivotal point.

She must have sensed it because right at the point of release, she detached her lips from his shaft.  “You ok,” she panted as she watched him slowly lower his head to look at her.

“Y-Yeah,” he stammered before he cleared his throat.  “More than ok.  You?”

“Not as good as you,” she said softly as she slowly stood up.  She placed her legs on either side of him as she straddled him.  “But,” she whispered as she lowered her head to his neck, “I’m pretty sure I can get there…with your help.”

Lucas swallowed as her lips connected with the base of his neck.  His hands moved to her back as he desperately sought contact with her skin.  He was still willing to let her control what would or would not happen in the limo, because he knew as soon as they entered her apartment, it would be his turn to dictate who received what and when.

“That feels good,” she purred in his ear.  “I love it when you touch me.”  She leaned back.  “Even if it’s somewhere completely innocent…like my back or my arms.”

He swallowed as his eyes met hers.  Was he losing his mind or did he see a flash of something more in her lust-filled gaze?  What did she mean?  Did she miss him as much as he missed her?  Did she miss them?  Did she want something more than what they had been reduced to?  “Well,” he began as his lowered his hand to the hem of her dress.  “I am more than willing to touch you wherever you want me to.”

Riley lowered her gaze as she watched him slowly slide her dress up as his hands glided up her thighs.  Her heart raced as his fingers grazed the outside of her underwear.  “And you can,” her voice quivered slightly as she looked back at him, “when it’s your turn.”

“Aw, come on, Riles,” he smirked, “You know you want me inside you just as badly as I want to be inside you.”

She bit her bottom lip.  “Mmm…I feel how badly you want to be inside of me.”

His hand slowly slid over in between her legs.  He gave her a wolfish grin as soon as he felt the moisture between her thighs.  “So do I,” he practically snarled as he ran his thumb over the outside of the thin material.

“Ravish me,” she commanded as she buried her head in the side of his neck.  “Show me, Lucas.  I want to know how badly you want me.”

He needed no other invitation.  He quickly gripped the band of her underwear and with one pull, the lacy material ripped.  He quickly discarded it before he slid her closer to him.  In one fluid motion, he filled her.

//Oh there daddy, daddy didn’t bring the towel Oh baby baby we betta slow it down Took 45 minutes to get all dressed up We ain't even gonna make it to this club//

They remained still for a few moments as the simply took in the moment.  They were finally one—they were finally connected again.  They both felt like they could finally breathe for the first time in months.  They both felt like the chaotic world that surrounded them finally made sense.  It felt like coming home.

He gripped her hips as she slowly began to rock back and forth.  He was content enough to let her control their pace—for the moment.  He knew she wanted to control the ride, so he was determined to allow her to do that, despite her pleas for him to take over.  He knew he had time to do that—once they got into her apartment.

Her hand slid across his shoulders and down his arms as she began to regain control of her senses.  This felt good—too good—better than the dream she couldn’t seem to let go of.

He wanted to touch her.  He wanted to see every square inch of her magnificent body, but he knew that they had to be getting close to her place, and again, he wanted her to dictate what he could and couldn’t see.  If she wanted to remain fully (well, almost) clothed during their first interlude, then that was completely up to her.  He could guarantee that she wouldn’t have a stitch of clothing on her during their second, and hopefully, third exchange.

//Take all of me I just wanna be the girl you like, girl you like The kind of girl you like, girl you like//

Riley’s movements began to quicken as she threw her head back.  Lucas wrapped his arms around her as he began to plant kisses along her neck and chest.  This felt nothing short of heaven, and he was hell bent to send her to the same euphoric paradise when they reached their destination.

He nearly snapped at her when she pushed his head back.  Before he had a chance to voice his displeasure, she quickly covered his lips with her own.  He pulled her even closer as he sought to control her mouth.  

Riley couldn’t get close enough to him as she neared her climax.  Her legs were wrapped around him as their tongues engaged in another battle of a long fought war between them.  This was everything she had dreamt of and so much more.  “Lucas,” she gasped as she pulled back.  She couldn’t breathe.  She could barely get his name out.  She moaned as she quickened her pace.

Lucas dropped his hands to her ass as he slid her to him.  If he wasn’t already approaching his own climax, he would have after he heard her gasp his name.  He never loved his name more than when he heard her say it in complete, unadulterated pleasure.  He groaned as she slammed against him.  Just a few more thrusts and he would be sent spiraling into a different plane of reality.

“Oh,” she moaned once more as her head snapped back.  She was there.  She was there.  She just needed him to join her.  She needed to feel him convulse within her.

The sight of her nearing the brink of her climax sent him tumbling over. He gripped her back as he moaned her name.  She fisted his hair as she finally gave in and careened over the edge with him.  

It was wrong.  She knew it, and he did too, but at that moment, nothing ever felt more right.

//Take all of me I just wanna be the girl you like, girl you like The kinda girl you like Is right here with me//

She tried to straighten up her appearance as much as she could while Lucas put his clothes back on.  Her hair was a mess, and her dress was slightly wrinkled, but she didn’t care about that.  She just hoped that the driver didn’t hear them.  She had never done anything like that in her life, but as she glanced at Lucas who seemed to be preoccupied with putting his shirt back on, she had zero regrets about it.  At the end of the day, she trusted the guy she sat next to, even if they weren’t together.  He had been her first everything, and was still her only sexual partner.  She trusted him more than anyone—even herself at times.  It was one reason why she refused to engage in deep discussions with him.  She knew she would buckle.  She knew she would confess everything to him, but she couldn’t.  He was still in Texas.  She was still in New York.  She couldn’t hold him back.  If he met someone, she didn’t want him to worry about breaking her heart (even though when the day finally came, Riley knew she would be completely inconsolable).

She shook her head.  Were they there yet?  She needed something to drink.  She was beginning to sober up and her brain was racing to catch up to her heart.  She couldn’t allow that.  She didn’t want to back out.  She didn’t want to walk away from him.  She wasn’t strong enough for that—not yet anyway.  Couldn’t they hold on for a little while longer?”

As Lucas slid his jacket on, he spotted Riley’s torn underwear on the ground.  He glanced at the brunette who stared out the darkened window.  He leaned forward as he reached for the garment.  He slid it into his pocket before he leaned back in his seat.  He slid his tie into the other pocket as the limo finally halted.

Riley turned her head when she heard the driver open his door.  She smiled sheepishly at Lucas.  “Perfect timing.”

He let out a soft chuckle.  “Yeah.”

When the driver opened the door on Lucas’s side, the Texan slid out of the limo.  Riley quickly scanned the backseat, but couldn’t find her underwear anywhere.  ‘Oh God,’ she thought as she reached for her clutch.  ‘Please don’t let this sweet man find them.’  She slid out of the car and thanked the driver for giving her a ride home.

The driver nodded and wished her a good night.

As he walked away, Riley glanced at Lucas.  Well, she was already going to hell for doing this, might as well enjoy another glimpse of heaven while she was at it.

She opened her bag as she searched for her keys.

“When did you move out of the dorm,” he asked as they walked toward the door.

“Umm…after last semester.  We…we were trying to stay at least through sophomore year, but it got to be too loud over there.  And besides,” she added as she stuck the key in the door, “Maya started dating Josh, so she was more than ready to leave the juvenile setting of a dorm room.”  She opened the door.

“So, they finally went public,” Lucas noted as they walked up the stairs toward Riley’s apartment.

“Yeah,” she sighed.  “Zay and I have a running bet on to when they actually first started dating.”  She looked back at the Texan.  “Pretty sure it was while we were in high school.”

“Oh definitely,” he agreed as he followed her on the stairs.  “She was always sneaking off…didn’t date anyone.  She went to prom by herself.”

“She didn’t go by herself,” Riley insisted as they reached the third floor.  “We all went together, remember?”

Lucas looked down as he followed her down the hallway.  Oh.  He remembered that night clearly.  It was the night he knew he was going to propose to her.  The three of them went to the prom together because Riley didn’t want Maya to go alone.  Lucas danced with both of them and the girls danced with one another.  It reminded him a lot of the triangle that wasn’t in middle school.  As he watched them dance with one another, he realized that they all had come so far from those days.  He couldn’t imagine being with anyone else.  He couldn’t imagine ever loving anyone the way he loved her.  He knew it was crazy.  They were young and both of them had committed themselves to going to schools on opposite sides of the country, but as he watched her turn to look at him and smiled while she danced with her best friend, he knew that there would never be anyone else for him.

“Lucas,” she called out to him.

His head snapped up at the sound of his name.

“Are you going to come in or stay in the hallway all night,” she chuckled.

He gave her a small smile as he followed her into her apartment.

//Driver, roll up the partition fast Driver, roll up the partition fast Over there I swear I saw them cameras flash//

Riley sat her clutch on the counter as she ducked into of the small kitchenette.  She needed alcohol to quiet the voice in her head that screamed at her that this wasn’t right.  “Do you want anything,” she called out as she opened the fridge.

“What do you have,” he called back as he slowly wandered into her small living room.  Pictures of their group aligned the walls of the small apartment.  Some of Maya’s artwork was peppered in between.  A soft smile formed on his lips as he recalled every memory of every photo that laid before him.

“Beer, wine, tequila, vodka…”

“Beer is good,” he responded as he shrugged out of his jacket.  He needed to take the edge off.  He hadn’t had a drop to drink, but if he was expected to keep up the charade of pretending that what they were doing was strictly physical, then he needed something to dull his senses.  He had nearly declared his undying love for her in the limo, and that was during a rushed exchange.  God knows what would come out of his mouth given a few more hours with her.  

For what he had envisioned for the remainder of the evening, he knew that he had to be at least slightly inebriated.

He wasn’t about to destroy the last shred of her he could have.

She heard him loud and clear: beer.  He wanted beer.  Meanwhile, she went straight for the vodka.  It had allowed her to pull through the first time.  Surely, it wouldn’t give up on her now.  “How about a shot of vodka too,” she called out as she poured one for herself.

“Sure,” he answered as he strolled into the kitchen.  He leaned against the doorway as he watched her pour him a shot.

“Do you need something to chase it with,” she asked as she opened the refrigerator.

“No,” he answered.

Riley smiled at him.  “Impressive Dr. Friar.  Learn that in Texas?”

He smirked.  “Well, in Texas, we go for whiskey.”

“Sorry,” she shrugged as she closed the refrigerator.  She grabbed both shots before she walked over to him.  She handed him the glass.  “Fresh out.”

He tapped his glass to hers.  “To…old friends.”

She looked down.  “Yeah.  Old friends.”

They both leaned back at the same time as they downed the liquid.  Neither of them reacted as it burned down their throats.  Both had become used to the taste of it.  Both of them were used to using it as a means of escaping their feelings, the reality that had taken shape of their world.

“Do you want another one,” she asked as she took the glass from him.

“One more,” he answered.  “Then I could really go for that beer.”

She smiled as she poured them another shot.  “I didn’t forget.”  She sat the bottle down.  “You know,” she began as she walked back to him, “Beer is pretty fattening.”

He looked down.  “Are you saying I’ve gotten fat,” he teased.

She handed him the small glass.  Neither said a word as they both drank the contents.  “No,” she answered as she took the glass from him.  “Quite the opposite actually.  I need to know your secret to staying fit while pounding beers.”

“I don’t drink beer that often,” he answered truthfully.

“Just on special occasions,” she offered.

He chuckled.  “Yeah…or when there isn’t an ample supply of whiskey around.”

“Ah.”  She opened the refrigerator one last time as she pulled out a beer for him.  She popped the cap off before she walked back to him and handed him the bottle.  “Well, now I know.”

“For next time?”  He took a swig as he watched her walk into the living room.

“Are you coming back this summer?”

“Yeah,” he sighed as he followed her.

“You don’t sound very happy about it.”

“I’ll only be in town for a few weeks.”

Riley slowly sat down on the couch.  “Oh.”

“Yeah,” he sat down next to her.  “Pappy Joe needs some help this summer.  I told him I’d help him.  He doesn’t really have…anyone else there to take care of everything.”

Riley folded her hands. “Well, that’s nice of you.”  Her gaze fell as she looked at her joined hands.  So, he wouldn’t be in town this summer.  Maybe it was for the best.  Maybe this was the push she needed to finally detach herself from him.  Her eyes drifted back toward her kitchen.  Would it be too much for her to finish off that bottle of vodka?

“Unless there’s a reason for me to stay.”  He took another swig of his beer.  Had he actually said that?  He waited for the fallout.  He waited for her to get upset, to kick him out.  Instead, he heard her chuckle.

“Family is family.  I don’t think there could be a better reason for you to spend the summer there.”

“Yeah,” he nodded.  He glanced around the room once more.  “This is a nice apartment.”

“Yeah,” she sighed as she looked around.  “We like it.  Nice neighbors.  It’s nice to feel independent, you know?”

“Definitely understandable.”  He looked at the bottle in his hands.

They fell silent for a few moments as Lucas took occasional sips of his drink.  Finally, Riley’s ringtone chimed through the otherwise soundless apartment.  She got up as she walked over to her clutch.  She pulled out her phone as she read her missed text message.  She took a deep breath as she typed a response.

“Who is that,” Lucas asked off handedly.  When Riley didn’t answer him, he furrowed his eyebrows.  He knew it was none of his business, but a sense of dread filled him.  “It’s him, isn’t it?”

“Him who,” she asked as she sat her phone down.

“The guy you were dancing with when I showed up tonight.  The guy you’ve been seeing.”

“Yeah,” she answered as she walked back into the living room.

“Is it serious?”

She frowned.  “Obviously not,” she answered, slightly offended that he would even consider the idea that she would cheat on someone.

“I didn’t…I didn’t mean it like that.”

Riley crossed her arms over her chest.  “I don’t have to justify my love life to you.”

“Uh…you do if you’re sleeping with him,” he responded as he stood up.  “I have a right to know who you’ve been with before we…before anything else happens.”

He was right.  She knew he was.  She would want to know if he became intimate with someone else.  It was the safest way to know whether or not she could contract something.  “No,” she grounded out.  “We aren’t…it’s not like that.”

“But you could be right,” he asked as he inched closer to her.  “Intimate…with him.”

“I don’t have to answer that,” she responded.  “I’m dating around…as I’m sure you are too.”  She paused.  “We can’t talk about this.  It’s not…we aren’t…I don’t owe you an explanation.  I’ve been seeing someone who is also friends with Farkle…we went to his party together.  We danced.”  She paused.  “He texted me to make sure I’m ok…that I got home safely.”  She waited a beat.  “You can’t be jealous.”

“I’m not,” he lied as he finally reached her.  “I was just…curious…as I’m sure you would be if you saw me tangled up with someone else on a dance floor.”  He slowly raked his eyes over her.  He didn’t want to fight with her.  Jealousy coursed through his veins, but now wasn’t the time to react.  “You know…you said once we got here that I could dictate what we do.”

She slowly looked up at him as their potential argument quickly melted away.  “What do you want to do?”

He placed his hands on either side of her as he ran his fingers over the straps of her dress.  “I want to spend the next several hours worshipping every square inch of you.”  He slowly slid the straps down her arms.  As soon as the straps were released from her, her dress fell to the floor.  Due to the low cut design of the dress, Riley didn’t wear a bra.  So, there she stood before him, completely naked.

“God,” he breathed as he slowly re-familiarized himself with every square inch of her form.  “You’re so beautiful, Riley.”

“What do you want to do to me, Lucas,” she asked softly as she made no attempt to cover herself up.  “Or what to do you want me to do to you?”

His eyes slowly traveled back up to her chocolate eyes.  “I want you to show me your bedroom.”

//Handprints and footprints on my glass Handprints and good grips all on my ass//

Outwardly, she acted so completely confident in her body that she still made no move to cover up as she walked down the short hallway to her room.  Inwardly, her brain screamed at her to cover up because she was Riley Matthews—the girl who was always insecure.  It was a very strange thing.  When he looked at her, she didn’t feel insecure.  She didn’t feel the need to cover anything up.  She felt beautiful.

As she opened the door to her bedroom, she turned back to him.  She waited for him to enter, but instead he stopped right in front of her.

She held her breath as he leaned into her.  “Do you want this,” he asked her.

She leaned her head back against the doorway.  “What?”

“This?  Our little deal.  Do you want to continue it?”

She swallowed.  “Why…why do you ask?”

“Because…you’re dating other people.  Maybe you’re interested in a relationship with Caleb.  If you are, tell me, and we can end this now…walk away as—“

“Friends,” she offered.

“Yeah,” he answered.

Riley looked at him for a long moment.  This was her chance to come to her senses and stop the insanity.  This was her chance to break the cycle for once and for all.  He gave her an opening; she only had to take it.  The problem was that this whole arrangement was her idea, and she still felt the same way now as she did then.  While she wasn’t permitted to be with him, while she knew that this didn’t make up for the loss she experienced two years ago, she still couldn’t find the words to actually end it.  She had to have any part of him that she could.  This was the only way.  Maybe one day she would gain some sense of control and end it, but she couldn’t do that now.  She was too addicted to him.  “I don’t want to stop,” she answered honestly.  “Do you?”

He did.  He wanted to stop it if it meant that he could have her completely.  Gauging by their earlier conversation, he knew that wasn’t a possibility.  Not now, at least.  He could wait a little longer.  She was worth it.  They were worth it.  He leaned down to her.  “No,” he answered softly.

As he neared her lips, she pulled back from him.  She smiled as a look of confusion graced his face.  “There’s only one rule,” she said as she ran her finger along the collar of his shirt.

He swallowed.  “What’s that?”

Her eyes fell to the floor.  “You can’t step over that threshold if you have any stitch of clothing on.”

His eyes slowly fell to the ground.  He watched as Riley slid her black heels off before she crossed the threshold.  She tossed them toward the corner of the room before she turned back to him.  “That’s it,” she smirked.  “The only rule.”

Lucas’s mouth fell open.  Who was this girl and what had she done with Riley Matthews?  She spoke with such confidence, such allure that he thought his heart had actually stopped beating.  He had always loved the woman who stood before him.  He had spent years trying to show her that she had no need to be insecure about anything—that she was an angel who walked amongst mere mortals.  Had college given her this newfound sense of confidence?  Had their little arrangement taken the pressure off to be perfect?

He had no idea, but as he found himself unbuttoning his shirt, he wasn’t about to question it. He knew she wasn’t perfect, but in that moment, he couldn’t think of a single thing he would ever change about her.  All he wanted to do was to pay homage to her very existence.  He wanted to give her what she deserved—pure, unadulterated pleasure.

As he slid his shirt down his arms, he knew that he would never be worthy of her.  He knew that he should be grateful for the years she had allowed him to be in her orbit.  He knew that one day this would end, and that he would be forced to survive in a world where he wasn’t allowed to pay tribute to her existence.

But not tonight.

No, tonight he was fortunate enough to be given the chance to make sure she knew that she held all of him within the palm of her hand.

He knew the current status of their relationship wasn’t healthy, but he didn’t care.  He knew that one day he would.  He knew that one day either he or she would confront the reality of what they had been doing for the last year and a half, but as Lucas unbuckled his pants, he sent up a silent prayer to whatever deity would listen to him that it wouldn’t end—that their impending conversation would result in a reconciliation.  He already had to live six months in a world without her.  If he had any say in his future, that would never happen again.

//Private show with the music blasting He like to call me Peaches when we get this nasty Red wine drip, we’ll talk that trash Chauffeur eavesdropping trying not to crash//

Riley watched as Lucas undressed.  She was impressed with the way she had been able to command him thus far.  She felt the vodka begin to take effect as he slid his underwear off.  ‘Good,’ she mused as he tossed the last piece of his clothing to the side.  She didn’t want to think logically.  As he stepped over the threshold into her room and strolled toward her, she knew that tonight, she only wanted him.

“Now, its mine turn,” he told her as he stood in front of her.

“A deal is a deal,” she reached behind her head to pull her hair tie out.  Her long brown hair came tumbling down, providing a sheer cover for her breasts.

Lucas ran his fingers down her tangled locks before he tossed her hair over her shoulder.  He needed to see her—all of her.  His index finger slowly slid down her arm.  The right corner of his mouth turned up into a smile when he noticed the trail of goose bumps that quickly followed his touch.  “I want to touch every square inch of you,” he murmured as his other hand gripped her waist.  “I want to hear you moan my name,” he continued as he gently nudged her to him.  “I want you to beg for more.”  His left hand lightly brushed the length of her spine.  When Riley closed her eyes and shuddered in response, Lucas’s smile grew.  “I want you to beg for me,” he finished as his eyes looked down at her.  

Riley slowly opened her eyes when she felt his gaze land on her body.  It was clear that he wanted to take his time with her tonight, but she already wanted nothing more than to shove him on her bed and show him exactly how his gentle caresses had affected her.  When her eyes met his, she took a shaky breath.  His eyes had darkened as his other hand gripped her other side of her waist.  She swallowed.  Maybe she hadn’t had enough to drink over the last few hours.  Maybe she was still too sober to do this without feeling anything for the man in front of her.

As his face leaned in toward hers, she realized that there wasn’t enough alcohol on earth to ever make her truly forget just how much she loved him.

//Oh there daddy, daddy now you ripped my fur Oh baby baby be sweating out my hair Took 45 minutes to get all dressed up We ain't even gonna make it to this club//

He wasn’t sure how long they stood in her bedroom as they kissed.  Time was no longer a concept.  They must have been suspended up in space somewhere.  It could have been seconds, minutes, hours, days.  He had no idea.  All he knew was that this time, their kisses had slowed.  There wasn’t any sense of urgency.  It was gentle, methodical.  He wasn’t lying when he said he wanted to explore every part of her.  When she released a soft moan, he pulled her flush against him.  He had to hear that sound again.  He had to know that she was enjoying this just as much as he was.

Riley’s hands slid up his arms as she finally wrapped her arms around his neck.  She ran her fingers through his hair as she opened her mouth further.  At that moment, she felt like it would never be enough.  Their bodies were completely pressed against one another, his tongue actively engaged in another battle of dominance with hers, and yet, she needed to be closer.  When she felt his hands slide around to cup her ass, she smiled.  When she felt his erection against her pelvis, she slowly spread her legs to allow him to brush against her vagina.

Lucas practically growled at the contact, but it wasn’t directed at the brunette in his arms.  He found himself thrust in his own civil war.  Part of him wanted to take her right then and there, but there was another part of him who wanted to continue with his plan.

He gripped her ass even tighter as he lifted her off the ground.  She wrapped her legs around his waist as he carried her over to her bed.  He finally broke contact with her perfect mouth once her head hit her pillow.  “You aren’t playing fair,” he breathed.

She squirmed under the intensity of his gaze.  With one look, she felt like he could ask her to do anything and she would comply without hesitation.  It was dangerous.  He was dangerous.  Her heart began to race as his eyes slowly ran down the length of her body.  She would give anything to know what he was thinking.

‘You got to slow down, Friar,’ he told himself as he took several deep breaths. They had all night—a luxury neither were used to.  Before, it had always been hurried exchanges between them.  Now he had the chance to truly make love to the woman in front of him.  “You’re incredible,” he breathed as his hand ran down her legs.  He paused when he reached her knees.  He gently nudged them apart as he positioned himself in between them.

Riley said nothing as she watched him slowly plant kisses along her hipbone.  She took a shaky breath as she felt goose bumps pop up along every area he touched.

Lucas smiled against her skin as he methodically kissed down the length of her right leg.  As he slowly made his way up to her hip on her left leg, he noticed her squirm.  “You aren’t enjoying this?”  His tone wasn’t accusatory.  He seemed more amused by her reaction.  He could feel the heat permeating from in between her thighs. He heard every breathy sigh she released as he paid homage to her slender legs.  There was no way on earth she wasn’t enjoying every second of this.

She closed her eyes as he began to kiss along her hipbone once more.  It was one of her tender spots, and he knew it.  She hissed as his teeth gently scraped across her flawless flesh.  “Please,” she moaned before she took a sharp shallow breath.  “Lucas, please.”

He lifted his head as he watched her lean her head back.  For a second, he thought he could hear her heart racing.  He needed to resist her pleas, for now anyway.  He had only began his exploration of her body.  “You can do better than that,” he teased as his hands moved up to cup her breasts.

Riley arched her back at his touch.  She furrowed her eyebrows together as she tried to figure out some way to regain control of her senses.  She knew he was teasing her.  She knew that he wanted to hear her beg.  She hadn’t intended for that to slip from her lips, but as he slowly lowered his head in between her thighs, she knew that it wouldn’t be the last time she begged for him.  

//Take all of me I just wanna be the girl you like, girl you like The kind of girl you like, girl you like//

“Oh my God,” she cried out as she felt herself fly over the edge of ecstasy.  She panted as he slowly lifted his head.  If her eyes were open, she would have noticed the ruthless grin he had as he slowly slid up her body.  Her heart slammed against her chest as she desperately tried to catch her breath.  “Lucas,” she panted as she felt him kiss along her neck.  “Are you sure you haven’t done that with someone in Texas?”  Her mind was completely fogged over as she placed her hand over her forehead.  He had gone down on her before, but it had never been quite that meticulous.  He took his time.  He made sure to pay attention to the areas she was the most sensitive to.  Basically, it was sheer perfection.

He chuckled against her neck.  “No,” he answered as his lips slid down to her collarbone.  “Just you.”

She lowered her hand as she felt her heart rate begin to return to normal.  “I can’t wait to repay you for it,” she sighed happily.

“Well,” he drawled out as he lifted his head.  “It’ll have to wait until next time.”

She frowned.  “Why?”

“My rules, remember?”  He smirked.  “I’m not done yet.”

“This isn’t fair,” she groaned as he lowered his head to kiss the other side of her neck.

Lucas slid his hand down her arm until he reached her hand.  He brushed his fingertips against hers for a moment before he lifted her hand above her head.  “What do you want, Riley?”

“You know what I want,” she whispered as his teeth lightly bit her earlobe.

“And you know what I want,” he retorted as his hands roamed her body.  He lifted his head as his eyes met hers.  He knew he couldn’t ask for the one thing he needed the most in this world, but for now, this could keep him going until the next time he saw her.  “I need to hear it, Riley.  I need to know that you need this just as badly as I do…that you want to be consumed by me.  I need to hear that you know that the fire you feel right now is because of me.”

She stared into his eyes for a long moment.  Something was beginning to shift between them.  She felt it the moment he began to pleasure her.  What had made that orgasm so intense wasn’t the way he used his tongue, or the rhythm of his fingers inside of her, it was because he had made love to her.  He still had feelings for her.  It was something she had tried to deny for a while, but as she looked into his eyes now, she knew she that it couldn’t possibly be anything else.  

They had to end this.  She knew that.  However, knowing and acting were two different things.  She wasn’t strong enough to say goodbye to him yet, because she felt the same way.

All of the reasons she broke up with him came rushing at her.  He was going to be a veterinarian.  That meant a lot more time in school than simply two more years.  What if they reconciled just to argue all the time and become even more miserable than they already were?  She couldn’t stand the thought of him not in her life.

No.  Until everything got settled, she couldn’t tell him.  She wasn’t ready to let him go.  She was stuck in this non-relationship relationship with him.  And while it had its perks, it also felt like the definition of purgatory.

“I need you,” she finally whispered as she forced herself to come back to the present.  She had plenty of time to torment herself later.  Right now, she needed to be in this moment with him.  She needed this taste of paradise.  “Please,” she begged.  “Lucas, I need more.  I need to feel you inside me.”

She didn’t think it was possible, but his eyes darkened further at her words.  Her fingers brushed against his cheek.  “Please,” she pleaded once more.

This was supposed to be his moment.  This was supposed to be the moment he knew whether or not she loved him.  He thought that if she begged for him, that he would know that she needed him as much as he needed her.  As she said the words he longed to hear, he felt himself silently plead with her to take him back.  He thought he would feel some vindication, some newfound certainty that he had taken the upper hand in their tumultuous relationship, but as soon as her hands brushed across his cheek, he knew that he would jump off the Brooklyn Bridge if she asked him to.  He was a slave to the woman underneath him.  He always was, and always would be.  He nearly professed his love in response, but quickly stopped himself.  Now wasn’t the time for that.

His lips finally crashed against hers as she wrapped her legs around his hips.  

//Take all of me I just wanna be the girl you like, girl you like The kinda girl you like Is right here with me//

His right hand lowered to cup her ass while she gripped his shoulders.  He quickly slid into her.  Riley gasped in response as he gave her a moment to get used to the sensation.  He tossed her hair to the side as he sucked on the base of her neck.  The act elicited a moan from the brunette.  She wiggled against him as she buried her head in his neck.  Could they stay just like this forever?  She couldn’t imagine a better form of heaven.

At first he slowly moved against her as she dug her fingernails into his shoulder blades.  She was felt so tight, so perfect.  His sexual experience was only limited to her, but he couldn’t imagine a more perfect fit as he repeatedly filled her.

“Yes,” she groaned against his neck before she began to gently suck on the tender piece of flesh behind his ear.  It was one of the most sensitive spots on his body, and she knew it.  She knew exactly what to do to speed him up, to bend him to her will.  

He both loved and loathed that she held that much power over him.  He moaned as he began to speed up his thrusts.  He took a deep breath as she wrapped her legs even tighter around him.  He wasn’t going to let go yet. This felt too incredible.  He needed this moment to last. He needed to feel this close to her for as long as she would allow him to.

“Lucas,” she panted as he palmed her ass.  “Please,” she begged, “please don’t stop.”

He nearly came right then and there.  That was what he desperately needed to hear.  He needed to hear her plead with him.  He needed to hear her pleasure.  He needed to know that he affected her just as deeply, just as primitively, just as passionately, as she affected him.  She possessed most of his thoughts, even from two thousand miles away.  He needed to know that after he left her once more, that she would think about this night and remember it.  He wanted this moment to be seared into her memory for the rest of her life.  He wanted to ruin every other guy for her.  He wanted to be the only one.  He wanted to be the one.

//Est-ce que tu aimes le sexe? Le sexe, je veux dire: l'activité physique, le coït. Tu aimes ça? Tu ne t'intéresses pas au sexe? Les hommes pensent que les féministes détestent le sexe mais c'est une activité très stimulante et naturelle que les femmes adorent//

She was there.  She was ready to release her third climax of the evening, but she wanted to wait for him.  Nothing felt better than to reach the pinnacle of pleasure with him.  “Lucas…oh God.”

He groaned in response.  If he lived to be 100, he’d never get tired of the way she breathed his name in the bedroom.  The way she said it immediately pushed him to the brink.  “Riley,” he moaned.  She wrapped her arms around his back and pressed her foot against his ass.  The act sent him even further into her, where he finally exploded.

As soon as she felt him climax, Riley followed.  She cried out as she tightened her hold on him.  She didn’t want to let go.  She couldn’t.  He was the only thing that kept her tied to the earth below.  She was on another plane of existence as they both longed to remain in that world.  In that world, nothing else mattered but them.  They didn’t have to worry about labels or figuring out the complexities of their relationship.  They merely existed to please one another.

Soon enough, gravity took control as they slowly fell back to Earth.  Lucas reluctantly pulled out of her as he laid down next to her.  He pulled her to him before he placed a gently kiss to her shoulder.  

Riley sighed contentedly as she closed her eyes.  “That was…”

He smiled against her shoulder.  “Was what?”

She searched her brain.  Had she spoken?  If so, what did she say?  She wasn’t even entirely sure where she was at the moment.  She finally let out a soft chuckle.  “I have no idea.”  She took a deep breath.  “I need something to drink.”  She turned her head toward him.  “Do you want something?”

“I’ll get it,” he offered as he reluctantly untangled himself from the goddess next to him.  “What would you like?  Water or something stronger?  I make a mean vodka cranberry…or so I’m told.”

She smirked as she caught his reference to the last time they met up.  “Both sound heavenly,” she answered.

“Both, it is.”

Riley sat up as she watched him leave her bedroom without a stitch of clothing on.  “Damn,” she mumbled as she fell back on the bed.  How was it possible that she felt like she was on cloud nine while at the same time, also felt an overwhelming sense of grief?  Tears quickly formed in her eyes.  This wasn’t allowed.  She couldn’t cry right now.  She didn’t want to think about what comes next.  She wanted to live in the moment with him.

She sat back up as she wiped her eyes.  She needed to escape for a few moments and regroup.  She wandered into her bathroom and turned on the shower.  As soon as she stepped in, she felt the water scald her, but she didn’t care.  She needed to feel something other than the rush of loneliness that had suddenly captured her.

//Take all of me I just wanna be the girl you like, girl you like The kind of girl you like, girl you like//

She wasn’t sure how long she stood in the shower before he entered the bathroom.  Neither of them said anything as he slipped into the shower behind her.  He hissed when he felt the scalding water.  “Jesus, Riley.”  He noticed the red marks on her skin and quickly turned the hot water down.  “Are you ok?”

She slowly turned to face him.  She wasn’t sure what time it was, but it was still dark outside.  They still had a few more hours at least.  She had a little while longer to pretend that everything was ok, that whatever they had was normal, and not the worst idea in the history of everything.  “I’m fine,” she smiled as she stepped closer to him.  Her eyes slowly traveled down his body.  “You’re ready again?”  He was completely insatiable.  She would never be able to keep up with him.

“Maybe in a little while,” he responded as he reached for her loofah.  “Right now, I’m thinking a shower…the drinks…a little relaxation.”

“I’m not sure that’s allowed,” she responded before she turned away from him.  

Her comment stung slightly, but he wasn’t about to argue with her after what had just transpired in her bedroom.  “You know,” he began as he reached for her soap, “You did say that we were friends with benefits.  Maybe in between the benefits, we could actually…be friends.”  He ran the loofah along her back.  “Friends can drink and hang out, right?”

He had a point.  They didn’t talk at all unless he was in town, and before tonight, they only had a very limited amount of time to release their sexual frustration on one another.  Maybe trying out the friends side of their arrangement would allow her the chance to become more comfortable with what they were now?  Maybe that way, she wouldn’t try to hide from him next time?  “You’re right.  Friends hang out…and we’re friends, right?”

‘For now,’ his mind screamed at him.  “Yeah.  Yeah…we’re friends.”  They had always been friends, but it had also always been more than that between them.  Was he happy with their current relationship status?  No.  Of course not.  He wouldn’t be satisfied until they were back together, but he could wait a little longer to plead his case to her.

//Take all of me I just wanna be the girl you like, girl you like//

They laid back in her bed as they watched tv for a little while.  He briefly wondered when she would kick him out of her place, but halfway through the second episode of ‘Red Planet Diaries’ she draped her arm across his waist and placed her head on his chest.  He was slightly confused at first.  He didn’t know that cuddling was acceptable in their non-relationship relationship, not that he would ever complain about it.

When her breathing deepened, he knew that she had fallen asleep.  He wasn’t about to disturb her for the world.  He wrapped his arm around her back and lightly traced out the three words he had restrained himself from saying the entire night.  ‘I love you,’ he thought as he closed his eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep.

Riley slowly opened her eyes when she felt Lucas’ arm loosen its grip on her waist.  He was asleep.  She wasn’t entirely sure why she had pretended to fall asleep.  No.  That’s a lie.  She knew why she did it.  She didn’t want him to leave.  She wanted him to stay the night.  She wanted him to stay forever.

She took a deep breath.  Forever is a long time, and it felt like the universe had transpired to keep them apart for some reason.  She had tried to move on.  She thought that she was on the way to doing that with Caleb, but one night with Lucas changed everything.  She needed to end things with Caleb.  Farkle was right and she didn’t want to lead him on.  She wasn’t ready for another relationship.  She wasn’t sure if she would ever be ready.  She was fairly certain that she would be in love with Lucas Friar for the rest of her life, but she couldn’t have him.  Not now.  Not while they were in school.  Not while they lived on opposite sides of the country.  She wasn’t going to be the reason why he missed out.  As much as it killed her, as much as she loathed herself and the current predicament she found herself in, she couldn’t give him up yet.  

//The kinda girl you like Is right here with me//

[nevillelongbottton]

Sweet Beginnings: Chapter 4

Summary: Sometimes Fate and Destiny have different plans. What happens when Bakery owner Riley falls in love with a sports reporter and his daughter. Pairing: Riley x Lucas Words: 3617 [Chap 1] [Chap 2]   [Chap 3] 

Can also be found here at fanfiction 

Ok so I apologise for this chapter being late. December was busy and I have been organising my life lately. And I honestly struggled to write this chapter.I hope you like it though :)

Please please please tell me your thoughts and ideas :)

It was Saturday, and according to to the discussion she had with Maya, Riley was allowed to arrive a bit later because of her date with Lucas and Lucy. So she walks inside the café just half an hour later than usual because she didn't want to feel like she was less responsible for just one date, and because she was sure that Maya had only told her to get to work late in hopes that something would happen on the date.

Riley looks around and sees Maya behind the counter working like usual and not giving her even a glance but placing her customary cup of coffee on the counter. In front of the blonde woman, there was Josh sipping coffee from a mug and at Maya's side was Tom. 

This was too suspicious.

"Hi," Riley greets the three of them and smiles at Mrs. Smith as she passes her. Mrs. Smith was one old lady that was part of their faithful clientele.

"Oh, hi," Maya smiles and ignores her after that, returning to work. Josh and Tom do the same thing.

"Um," Riley mumbles a little surprised. She was expecting the Inquisition this morning, all kinds of questions, proper or not, about her date, but nothing.

"Hey, Josh, how's work?" She asks her uncle. 

Josh shrugs his shoulders “it’s good, I am currently working on a novel, though.” 

"Well hopefully it takes off," Riley responds and soon she moves towards her safe place in the kitchen.

She walks inside her pristine workplace and grins. She loves the smell of sugar, cream, vanilla, chocolate and everything else combined with the warmth from the ovens. 

She quickly ties her apron around her waist, and she prepares to bake a coffee cake, but something was bothering her. In reality, she couldn't believe that her friends weren't curious about the date. They were always nosy and she complained sometimes, but did this mean that they didn't care? What if they thought she wasn't interesting? Or that nothing exciting had happened? Worse, what if they forgot she had a date with Lucas? Could that be possible?

"Okay, what's going on? Aren't you going to ask me about last night?" Riley blurts out as soon as she steps out of the kitchen and her friends look at her with wide eyes. "Because if you were my friends, you'd be interested in what happened, at least I ask about your dates Tom or the fact that Josh and Maya both like each other, but you two won’t admit it.” Maya smiles wickedly ignoring the thing about Josh, and so does Tom and Josh.

"I knew it!" Maya squeals. "You liked it, didn't you? You're dying for us to ask you because you want to tell us how good it was. You want to rub your date in our noses."

"Oh, if he took off his shirt, it was a late Christmas present and I want details," Tom chips in and Riley gapes at them.

"Did you kiss? Did you wear that sexy black dress?” Maya teases her and Riley’s eyes travel from face to face and she sighs.

"That's more like it," she grins. "Maya, I don't want to rub my date in your face, but I need to talk about it and you know how I work. I always talk about everything," Maya snickers. "Tom, no, he didn't take his shirt off, but he looked great and he was wonderful with the dinner and everything and Lucy is just a sweetheart that comes as a bonus with him." Tom and Josh smile sweetly at her. "And No!" Riley screeches. "His daughter was also present, and nothing was going to happen.” 

"Oh, come on, tell the truth, he's smoking," Tom prods and Maya nods while chuckling, while Josh just sighs but listens in as well.  Riley hesitates and exhales heavily, "He's not smoking," all of them frown, because really? The man is built like a Greek god. "He's so hot; he could melt snow with his gaze. He's eye candy and yes, Tom, I wanted to unwrap him," she giggles and covers her face with embarrassment while her friends burst into a fit of laughter. Riley can't believe what has come over her. 

"Wow, so you really like this Lucas guy, huh?" Tom smirks. "We definitely need more details now."

"No, no." Riley shakes her head. "It was only to inform you that it had gone well and he and his daughter were lovely and perfect. She's such a sweet little girl, just adorable."

"But?" Maya arches an eyebrow.

"No, buts," Riley bites her lower lip and Maya sighs.

"Riley Marie Matthews, you better tell me what's going on and why you look like you're hiding something from us,” the blonde woman demands with her hand on her hips and gives her friend her a menacing look.

"I – is it wrong that… that I want a date just with him now? Just the two of us? I mean, I love Lucy and I had a very good time, but there are things that you can't say or do around a child. I don't want to traumatize her if I say something wrong and I don't want to seem rude and tell Lucas that I want to go out with him alone." Riley looks down at her feet and pauses for a few seconds. "What if he doesn't want to go out with me alone? What if he asked me out just because Lucy likes me and not because he does? I don't want to ruin this, but I need to know him better, and I think we need a date, one that's just about the two of us, but I don't want to hurt Lucy’s feelings or feel his rejection." Riley takes a shaky breath.

"Riles, he likes you, believe me," Josh smiles. "He thought a lot about the date and he was pretty nervous about it, and no man goes through so much trouble just because he wants a new babysitter. You should ask him on a date." He finishes, and Riley widens her eyes.

"I should—No! What? No! He's going to think that I'm desperate or that I'm needy. Besides, it doesn't fit into my new philosophy," Riley replies, going from nervousness to a fake calm.

"Ugh! That thing that destiny will send you a man? Riles, Lucas came here, twice! What do you want? That destiny knocks on your head and tells you:  Hey, dummy! This is the guy, do something?" Maya bellows and Riley just stares at her.

"You can't say that to me. I haven't dated in a long time, almost two years, and I don't feel comfortable about it." Riley takes a mouthful of air, feeling a bit like a coward and defeated about this particular weakness. She is an independent woman, but she was insecure about dating now. "Please. Just understand. I need time." She murmurs and walks back inside the kitchen.

Maya sighs and Josh and Tom stare at her. All of them were wearing soft looks now. Riley was nervous about this man, Lucas, and that only proves how much she likes him, how badly she wanted a second date, alone. They had to do something.

"What are we going to do with her?" Tom asks with an amused expression on his face. 

“ I don’t know, but we need to make sure that Lucas’s intentions are right.” Maya looks at Josh, and he stands up grinning. 

“I got this.” He quickly kisses Maya on the cheek before walking out the door leaving a blushing Maya and a grinning Tom. 

“Maybe it’s not only Riley with romance going on at the moment.”  Maya glares at him before walking into the art gallery section leaving a chuckling Tom.

Zay rubs his eyes with his fists and struts towards the door of his apartment, hearing the knock on the door again.

"Shit," he mutters under his breath. It was too early for a Saturday morning, and he knew that Josh was coming to talk about Lucas’s date and how they'd play it to meddle (because they did, no matter what they said). He flings the door open, and Josh smirks.

"Howdy," Josh snickers and Zay glares at him.

"Dude," he drawls and scratches his belly lazily. He was wearing just pajama bottoms, and his face looked like the pillow was still attached to his head. Then he looks at Josh and takes in his clothes. "Are you wearing the same clothes that you wore yesterday?"

"I had no clean clothes.” Josh invites himself in and walks past Zay, who shut the door and rolled his eyes. 

“Dude.”

“Fine, I slept at Maya’s last night.” 

Zay’s eyes nearly fall out of his head “WHAT?”

“Maya found a big spider in her kitchen, and she needed someone to kill it, and then we watched a movie and fell asleep.” 

Zay smirks as they walk into the lounge “Dude you didn’t have to stay.” 

"Whatever, So, do you want to know about Lucas and Riley?" Josh asks as he sits down on an armchair and Zay sprawls on the couch.

“Riles is completely smitten with them both, and by how much Lucas was freaking out at work he was smitten with Riley.” 

Zay claps his hand gleefully “Did they kiss?” 

“Dude no! Lucy was there remember.” 

Zay looks disappointed “Oh yeah. Well, are the going on another date?” Josh hesitates, and Zay narrows his eyes “What?” 

“Riley is freaking out that it was only a one-time thing, and that it was because of Lucy. She wants to go on another date with just Lucas, but she doesn’t know how.” 

“Well, Lucas does think she is only going to date him because of Lucy,” Zay admits. 

“We need to get those two on a single date without Lucy; those two need to take a chance,” Josh muses and Zay nods in agreement. After discussing it for a while, they had a plan and quickly set off to Lucas’s. 

Josh and Maya would work on Riley while Zay would take care of Lucas and it was a relief, because despite Josh knowing Lucas well, Zay and Lucas had known each other since middle school, so there was a lot of baggage between them and some inside jokes that he still didn't get. He was aware that he was more naïve than they were, a bit sweeter, and that was why Lucas trusted him with Lucy when he had dates.

He just hoped things kept going smoothly because both Lucas and Riley needed this.

Lucy wakes up and makes her way to the kitchen. She hears those familiar deep voices coming from there and the corners of her mouth turns up. She gives one quick peck to Zay’s cheek and a hug to Josh’s legs before she was scooped up by the strong arms of her father, who drops a kiss on her forehead. She rests her head against his shoulder and smells his aftershave and the soft scent of his soap; it was soothing.

"Luc, Josh cooked pancakes," Lucas tells her, and she grins at him and then at Zay.

"Really? May I have some? With syrup!" She squeals and motions for Lucas to put her down.

The men chuckle at the sight of the little girl walking around in her purple pajamas and her blue slippers looking for the syrup in the kitchen cabinets. She finds the bottle and sits down at the table, waiting for the huge stack of pancakes that Lucas disapproved of but had to admit it was funny the way in which Lucy’s eyes widened and how she smiled wickedly as she took the first bite.

"Good?" Zay asks from her side, and Lucy nods happily. "Great, then later you should tell me everything about Riley okay, Luc?" He whispers to her, and she looks at her dad before smiling at Zay.

'Kay," she replies. "But uncle Zay you have to talk to Daddy and tell him that I like her, Riley because I don't know how to do it and I think he likes her."

"I will, baby girl," Zay responds and Lucy grins at him while she takes another bite.

Lucas looked at them suspiciously and glares at Zay and Josh. He knew that his daughter was planning something and his friends were being pretty sneaky so that the combination could be disastrous, but he also thought that he loved the look on Lucy’s face and he blamed it on the previous night, on Riley and how good she was with her.

A while later, when Lucy was full of pancakes and milk, Zay offers to play and mostly talk. She knew what because Uncle Zay was curious about Riley.

"She helped me to do my hair, and she sings!" She squeals while Zay gave her his undivided attention. "She was a dancer. She said she was famous. And her dads like the Knicks but I don't mind because she's nice and I think I could get her to like the Mavericks better, right? And Daddy looked at her like this," Lucy stares at Zay in a funny way, and he chuckles. "Is it good? I think it is good because he never looks at anyone like that and he was smiling. Oh, and she looked at him like this," she glances at Zay through her eyelashes in a sheepish way, trying to simulate the flirty looks that Riley had given to Lucas.

She tells Zay everything about their evening. He made some mental notes on the finer details so that he could compare notes with Josh, Maya, and Tom later.

Damn! Now he was thinking about Tom.

After Josh has gone home to shower and Lucy had fallen asleep on the couch, Zay was now trying to get information from Lucas, which was a hard task considering how quiet Lucas regarded his personal life. He wouldn't say anything that he didn't want and Zay was lucky he was Lucas's best friend, but even then Zay knew Lucas still kept some things from him. 

"So, what happened?" Zay asks and Lucas arches an eyebrow “You are telling me that Lucy hasn’t already told you?” 

Zay chuckles “I got her version, but I want your version.” 

Lucas smiles, showing amusement, "It was great, she's amazing, and we had fun with Lucy. She's amazing with her."

"But?"

"What if she thinks that I invited her just because of Lucy?" Lucas sighs heavily, and Zay knew it.

Lucas likes Riley. Badly. The way he talks about her, the concern, the insecurity in the man that never flinched, it would've been scary if he didn't know him so well. Zay had only seen that worry once, about Lucy.

"Why would she think that?" Zay asks.

"Because it wasn't a date. I mean – Shit!" Lucas mutters in an angry tone.

"She's gorgeous; she's smart and cute, so sexy. Man!" Lucas growls frustrated.

"I wanted to kiss her, so fucking badly and I couldn't, because of Lucy."

"D'you think she would've let you?" Zay smiles a little, already knowing the answer from Josh. 

"Yeah," Lucas mumbles and smirks again, softly. "I think so, I mean we nearly did when Riley’s kisses me on the cheek goodbye, but dude I need to get to know her better.” 

"You need a date, a date-date," Zay snickers when Lucas glares at him. “One where you might get the kiss.” 

"I don't want her to hate me if it doesn't work because Lucy likes her. It's different and complicated. Even if she's not right for me, Riley is great for Lucy. I don't want to mess that up."

"Dude, you like her, and she seems to like you, just ask her out. Just the two of you, alone." Zay advises, and Lucas exhales deeply.

"I dunno," Lucas babbles “Did Riley say anything, Josh?”

“Josh says that Riley pretty much feels the same as you.” Lucas just bites his lip in concern. 

"Just take it slow." Zay smiles and shakes his head. He couldn't believe he was giving relationship advice to Lucas. He couldn’t remember the last time he had a real relationship. "Ask her out and just don't think about what might happen."

Lucas nods, but Zay didn't actually know if his friend was going to follow his advice. He hoped so, and by the look on Lucas’s face, he really wanted to have another chance of getting to know Riley

After Josh and Zay receive all their information, they decided to head to the bakery to discuss the next step with Maya and Tom. Zay wasn’t sure when the four of them had become a little group of cupids, but he couldn’t deny that he was quite excited at the thought of seeing Tom again. Ever since they had swapped numbers, they had been texting non-stop. 

Josh walks into the bakery first and makes a beeline straight for Maya in the gallery while Zay follows in and looks around. Zay's face drops thinking that Tom maybe went home, when Tom walks out from the back, his own face breaking out into a grin when he sees Zay. 

“Hi," Zay mutters sheepishly, and Tom had to purse his lips to contain the growl in the back of his throat. He wants Zay, and it was kind of shocking how fast his need (feelings) for him had grown.

"Would you like something?" Tom offers.

"Sure," Zay replies and Tom begins to prepare him a cappuccino, already knowing what Zay likes. 

They start to chat, and it went out smooth. Tom was beginning to flirt a bit more, but Zay didn’t mind. 

Zay was funny and good looking. Tom was cute and mysteriously seductive without knowing he was. 

“Do you think this thing with Riley and Lucas will work?” Zay asks as Tom places his coffee in front of him. Tom shrugs cleaning the bench as he does. 

“I don’t know; I think Riley needs not to think about it and just go with her feelings. I haven’t known her for very long, but she is a very open person except when it comes to love.” 

Zay sighs “Lucas is a very closed off person, maybe it won’t work.” 

Tom places his hand on top of Zay’s, and Zay feels a spark go through his whole body. “I have a feeling things will work out just fine.” 

“Really?” 

Tom nods “Now how about you and I discuss what are going to do on our date instead?” 

Zay can’t help but grin.

Zay hates to bail on Lucy.

Sundays were his favorite day because Zay, Lucas and sometimes Josh were free to hang out with Lucy, have a nice time with the little girl and spoil her. 

"Uncle Zay?" Lucy calls when he was saying goodbye to her before his date with Tom. "Did you talk to Daddy?"

"What about, Lucy?" Zay asks and squats down in front of her.

"About Riley," she whispers while looking around to make sure that her dad wasn't around. "I think he likes her and I like her too. What happens after that? What should they do?"

It was so amazingly cute the way she cares about Lucas that Zay couldn't help but smile at her and smooth her hair.

"Josh, and I will try to help, okay? I promise, and I'm gonna do it, since now," Zay says.

"Where are you going? Daddy said you had a date.” 

“I do Luce.” 

“How could that help Daddy and Riley?" Lucy asks curiously, and Zay sighs. She had this weird power over them. He couldn't hide anything from her.

"I'm going out with Tom," he speaks and sees the huge grin spreading across her face, "but you can't tell anyone, 'kay?"

"Okay," she nods happily. "I like Tom too. He’s nice and funny." She rose on tiptoes and presses a kiss on his cheek. "Good luck, Uncle Zay." She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a quick and tight hug.

After he said goodbye and left Lucas's place, he wishes that every girl was like Lucy, that things were simple like that.

And then he decided that he was going to be him, naïve, sweet and quirky Zay. He only hopes that Tom likes that.

Lucas was checking the games on TV when Lucy climbs on his lap and cuddles against him.

"Daddy?"

"Yes, princess," he smiles sweetly at her.

"Do you want a mom? I mean, for us?" She asks with her big green eyes and he gulps. She wants a mum, and it hurt in his heart that she didn't have one. She was so good; she deserved one.

"For us?" She nods and Lucas sighs and pauses the game. "Lucy, you know I love you, right?" She nods again.

"I love you too, Daddy," she smiles, and he feels that warmth in his heart.

"Do you want a mum?" He asks bluntly.

"Umm…" She frowns in that cute gesture of her. "Yes, I want a mommy for us. Not just for me, because you should have one, I mean, not a mum, duh!" She giggles. "You have one, Nana, but you should have a wife? Or a girlfriend? I dunno," she sighs softly, and Lucas feels a bit sad for her. "A family! That's it; we should have that."

"Princess," he drawls.

"I like Riley, Daddy," she blurts out. "She does mommy things." She looks at him in the eye. "Do you like her?" He couldn't lie to her. He had never done so. He wouldn't start now."Yeah, Luce, I like her too."

[yuniesan]

Girl Meets Season 6 - Episode Four – Girl Meets Old Friend

Synopsis: The Journey from High School and into College will test everything Riley knew about her life, her friendships and her love. What life lessons will she learn in her first year of college?  

[1] [2] [3]

A/N: I managed to ignore most of Tumblr and finish this.... but I miss Tumblr.... but Infinity War spoilers are out there and I’m trying so hard not to look for them.

Episode Four – Girl Meets Old Friend

 Riley’s third class of her first week was her writing class, she was excited because that meant that she was going to be able to write more than what she had before. One of the best things about the class is that it was a two-part class, so they were required to take the second one in the spring and in that class, they were supposed to write a novel. This was also the only class she had with one of her friends. Zay had decided to take it with her because it would satisfy a part of his minor requirements, and they talked about how they could both write the next great novel, but she knew that it was also something they could take together while everyone else took other classes. Maya, Farkle and Smackle had a history class together, Lucas had a class with Zay and Farkle in statistics, Smackle even had a class with Sam, but for Riley this was her only class with anyone she already knew.

“I’m so excited,” she said bouncing on her chair. Zay was sitting next to her and he looked at her and smiled, it was good that he was having happy moments, but she was still worried about him. She couldn’t help but worry, she worried about everyone it’s who she is.

“Stop bouncing around though,” he said trying to keep her down. “We’re only freshmen in a class full of upperclassmen.”

“Doesn’t matter,” she said to him looking him in the eye. “We’re students just like everyone else here.”

Zay nodded at her, he was going to say something but was interrupted by someone nudging at Riley’s side. When she looked up she came face to face with another familiar face, one that she wouldn’t have imagined she would see again. Or at least for a long time.

“And here I thought that you would have gone to NYU,” he said, and Riley jumped up.

“Charlie,” she said as she looked into a familiar pair of blue eyes, his hair was longer than the last time she had seen him and he had gotten taller which put him in the same eyeline as Lucas. At the thought of Lucas, she was reminded of something that happened the last time she had seen Charlie during sophomore year.

“Well, well, well,” Zay said looking up at the two of them. “If it isn’t cheese soufflé.”

“Seriously I hate that nickname,” Charlie said before sitting down in the seat in front of Zay. “I really should have fought against it.”

“You wouldn’t have won,” Zay said to him smiling. “Maya is kinda powerful when it comes to making sure nicknames stick, why do you think she still calls Lucas Ranger Rick.”

“Anyway,” Riley said trying to change the topic from Maya’s use of nicknames, it was a running joke with Maya at this point. She had told Riley that she wanted to keep going with the nicknames because it meant that those people meant something in her life. Riley had a few nicknames, so did Lucas and Farkle, they had been the ones who had been around her the longest but lately Smackle has gotten a few and so has Zay. “What are you doing here?”

“I go to school here,” he said looking at her. “I mean that should be the obvious part.”

Zay laughed for a moment before holding back after she glared at him, “I meant why this school?”

“Well it’s close enough to home that I can visit but far enough away that I don’t have to be there, plus it meant that I could get away from my sisters, they’ve become holy terrors from the moment they heard I wanted to go to college.”

“Must be nice to be annoyed by siblings like that,” Zay said with a starry-eyed look on his face. Riley knew that he was an only child but the last time she had talked to Zay’s mother, before the she left for Texas with Lucas, she had told Riley that they were planning to adopt so that Zay could have a sibling and their family could grow. Zay’s mom wasn’t ready to have an empty nest, but it seemed as if she hadn’t told Zay just yet.

“Somedays it is but being the only boy in a house full of girls tends to get old fast,” Charlie answered Zay’s query with a smile at both of them. “Plus, I needed something new for once and this was the best place to try that out.”

“Do you have a major yet?” Riley asked him, she wanted to ask about his girlfriend but with Zay’s recent break up she wasn’t sure if he could handle another couple around him.

“I’m going to be a lawyer, ever since I joined the debate team in high school I realized that I’m good at arguing with people, plus I remember arguing with Friar a lot, although I didn’t win that one. Anyway, I’m majoring in criminal justice and history since the school doesn’t have a pre-law program, but pre-law is useless as a major according to my advisor.”

“Oh, we’re in the same program then,” Zay said perking up, this meant that he had someone to work with it was a good distraction Riley thought. She wanted him to be happy and not dwell on the past. “Why are you in this class then?”

“I wanted to take something that would help me with my writing, plus fiction is fun since my only other option was to take a class in math and I’m trying to avoid that right now. Also, who knows I could write a big novel and get enough money to pay for school.”

“Sounds like the dream man,” Zay said laughing before slapping Charlie on the back.

Class started soon after that, giving them very little time to talk as the professor talked them through the syllabus, the expectations of the class, and a million other things. They were in fact the only freshmen in the class, but no one treated them any differently, they were all there to fulfil some kind of credit requirement and that’s what mattered. They had been paired off in groups, the professor put the three of them together with upperclassmen but encouraged them all to work together until the end of the semester. They were only writing short stories, the big project being left off until the spring.

When class was over Zay ran off to his next class which was across campus, leaving Charlie and Riley behind on the steps of the building that housed the English and Com departments. Riley laughed as Zay waved at them before his footing missed a rock and he almost fell onto the grass. She was glad his spirits were up, but the worry over her friend still lingered and she wondered how he was dealing because he wouldn’t talk to anyone about the break up.

“So,” Charlie said pulling her out of her own thoughts. “Why not NYU?”

“I looked at a bunch of schools but in the end, I settled on this one because I liked the programs better. I guess I also got lucky because everyone else sort of followed me,” she said smiling thinking of her friends. “How about you? Where’s your girlfriend?” she was genuinely curious about where his relationship went since she had last seen him.

“I already told you why, but mostly it was cheaper than going away, and I didn’t want to burden my parents especially with how big our family is,” he said with a smile but he looked at the ground and she knew that something was happening in his head.

“I’m guessing you don’t want to tell me what happened with your girlfriend,” she said to him. It wasn’t a question it was a statement of fact and she knew it.

“Why do you and Friar work so well?” he asked her without looking into her eyes.

“Well we talk all of the time, it’s our thing we need to have those important conversations,” she said remembering the day they had gotten together. “I mean we have our problems, what couple doesn’t but in the end, we talk about them.”

Charlie sighed before walking towards the grassy area in front of the building and sitting down, she followed him because she knew that he needed someone to talk to. For some reason understanding people had become second nature in some ways, but even she missed things, everyone missed things every once and a while.

“Tell me,” she said as she sat down on the ground next to him, letting the sun warm her skin, never really looking at him because he wasn’t looking at her.

“She broke it off,” he said with a sigh. “Actually, she cheated on me with one of my teammates from the soccer team, I had found them one day after a game making out behind the bleachers at one of our rival schools.”

Riley felt powerless all of a sudden, there were so many broken hearts all around her and she couldn’t do a thing. “I’m sorry,” she said to him.

“It wasn’t your fault,” he ran his hand through his hair, it was weird to see it so long but it suits him. “I guess I need to live with the fact that things like this happen, but it happened months ago and it still hurts.”

“Well you have a friend right here if you need one,” she said even though she knew that Lucas would have a problem with it but she would deal with that when she told him about it.

“Are you sure,” Charlie said he eyes wide and she knew that he had been thinking the same thing.

Riley couldn’t help but laugh out loud, everyone knew her so well, they knew Lucas so well too, it was strange but in the end it was nice to have people around who understood her world.

“Yes, I’m sure, and I’ll talk to Lucas because we promised a long time ago not to keep secrets from one another.”

“If you say so,” he said before getting up off the ground and brushing the grass off of his pants. “Wanna go get some lunch?”

“Sure,” she said before shooting off a quick message to Lucas to join them. She didn’t warn him about Charlie being there, she wanted to find a way to introduce them to each other as her friend Charlie not a guy who may want to date her. Charlie knew that her relationship with Lucas meant the world to her, they had talked about this before, even though they haven’t seen one another in a while.

The two of them got their food and sat down at one of the empty tables and started talking, but after five minutes she felt him before she saw him. Lucas was a presence that she couldn’t ignore it was weird how attuned she was to him but she loved it so much as well.

“Hi Riley,” he said kissing her on the cheek before sitting down. “Gardner.”

“Be nice Lucas,” she said but when he smiled at her she was thrown for a bit.

“Don’t worry Riley,” he said with a smile. “We actually ran into each other in the dorms a while ago, but I told him not to say anything for now.”

“Uh why?” she asked looking between the two of them. “This isn’t a giant prank is it because I will kick you into next week if it is.”

“It’s not,” Charlie said to her giving her a smile. “We talked and said that we were going to try and be nice to one another, I mean there was a time when we thought that we could be friends so we’re going to try for that now.”

“So why not tell me that Charlie was here,” she said turning to Lucas.

“Because I knew that you needed a surprise of some kind,” Lucas said with a smile. “I know you want us all to be happy but sometimes you don’t get any surprises at all because you’re the one always in control of everything. So, I wanted you to have something that was out of your hands.”

“So, you’re okay with me and Charlie hanging out?”

“It’s fine Riley,” he said taking her hand and holding it against his chest just above his heart.

“I need to get away from all of this fluff,” Charlie said rolling his eyes. “Trust me Riley, after all of this time I realized that I don’t feel like that for you. It’s probably just so school boy crush, but what you two have I know is one in a million, so take care of it.”

“Actually,” Riley turned to him. “It’s not, it just takes a lot of work to get to where we are, and finding that one person who will make it worth it.”

“Well that’s a little too romantic for me right now,” Charlie said with a smile. “But I guess if I’m around you long enough I might find that too, if the track record with your friends is anything to say about it.”

At his words Riley felt awful because the one person who hadn’t had a good ending in a relationship was currently pushing himself to be happy around everyone. Charlie walked off soon after leaving Riley and Lucas alone, the two of them talked about their day before Riley went off to her next class. As she was walking home later that day, she found herself looking at a person sitting on a bench by themselves. It was still light enough out for her to see that it was Zay, but he wasn’t moving, he was just sitting there staring out into the distance. She sat down next to him and he didn’t acknowledge her presence, instead of saying anything she just sat there with him and waited.

“You know,” he said after the sun had set on the horizon. “I’ve been debating about whether I’m alright with any of what has been happening. I’m not struggling with school, it’s only the first week, but I’m struggling with my own life.”

“Do you blame me for any of this?” she asked him because she wasn’t sure what to think anymore.

“No,” he whispered. “I’m grateful for the time I had with Cassie, but I feel like a teenage romcom where I know this is supposed to make me stronger and the next person I meet will change my life.”

“But it still hurts, and life isn’t a movie.”

“Yes, but I need to go through this, and maybe whoever comes along in the future will give me something even more special than first love,” he smiled at her but his tears made it bittersweet. “I mean we can’t all have an epic romance.”

“We can, we just have to want it as much as the next person,” she said before taking his hand and holding onto it, it felt the same as when she held onto Auggie. Somehow Zay had become a part of her family. “Zay, remember no matter what you don’t have to go through this alone.”

“I won’t,” he said to her as he leaned back onto the bench. “I have you guys, I have my family, but somedays I think I just like finding myself looking out into the distance and thinking about the happy times.”

“I feel like we should have chocolate cake and ice cream, and watch extremely horrible movies,” she said trying to cheer him up.

“I wouldn’t mind the cake, but considering the last time something happened in our group that involved ice cream, well I might want to stay away from that,” he said before letting go of her hand and hugging her she was surprised by the sudden contact.

“I promise I won’t push it into your face,” she whispered.

“Okay, but can we go to your room, I don’t want the guys to know I feel like this.”

“It wouldn’t make you less of a man Zay,” she said to him before putting her arms around him and holding onto him for a little while. “But if that’s what you want we can do that.”

“Thanks Riley,” he said smiling at her. “No rom coms though.”

“How about I know exactly what we should watch then,” she said as she pulled away standing up. “Let’s go.”

When they got to her room, with two bags of ice cream and chocolate snack cakes, Sam was sitting on her bed staring out into the room like she didn’t know what she should be doing. Riley smiled and asked her to join them. They ended up watching the Maze Runner movies, because there’s very little if no romance at all in them, even though Zay swears that they messed up too much of the books, while Sam screamed out that Brenda was supposed to be immune. Riley wasn’t sure if she should yell at the movie like they were, so instead she filled up their drinks and handed out the last of the ice cream before it melted.

It was the first time she really hung out with her roommate, and while she still didn’t know a lot about the girl, she knew that they would be good friends if Sam could accept a random movie night without question. The three of them had passed out on the floor in front of the small television that was in the room. They had somehow built a fort around themselves and were under it without a care in the world.

“We should do that more often,” Sam said the next morning as they sat down for breakfast. It was only ten to eight but they were all happily eating eggs and pancakes. Zay wearing one of Lucas’s hoodies that Riley had stolen from him during senior year.

“I second that,” Zay said before shoving food into his mouth like he hadn’t eaten an entire bag of cake and ice cream the day before.

“I’m fine with it, but next time not on a school night, and we need more pillows,” Riley said, her back felt sore from being on the floor.

That’s how they ended up with Thursday night movies, just the three of them, or when one of the was feeling especially down they would get together. Charlie joined them the week after, because he found out his ex-girlfriend had a new boyfriend, Lucas joined them after that. Maya usually went to the city on the weekends to spend time with Josh, while the geniuses had started going to club meets on the same night. It was strange to be in a room where Maya wasn’t, but her best friend hadn’t complained about it so Riley let it go, making sure to add some Maya time to her week for days when she was on campus.

[yuniesan]

A Moment in Time [Rucas Adult AU] - Chapter Nine

A Moment in Time

Synopsis: Riley Matthews needs to get out of New York, after her parents advised her to go to her great grandmother’s house in Texas she’s on the first plane to the Lone Star State. Lucas Friar is a single father trying to live up to his family’s legacy but he knows he’s overworking himself to please his mother. The moment the two of them meet they realize what they had been missing all along, but family and their past will threaten their relationship.

[Previous Chapters]

A/N: Finally finished the chapter YAY!!!! Now back to plotting out the chapters of the book.....

Chapter Nine

Riley hadn’t told Lucas about what she had ordered, and since she started working on her draft, even she forgot that she had ordered them. Her editor had called her twice since and she had been working ever since, the date for her novel had been pushed up since the moment she had mentioned the idea. The publishers wanted her to work on it as soon as she could because her books were becoming huge sellers all of a sudden. The pressure was on so she decided on the small town story, using the Texas town as a backdrop.

“Do you know if the historical society would let me borrow some research materials?” she had asked Lucas that night while he was walking her home from the farmer’s market.

“Maybe, depends on what you need them for,” he said holding her hand while carrying a bag in the other. “Are you thinking about what I think you’re thinking of doing?”

“Missy asked me to try and write a fiction book based on this town and I figured I could try it, but I don’t want to get anything wrong, mostly the lore behind the town, so I thought that it would be a good idea to learn more about the town.”

He didn’t say anything for a moment but he was smiling at her, which only made her blush. “You like it here don’t you?” he asked as he pulled her closer.

“I do like it here, but I also like writing as close to the truth as I can before I make up the characters that would live in the story, now answer my question bucko,” she said smiling at him.

“Ask my mom to take you, the historical society loves her.”

“Thank you,” she said before pulling him down for a quick kiss on the lips. “You’re very helpful when you want to be.”

“I’m helpful 100% of the time, now let’s get back and cook dinner, I want to show you how domesticated I am from being a father.”

Riley laughed, she couldn’t help it the man had been showing her how domesticated he was, but most of the time it was because Liliana was in the house playing with Daisy. They couldn’t do anything else, so they were only left with quick kisses, and promises of having a date that wasn’t interrupted by the million people coming in and out of her house at all times.

For the first time that night they were going to be free of family duty, Liliana was sleeping over at her grandmother’s house Daisy went along with them, Jake and Missy were going on a date, and Lucas made sure that none of their other friends were going to disturb them, so Riley was happy that they had decided on a movie night, and dinner in the living room. It was normal and quiet, which is something that neither one of them had had since their make out in the shower. It was also something she hadn’t done in a long time, which just made her happy.

The two of the were grinning at one another when they walked into the house, Lucas went into the kitchen to start on dinner, while Riley went to check on her emails from her publisher to see when they would want the first draft ready.

“Hey,” Missy said walking into the office. “We’re about to head out, but I wanted to tell you that you got a package earlier, I left it in the living room.”

“Thanks Missy,” Riley said looking up and seeing the other woman dressed in a flowy red dress with white flats on. It hid her growing baby bump very well. “You look great, knock him dead Miss.”

“That’s the plan, we’re going to stay at Jakes old apartment tonight, you know for one last night, so we won’t be back,” Missy said winking at Riley. “So you and Lucas have the house all to yourselves.”

Riley blushed, but smiled anyway, it was becoming the perfect night. “Well you two enjoy yourselves.”

“Sure, and Riley,” she said standing at the doorway. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do…. Wait scratch that, do everything you want to do,” she said with a wink before walking out.

Riley laughed as she followed Missy out, “Well at least I know…. Oh god,” she said as she saw the box and remembered what she had ordered.

“What?” Missy said looking back.

“It’s nothing, it’s probably just my editor sending me things to do or something,” she said hoping that it was covering up the lie, because it was actually the stuff she had ordered.

“Don’t work too hard then, you have a guy in your kitchen wearing really tight pants cooking for you.”

“Oh haha, now go on your date and leave us alone.”

“Roger that,” Missy said as she walked out the door. Riley closed the door behind Missy and walked back to the living room, picking up the box and rush it off to her room. To the closet in her room because she didn’t want Lucas, or anyone to find it.

She wanted to talk to him about what she had planned before doing anything about it, she needed to have that talk with him, but for now she actually wanted something more vanilla. It wasn’t that she hadn’t been excited at the prospect of doing something that could be depraved in anyway, but sometimes the first time needed to be special, and she wanted to feel special especially since meeting Lucas she has had to face the fears of her past. Even the ones she hadn’t remembered for a long time.

Lucas heard the door close behind him as Missy left, they finally had the house to themselves and he wanted the night to be special. So when he heard Riley go upstairs, he decided to set the table with some candles and flowers he had snuck in while she had been in her office. They were getting closer to each other and he was happy about that, so he wanted to use the dinner to get to know her a little more. Also he wanted to set the mood for the rest of the night because he wanted her to feel special.

Zay had convinced him to cook, Lucas had gotten better as a cook since having Liliana, but he had never cooked for a date and although him and Riley had been eating together a lot, their meals were always simple because Liliana, or someone else was around. Now he was making Parmesan risotto with roasted shrimp, with a garden salad, and his mother’s raspberry soufflé that he had learned when he was in high school. It was one of the things he had been grateful to his mother about, the love of cooking, his dream had always been to work on the ranch but he knew just how much it meant to cook for someone you loved.

His relationship with his mother had improved greatly since the picnic, another thing he was happy about. Riley was something else, she was good with people even when they hate her without reason. It made him question the things that her ex had done because the Riley he knew was a kind person, but that could have also been her trying to save him. She was too good for someone like him and he wished that he had met her long before anything had happened to her.

A gasp from behind reminded him of the Riley he had with him now, someone who needed to have surprises and happiness in her life. Lucas turned around to see the awestruck look on her face, and a bright smile lighting up his world. This is what he wanted, this is who he wanted. In that moment he knew that she had truly had taken his heart, and he was willingly giving it to her.

“It’s beautiful Lucas, but you didn’t have to go this far,” she said walking towards him and taking his hand.

The flowers had been spread thoughout the table, the candles were lit and in the center of it all were their plates of food, and his heart.

“For you Riley I would give you the world if you would let me,” he said smiling. She leaned towards him and pulled him down for a kiss.

At first they ate in silence, Riley smiling up at him every once and a while, she had been so obsessed with the food that she kept eating it before saying anything. Once the plates were cleared she looked up at him as he brought out the dessert.

“We better not be sharing that,” she said eying the treat in front of her.

“No, I made two,” he said grinning at her.

“You are the perfect man,” she said as he placed it in front of her, and poured a light syrup over the top of the treat. “Seriously Lucas this is amazing, I can’t cook like this to save my life but this is all restaurant quality. The most complicated thing that I can do is roast beef, which is hard for me.”

“Don’t worry Riley, I learned to cook because of moments like this, I want to make something special for someone I care about.”

Riley ate her dessert without saying anything back, but Lucas could see the blush on her face as she tried to hide it from him. Once they were finished and everything was in the dishwasher the two of them stood in the kitchen. Lucas pulled Riley close to him and held her close, taking in the feel of her heart pounding in her chest. Before either one could say anything he lifted her chin and leaned down for a soft kiss. It was supposed to be quick, they were going to watch a movie and just relax, but once he felt the softness of her lips he couldn’t help but want to have her close to him.

“Lucas,” she said when he pulled away to get some air into his lungs. “Let’s go upstairs,” she murmured and that’s all that it took for him to lift her up and carry her to her room.

He tripped on the carpet in front of her bed causing them to tumble down onto the mattress, but it didn’t matter as long as they were together. Fevered kisses, as their tongues met and he felt the heat of her mouth. He knew at that moment that the feeling he was having would never go away, this was a once in a lifetime thing and he didn’t care if he drowned in it as long as Riley was there to anchor him to the real world.

He felt her hands frantically pulling up his shirt, the need to feel his skin against her hands. He let her have the control because he didn’t know how long he would have lasted if he didn’t have her touching him like that. It was something that was growing inside of him, the feeling that her touch would give him everything he had ever wanted from someone. He wanted her to have total control over his heart, he took her hand and placed it over his fast beating heart.

“I’m in love with you Riley,” he whispered as he pulled away from her lips and met her eyes. “You make me feel something that I have never thought I would feel, and I wanted you to know that.”

She smiled at him for a moment before moving towards him and kissing his lips again, when she pulled away and met his green eyes, her face was full of love. “I love you too,” she said to him.

That was all that it took for their fevered kisses to become something incredibly intense. Their clothes were ripped off without any care for them until all that was under him was Riley, as he leaned over her and kissed her slowly. He pulled away from her lips and moved towards the side of her neck, kissing her slowly, nipping at her collarbone and smiling when she shivered under him.

“So beautiful,” he said, but he knew that he wouldn’t last long, not with her so close to him.

His hands were everywhere at once, feeling the silkiness of her skin, the heat of her body, and the beat of her heart. This was what he had always wanted, and he knew it was something this would keep him going for the rest of his days.

“Lucas,” she said her voice barely above a whisper. “Make love to me please.”

That’s all he needed to hear as he pulled out a condom from his pants and pulled it on. They would have a day when they would be able to go slower but in that moment all he wanted was to be as close as he could without thinking about anything else, and if he didn’t last very long he didn’t care, in the end they would be able to make up for it in other ways.

Lucas couldn’t keep grinning as he worked on moving the things from his office to the one that was in the barn. He had made love to Riley, several times that night, but he was also very much in love with her and the grin would have to stay forever. It had taken him the whole day to move everything, especially since it had taken him the whole morning to pry himself away from Riley but he wasn’t complaining.

Riley had a meeting with the committee for the festival, as well as lunch with his mother to discuss the book she wanted to write about the town. Lucas on the other hand had to work on moving everything in the office and helping the contractor on what they needed to do to make the building ready for the daycare center.

“You know if you keep smiling like that I’m going to have to kill you,” Zay said as he walked into the new office. “Why are you smiling like that anyway?”

“Nothing, just had a good date last night,” Lucas answered his best friend. “Why are you here anyway, Vanessa told me you were working today.”

“I have a lunch break you know, and I decided to visit you because you’ve been spending so much time with a particular brunette that I haven’t seen you in forever.”

“Sorry, I guess we need to schedule a guy’s night don’t we.”

“Well,” Zay said as he plopped down on the couch. “I figured it would happen eventually, you’ve been single for too long. I remember I did the same thing when I started dating Vanessa so I guess this is payback time for that.”

“I guess it is,” he said smiling. “By the way, thanks for the advice on the whole cooking dinner because she loved it. So I owe you for that.”

“Nah, plus now we can go on a double date, or a quadruple date because of Missy and Jake, and Maya and Josh. You see while you’ve been having fun with a certain brunette, I’ve been hanging out with the two other couples, and well I guess it also gave me some perspective and well I asked Vanessa to marry me.”

“No shit, well it’s about damn time you two have been circling around each other since grade school, congrats man,” he said pulling his best friend into a hug.

“You’re going to be the best man at the wedding, but then again we might just go to Vegas and elope.”

“Vanessa would kill you if you tried to pull that one.”

“Yeah I know, she wants a big wedding, so I talked her into doubling with Missy and Jake for the end of the summer, that way we don’t have to wait that long. It’s one of the reasons why I’ve been hanging out with the other couples. Now we just have to drag you and Riley into it.”

“No thank you, Riley and I have other plans, plus she’s in the middle of writing a book, plus the festival at the end of the summer, and she’s doing a book signing there, and we’re getting comfortable with each other. So you guys can plan your own wedding.”

“Fine,” Zay sighed. “Whatever man, leave me to the wolves.”

“Zay the girls are harmless, plus you love this kind of stuff so don’t try to guilt me into helping you out. The only thing I can give you guys is the ranch grounds for the wedding, because I own the place and can do what I want.”

“That’s fine by me,” he said smiling at him and that’s how Lucas knew that his friend had just conned him into giving him a venue that normally cost a couple of grand for free.

The week went by relatively normal for Riley considering how everything kept happening all at once and she couldn’t control anything. It was a nice change, she liked the craziness that was constantly happening because it gave her ideas for her stories. But it also gave her ideas for that small town novel that she had been talking to Lucas about, in what felt like another time. Riley had two meetings with the festival committee, as well as lunch with Lucas’s mom and Liliana. It felt as though her life in the small Texas town was righting itself and giving her the break she wanted all along. So of course the moment she began to get comfortable everything would turn on its side, as an older gentleman banged on her front door screaming.

“Can I help you sir?” she asked walking towards the screen door.

The man huffed for a moment before grumbling something she couldn’t hear before he spoke up again. “Yeah, you can call my daughter to come here so I can take her home.”

“Ah,” she said as she pulled out her phone and sent a message to Missy, as well as Lucas and Jake. Riley didn’t want to deal with another bout of family drama especially when it wasn’t directed towards her, at least she hoped it wasn’t.

“It you would like I could get you something to drink, some water maybe,” she said being polite but more because it was over a hundred degrees outside and the man was sweating profusely. But he grunted again and walked off towards his car and sat on the side of the car waiting.

Riley pulled her phone out again to call Lucas but instead watched the man sitting there thinking of why he was acting the way he did. His protective nature reminded her of her father, and although her dad had lightened up as she grew older it seems as though what Missy had done was hurting him. Even when his own actions were hurting her. Riley watched him for a moment, thinking about why he would want Missy to be with something that she didn’t really have feelings for. It dawned on her that he was trying to give his daughter something that he had missed out on himself.

“Everything in the town really does center around the Friar’s doesn’t it,” she said out loud as the revelation hit her.

She walked outside and towards the disgruntled man, “Your daughter tells me that you want her to marry Lucas, but I get the feeling that you’re somehow projecting your own expectations on her,” she said. He huffed and tried to turn away from her. “You should ask her yourself, maybe you would get your wish.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” the older man said.

Riley was hoping that she was right about this, or else she was about to blow everything out of proportion and anger the man even more. “You’re in love with Lila, and because you couldn’t have her you thought that the next best thing was to get your daughter to marry her son, because at least that way you would be able to get close to her.”

The man stood there in silent shock, his hand trembling a bit as Riley spoke to him. “It’s the reason you keep going to her about me not being good enough for her son, you’re looking for an excuse to talk to her, to be near her.”

“I fell in love with Lila the moment I met her, it was the day that she was marrying my best friend, and I thought that she the most beautiful creature in the world. I was there when she had Lucas, I was there through everything. My own wife, though I loved her wasn’t who I had wanted. Now years later, decades later, we’re both single, but I can’t bring myself to be with her because I’m afraid that she wouldn’t like me in the same manner.”

“There’s no harm in trying, and if it doesn’t work out it means that you tried and learned the truth, but you can’t keep hurting your own child because of your unresolved feelings.”

He gave Riley a small smile, and she knew that she had gotten through to him in some way. Riley stepped closer to him trying to get a better read on his face, she needed to know what the man was thinking so that she could stop this matchmaking madness.

“You’re a very perceptive person for someone that wasn’t born in this town,” he said.

“Well I’m a writer I have to know people, plus you remind me of my dad in a way, well not in the I’m in love with my best friend and will ruin my daughter’s life to stay near her kind of way. My dad married the love of his life, but he was also very protective of me growing up, I was the only girl in the family.”

“Well I guess we could go inside and have that drink then, I might as well get to know the person who saved my daughter from me,” he said as he pulled out a small handkerchief and started blotting his forehead.

“Missy is in love with someone you know that right?” Riley said once they had settled in the kitchen.

“I didn’t know that, she doesn’t talk to me about her love life which is probably how this whole thing got blown out of proportion,” he sighed looking down at the glass as if it would give him the answers to his life. “I guess I should get to know my own daughter better.”

“Let’s start this from the beginning then,” Riley said holding out her hand. “Hi my name is Riley Matthews, I’m an author, and I came down here to Texas to refresh my mind and write something amazing. I met your daughter after meeting Lucas, and think that she’s a good person who loves her family but is also in love with something very much.”

“Hi Riley, I’m Devon Bradford, I’m Missy’s father, and I would like to get to know my daughter more as well as he friends if that’s alright with you.”

Riley smiled and him and knew that he wanted to make an effort. “Wait your last name is Bradford? I though Mrs. Jones was your mother?”

“She is, my mother remarried after my father passed away, she took my step-father’s name, but I kept my father’s name.”

“Ah, okay that makes sense,” she smiled.

The two of them talked until Missy showed up at the door stunned at the fact that her father was sitting in the kitchen drinking lemonade with Riley.

“Dad what are you doing here?” she said confused.

“I just wanted to see where my daughter was living, and talking to Riley about you and how you love someone that I never knew about because I was too stubborn to admit my own feelings and ended up projecting them onto you,” he said standing up to meet his daughter. “Missy I’m sorry, and I would like to start over.”

“I was right you are an angel Riley,” Missy said smiling before pulling her father into a hug.

“I’ll just leave you two here to talk while I get back to work,” Riley said smiling as she went to the office and closed the door. “Well time to get back to work.”

[yuniesan]

A Moment in Time [Rucas Adult AU] - Chapter Ten

A Moment in Time

Synopsis: Riley Matthews needs to get out of New York, after her parents advised her to go to her great grandmother’s house in Texas she’s on the first plane to the Lone Star State. Lucas Friar is a single father trying to live up to his family’s legacy but he knows he’s overworking himself to please his mother. The moment the two of them meet they realize what they had been missing all along, but family and their past will threaten their relationship.

[Previous Chapters]

Chapter Ten

Lucas was at his house for the first time in what felt like a million years, ever since he started dating Riley, and after the incident from weeks before, he had spent nearly every moment that he could next to her. Liliana was always there in the yard playing with Daisy, always giggling and running around. Even his mother had taken time to go over to the house and had lunch with Riley, even family dinners with them. So now that he was in his own house it felt foreign to him but only because Riley wasn’t there smiling at him talking to him about the book she was writing with the town as the backdrop.

Walking into his home office he thought only about how Riley would probably like it better there, with her things and her books. He wanted her to live in his house, write in the office he rarely used. They had only known one another for nearly two months but he wanted to have her around for the rest of his life. A small tug on his jeans pulled him from his thoughts as he looked down to see his daughter with a smile on her face.

“Can we invite Riley over tonight?” Liliana asked smiling up at him. “I want to show her my room, and my horse too.”

“That would be great, but how about we spend the rest of the day together, and we can go pick her up afterwards,” he smiled at his daughter.

“Okay,” she was beaming at him.

“We can also pick out what to make for dinner at the market, it’s been a while since we went to the market.”

“What are we going to make for Riley?”

“How about we grill today, since it’s a nice day out and we can play in the pool too,” he said thinking that he hadn’t gone food shopping in a while and the refrigerator was probably empty at the moment.

“Daddy,” Liliana said in a low voice that he almost missed it.

“Yeah sweetheart.”

“Can Riley… um… well…”

“Lili use your words,” he said smiling knowing that his daughter was trying to say something because she would stutter or pause a lot before she changed her mind and left.

“Well is Riley going to be my mommy?” she finally said her face turning pink as she blushed.

He knew that the question was coming, especially since he spent so much time with Riley, but it was also the same question he had been asking himself. “Well Lili, if she would have us as her family, I would love for her to be your mother.”

Liliana nodded and gave him a small smile before she walked off towards her room. Lucas sent Riley a quick message about having dinner over at his house, and telling her to bring a swimsuit and a spare set of clothes. When she agreed, he told her to be there around three because it would give him time to go shopping with Liliana. Giving one last look to the office before he closed the door he couldn’t help but think of the possibility of Riley being his wife, and maybe having his child as well. A brother for Liliana, or a sister, or both. In the end a future with Riley was starting to form in his mind,

“She would be a great mother,” he said to himself.

He also thought about how Riley would react to being a mother, and most likely it involved writing an entire set of children’s books to read to the kids. That thought made him smile because the way she talked about her books made her smile at him wide and that’s when he thought about the kinds of books she would write.

“Daddy lets go,” Liliana said as she appeared in front of him dressed in her shorts and sneakers. Her shirt was buttoned up wrong and she hadn’t noticed. Lucas walked up to her and rebuttoned her shirt smiling at his daughter.

“So what does the princess want for dinner tonight?” he said as he finished.

“I want chicken, or steak,” she said pulling him out of the house.

“How about I make both and you can pick afterwards,” he knew that she would pick the chicken if there was macaroni and cheese, the steak if they had mashed potatoes.

The two of them went to the market holding hands, Liliana stood on the cart and held on as Lucas pushed it around picking up what they needed. Liliana talked about school starting again soon, and camp, and the friends she made. She talks about Daisy and how she wants the dog to live with them and sleep on her bed. Together they filled the cart with enough food to feed an army but it was alright with him because he knew that most likely people were going to be stopping by at all hours regardless.

Riley pulled into the house just as they started unloading the groceries, Daisy jumping out the backseat which only made Liliana squeal and run off with the dog leaving him with a mountain of groceries.

“Hi,” Riley said before kissing him on the lips. “Need some help there?”

He laughed for a moment and nodded his head. “My helper ran off with the dog.”’

“Yeah well I know her weakness, plus it gives us a chance to talk about something, and you could give me a tour of the house since I’ve never been here in the two months we’ve known one another.”

“Yeah well that is probably my fault, I got too comfortable going to your house,” he smiled at her before giving her another kiss. “Let’s get these bags into the house and put away the food, I’ll give you a tour while we talk about what you want to talk about.”

Liliana was running towards the backyard with Daisy not far behind, Lucas knew that she was probably headed towards her treehouse in the backyard. Very soon he was going to have to build a staircase for that treehouse just for the dog to climb.

It took them twenty minutes to put everything away, but it gave Riley a moment to marvel at how beautiful the kitchen was. The walls were warm colors matching the countertops and the sleek appliances. Lucas wrapped his arms around her waist as he put the bread on the counter next to her.

“You know you’re the first woman who has actually come into this kitchen, well other than my mother,” he said in her ear.

“Are you okay with that?” she asked him smiling.

“Maybe,” he answered smiling back before he turned her around and placed his hands on the counter behind her. “Maybe I’m thinking about having my way with you right here on the counter, if it wasn’t for the fact that my kid was playing outside.”

“I’ll wear a dress next time,” she whispered in his ear. “You know for easy access and so that no one would know the wiser.”

She was getting braver when it came to saying these things to him, but she wouldn’t act on half of them because she wasn’t very brave when it came to doing anything like that in public.

“So I brought something with me,” she said after a moment just to keep them fully clothed, but in the end it probably would do the opposite. “Well I have this idea, and I want to run it by you.”

“Riley at this point you could say that you wanted pour chocolate sauce over me and lick me clean and I would say yes,” he said with confidence in his voice.

“That would be something to try,” she smiled. “Anyway, I was thinking something more in the bedroom, when Liliana is asleep and won’t hear us at all.”

“Whatever you want I’ll do it, only if we do try the chocolate thing.”

“Well I got these silk ties and I was thinking of well tying you to the bed, but I haven’t seen your bed so I don’t know if that would work… well anyway.”

“My bed doesn’t have bars of any kind so probably not in the way you were thinking… but now I have thoughts of my own.”

“Well we could always figure something else out when the time comes.”

“I’m buying a new bed,” he said before taking a deep breath. “One with something I can use to tie you to it, or for you to tie me to it.”

Riley knew that if they didn’t stop talking that they would have to explain sex to his daughter very soon, but they stayed there looking at one another not touching, she ached for his touch so badly. Her phone rang bringing her out of her rampant thoughts about Lucas and a four poster bed, wondering if her would buy one of those canopy beds just so they could close the curtains and shut out the world. It took four rings before she could bring herself to answer the call.

“Hello,” she said her voice low and hoarse as she said it. “This is Riley.”

“Riles, it’s Charlie,” her best friend’s voice came over the speaker bringing her out of her haze while Lucas was trying to keep her there by nuzzling into her neck.

“What do you need Charlie, I’m kind of busy here,” she said irritated at being interrupted.

“Well I was working today and an article came over the AP wire about you and I thought I should give you the heads up,” he said bringing Riley out of her Lucas induced stupor and bringing her back to the present. “Because it was published on several news sources in the last ten minutes.”

“What’s the article about Charlie?” she said pushing Lucas away.

“Someone blabbed about you,” he said and Riley could tell he was worried about it because it meant that someone who knew about her life had told the world about her. “It’s about you and Evan, about you being a romance author on top of your regular writings, it’s about the miscarriage. Riley they’re not naming a source, but they also wrote about where you are right now.”

“Riley what’s going on?” Lucas said as she slowly collapsed onto the floor.

Years of working to be recognized at a legitimate author, without the stigma of her romance novels. Years of keeping her private life out of the papers, even though she wrote for a magazine to pass the time. Her mother’s career already put them in the limelight, Riley was a popular author as well. Everything was now out in the open.

“I need to get to a computer,” she said looking at Lucas’s worried face.

“What happened?”

“Everything apparently,” she sighed leaning into his chest. “Charlie I’ll call you back later.”

“Good luck Riles,” Charlie said from the other side of the phone before she hung up.

“Why is it that when everything seems to be settling down in my life there’s something throwing a wrench at it,” she said looking up into Lucas’s worried eyes. “Computer now please.”

“Okay,” he said not pushing which only made her feel lighter.

“That was Charlie,” she said wanting to be nothing but truthful with Lucas. “Apparently someone is airing my secrets out for the world to see.”

“Which secrets?” he asked a worried look on his face.

“All of them, the romance novels, the miscarriage, my ex, and who knows what else. The only problem is that the only people who know have signed non-disclosure agreements, thanks to my mother and anyone connected to me through the publishing house as well as my agent.”

“I haven’t signed it,” he said but Riley shook her head.

“I trust you to not say a word, and outside of Maya and Josh no one else down here knows about it, only thirty or so people know about everything that had happened to me, and they’ve all signed it in some way. This includes my ex and his family.”

“What happens if they violate it and expose your life?”

“A multimillion dollar lawsuit. My mother is a terror when it comes to her children so she put all kinds of clauses into the paperwork, there’s no way out of it even if they went to the press with anonymity whoever they talked to would have to expose the person.”

“What if it’s someone who hadn’t signed, like they used a proxy person to go in between the order.”

“My mother covered it,” Riley said sighing. “She’s very through, especially since she’s a high profile lawyer, so she protects her children with every inch of the law.”

Lucas sat her down in front of his office computer and signed her into the system, he understood that Riley’s life was different from his. The women running the fair have been asked for permission from the press to attend, they set up a ticket system for Riley because so many people have inquired about her signing. So far they’ve sold nearly a thousand tickets for two days, and the number had been growing as they added days for the fair. The nearby hotels and Inns were booked. There was no way for Riley to get out of this, and now with this exposure it seemed as though something else was brewing in the background. His phone rang in his pocket, when he looked down he saw that it was Josh calling, which could only mean that this had already gone beyond what they had expected.

“Hey man what’s going on?” Lucas said walking out of the room to give Riley a chance to field whatever she needed on his computer.

“Hey is Riley there?” Josh said from the other side.

“Yeah, we were going to have dinner here and she was going to play with Liliana and Daisy in the pool,” he said thinking that their plans had been ruined.

“Good,” Josh said sighing on the other side of the phone. “Listen most likely you know what’s happening so it’s good that she’s not listen down here so they don’t know she’s staying in town. But she might have to stay there a while longer if it’s alright with you.”

“Yeah that’s fine, I have a gate on the house which you need a code for, but what’s happening on your end?”

“Her mother called me to warn me that the press is trying to find her, it’s going to get crazy around here for a while until she makes a statement, especially if they know where she is, but the moment it’s leaked we might have bigger problems headed our way.”

Lucas thought for a moment about the bigger problem and her ex came to mind, the guy had been missing for weeks. “We might need to go to the house and pick up some of her stuff, or you can send Maya to do it with Missy,” he said planning on how to keep her safe in his house.

“Already on it, Maya went over there the moment it hit the news, she has an alert on her phone for Riley related news, which I thought had been weird but considering how fast this escalated I’m grateful for their weird little friendship…Lucas,” Josh said on the other line. “Keep her safe, she’s already been through enough.”

“Don’t worry too much, the people in town love her, and we protect our own here,” he said thinking about how the town had warmed up to Riley just like his mother had. “We’ll keep her safe.”

“Thanks man,” he said before hanging up.

As soon as he hung up with Josh his front door swung open, his mother walking into the house wearing a summer dress that made her look different than the woman he had known for the last few years since his father’s death. She looked more like the woman he had grown up around, and it made him feel lighter for a moment.

“Mom, what are you doing here?” he asked walking towards his mother.

“I got an alert on my phone about Riley and I thought I was seeing things, but I read through the article, and Lucas that poor girl,” she said too him walking with him towards the kitchen. “How is she? Have you spoken to her?”

“She’s in the office right now talking to a million people about contracts and non-disclosure agreements.”

“That girl is stronger than she looks,” she smiled at him, it was genuine which was a product of his mother getting to know Riley, and their lunches. “At least now I know that I’ve always liked her, even if my first impression of her wasn’t good.”

Lucas couldn’t help but look at his mother confused. “What do you mean?”

“Well I’ve read her books, not the Riley Matthews books, but the other ones, the ones by Jexica Lawrence.”

“Oh god,” he said looking at his mother in disbelief, he could feel the heat rush into his head thinking about how Riley had talked to him about being more adventurous so that she would have material in her books.

“Lucas I’m not that much of a prude, I do like romance novels,” his mother said but he was still stuck on the fact that his mother would read about what he did with Riley. “Your father was always happy whenever I finished one of those novels.”

“Mom,” Lucas squawked. “Please stop… no more.”

“I should talk to Riley about helping me with writing romance novels for older women,” she said smiling at him, which meant that she knew what she was doing. He was reminded of when he was growing up, his mother got the same look whenever they ambushed his father with water guns in the summer, nerf guns when it was cooler out.

“Mom, I’m glad your becoming more like the woman who raised me,” he said before he pulled her into a hug.

“Your father’s death had an impact on me, but after seeing you with Riley, and talking to her I realized that I was frozen in that moment, and that maybe I should start moving forward again.”

“I need to check on Liliana, but if you want to stay for dinner you can, we’re grilling tonight.”

“I will stay,” she smiled at him. “I will also take Liliana with me so you and Riley can have a little private time,” she gave him a knowing look before walking off towards the office door.

Riley felt her head spinning as she looked over an email her mother had sent her, the moment the news hit her mother had gone through every news source to find the source of it all. It turned out it was someone who had been hired by Evan’s family to expose Riley in order to keep the news of Evan going missing from hitting the news. They had only found out about it because Evan had been drunk one night and they decided to get all of the dirt they could out of him. She had sent her mother, agent, and her publicist a statement, writing in detail everything that had happened from the relationship with Evan, everything about the source and Evan’s parents. Also that there would be repercussions for him breaking the contract, but in the end she didn’t care about the money or anything like that. She was more afraid of her ex himself, he was still missing and his family didn’t want to reveal any information so she had also put a note in the email for her mother. That if he’s found anywhere near where Riley was the police were going to throw him in prison and there was nothing that his family could do. He had crossed state lines away from where his family had power.

A knock on the door pulled her out of her thoughts, “Come in,” she said thinking it was Lucas but was faced with Lila.

“Hi Riley,” she said walking into the room and sitting across from Riley. “I saw the news, and thought you might need a friendly face, or at least a night alone with Lucas.”

Riley smiled at the woman, she looked younger for a moment which had thrown Riley for a moment, but it suited her more than the prim and proper woman she had met when she first started going out with Lucas.

“That’s nice of you but we were going to have pool day, you’re welcome to join us if you want to.”

“Lucas already asked me and I’m staying here for dinner, but afterwards I’m going to steal my granddaughter, and maybe watch a Disney movie with her, and you can have some fun with Lucas.”

Riley could feel herself blush at the fact that she was essentially getting permission to have sex with Lucas from his mother.

“You know,” Lila said looking at her with an amused grin on her face. “I’ve been a fan of Jexica Lawrence for a very long time, so now I feel even more guilty for being mean to you before. But you also gave me the gift of traumatizing my own son when I thought it wasn’t possible anymore so thank you.”

Lila smiled at her, and Riley felt a laugh bubble up in her chest, she couldn’t stop herself from laughing once it started. It felt good after the last few minutes of going back and forth with her mother about the situation.

“Can I suggest something?” Riley asked after they had finished laughing. “Devon Bradford, um well… he likes you, I thought I should ask you that maybe you could give it a chance with him.”

“Riley are you trying to set me up on a date?”

“Maybe, you can go out for coffee, something low maintenance, no pressure,” Riley said looking down at her hands for a moment. “I mean you’re both single, and you know one another so maybe if you took some time to… well date… something could come out of it.”

“I’ll think about it,” she said smiling. “I haven’t thought of dating before, but since Lucas has you maybe it’s time for me to take that leap as well.”

“Good,” Riley said just as Lucas walked into the room. “Hey what’s up?”

“I just got a call from the committee, apparently the minute the news hit the internet the tickets they had for the fair sold out,” he said smiling at Riley. “Apparently no one cares that you were two authors, they still love you.”

“Well that’s a reason to celebrate,” Lila said.

Riley pulled up one the sites that had published the article and read the comments, most of them were from women saying how much they loved her books. Or people telling her that she was brave. Then one comment caught her eye, it was anonymous but it was from someone who saw her as an inspiration, and it gave them the courage to get out of an abusive relationship. Riley scrolled back up and reread the article, and even though it had been her ex’s family who had blabbed, the reporter had dug deeper and made sure to get the facts on everything.

Everything was going to be fine, it was going to be better than fine because she had the world behind her.

The dinner went by perfectly, but once his mother had left with Liliana, Lucas could feel himself sigh in relief. Somehow even with all of the excitement of the day, and some of the committee stopping by to talk about the fair, he was still wide awake. Riley had gone up to his room after a brief tour so that she could shower and change. They were going to watch a movie, but he decided he would rather just hold onto her instead.

When he reached his door and opened it, she was walking out of the bathroom wrapped in one of those fluffy white towels his mother had made him buy the week before. He hadn’t understood why he needed new towels when he had brought some the month before but now seeing Riley in it he couldn’t help but smile.

“You know when you said something about tying me up I was excited, even though my bed didn’t have anything to tie me to, but that was before I saw you in that towel and it gave me an idea,” he said smiling walking towards her. “If I want to be tied to anything right now it would be you.”

Riley gasped for a moment before he pressed a kiss to her lips and smiled, “Just the two of us together,” he whispered as he kissed her neck. “Where are the ties?”

“Bag,” she said her voice barely a whisper.

Lucas reached over to her bag and pulled out a box before hastily opening it to see ribbons and ribbons of silk spilling out of it. He quickly pulled off his clothes and tossed them across the room grabbing the longest of the ties and slowly wrapping it around Riley’s wrist. Joining their hands, he wrapped the rest around his wrist before tying it loosely so that it wasn’t too tight. He pulled Riley towards the bed and lowered her down onto the mattress, their hands entwined together as he explored her body, trailing small kisses down her neck, stomach, never taking too much as he tasted her. She smelled like his soap, with a hint of lavender oil that he had brought for Riley without thinking.

“You smell so good,” he said and she squeezed his hand.

“Lucas, do leave me waiting here,” she said to him as she pulled his hand towards her mouth giving him a quick kiss.

“One day we’re going to take this slowly,” he said as he reached for his bedside drawer to pull out a condom.

“One day,” she said smiling. “Not today, it’s been a long day I just want to feel you inside of me.”

He gave her a quick kiss on the lips. “I may need a little help putting this on.”

She took the packet from him and unwrapped it before placing it on his free hand adjusting herself on the bed before taking it back and slowly sliding it into place, making him groan at the sensation of her hand on him.

“Make love to me Lucas,” she whispered before pulling him down for a kiss.

Lucas didn’t need to be told twice as he eased himself into her, she squeezed the hand that was tied to her, and used the other one to pull him closer. It was slow, all that he could feel was the heat of her body against his, and the love in her eyes.

“You know we should do that more often,” she said as she yawned. “I don’t know if I’ve ever had something so intimate happen, and all we did was tied ourselves together.”

“Sometimes that’s all you need,” he said kissing the top of her head.

Riley nuzzled into his side, “Well I think we should keep trying new things, because someone said something about chocolate sauce and I’m one hundred percent down for that.”

“One day, when I can find one that tastes as good as you do, I’m still getting used to the taste of Riley, and well I’m hooked.”

Riley had dozed off soon after they stopped talking, Lucas putting her as the small spoon wrapping his arms around her just before falling asleep himself.

[yuniesan]

Notes and Words - Epilogue

Notes and Words: (Cross-Posted to WattPad )

Synopsis: Riley Matthews is an A student, she loves to write stories and take pictures, but doesn’t have friends, and those who call her their friend only use her to copy her notes and homework. She’s shy and doesn’t voice her opinions very easily her only getaway comes from her hobbies. One day while she was on the bus from her dorm to school she happens to meet Lucas Friar. In that one moment her whole life changed. Now she’s experiencing life unlike she ever has before.

Chapters: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]

Chapter 11 – Epilogue – Five Years Later

Riley stood in her apartment for the first time since getting her first book published, he had been right she was good at writing novels about strong fierce young women. Some of them fell in love, while others just took over the world. She wrote about the people she knew, and who they became, but mostly she wrote about herself as a character. Sometimes in far off places, in different worlds, they all had something to say, they all made her stronger. She was proud of that.

“Riley,” Maya said sticking her head out of the kitchen. “Everything is set up in here.”

“Thanks Maya,” she said looking around. “Lucas should be here soon so why don’t you go home to Josh and have a good night.”

“I will, but remember if you need anything just call.”

“Maya I’m 21 years old, an adult, trust me everything is going to be fine.”

“I know it’s just that moving in together is a big deal, you guys aren’t even married.”

“You and Josh are, and things with you aren’t any different.”

“Yeah I guess, call me later,” Maya said before walking out of the apartment leaving Riley alone with the view of the city.

Lucas had gotten them the apartment, his father owned the building along with a few others and offered them the apartment when Lucas graduated a year early so that they wouldn’t have to worry finding a place. At first she didn’t think it was a good idea but once Lucas started working, and she had to do publicity tours it had become their only option. The place was huge and it had been renovated with what they liked, but most of all the place felt like home for the first time as all of their furniture was in place.

She couldn’t help but walk around looking at the rooms before finding herself in their bedroom sitting down on the bed. The bed felt like a cloud and she loved it, she decided it would be a good idea to take a nap as she waited for Lucas to get home from work. Her final semester started in a few weeks and she was excited because she wouldn’t have to go to school again afterwards. She fell asleep with the thought of settling into the quiet life with Lucas, raising a family, trying to not make the mistakes her parents had once talked to her about.

“Riley,” she heard Lucas’ voice say. She couldn’t help but smile as she pulled him close to her. She couldn’t believe how real her dream was. “Riley I love you but you’re choking me.”

At the sound of his voice so close she jolted awake, “Sorry.”

“I forgot how strong you are when you’re asleep,” he said rubbing his neck. “Come on I brought dinner.”

She couldn’t help but smile, “Okay, can we eat on the terrace?”

“Yes, but first grab a sweater, there may be heaters out there but I don’t want you to get sick.”

She did as he told her before following him out, before they reached the living room he covered her eyes and walked her towards the terrace.

“I have a surprise for you,” he said as he guided her forward. Once outside she felt the cool breeze mixed with the outdoor heaters. It felt nice on her skin. “Don’t open your eyes until I tell you,” he said as he pulled away, she couldn’t help but giggle thinking that he had a surprise for her.

“I won’t,” she said thinking about how he must be trying to set up a romantic dinner for them since they rarely spent so much time together. They both worked very hard but their date nights were precious.

“Okay, you can open them,” he said.

She slowly opened her eyes to see that the terrace was lit up around them, on the ground were rose petals as Lucas kneeled at the center. Riley couldn’t help but gasp as she saw him there holding out a ring box in front of her.

“Riley Matthews,” he smiled. “I met you by chance, but I believe that in that moment the universe was trying to tell us something, I know we sometimes have our own problems, but I know that if you weren’t there next to me I would be a lost man. It would make me the happiest man on the planet, if you would be my wife.”

She could feel the tears fall down her face but it was the most beautiful moment she could have asked for, “Yes, Lucas Friar I will be your wife.”