Remember Me

Chapter 25

“Wake up, sleeping beauty.” 

I open my eyes to see Riley standing a few inches from my bed looking down at me. I groan and pull the covers over my head. He chuckles at me and makes going back to sleep more difficult. 

“What time is it?” I groan at him, not at all happy about being woken up. 

“Ten.” 

I pull my covers back down and glare at him. “Go away.” 

“Come on. I want to hang out,” he tells me, tugging at my hand. 

“Go hang out with Andrea. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind getting up for you,” I tell him, my voice sounding slightly too irritated. 

“What?” he asks, smiling down at me because of my tone. 

“She likes you, you know,” I tell him, making my tone more offhanded. 

“Are you jealous?” he asks me in a teasing voice, his smile growing bigger. 

I scoff at him. “No. I’m just passing the word that I was so graciously asked to pass.” 

“Sure. Keep telling yourself that.” 

I throw a pillow at his face but he catches it and winks at me. I can’t help it, I smile. 

“You’re an a*s, you know that?” I tell him, trying to get my face back under control. 

“And you’re being lazy,” he quickly retorts. “Get up. You need to get some sun.” 

“Gee, thanks,” I reply, narrowing my eyes at him. 

“We can drive out to the beach and you can lay out there,” he continues trying to coax me in a singsong voice. 

I have to admit, the thought sounded nice. I haven’t been to the beach since Colton left and I used to stay there like it was a second home. I study him while contemplating what to do. He looks so happy and full of life. You couldn’t help but be affected by it. I sigh and give him a small smile while starting to get up. 

“Okay, you win. I’ll go. Get out so I can change.” 

“Yes! I knew you’d give in,” he exclaims, bragging. 

In response, I push him out of my room, making him laugh. I throw on my black bikini, a white t-shirt that hangs off of one shoulder and cuts off just below my belly button, and a pair of shorts. I brush through my thick black hair that reaches all the way down my back and fix my makeup then walk out. I hear my mom and Riley laughing and talking in the kitchen. I walk in to see her blushing and handing him something to drink. 

You have got to be kidding me. I could tell by the look on her face that she was already crazy about him and loved him. He had won her over in the span of ten minutes. That has to be a record for him. He looks over at me with a smile on his face and a sparkle in his eye. I’m blown away by how perfect he is and looks. I keep trying to find something wrong with him but, the more I try, the more perfect he seems. It kind of annoys me but, when he smiles like that at me, I easily forget. Which is almost all of the time. 

“Are you ready?” he asks, standing up. 

I nod at him since I’m still struck silent. He thanks my mom for the drink, gives her a hug, and kisses her cheek, which only makes her blush more. He’s completely oblivious to the way he’s making her melt and walks toward me. I look behind him to see my mom smiling and giving me the thumbs-up behind his back. I can’t help but to mentally roll my eyes. 

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I immediately stiffen when I realize what beach we are at. Anger and hurt flood through me to where I can’t even look at him. My eyes unfocus, trying to get the beach out of my sight. 

“How did you know?” I ask him after another moment, my voice coming out quiet and deadly. 

“I’ve been looking ever since you told me the story. Then I noticed the picture in your room yesterday.” 

“Why?” I ask, trying to swallow the knot in my throat. 

He grabs my hand and drags me out of the car and to the cave. Suddenly the mood changes. He’s looking deep into my eyes. His eyes are watchful, gleaming, and serious. This is the first time I’ve seen him look so serious. It only makes the know in my throat get bigger. He reaches out and puts a finger under my chin. He tilts my head up and his eyes train on mine, studying them as he slowly inches closer to me until his soft lips reach mine. 

The kiss is so tender it makes my heart melt. What girls heart wouldn’t melt with Riley kissing them like this? A moment later, he stops. But he doesn’t move away an inch. His green eyes are shining bright as they study me to see my reaction. 

“Replace the hurtful memories with good ones,” he whispers, answering my unspoken question. I don’t know what to say. Tears sting my eyes. How did I get so lucky in the blink of an eye? Riley just stormed into my life and immediately started turning it upside down with no hesitation. He takes my hand and leads me to the edge of the cave, sitting down when we reach it. We watch the rise and fall of the ocean in content silence. He wraps his arms around me and holds me close as if he were holding the broken pieces of me together.  

“You know, somewhere in the world tonight, someone’s falling in love,” he murmurs into my ear. “I’ve always thought that was beautiful and it always makes me smile to think about,” he continues.  

I look at him and briefly wonder if there’s a hidden meaning in his words. Panic rises within me. I can’t open myself up just to get hurt again. Especially with the damage he could do to me now if and when he finally decided to.  

“I should go,” I say abruptly, standing up. 

“Don’t,” he tells me, grabbing my hand and standing up with me.  

“I need to. I have things to do,” I rush out, pulling my hand from his and leaving the cave. I hear his footsteps behind me as he follows. 

“You spend most of the time running away from me,” he says, disappointment coating his voice. “Because you spend most of the time chasing me,” I quickly reply, speeding up.               

 “You know you like it,” he says and I can hear the cocky smile on his face.                   

  “Andrea would appreciate it a bit more.” 

“I’m not worried about Andrea. She’s not the one I’m chasing,” he says, frustration starting to show in his voice. 

“Why are you chasing me, Riley?” I ask, spinning around on him and making him stop abruptly. 

“I see a fire in you that I’ve never seen in anyone else.” 

I stare at him for a minute before turning to leave again. He grabs my arms and stops me instantly, spinning me to meet his burning gaze again. “Don’t let that fire burn out, Natalie.” 

I can hear my heart pounding in my ears. My heart is telling me to stay with him and let him be here for me and help me. But the fear in my mind is telling me to run even louder. “Don’t get burned, Riley.” 

And then I run. I run all the way to the diner, which has apparently become my safe haven. My eyes immediately search for Connor but, to my irritating disappointment, he’s not here. On impulse, I go up to the woman. I see Mary written on her nametag. Her soft brown, aging eyes land on me as I reach the counter and she shoots me a welcoming smile. 

“Excuse me, do you know where I can find Connor,” I hear myself ask in a sickly sweet and nervous voice. 

Her eyes light up as she hears my words. I realize she must be assuming he found someone like she’s been trying so hard to convince him to. 

“I’m sorry. When he’s not working God only knows where he is. He’s been having a lot of issues lately. But I can tell him you stopped by,” she answers me too excitedly. 

“Oh, no. It’s fine,” I rush out, wishing I had never asked. The last thing I need is him finding out I was asking about him. 

“It’s no bother, really,” she persists. 

“Really, I can just come back later,” I tell her, still panicking and hoping she wouldn’t say anything but knowing she probably would since she kind of just let me in on personal information that he most likely wouldn’t appreciate her being so forthcoming with. 

I don’t give her a chance to keep insisting. I turn around and hurry out the door and away from the diner, deciding just to continue walking to no certain destination. I just want to run away until I can’t anymore.