Solitary

00; home

"Riley?"

He didn't spare her a glance. Sat at the edge of the bed, Riley was hunched over, shoving his feet into cheap, squeaky sneakers.

"Where are you going?"

Riley looked back at the woman, eyes briefly grazing over her disheveled hair then flitting to follow her fists as she tried to rub the drowsiness from her eyes. She moved to sit against the pillows strewn against the headboard and the sheets moved with her, slipping down her bare form until they were barely clinging to cover her naked bust.

She was beautiful. Even in the dim room, with only the glow of her alarm clock and a distant hallway light bouncing off her skin, the ambiance she created with it was nearly breathtaking. Almost enough for him to want to stay with this stranger who he knew all too well without really knowing her at all.

It made him sick, so he turned his attention back to his shoes.

He yanked at the laces. Pulled them taught. Wrapped one loop around the other and pulled them into a messy bow before moving to the next. He was well-rehearsed in this routine, almost as expert as he was at slithering into women's hearts with sweet words and gentle murmurs. With a seductive touch and promises of the world dripping like honey from his tongue, Riley had learned how to get what he wanted for a night.

"Riley?" She murmured again, sickly sweet. It made Riley's stomach churn worse. "Come back to bed," she pleaded, reaching a hand towards him. The tips of her fingers grazed his naked shoulder and set fire in their wake. Her touch hardened his gaze, and from it, he recoiled until he had pushed away from the bed and stood at the end of it. He kicked around blindly in the dark until he felt the discarded lump of his hoodie push back. With growing haste, he snatched it from the floor and shouldered into it.

"A run," he said gruffly, glancing at her over his shoulder. "I'm going for a run."

"At this-" her eyes moved to the clock beside the bed, 3:00 a.m. glaring back at her. He saw the way her brows drew together, wished he felt something for her so he could smooth out the wrinkle between them with his thumb. Wished he cared enough to strive for that comfortable normalcy. "At this hour? It's— What time will you be back? I'll turn the porch light on for you."

It drew a rough scoff from his lips, a harsh contradiction to the mantra of sweet nothings he'd whispered in her ear hours before. She balked at the sound.

"Don't wait up, sweetheart," he said. His eyes lingered on her face, trailed over the body which the sheets cascaded over like a gentle waterfall. She was everything he wanted to want. Maybe in another life, at another time, he'd abandon his solitude and crawl back under her sheets, wrap himself in the warm security of her embrace. Maybe he'd even let her make him breakfast and fall in love with him.

He huffed to cover the wistful sigh that threatened to crawl from his chest and brought his hand to his mouth. His lips smacked obnoxiously against his palm before he held it out and blew her a kiss. Her brows knit themselves closer together, her own lips parting to voice her confusion, but Riley spun on his heels and left before she could.

Left the sanctity of the bedroom, the goddess inside it, and everything good about her; everything secure and warm and loving. Everything he didn't want but wished he did.

As he stepped onto the little porch framed by a picture-perfect lawn and guarded by a white-picket fence, he paused to take a deep breath of the crisp, early morning air. It burned his lungs, scraped his throat raw, and whistled past his teeth as he blew it out in a warm cloud of breath. Little tremors began in his fingertips as he blew out, inched up his arms until they grew into shakes that forced his feet forward in an unceremonious stumble down the porch steps.

In the middle of her pristine lawn, Riley burst into a beast. Shredded clothes and torn sneakers littered the sharp grass and hung from the tulips in her flowerbed like ornaments. He shook his wiry fur free of the rest, and in three long strides, cleared the height of her fence in a graceful leap. With a raucous symphony of neighborhood dogs barking and howling sounding in his ears, Riley trotted down the suburban sidewalk, his nose leading him to the only thing he truly loved.

Freedom. Home. 

***

sheeeeeeesh guess what's getting a rewrite ;3

I remembered Wattpad was a thing and decided to pick up these middle-school characters again, haha. I'm working toward my English degree so I've been super motivated to write. This won't be abandoned again! There's like a whole outline for it this time and I'm really excited for Riley's story to unfold. 

Anyways, hope anyone who stumbles across this loved this wolf hooligan like me <3 Can't wait to introduce the rest of the characters

please let me know what you think!! smooches :)