Sparks Reignited

28 | A Parent's Love

In the parking lot, Kyle is leaning against the hood of his car, texting on his phone. When he sees me approaching, he slides his phone into his pocket and pushes himself to meet me. A smile grows on his lips, but it doesn't last long. When he sees the odd expression that I'm wearing, tension immediately ripples through the muscles in his face and body.

He grasps my shoulders gently but worriedly. "Riley? What's wrong?"

I shake my head, but it's all that it takes to click in his head. "It's Taylor, isn't it?" he asks angrily. "What did he do to you? Did he hurt you?"

"He apologized," I say, but Kyle returns me with a look of disbelief. "Well, he sort of did, but his words didn't sit right."

He stares off into the distance, his dark, seething gaze searching the school grounds for his target. "Shall I punch him again? I'm dying to do it, hopefully a little harder this time."

I take his arm and tug him lightly towards the car door. "No, let's leave. I think I've seen enough drama for today."

He nods, easily giving in to my request. This is what I like about him—that underneath that tough demeanor, he's soft-hearted and respects my wishes. We get into the car and he starts the engine. I welcome the blast of cold air hitting my cheeks and neck because the weather outside is a little too warm for my liking.

As Kyle drives out of school, I gaze out of the window. Watching as shop houses and trees whizz by us in a blurry motion. Queues are forming outside the cafes, kids are skateboarding along the pavement and someone is playing a guitar on the street.

Apart from my earlier encounter, something else perturbs my mind. "About Taylor's scholarship–"

I'm cut off mid-sentence by Kyle as he drums his fingers on the driving wheel, frowning. "He told you about that?" he mulls thoughtfully. "I hope you aren't trying to persuade me to talk to Dad about that, because I'm not changing my mind. Not even if he gets to his knees and begs me."

So Taylor was right. He really did something about it. "No," I shake my head slowly. "I will not do that because I believe there are others out there who deserve the scholarship way more than he does. Instead, I'm just curious about something else that he has mentioned."

Kyle shoots me a curious sideway glance. "What is it?"

I pull my bottom lip between my teeth nervously. "About your family... You guys aren't part of the mafia, right?"

The car stops at a red light. He turns to stare at me for a long minute. The expression in his eyes is deadly serious. "What about it?"

I gasp. "Hang on a sec—I'm right?!"

"Is that going to be a problem?"

"No—yes!" I hold up a thumb and two fingers on both hands, mimicking guns. "You guys run around and carry these?"

He stares at me for two seconds before bursting out in laughter and ruffling my hair. "Oh Riley, why are you so adorably innocent? What have you been watching lately?"

Redness blooms across my cheeks. I realize that he's teasing me and I ramble nonsensically. "It's Uncle Dave's fault. He was watching this movie last night. The mafia did drug trading under the disguise of a freight forwarding company. I saw them pulling out guns and shooting at people," I gulp, not realizing that I'm babbling. "It was horribly gore with all the blood splattering—"

Kyle laughs harder. "Babe, my family isn't like that. We don't do those things. If you're thinking of men in black suits carrying suitcases of cash, maybe. But guns? We don't have those."