Life Match

Day Seven

Day Seven
Jericho on the side

In the end I'd had a nightmare and had quietly moved back to the couch during the night. I wake up just in time to see Riah leaving the room. I count to five, then follow him down the hall. He unlocks a door at the very end and disappears inside. I lean on it and notice it’s cracked I peer in and Riah’s voice sounds from inside, “Might as well come in, Sage.”

I blush and open the door, “Hey.”

He grins, “Good morning my red haired ninja. I could hear you breathing.”

“Oh,” I look around and find myself surrounded by women’s clothing, “So this is where it was.”

Riah nods, “I was looking at what you might want to take with us to my father’s.”

He looks sad and I announce the obvious, “You don’t want to go?”

He shakes his head, “It’s not as simple as what I want Love. By the way, we’re eating dinner there.”

“What? I thought we had one more day,” I panic. You know when you’ve never met someone, but then someone describes them to you, and the idea of them makes your skin crawl? That’s the effect Riah’s reluctance was having on me.

“Come here,” He says. I go to him and he pulls me into a kiss. He hasn’t shaved yet and is chin scratches mine. He’s topless from what he sleeps in and I put my hands on his shoulders, feeling the muscles. Scary as it is, I’m afraid I’m becoming strangely okay with the thought of kissing him. Enjoying kissing him even.

I pull away and try to hide the panic in my eyes. He sees it anyway and I wonder if he’s learned to detect from all the times he’s messed with me or Jericho. Although I’m not sure if he’s in denial or just giving me benefit of the doubt, he assumes I’m still shaken by his father, “My father will love you, Sage. It’s me that he hates with a passion.”

He kisses me again, pulling me close. He lifts me onto the dresser, and I’m entrapped in the kiss. The same strangely good something rises in my belly again as it becomes much more heated than it had been before. An unfamiliar noise leaves my lips and I pull away, “Sorry.”

Riah chuckles, amused, “You’re fine. And don’t worry, we’ll be back here after our wedding to....” His voice trails off and I shiver, unexpectantly. Riah kisses my exposed shoulder, and I hop down from the dresser, desperately needing to escape him, “I have to start breakfast.”

Ava teaches me how to cook eggs, something I wasn’t aware had a method. She leaves as Riah joins us in the kitchen. I give him his plate, which he devours hungrily.

“What do you want to do today?” Riah asks when we’re finished.

“You can’t get mad when I tell you,” I say. He nods and I continue, “I want to tell Jericho goodbye.”

He bolts up from his chair, “Dammit! There’s no way in hell I’m letting you see him again!”

“You said you wouldn’t get mad!” I shout back. He eyes burn like coals into mine.

“It’s not a romantic one,” I offer, “Just a friendship one.”

He thinks it over, “Fine, but I have to be there.”

“You can be able to see me, but not within ear shot,” I say.

“Absolutely-“

I cut him off, “We’re doing this my way.”

He clenches his jaw and the same dark look he gets flashes across his eyes. He’ll give in, but it will most likely cost me something, “Fine.”