It all started with a game

Chapter 21.2

I tried to hate you, to forgive you, all just to forget you, but I'm only capable of loving you. You're tattooed onto my skin, and the more I try to erase you, the deeper you sink in.
~Mirella Muffarotto

Chapter 21.2
Beatrice's POV
I made my way down the driveway, running away from my house and my mother as quickly as I could. The wind nipped at my skin making me wish I'd grabbed a coat before storming out of the house but my pride was too large to go back in and get one. I wrapped my arms around myself, the thin material of my dress not at all warming. I shivered, my teeth chattering. I should have grabbed a jacket.

As if on cue, a coat draped over my shoulders, the warmth of sea salt and rum surrounding me. I took in a long breath, letting my shoulders sink under the weight of the suit jacket. Ryder fell into stride with me. "Here, I thought you might want it." He held out my book to me.

I stared at my usual escape, hundreds of words on a few sheets of paper that always seemed to sooth me and yet they couldn't feel more unappealing at the moment. I passed the book, intertwining my fingers with his instead. Ryder took a moment to respond before letting the hand carrying my book fall loosely to his side. I held onto his biceps with my other hand as I let my head fall against his shoulder. "You wanna walk to the park?" I asked softly.

He squeezed my hand. "Yeah, I do."

We walked in a comfortable silence, listening to the whispers of the wind as it brushed through the tree. I watched my feet as I tried to keep from stepping on the cracks of the sideways, the task quickly becoming very tedious. "How long are we gonna keep this up for?" I whispered, not sure if I truly wanted to hear the answer.

"Keep what up?" Ryder matched my voice, feeling no need to hold our conversation between anyone else besides the two of us.

"This, us, the game." How long would it last? How many more nights did I get to pretend this was real? How many more hours did I have till I needed to shut him out, to keep my soul from tearing in half when this ends?

"Until someone loses."

Oh, so not very long. "And if no one loses?"

He grinned, pulling me closer to him. "Then I guess you're stuck with me forever."

That, that, I wouldn't terribly mind.

"Maybe it's the dress," I blurted out, trying to change the subject.

"What's the dress?"

I gestured down to my attire, the same one I'd worn to meet his mother, which didn't go quite as well as it could have. "Maybe it's like a bad omen or something, it just knows the night is going to go poorly. Or maybe it is the bad luck, it's the reason we can never seem to meet the parents well."

Ryder took my words into consideration. "You have a point. I think we're gonna have to burn the dress."

"Agreed, it's the only way to get rid of the bad luck."

The park came into view, slightly run down and most certainly a safety hazard for small children. I pulled on Ryder's arm. "Come on, let's swing."

It should have been no shocker that when I dragged Ryder onto the swings he had no clue how to use them. I watched as Ryder sat on the swing awkwardly trying to push himself and clearly not understanding the basic physics that we all learned on the elementary school playground that was how to keep yourself swinging without putting your feet on the ground. I blinked rapidly, just staring at him. "You've never been on a swing before, have you?" I should have known, I mean the guy sleeps without a blanket.