Once Bitten

Part Twenty-One

The next morning Riley came and knocked on my door, "Mae?" "Its open." He opened the door "I'm going to the feed store on the other side of town we need to stock up on horse feed if there is any there." "Alright, I'll be out in a couple minutes." He left the room shutting the door behind him. I got up and pulled my hair back in a ponytail and got changed. When I left the room Riley was outside letting the horses out of the shed. I went ahead and got into the passenger side of his truck and waited for him. When he got in he put the key in the ignition and held it there then looked over to me. "Look, I really am sorry." "I said it was ok.." "you don't make it seem like its okay, you keep giving me the silent treatment." "I just have nothing to say." He sighed, "I don't want things to be awkward between us. Its just something about you.. something in you reminds me of.. her. I let my heart get the best of me in that moment that I had you against me I.. well I thought I had her in my arms again.." his eyes started to water up and he put his head down on the steering wheel. I scooted closer to him and put my arm over his back, resting my head on his shoulder. "Its okay, Riley. For a moment I thought I saw Chris in your eyes but then I blinked and realized he wasn't there he never will be. I came to realize that, you'll have to too." He turned to me and put his face on my neck and I just held him tightly. He pulled his face away, "I'm just glad I have a friend like you now to help me pull through." I scooted back to my seat and smiled at him. He started the truck and we headed on our way to get horse feed. The whole ride me and Riley talked and joked around, things were back to normal between us.