Unanswered Questions

Three

James

"Yo man" West said as soon as I approached the three idiots later in the evening. Riley had been pulled off to somewhere with Angela. I'd spent almost the entire evening with her and honestly it only proved my point that she really does not belong here
Now I'm not saying I mind her here, because I don't but this place is not the nicest for someone like here 
All it'll take is the wrong guy making a move and she could run scared
Or worse, someone could take that sweet innocent nature of hers for granted..

"How was Riley?" Eldon smirked making me roll my eyes
"She was good, she didn't think she was welcome because of someone" I said making Hunter look at me with his jaw dropped
"I apologised man, I didn't mean I swear" he groaned
"well have you apologised to her yet?" West asked making Hunter shake his head before getting up and heading in her direction 

Hunter never apologises for anything, so the three of us sat there watching in awe. This was a rarity and a half

"Quick someone document this" Eldon laughed as Hunter came back over to us, Hunter glared at Eldon hitting him in the head as he passed earning a snigger from all of us 
"What did she say?" I asked
"She said that I didn't need to apologise you assholes" He pouted making me roll my eyes
"that's because she's a sweetheart Hunter. You needed to apologise whether Riley wanted it or not" West explained making both Eldon and I nod
"Yeah yeah, it's done am I back in everyone's good graces now?" He asked making all of us shrug
"I was kind of enjoying the Hunter void not going to lie" I said earning Hunter to throw a pillow at me again, giving him credit he didn't hit me this time 

--

The later into the evening it got, the more rowdy people got. At this point most of the uptight staff had called it a night or gone home, I'm pretty sure the only people left were Riley, Angela and Tony. 
None of them were going to pull the plug on this unless we were in danger
The bonfire was in full spring with people dancing to music around the fire
Everything looked like it had no end in sight, Hunter had somehow snuck some alcohol into this place so he was almost wasted with West and Eldon was probably not far behind 

"James come on!" Jess one of the little kids called pulling me towards the fire where a group of the little kids were dancing with Riley which apparently also meant that a lot of the older boys were up for dancing too

Riley looked over at me offering me a small smile, but it wasn't her usual one. This one wasn't sincere, it had something behind it 
Almost like she was scared of something..

"You okay?" I whispered holding her arm slightly so she knew I was talking directly to her, she looked over her shoulder for a moment before turning back to me
"Are they a problem?" I asked watching as Riley started to bite her lip
"Ri. Have they done something?" I asked again but she shook her head
"No, I swear. I, uh they just won't leave me alone I guess" She said fiddling with her hands, I shook my head at her taking a hold of her hands pulling her towards me as we continued to dance 

I looked up over at the boys bothering her, the faces I was greeted with didn't surprise me at all. These boys were known for causing a problem 
Usually I could call Hunter, Eldon and West over as back up but that wasn't an option right now with the position they are all in

"Hey Riley, Joey is gonna give you a ride home whenever you are ready" Angela said making Riley's body tense up as soon as Angela motioned to one of the boys in front of us right now
"I uh" she mumbled
"It's okay Angie, I'll take her home. I told Ri that I would show her the bike anyway" I explained making Riley shift to look at me
"you did?" Angela said with a furrowed brow
"Yeah, Riley's a little dare devil really" I winked at Angela making her roll her eyes at me before turning to Riley

"Are you sure sweetheart? I don't want it to be uncomfortable for you" Angela said not realising that making her ride in the car with Joey would do just that
"I'm sure" Riley said offering her a smile which was enough for Angela to be satisfied

"So uh, bike?" Riley asked making me chuckle with a nod taking a hold of her hand guiding her through the crowd towards the garage.

When my Dad passed away, he left everything to Tina. Everything but one thing, his bike
He was a fanatic for it, to the point he made both Piper and I fall in love with them too
"Woah" Riley said the moment I pulled the tarp off of the bike. I don't use it very often, I think in the years I've been here I've used it twice maybe? 
"Wait, you want us to ride that?" Riley asked making me chuckle
"Nah I just wanted us to stare at it" I said before moving closer leaning down near her ear
"If you stare at it hard enough Ri, we'll teleport" I said earning an eyeroll from her

"how are we supposed to, I mean I- I don't know James. It doesn't look safe" Riley panicked
"Hey, I would never put your in a position where you weren't safe Riley" I said handing her a helmet, the heavy duty one the driver is supposed to wear
I would prefer to use the less protective one with Riley on the back, just to give her a little bit more safety 

"James, I don't know" Riley said as I pushed the bike out to the driveway, I turned to look at her with a smile 
Hoping that would help a little but I don't know if it did 

"What if something happens" She asked
"All you have to do is hold on tight Ri, I promise nothing bad will happen" I said before taking a step towards her

"You don't know me well but I promise you. I would never do anything to intentionally hurt you" I said softly taking a hold of both of her hands so she would stop fidgeting with them, she looked up at me with her hazels eyes holding on to a small glimmer of hope she had 
"okay" was all she said before giving my hands a small squeeze 

She was trusting me, which clearly was a big step in the right direction