Mismatched

Ch. 20

I woke up the next morning in Riley's bed, still holding him close to my body.

Our bare skin was pressed against each other, feeling the warmth of his body. I rested my head in his hair, breathing him in, knowing it might be the last time. I didn't want to let him go.

Nothing could prepare me for what the events of today would hold. Nothing would ever be the same.

I thought about skipping, about just leaving the store closed today. I thought about just running away, ignoring all my responsibilities. Like suggesting to Riley that we go on a faraway vacation, so that he wouldn't see Jack come through as his match.

Riley's alarm went off again, and I immediately stopped it, but he stirred. He turned around to face me, our lips just barely an inch apart.

"You have to go to work," he said, wiping his eyes. I rested my forehead against his.

"I don't want to," I replied, pulling him closer to me and wrapping my arms around him tighter.

"You have to," Riley persisted, his voice muffled by the fact his face was pressed into my chest.

"I'll still be here when you're done," he said, and I wanted to believe him. But he was existing in a different timeline. One where I was going to go to work at my engineering job and be done at 6:30pm to come back home to him.

I was existing in reality, where I was going to Judy's matchmaking business and fixing the blank field on his profile and Jack's, inevitably causing them to match with each other.

Nothing would ever be the same.

Judy wouldn't find out. Riley would be happier with someone better, who could offer him more than I ever could. And I would just be quietly heartbroken. And the cherry on top was that I'd have to drag myself to family dinner, which was the last place I wanted to be.

But I tried to push all of that from my mind, because I had only a few promised moments left with Riley.

I wanted to hope he would choose me, that he would call Judy's matchmaking and say he rejected their match, that he was already happy. But even then, our relationship was built on a foundation of lies, and he'd made it clear how much he valued honesty, and how hard trust was for him.

He would never forgive me.

"Do you promise?" I asked. Riley shifted in my arms, sensing something was off. He looked up at me, searching my eyes for a clue as to what was going on inside.

"What?" Riley questioned, reaching a hand up to touch my face. His hand ran down my cheek, my jaw line, and stayed there, just cradling my face in his hand.

"Do you promise that you'll still be here when I'm done work?"

"I mean, I might shower. But if it means so much to you, I can put myself back in bed before you get back." Riley laughed playfully, planting kisses on my bare chest.

My heart ached at his response, knowing he had no idea what was to come, and it would only make it that much more painful.

"You're being weird," he commented, raising a finger up to trace imaginary lines across my face, finally tapping me on the nose. I mustered up a small smile.

I felt a lump forming in my throat, making it difficult to get out any words. "Just tired," I lied.

Riley's expression shifted to concern. "You didn't sleep well? Did I snore?"

I chuckled at his concern, brushing a strand of hair back from his face. "No, you were perfect. You slept so peacefully."

Riley's eyebrows furrowed and his demeanour shifted. He could tell there was something I wasn't saying.