Cold and Charisma (BoyxBoy)

Chapter Ten

At every red light, at every stop, sometimes even when the road was empty, I'd use the chance to just stare at the blond next to me—at his nonchalant expression as he gazed out of the window, his fingers twitching slightly as he crossed his arms, at the way some of his hair fell over his eye as he leaned his head against the car window.

I couldn't help it—he looked so perfect. I don't think I've ever wanted to stare at someone as much as I wanted to stare at him.

"Eyes on the road, idiot," he snarled, turning his annoyed gaze toward me. I chuckled and said, "Right, sorry."

Riley scoffed at my reply and went back to looking outside. The car remained silent for a bit, with only the music from the speakers cutting the tension between us.

"Are we almost there yet?" he asked, like a kid impatiently asking their parents. His aggravated tone made me smile even more. He sounded so sassy, so irritated—it was adorable.

"Mhm," I said, keeping my response short.

"Wipe that stupid smile off your face," he said bluntly, straightening up in his seat to look at me, arms still crossed.

I softened my smile and glanced at him briefly. "Can't help it when you're around," I replied gently, focusing back on the road. Once again, I heard his familiar annoyed scoff. Now, he turned his body slightly to look at me. Although I was still focused on the road, my mind was elsewhere. You could probably guess where it was at.

"I don't get it," Riley started, "Why do you wanna get to know me so bad?" A low, faint chuckle escaped my lips at his curiosity, "Because, Riley," I stopped the car at the red light, and turned my head to look back at him, "You're interesting."

I watched with an amused grin as he threw his hands up, annoyed with me. "Interesting? Really? You must be desperate for entertainment if you think I'm interesting," he shot back, rolling his eyes dramatically. "I bet you're just waiting for me to mess up so you can have something to laugh about."

My smile faltered for a second. Did he actually think that was the only reason why I wanted to be around him? I didn't know what to think of his response. I shook my head, a soft smile playing on my lips.

"No, Riley, it's not like that," I said, my voice gentle. "I wanna get to know you better, maybe even be friends."

I paused for a moment, my eyes flicking between the road and him. "Maybe it's because you're different from the other people at Saint Arthur's," I continued, my tone sincere. "Or maybe it's because beneath the front you put up, I can see glimpses of someone worth knowing."

I glanced at him again, my smile growing softer. "Either way, I'm not waiting for you to mess up. I'm just enjoying the ride with you."

The car grew silent. No scoffs, no exasperated sighs, nothing. Just the sounds of the radio pulsing silently through the car, with the sound of the wind passing us from my open window. Either Riley had nothing to say, or didn't want to say anything at all.

The red light that once appeared brightly above turned green after some seconds of an uncomfortable silence, and I pressed my foot on the pedal again. From my right, I could hear him shifting around in his seat, along with the quiet thud that came from him when he leaned his head against the window again.

You could cut the tension between us with a knife. I knew I had to say something, anything to not make things awkward for him. After all, I was the one who told him I wanted him to give me a chance, and I was going to keep my promise of making it fun for him.

"Have you ever been to the beach?" I asked him, glancing over for a second with a slight smile. "No." He responded bluntly. I could tell that he didn't want to continue our conversation, and shut it down whenever it even began to arise. But I wasn't going to back down.