Kiss Me Katie (Complete)

Chapter 24

Katie

I tried to eat the dinner Annie had brought to our room, but everything tasted like cardboard. According to Joel, Riley still hadn't returned to the Academy, and my stomach was in knots worrying about him. Fine, I got that he didn't want to talk to – or see – me, but why hadn't he at least come back to the school?

I was still lost in the irony of being rejected because of who I was. That was definitely one for the books. Giving up on trying to eat, I moved the plate to the bedside table, sliding back down under the blankets and staring at the ceiling.

Okay, maybe it was time to put things back into perspective. I'd missed an entire day of classes — for what? So I could wallow in misery all day over some guy I'd only known a week?

Idiot.

Moron.

Sook.

Get over yourself and move on.

I picked up my iPad and tried to get back into the book I'd started reading before I left home. Reading had so not been a priority since I'd met...

I gave up pretending to read when I realised I'd read the same sentence ten times and still had no idea what it said. Sighing, I put the iPad carefully back in the drawer, somehow resisting the urge to hurl it against the wall like I wanted to.

I just couldn't get the look on Riley's face before he left out of my head. Damnit... who was I trying to kid? No way was he just 'some-guy-I'd-met-a-week-ago'. I'd thought we found something special. And I'd stupidly thought he felt the same way.

Damnit... there needed to be a tap you could just turn 6ff to stop loving someone.

Because let's face it, I was totally in love with Riley Stone.

Just the thought of not being able to talk and laugh with him every day, with no right to touch or kiss him, made me want to curl up in a ball and never get up.

I jumped at the soft knock on the door, my blood turning to ice.

What if it was Riley?

Did I even want to see him?

Or for him to see me like this?

I must look like something-the-cat-dragged-in after spending the entire day in bed crying. But then, why would it matter how I looked? For once, it wasn't my looks that had turned a guy off. Besides, it was probably just Joel running another errand for Annie. At least, that was his excuse. They'd taken turns checking on me all day.

"Yeah, come in... it's open." I rolled over and faced the wall again. "And before you ask, I'm fine. Just grab whatever it is and go."

"Katie?"

It was Riley.

I froze, torn between wanting him to stay and telling him to leave. I heard him sit down on the office chair, his breathing erratic, as if he'd been running. I stayed perfectly still, not that I would have been able to move if I wanted to. Every muscle in my body felt like it had shut down.

What was he even doing here?

And what was I supposed to say to him?

Riley gave a huge sigh. "Okay, I get that you don't want to look at me. But can you please just listen?" The pain in his voice made my heart ache even more. He sounded like he'd been through the wringer just as much as I had. But I still didn't move, waiting for him to explain why he'd walked away and left me here alone all day.