Howling to the Heart (1)

23.

   "HEY, Riah?" Scott drawled, stopping beside me. "Can we talk for a second?"

Turning my phone off, I looked up at him with a small smile. "Yeah, sure," I answered, and waited until he walked ahead of me before I followed. "Is it about the full moon? You need someone to talk to? Because in all honesty, I'm not sure what more advice I can give you for tonight other than don't kill anyone."

When we walked into Coach's office, he closed the door behind us. "Just, uh, I needed to ask you something," he admitted.

"Oh, God," I groaned, leaning back against the desk. "We aren't having another talk about safe sex, right?"

Shaking his head, he looked down at his feet. "No, that's not it," he quickly objected, standing beside me. "Do you...Do you know if Allison still likes me?"

Now that...I was not expecting. "Um, well, I'm not exactly good with her at the moment." I shrugged, holding back a cringe at his hopeful smile. "But I would say she does."

"Really?" he breathed.

Nervously, I scratched the back of my neck. "She'll always like you," I gently said. "As friends. I think for a while, you'll only be friends. But you never know," I added, this time cringing as his face dropped.

"Just friends," he slowly repeated, blinking hard.

Ah, jeeze.

How the hell could I save this?

"Look," I started, pushing away from the desk with my back to him as I thought about my next words carefully. "I think she made a big mistake. I know, just like Stiles knows, that you locked us in there to protect us," I explained, nodding to myself. "Yeah, I may still be a little pissed about the Derek situation, but you were trying to protect our werewolf secret and also protect everyone else. In all honesty, Allison should be grateful that you risked your life for her."

"Are you grateful?" he lowly asked.

Turning around, I startled a step back from how close he was to me. "Of course I'm grateful," I mused. "Still pissed, but also grateful."

For a long moment, he just stared at me with an unreadable expression, making my smile falter.

"Are you okay—"

My whole world stopped when he literally smashed his lips on mine, making my eyes flare wide as my heart stopped.

What in the fuck?

Scott McCall, one of my closest friends, had his lips on mine.

This was wrong.

So, so wrong.

A sour taste filled my stomach, and extreme discomfort rushed through my body as he pushed his lips harder against my frozen ones, grabbing my waist.

My discomfort quickly turned into anger as I shoved my palms into his chest, pushing him away from me. "What is wrong with you?" I demanded, wiping the back of my hand across my lips. "You fucking asshole, McCall!" I snapped before punching him straight in the nose. "You can't just kiss a girl like that!" Shoving him away again, he groaned, grabbing his bleeding nose. "Ask for consent, you bastard! I don't know if this is your or the full moon, but don't you ever do that shit to me again," I warned, shoving him over the desk before storming out.

Keeping my head down, I wiped my hand across my mouth again and again as disgust and nausea churned in my stomach.

Why would he do that and why to me?

After all these years of friendship, he did that to me.

Did I lead him on?

Did I say something wrong?

"Riah!" Stiles called out to me, and I looked up, seeing him waving from the bench with a smile.

I wanted to wave back.

I wanted to smile.

But I couldn't think.

Scott just kissed me when I liked Stiles.

Shit, was this going to mess with our friendships?

"You okay?" he asked me, standing up from the bench as I stopped in front of him, those hazel eyes full of concern. "You look pale. Did you eat something bad?"

Giving him a small fake smile, I shook my head. "I'm okay," I lied, holding my hand out to him. "Could I have the house keys? I'm gonna go home and study."

"You're not gonna stay for practice?" he asked, and I shook my head. Quickly, he fished out his house keys from his bag and went to put them in my hand, but stopped. "Riah, what happened? Your hands are shaking." He lifted his hand up slowly and then gently rubbed his thumb near my lips. "Your lipstick is a little smudged, sorry."

Shit. Shit. Shit.

Looking down at my hands, I saw that they were, in fact, shaking. "Nothing," I rushed out, taking his keys from him. "Uh, tonight I'm gonna just stay home. Probably a good idea that I'm not there when Scott turns."

Both his brows flew to the top of his head. "I thought it would be better if you were there?" he stated with a concerned look. "Riah, can you please tell me what's wrong?"

"Stiles, nothing's wrong," I said with a small laugh. "I gotta go, but I'll see you at home later." Giving him a small smile, I walked away before he could stop me.