Riker stormed out of the ice cream shop. I followed after him.
“Are you serious?!” He almost shouted at me.
“What’s the matter with you?” I said, looking around to see if we were attracting any outside attention. Thankfully, we weren’t.
“What’s the matter with me? What’s the matter with you? You can’t be serious dating Dylan.” Riker said. His words made me stumble back a bit.
“Dylan changed.” I mumbled.
“You actually believe he changed? Do you not understand, Hayley? You almost killed yourself because of what he said to you about two weeks ago and now your prancing around holding his hand and what not. This is low, even for you.” He said angrily.
“Excuse me? Dylan apologized sincerely and I believed him. He told me what really happened. I’ve known him forever, and I know when he really means something.” I put my hand on Riker’s shoulder. “Riker, he means it.” I said. He shook it off almost instantly. That made me angry.
“What is so wrong about me being with Dylan?!” I said. Riker looked me in the eyes.
“Because I lov-“ He stopped and his gaze dropped down. “Because I care about you. I don’t want to see you hurt or broken ever again.” He said, softly. Carefully, I touched Riker’s cheek.
“You trust me. Am I correct?” I asked.
“Of course.” He answered.
“And I trust that Dylan won’t even do what he did to me again.” I said. Riker covered my hand with his own.
“I hope you’re right.” Riker said so quietly I had to strain to hear him.
A couple of minutes later, me and Riker went inside. Dylan was standing there, still holding my ice cream.
“Hey.” He said while we came in.
“Hi.” I said. I nudged Riker in the arm. “Riker, would you like to say something to Dylan?” Riker grunted a little.
“Listen. I’m sorry bro. I’m just very protective over Hayley. She means a lot to me.” Riker said to Dylan. Dylan nodded and used his free hand to shake Riker’s.
“It’s ok dude. I understand.” Dylan said. I smiled and then went to Dylan’s side.
“Here’s your ice cream.” Dylan said. I took it from him.
“Thanks.”
“Anything for you, baby.” He said. Dylan bent down to kiss my cheek gently. I couldn’t help notice the jealously that glinted in Riker’s eyes.
“So, I’ll text you later, Riker?” I said, changing the subject.
“Yeah sure.” Riker answered. “I’ll see you around.”
With that, Riker left. I couldn’t shake the picture of Riker’s sad face out of my mind.
