The Bet

Chapter 28

Riley's POV

I lie my head on James's chest as my eyes began to get heavy. I just had gotten comfortable when James abruptly jolted up.

"Sorry Riles, but I need to get going now." He says.

"Do you have to?" I ask sadly.

"I do." He replies. He cups my face in his hands, kissing my forehead as I close my eyes. He lets his lips linger for a little while before pulling away.

"I'll show you out." I sigh, standing up and began leading him down the stairs and to the front door.

We stop in the living room.

"Thank you for having me." James says.

"No problem. Your welcome to come anytime." Dad replies.

"And nice meeting everyone." James adds, looking in at everyone. They share a chorus of goodbyes, and than I'm back to leading James out.

"Sorry I had to go." James apologizes.

"It's fine. It's getting late anyway." I sigh. He leans closer, putting his hands on my waist.

"I got football practice tomorrow, but I'll see you Monday. Okay?" He tells me. I sigh, but than smile.

"Okay." I finally say. He leans down, giving me a small peck on the lips and than he's gone.

~~~~~

James's POV

I didn't want to leave Riley's. Heck, if I had it my way, I would've stayed there with her all night.

But while Riley was almost asleep on my chest, West texted me telling me to meet at his place right now. So, I had to pry myself away from Riley, and now I need to drive to his house and make it look like I'm not annoyed that I had to leave, or I was actually enjoying my evening with Riley.

"The boys are downstairs." West's mother tells me when I knock on the door.

"Alright, thanks." I reply and make my way downstairs.

"Hey man!" West calls out when I enter the basement.

"Hey guys." I reply. I take a seat in a brown leather and try to watch the football game that the guys had on, until West turns it off.

"Hey!" I snap.

"How was supper at Riley's?" West asks, ignoring my anger over turning off the game to go with making me leave my girlfriend's house.

"Fine." I groan.

"So, tell us the dirty details." Eldon says.

"Dirty details?" I mimic.

"Look, here's a perk to the bet. You can find out all the little embarrassing things about her, you'll tell us, we'll have a laugh over it, and when you break up with her, than you get to make fun of her." West says excitedly.

My heart sinks a little. There was no way I could make fun of Riley.
Breaking up with her after this bet is a thought I've been dreading, but than making her life a living nightmare?

"Well, there isn't really any 'dirty details'." I tell them.

"C'mon man. There's got to be something." Eldon persists. I sigh.

"Well, you know that old house we broke into a couple years ago?" I ask. They nod. "Well that's where she lives."

"Wow, they really are broke, aren't they?" West laughs. Eldon joins him, and I had to find it in myself to laugh too.

Okay, I can do this. I can do this.

"Did I tell you that she works at the coffee shop because her family's so poor?" I ask them. They laugh as I carry on with the details.

"Oh, and don't mention to her about her previous boyfriends." I tell them.

"Why not?" They ask.

"Because they don't exist!" I laugh. They join me, begging for more.

"That's it." I say.

"C'mon man, what else has she told you?" Eldon asks.

"I told you, that's it." I tell them.

"There's got to be something else." West perisists.

I take a deep breath, preparing them for something I would never mock.

"Her mom died of cancer a couple years ago, but she gets extremely upset when you talk the littlest bit about it." I tell them, emphasizing 'extremely' and 'littlest'. They just kind of chuckle, but I never made a sound.