The Bet

Chapter 56

Riley's POV

I sit at the kitchen table, a cup of tea in my hand. I was hoping it would sooth me and relieve my stress, but it wasn't.

"Penny for you thoughts?" I hear my dad say as he takes a seat across from me. I shrug.

"I don't know if I should go with Emily or stay here." I admit.

"Yeah, I figured that's what you were thinking about." He sighs.

"Do you want me to go?" I ask.

"Of course I don't want you to go Riley. But I do think that it would be better for you to go." He confesses.

"I don't want to go either, but I do want to have a fresh start living with Emily." I sigh.

"Did you tell James?" He asks. I nod sadly.

"Yeah, this evening." I reply.

"What did he say?" He asks.

"He said he will support my decision, but he still doesn't want me to go." I tell him. He nods.

"I see." He replies. "And do you want to leave him?"

"No, of course not. But like I said, I still kind of want to go with Emily."

"I understand." He replies. I sigh, rubbing my eyes tiredly.

"What should I do dad?" I ask.

"I can't tell you what to do Riley. But you have a few days to think about it. So keep thinking." He smiles weakly as he stands up from the table and up the stairs.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I walked along the chain linked fence as I peered onto the field where James and the rest of the football players were practicing. It was a bright and sunny Sunday morning, the air clean and fresh.

James's POV

"Aw, James got a visitor." West teased as we were taking a break. I cocked my head to the side and seen Riley standing outside the fencing. I smile to myself as I start jogging over to her. I hear my team teasing me but I don't care. Riley's smile grows as I approach her.

"Hey." She says sweetly.

"Hey, what are you doing here this early?" I ask.

"I shift down at the cafe later so I figured I'd just drop I and see you." She explains.

"Thanks." I reply. "I got a game tomorrow actually. Can you come?"

"Well I'm not working, so I guess I can make it." She replies.

"Great, I-"

"James!" I hear my coach call out.

"I got to go, but I'll talk to you later." I tell her.

"Yeah, see you later." She says. We kiss through the gap in the chain linked fence, and than I'm off to practice again. I glance back as I jog back to centre field, and watch the short girl's figure walk out of the field.