the devil's hold on riley jones

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We head out of my room together before going down the stairs and out the front door, I lock it as he walks over to his car and unlocks it, and sits in the driver's side. Once the door is secure I go and take my place in the passenger's side and he starts the car and begins the drive.

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The musty aroma of stale beer hit my nostrils what felt like minute's before my eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, which I tried to aid by subtly blinking several times. Having adjusted, my sight travelled to Conor, who not only didn't seem phased by the dingy surroundings, seemed to thrive in it, the light enveloped his silhouette, the smoke that permeated around him seemed to outline him in the most angelic way, which seemed ironic due to his bad-boy attitude and, well, the smoke was caused by the excessive amounts of cigarettes being burned around us.

I bet Conor would look super good smoking.

The thought alone seems to take me to a different planet as I aimlessly followed the dark-haired, demonic, angel ahead of me, causing me to go crashing, face first, into his muscle clad back when he came to an abrupt halt. I pull backwards with the hairs of my thick brows knitted together before subconsciously bringing my hand up to rub my now reddening nose. I then peer from behind his tall frame, nervously sending a smile to the small group of young adults, some I recognised from school, others seemed a tad older than us. Their faces all seem frozen for a second as I stood there waiting for at least someone to speak to me, all the while attempting to ignore the presumable 'what the fuck' look from Conor.

The silence was soon broken by a gorgeous red-haired guy, who stood from his seat as he spoke. "J-ses christ, I guess we can always count on you lot t' make someone feel welcome" his voice seemed to seep from his lips like honey, encased in a smooth southern Irish twang which could make any girl weak at the knees.

"I, personally, apologise for this sack of gobshites that I call my best friends, love, I promise they're not as ignorant as you probably t'ink they are" he continued, his dialect making him pronounce think 'tink' which continued to make my heart flutter. His comment caused everyone around the table to start bickering, I sent him a thankful smile which he responded to with a nod of his head and quick wink.

As if taking the beautiful auburn man's friendliness for flirtation, Conor's hand slid its self from the base of my spine the top of my shoulder furthest from him, before giving it a squeeze which was closer to a pinch. "Ow," I jumped as the sudden pain radiating from my shoulder leading to me turning to him with a pissed off expression on my features, this dropping instantly when he carried a look of warning laced with desperation. I silently forgave him which allowed his tense shoulders to slump and he averted his attention back to the group who had almost seemed to chatter amongst themselves during the exchange, all except for the redhead that is. "Right, um, thanks for that Damen, this is Riley, a few of you probably know her from school" He pauses his sentence allowing room for a few nods and 'yeah's to circulate, his attention, however, was no longer on the group, but now on me, his eyes seemed to hold a flicker of adoration, that's all it was though. A flicker. He blinked it away, his tough exterior taking over "Be nice to her, if you don't, I'll kick your ass. Got it?" he asked and got the same response of nods and 'yeah's. He cleared his throat with a stiff nod before turning back to me, his voice softening once everyone went back to talking amongst themselves. "What would you like to drink, darl'?" he asked, his body centimetres from mine and his large hand gripping lightly on my upper arm, his thumb rubbing softly, leaving heat under its touch. "Uh, I'm still 17, so I'll just have a glass of coke if that's okay?" I let out in a breath that was unknowingly caught in my throat. With the most alluring smile, I've ever seen, a beautiful sound lapped from his chest to his lips in the form of a chuckle. "You don't have to worry about ID doll, what would you like to drink?" this time his eyes bore into mine and the name of first beverage I could think of left my lips.