Page 71 of Broken Lies
“I know things have been strained since that kiss,” I say to break the silence. “Maybe we should talk about it?”
Riley doesn’t say anything right away, and I glance down to see her chewing on her bottom lip.
“Probably,” she mumbles.
“I’ll go first.”
She looks up at me, eyes wide open.
“I felt rejected by the way you ended the kiss. I was sure there was some kind of connection there, and I thought that you felt it too.”
Her eyes drop to the ground as her shoulders slump, but she says nothing as we continue to walk.
“Was I wrong?” I press.
She shakes her head slowly before glancing up at me beneath her lashes.
“No… You weren’t wrong. I stopped it because I was scared of where things were going.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Adding intimacy to a fake relationship is just asking for trouble. Lines become blurred, and someone ends up getting hurt, and I can’t afford to be that person.”
“You think I would hurt you?”
“I think youcould.”
Those words gut me in a way I don’t expect.
I exhale slowly as I rub the back of my neck, the tension starting to settle back in my shoulders.
“Look… I get it. You want boundaries to protect yourself. So, we’ll keep things clean and above board if that’s what you want.”
“It is.”
“Then, it’s settled. We are merely friends without benefits,” I tease, and Riley rolls her eyes.
She might think she has me fooled, but I can see the flicker of doubt in her eyes. What she’s really worried about is getting her heart broken by me, and I can’t promise her I won’t, no matter how much I wish I could.
