Page 117 of Ride or Die

“Why not? The more the merrier.”

Riley laughed harder, and Saint’s eyes twinkled.

“You are sheer chaos.”

Kristi beamed at him and blew a kiss. He shook his head with a quiet smile.

“Clothes are in the dresser,” Saint said and he met Riley’s eyes with a long look before he closed the bedroom door. His footsteps faded, and there was a low murmur of voices.

Riley turned onto her side, aware of how… mostly naked she was. And how little that bothered her.

“K, what was that?” she asked, their foreheads almost touching as they looked at each other. “Is this what we’re doing now?”

Kristi’s mouth quirked into a lazy grin. “I love you, you love me, Saint’s hot. What’s the problem?”

Riley searched her eyes for an answer to a question she didn’t know. “But… we’re friends.”

“Bed friends.”

She rolled her eyes at Kristi’s smile. “Maybe the three of us need to talk,” she said, pulling the covers higher. “You and I definitely do.”

Kristi smiled but didn’t say anything, and she looked around the room like the minimalist space was incredibly interesting.

Tension stole the lassitude from Riley’s body, bit by bit.

“What are we doing, K? Is this… what you want?” And if so, for how long? And why now?

Kristi’s hand slid over Riley’s and unknotted her fingers from the duvet. She kept the same lazy grin, but something distant entered her gaze. “Babe, don’t overthink it. It’s just sex.”

Something painful lodged in Riley’s chest. She didn’t want to look too closely at it.

Kristi looked at her. The normally striking blue of her eyes was a thin band around her pupils.

Her pupils were too big.

“You’re still high,” Riley breathed. She jerked back.

Wheeler had said that after the fluids Kristi needed to sleep it off, that dangerous symptoms weren’t present.

“I don’t have a fever.” Kristi pushed Riley’s hand off her forehead. “It just took the edge off. Gio put some good shit in that drink.” She grinned too wide.

“Kristi…” Images flashed. Kristi’s hand reaching. The shattered glass. Blood smeared across Gio’s teeth.

“Bad joke, sorry. I’m fine, no one got hurt,” Kristi said, soft, leaning closer. “You didn’t need to be so scared.”

Riley stared at her.

Kristi’s eyes flicked between hers. “I just…”

Riley waited.

Something fell in the kitchen, and there was a muttered curse. Cookie barked.

Kristi shook her head. “Never mind.”

“Kristi, tell—”

“Nice shot, by the way. You breaking Gio’s nose was my favourite part of the whole evening.”