Money (The Keatyn Chronicles Book 10) (13 page)

“
He hit on you?
”

“
Yeah, but he
’
s harmless. I mean, I think, mostly. He
’
s young and cute. Honestly, his cockiness reminded me of you in high school.
”

“
You liked me in high school.
”

“
No, Riley. I loved you. Speaking of that,
”
I say.
“
Have you read the note?
”

“
The note?
”

“
Yeah, the one I gave you at homecoming? I sort of expected you
’
d say something about it.
”

“
Shit, I totally forgot about it.
”

“
Can you read it now?
”

“
Uh, sure, let me get it out of my wallet.
”
 

I hear some rustling then he says,
“
It
’
s in pink marker. Just like all the other notes you wrote me.
”
He hesitates.
“
Ariela, we put the past behind us. I
’
m not sure I should read this.
”

“
I really want you to. Tonight. Now. I need you to know.
”

“
Okay, here goes
—

“Riley-

I
’
ve wanted to talk to you about this for weeks, but I just couldn
’
t.

I love you so much. And I wish I could go to California and become your wife.

But, I can
’
t.
 

Because if I do, it will hurt my dad.
 

No matter what I choose, someone is going to get hurt.
 

And no matter what I choose, I know that I
’
ll be the one who will hurt the most. Because none of this is what I want.
 

What I want, if I
’
m being completely honest, is three things.
 

I want to be able to live out my dream of going to Princeton.

I want to marry you.

And I want my parents to be proud of me.

So I
’
ve decided to go to Princeton.

If I do that, I
’
ll have two out of the three things that I want.

I hope and pray that you will understand. That you will still love me. That you will still want to marry me. That we can figure out a way to have a long-distance relationship. That we can stay together until I graduate and come to California with you.

I love you, Riley.

I know in my heart you are the only boy I will ever love.
 

You
’
ve held my heart captive since the day we met.

Please tell me that we can work this out.
 

That it won
’
t be the end of us.

All my love forever,
 

Ariela”

He
’
s quiet for a moment, and I wonder what he
’
s thinking. Maybe it was a mistake letting him read it after all these years, but I desperately needed him to know that I never wanted us to be over. Ever.
 

“
Are you fucking kidding me? You
’
ve had this note all this time? Why didn
’
t you mail it to me? Send it to Keatyn? Message me on Facebook? You ruined us, and this note would have changed everything. Showing it to me now, this is just
—
cruel.
”
 

“
But I thought it would make you feel better knowing that I never wanted us to end.
”

“
Yeah, well it doesn
’
t. It makes it ten times worse. Look, I don
’
t know if I can do this. Go through all of this again. It
’
s late. I have to go.
”

Then he hangs up on me.

Riley
’
s Penthouse - L.A.

RILEY

I
’
m pissed off when I step into my elevator and make my way up.
 

What the fuck was I thinking?
 

I can
’
t do this with Ariela.
 

I can
’
t keep dredging this shit up.
 

It’s just not going to work. I don
’
t need all week to figure out what I
’
m going to tell her at the wedding. I know what I
’
m going to say.
Fuck this. And fuck you.

I
’
m pulling off my tie when I walk into my bedroom and find Shelby hoisted up in a swing on the bathroom door, wearing nothing but a pair of black, studded leather panties.

Oh yeah, this is exactly what I need right now.
 

I don
’
t say a word, just shed my clothes and do her every which way.
 

As I
’
m dozing off, exhausted from both the kinky sex and the emotion of the day, a sentence floats through my brain.
You
’
ve held my heart captive since the day we met.

My eyes open with a start, and I sit up, grab my phone, and call Dallas
’
number in a panic.
 

When he answers groggily, I blurt out,
“
We can
’
t sell the name.
”

“
But at dinner you were all for it.
”

“
I promised Keatyn that I would think about it. She doesn
’
t want to change the name because of Brooklyn.
”

“
I miss him too, and I understand he thought up the name but
—”

“
I lied to her. Told her all the things she needed to hear. I had no intention of thinking about it anymore. My mind was made up. I was going to tell her the same thing this morning. That we should sell it.
”

“
What changed your mind?
”

“
Fate, maybe?
”

“
You
’
re going to have to be a little more specific.
”

“
When Ariela broke up with me on graduation day, she intended to put a note on my car. Instead, she ran into me and blurted it all out then ran off and forgot to give me the note. She’s kept it all this time though and gave it to me this past weekend. With the party and then our rush to get home for the baby’s birth, I had forgotten about it. Tonight she made me read it.
”

“
And that has to do with our deal, how?
”

“
One of the lines in her note was that I
’
ve held her heart captive since the day we met. It
’
s a sign, Dallas. And I don
’
t really believe in signs.
”

“
It
’
s going to mean less money,
”
he says with a sigh that lets me know he won’t fight us on this.

“
I think Keatyn will be okay with that. This is more important to her. And, really, it should be more important to us. It
’
s where we started. It
’
s only fitting that when we start over the name is part of it. It
’
s part of us, Dallas.
”

“
You gonna start crying about this?
”

“
No, but it does make me emotional.
”
 

Dallas sounds choked up when he replies.
“
It makes me emotional too. I
’
ll take it off the table. You call Keatyn and tell her the news
—
at a reasonable hour.
”

Shelby rolls over, pushing her tits against my chest.
“
Ariela was your high school girlfriend? she asks.
“
Are you still in love with her?
”

“
Obviously not,
”
I say, running my hand across her nipple and feeling both it and myself harden.

“
Again, daddy?
”
she giggles.
 

“
Yes, again.
”

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 14th

Riley
’
s Penthouse - L.A.

RILEY

I wake up to the smell of bacon. I roll over and glance at the clock. Shit! It
’
s almost eight!

Although it shouldn
’
t be that big of a surprise. I was fucking Shelby until at least four this morning.
 

I drag myself out of bed, quickly shower, and get dressed.

“
Well, look at you,
”
Shelby says, when I join her in the kitchen.
“
There
’
s just something so sexy about a man in a suit.
”

I grab her around the waist, pulling her close.
“
And there
’
s something pretty sexy about a woman cooking me breakfast naked.
”

She giggles.
“
I thought you
’
d like that, daddy.
”
 

Although it used to make me cringe when she called me that, it
’
s honestly starting to grow on me. I take the spatula out of her hand and spank her ass with it.

“
Oh! Yeah. You know I like it like that,
”
she says, bending over.
“
Do it again.
”

I smack her again, harder this time. She flips around, unzips my pants, and drops to her knees, taking my dick in her mouth and expertly sucking it. I lean back against the kitchen counter and think
this
is the life of Riley Johnson.
 

And I fucking love it.
 

Especially when I pick her up, set her on the counter, and drive the point home.

After a thorough fucking, she finishes cooking breakfast and presents it to me on a plate.
“
I
’
m going to make you breakfast every morning before you go to work.”

But Riley Johnson doesn
’
t do
every morning
.
“
Today you
’
ll be moving into a bungalow.
”

“
You mean after last night I don
’
t get to stay here?
”

“
I
’
m a bachelor and set in my ways, Shelby. I need my space.
”