Page 80 of Hating On Riot

He weaves his fingers through my hair and drops a kiss on the top of my head. “You’re too good for me, Arie.” With his fingers threaded through my hair, he tips my head back.

We look deeply into one another’s eyes. He searches my face. I cross my eyes. He laughs. I nibble his scruff. He groans. Smiling, I nuzzle my face into the crook of his neck. A tremor runs through his body.

“Thank you for loving me. For trusting me.” He presses his mouth to mine. “She’s been tutoring me for the past year. There’s been nothing between us,” he confesses, worshipping my Cupid’s bow. “I came to DU because of you. I could’ve left because of you. Seeing you with Coop wrecked me, but I stayed. I needed to be near you, even if I couldn’t have you. Does that make sense?”

“It does. Thank you for staying. I’m sorry we lost four years without one another.”

“If you had the chance, would you go back and change what happened?”

I think about his question and voice my thoughts. “I would. Wouldn’t any decent person want their twin back if they could? Wouldn’t they take away another’s pain at the hands of someone they love? But we can’t, so I live with what I have. What I’m grateful for. My family. My friends. You.” I drop a kiss on the corners of his mouth. “Most of all, you.” I look down into gorgeous green eyes flecked with gold. “Are we made up now?”

“Only if you tutor me,” he says, smiling.

“Hell yeah, I’ll tutor you.” I playfully smack his shoulder. “By the way, why was she in your room to begin with?”

He brings strands of my hair to his nose and inhales. “She convinced one of the guys she was your friend and that you left something behind. She was there to get it for you. When I saw her on our bed, I was ready to throw her out of the house, but then I thought about the note and about Estelle.”

I snuggle closer. “Thank you for calling her that.”

“Why wouldn’t I? She meant something to you.”

She does. “Back to that girl getting in your room. Explain. PLEASE.”

“Impatient little thing, aren’t you?”

I mouth the underside of his jaw. I munch more of his scruff, unable to resist the coarse yet soft hair. Plus, he tastes good. Salty with a hint of his male musk. Yum. I hum low in the back of my throat, savoring his taste and the way his scruff brushes against my lips.

“Baby. Fuuuck.”

“Hurry. Tell, tell, tell.”

He rewards my impatience with a crooked smile. I stare. I cannot wait to kiss along that crooked line. His voice draws me out of my dreamy state, in the arms of my dream man.

“I thought she might be the bully, so I let her stick around to question her. While we were talking, she spilled her drink on my lap.”

“Conniving bitch.”

He smiles. “True that, babe. When you saw me walking out of the bathroom, zipping up my fly, I was changing my pants. I should’ve zipped up before I walked out, but I was worried she’d go through our room. Things from my backpack would go missing after each tutoring session with her.”

I don’t miss that he said our room. My heart melts, but fire courses through my veins. “She stole from you?” Ooh, that conniving thief . . . “Do I need to have words with her? Do we need to gang up on her for an unofficial, unregulated Nerf War?”

Riot chuckles. “Nah, babe. One of these days, she’ll get her comeuppance.”

“So, you’re okay with me tutoring you?” I ask. “Wait, I don’t know your major.”

“Business administration with an emphasis on project management.”

I think about it for a second before I tell him I’m in. “It can’t be as tough as accounting.”

“I’m certain it isn’t. You are one smart cookie.” He bops my nose. My eyes cross. “I love you, Arie.” He rubs my back. “Are we good with talking about Laney?”

“Yes. May I tell you what happened the day she died and why Brock was with my brothers and me at the diner?”

“Shoot.”

I tell him everything.

He’s silent. I let him process what I told him and work through his feelings. When he holds me tighter and drops kiss after kiss on my head, I know he’s ready for the rest.