Never Tied Down (The Never Duet #2)(73)

His words were sweet, but the thought of him driving all alone to LA on Christmas made me sad for him.

“I want to be with you, I don’t care if I’m alone tonight or not.”

He leaned up and kissed me. It wasn’t as full of heat as our last kiss had been, but it was much more tender and sweet.

“You might not care,” he said when he pulled away, “but I do. Stay. Please.”

I bit my lip as I considered his words. He was pleading with me to stay, and even though it felt wrong on some level, I didn’t want to make his day more difficult. “Okay,” I relented. He leaned up and kissed me again; this time it was a short, chaste kiss. I rolled off him and watched from the comfort of his childhood bed as he packed his things.

“How will I get home?”

“I’ll have my Dad take me to the airport and I’ll rent a car. You keep the Rover here and drive home like we originally planned.”

“Maybe Kevin can give me a ride? He has to drive through LA to get home anyhow.”

Riot called out to me from the bathroom.

“I don’t want to put anyone else out because of me, Kal. Just take the Rover, it will make me feel better.”

“Okay,” I conceded.

He came back into the bedroom, tossing his bag on the floor by his bed, then climbing on the bed, coming over me, his hands resting on either side of my head.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I’ll make it up to you. I promise.”

And that was one of the many reasons I loved Riot Bentley. Even though it was his Christmas that was being disrupted, he was worried about me and how I was feeling. He was the most selfless man I’d ever met and I wanted to never take that for granted. I reached up and placed my hands on either side of his face.

“There’s nothing to make up for. I love you and I will see you when I get home.”

Something glimmered in his eye, and I could almost swear I saw the corner of his mouth turn up, as if he were trying to force away a smile. Before I could think too much about it, he kissed me. This kiss, however, was meant to be a good-bye, and he took his time.

Thirty minutes later I stood at his parents’ front door, watching Riot climb into his father’s SUV as they left to get him a rental car. He waved, a forced smile across his face, and I waved back. When the car was out of sight, I let out a sigh. I turned to Rachel, who’d been standing with me, and gave her a sad smile.

“He’ll be okay,” she said. “Let’s go inside. Would you mind if I looked at the album Mara made for you?”

It hadn’t occurred to me that anyone else would want to look at pictures of Marcus, but it meant a lot to me that Rachel had asked.

“Sure,” I answered, the smile on my face turning from sad to bright. So Rachel and I sat at the kitchen table, flipping pages and looking at photos. She was genuinely curious about him, and listened to me as I endlessly told stories that the pictures conjured up. Before I knew it, I had spent two hours telling Rachel, my sister, all about my brother, and I’d laughed and smiled the whole time.

Kevin had joined us about an hour in, sitting across the table, listening, and laughing along with us. Halah and Mara were in the kitchen, preparing food for the feast Mara had promised, and even though I was missing Riot, it was still one of the best Christmases I could remember.

About two and a half hours after Riot had left, the doorbell chimed.

“Kalli, sweetie, could you get the door for me? I’m a mess.”

Mara lifted her hands and she was, indeed, elbow deep in food.

“Of course,” I replied. When I opened the door I was met with a giant bouquet of beautiful red roses.

“Are you Kalli Rivers?” the deliveryman asked from behind the enormous arrangement of flowers.

“Um, yes.”

“These are for you,” he said with a groan, handing the large vase to me. I understood his grunting when I took it; it weighed a ton.

“Are you sure? I’m confused.”

“Yes, there’s a card in there somewhere.”

“Riot called and ordered flowers? Why are you even open on Christmas? I’m really sorry, I don’t have any cash for a tip. Let me see what I can do…” I turned away from the door to see if anyone in the house had cash I could borrow.

“Don’t worry, Ms. Rivers, the tip has been taken care of. And we usually aren’t open today, but Mr. Bentley called two weeks ago to arrange this. Paid a mint for it too. The tip covered Christmas gifts for all four of my kids. I’m happy to deliver these flowers,” he said, tipping his trucker hat at me as he turned to walk down the driveway.

“Merry Christmas,” I called after him, still really confused. I walked into the kitchen, trying not to trip and fall since I couldn’t see where I was going.

“Oh, my word,” Mara said breathily.

“Holy crap,” Halah cried.

“Whose are they?” Rachel asked.

I let out a breath as I set the vase down on the table, my arms aching from the strain. “Apparently they’re from Riot.”

“He must feel really bad about having to go to work,” Rachel sighed.

“The delivery guy said Riot ordered them two weeks ago.” I searched through the flowers, not able to ignore the wonderful scent of the roses as I found the card. I opened it quickly, eager to find out what he’d done, and read the handwritten note.