Beside Him

Chapter 24// Lunchables And Dates

After that little day full of incidents, Archer King was most definitely ignoring me.

I hadn't seen his pretty little face in way too long and, as a result, I was doing crazy ravenous and completely un-River-like things.

Such as hanging out with Asshat.

"Can you please, please... please shut the f**k up?" I begged Diego, not an ounce of humour in me as I stared at him with blank eyes.

He grinned, showing perfect teeth and then nodded. "Okay, Kitten. But only if you sit with me at lunch today, I get lonely."

I sighed and nodded. "You can sit with me and-"

"About that," he interrupted swiftly as I tried to finish off with 'Archer'. "King hates me, and he loves you. There's no compromise there, Kitten."

I narrowed my eyes. "1. He won't care. 2.He doesn't love me."

Diego rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah." He grinned again and I was seriously counting how many days I'd have to go to prison for if I slaughtered his sorry ass.

I could plead self defence and say he was trying to deafen me.

"How about this, Kitten..." he started and I raised an eyebrow. "How about I get to take you out, and I'll stop annoying you." He saw my expression and quickly added "just once I swear."

Surely, I was in shock. I'd heard him wrong. Hundred percent. I shakily asked him to repeat what he'd just said and he, rather smugly, did.

"You're out of your god damn mind." I muttered in awe, picking up my scattered pens and pencils and shoving them mercilessly into my pencil case.

Was he blind? Every one knew I was practically obsessed with Archie and he was trying to take a pass at me? For real?

"Kitten, wait up-"

I turned and shot him a venomous glare. "I'm not your damn kitten." I spat and pulled on my backpack before hauling ass out of there.

He was a class-a prick: he even beat Archie.

Speaking of which, I was currently witnessing him talking rather comfortably to Barbara. They'd broken up, I knew that. So why is he still talking to her?

He can't be that brave can he? To try and get back with her after kissing me? Does he really not treasure his manhood?

He was smiling. The nerve of this d**k s**t, to make me a nervous wreck and think I'd done something wrong and then grin away like f*****g IT in front of other girls.

Diego caught up to me and pressed his hands to his knees, breathing fast and deep. He looked up through his lashes and held up a finger as I gave him a blank stare, gritting my teeth and trying to ignore the burn of Archer's stare.

Two can play at that game, King.

"I'll do it." I said to Diego, pulling the corners of my lips up in a forced smile. He looked up in shock then grinned. "I'll go on a date with you," I basically yelled, making sure Prick was listening. I let out an extra girly and simply weird laugh. "As long as you promise to stop annoying me."

Diego caught on immediately and grinned, teeth, dimples and all.

"Let's do it, Kitten."

And with that he pulled me behind him. I blinked. "What? You mean right now?"

"Yeah, what better place to go on a date than right here, in school?" He said, still smiling and the left side of my lip tilted up as we caught the attention of other students. "Why wait to go on a date with a gorgeous girl?"

"Ok then."

"What would you like to eat, Kitten?" He said softly, looking at me with his baby blue eyes. He ran a hand through his blonde hair. "Oh wait. Erm. Start again. Pretend this is the first time I'm seeing you."

I shook my head and laughed, actually enjoying myself already. I had to give it to him, he was funny.

"Alright Ok." I paused, cleared my throat and straightened up my skirt, re-tucking the baby pink shirt back into the white skirt. Then I grinned as he sat down on the canteen table in the secluded corner. "Hey, Diego."

He looked in shock, eyes swimming with amusement. "Oh, Kitten. Didn't see you there." He paused and looked me up and down, lip hinting up. "You look beautiful."

He got up as I smiled, going to my side and pulling out the bench rather loudly. I held in a laugh. "Please, do sit." He motioned to the bench, biting the corner of his lip to hold in a laugh.

I, however, had no such intentions as I threw my head back and laughed, also throwing my leg over the bench to sit.

I sobered up as he sat down too opposite me, smiling softly when he cleared his throat. "Alright, what would you like to eat today?" He asked politely and I saw him fiddling with his phone under the table, typing in some text.

I grinned and pretended to think about it as he put his phone away, grinning right back. "What's on the menu?" I asked and he raised his hand, clicking his fingers twice.

A guy came suddenly beside us and held up a sheet of printer paper with the words 'pizza, panini, orange juice, apple juice, chocolate cake, gravy, ketchup, cheese Patti and I think they're serving fries somewhere too' scribbled onto it in a rush.

I laughed loudly as Diego reached over the table to my ear, summoning me forward with his finger. "Jerry owed me a favour." He whispered and sat back down. I turned to 'Jerry' with a wide smile, thoroughly amused by his make-shift menu.

"I'll take the pizza and fries if you can find them." He nodded and then held out his hand to Diego, who rolled his eyes and pulled out some money, muttering a 'same for me' to him.

Jerry went and stood in the cue, much to my amusement. I laughed again and then turned to Diego, trying to take the situation seriously.

"You enjoying yourself on my specially organised date, Kitten?" He asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

My smile widened. "Best I've ever been on." I laughed and he joined in before our dinner was served. We ate and 'got to know' each other.

"Favourite colour?" He asked.

"Turquoise," I replied. "Favourite food?"

"Pizza. Favourite person?"

"Archer." I said immediately, then flinched as a slow and slightly creepy smile made its way on to his face. "Erm... I'm sorry-"

"Nah it's cool," he waved. "You're using me, I'm using you. No biggie."

And that was that. We talked for the rest of lunch about anything and nothing, laughing and joking and I was certain of one thing.

He wasn't interested in me at all.

In fact he wasn't even interested in my gender, at least not entirely.

So he'd said he was using me, was it to make himself look straight? Because that was rather sad.

Or was it something to do with what I'd seen him and Archie arguing about the other day?

Either way, there was no way in hell I wasn't going to find out.

• • •

My mouth opened and closed like a god damn fish as I stood at the closed door of my bedroom and watched Archie climb through my window.

"What the f..." my words trailed off in a very light whisper, his eyes on mine as a slow and dangerous smirk came to his face.

He was in front of me in seconds my back hitting the door and a small yelp leaving my lips as he towered over me.

"Trying to make me jealous are we?" He asked, eyes still on mine, smirk still glued on: he looked like a Greek god.

"Huh?" I breathe out, still not fully sane.

"Well, good job," He said his eyes instantaneously moving to my lips. "It worked."

I raised my eyebrow in dumb confusion before feeling a feather light kiss to my lips.

My eyes closed and I leaned onto my tip toes to increase the pressure of the kiss, all of which was done reflexively.

He let out a small groan while pulling my body to him, my arms going around his neck and his one hand going to the small of my back and the other to caress my cheek.

I sighed into the kiss, knowing then and there that I wanted this feeling for the rest of my life.

"River," he pulled away first and leaned his forehead onto mine. "I'm sorry for avoiding you. I just had a lot of s**t going on that I needed to sort out."

"Does this s**t include Diego by any chance?" I asked and, as expected, he swiftly changed the topic.

"I saw you with him at lunch today, all smiles and laughs." He muttered the last bit, jaw going tight as he closed his eyes. " I hated it, River. I absolutely hated it."

"I'm sorry." I couldn't help myself to say. I raised my hand to cup his tensed jaw.

"You're mine, River Harrison." Was what caused my BP to increase dramatically. "Only. Mine." Exaggerating each word with a feather light kiss. "And if I see you with another guy acting like that again, it may just be the last time he breaths. Understood?" His voice was soft, yet the warning was clear.

Now, I'm fully aware I should've been pissed off, annoyed at him for making such ludicrous demands when he has no right to. But I wasn't.

God knows I wasn't.

If anything, as much as I hate to say it, I was turned the hell on.