The Call
209 Words
*RILEY HARRINGTON'S POV*
The number called again that night.
I answered on the third ring.
“Riley,” Wilden’s voice. Low, careful. Like he wasn’t sure I’d hang up.
“What do you want?”
“To talk.”
“There’s nothing to talk about, Wilden. You made your choice on that yacht. Live with it.”
“I didn’t mean for it to go like that,” he said. “Briana pushed. The press pushed. I panicked.”
“You panicked into kissing another woman on live TV and telling the world I don’t exist."
Silence.
“I miss you,” he said finally.
Three years of that voice made my chest ache. But ache wasn’t love anymore. It was withdrawal.
“You don’t miss me,” I said. “You miss having someone who said yes to everything. Who gave up everything. Who never asked for more.”
“I’m asking now,” he said. “Come home.”
“My home is wherever I’m not shrinking myself to fit you,” I replied. “Goodbye, Wilden.”
I hung up before he could say anything else.
Then I turned off the burner and slept for 9 hours straight.
No nightmares. No replaying the kiss. Just sleep.
- Writer
