Page 5 of My Weakness

Bella: Does this mean we’re all officially grown-ups now? Do we have to behave?

Mia: Hell no!

I’m still chuckling as I hear my doorbell ring. Opening my door, I am faced with the last person I expected to see.

River.

He’s dressed in gray slacks and a pale blue button down, the sleeves of his shirt rolled up, revealing his tanned, toned forearms.

What is he doing here?

He holds up a brown take-out bag and the smell of Chinese food fills the space between us. I’m not sure if my mouth waters at him or the food.

“I wasn’t sure if you’d eaten today, so I brought provisions.”

“To throw at my walls?” He merely raises his eyebrows at me as he walks into my apartment. “What? It wouldn’t be the first time you’ve decimated something of mine.”

“You been reading a dictionary for fun? You’re throwing some awful big words around there, pipsqueak.”

“River,” I grate. “What are you doing here?” He places the bag on my kitchen counter and begins removing the items.

“Like I said, I wasn’t sure if you’d eaten properly today, and I wanted to get a look at your apartment. I was interested to see where you’d be living from now on.”

“So you can gloat about how much bigger yours is?”

“Oh, pipsqueak, minessomuch bigger.”

His voice has taken on a huskier tone, and something tells me he’s not talking about the size of his apartment. I choose to ignore his words, even if I can feel myself blushing.

“Well, what did you bring?”

“Everything you like.”

“As if you know what I like,” I scoff.

He points to each item as he rattles off my favorites. “Did I miss anything?”

I just stare at him.What the fuck is going on right now?

“River,” I sigh, exasperated. “What are you doing? We don’t do this. You reminded me, only last night, that we hate each other.” He spins to face me, his hands planted on his hips.

“I don’t know,” he shouts. “I don’t know what I’m doing here. I don’t know why I picked up your favorite foods.” His head drops forward, his chin resting on his chest as he takes a deep breath. “Look, I should go. This was a mistake.”

Before I can stop him, before I can even process what has happened, he’s out of my apartment, the door slamming shut behind him.

I look around my space, trying to see if it can give me the answers I need, if it can tell me what the hell is going on and why the man who’s always acted like he hates me, like I’m nothing to him, has done something kind.

Chapter Four

Ava

The sun is shining, children are running around laughing, cotton candy is being spun, games are being played, and I can’t focus on any of it. I’m here, I’m participating in one of the many children’s fairs we run throughout the year, but I’m not really present. I’m too stuck on the completely abnormal behavior River showed last night.

Has he decided to play the same game as me? Is he just messing with me? I’d believe it if he hadn’t run out of my apartment like the devil was chasing him.

He brought me Chinese food. MyfavoriteChinese food.

I need the girls; I need to run this past them. If they weren’t coming round tonight, I would have called them already, but thankfully, we can have this conversation in-person with home-made margaritas — lots of margaritas.