Drink Me

58. BLUE SKY THINKING

BLUE SKY THINKING

Riley had had very little sleep that night, but insomnia had been a recurrent theme since Alice had walked into his life and turned it upside down, one way or another.

Now his brain was in overdrive, reliving the crazy evening spent with Alice that was starting to feel more and more like a dream.

Or maybe he was just sleep-deprived.

Still, the scratch left by Alice's teeth on his inner lip was very real and Riley kept brushing over it with his tongue, playing with it as he played with his thoughts of E.

The woman was driving him insane with her teasing. She wasn't even being subtle about it anymore; but Riley couldn't help but wonder if it was all another trick, a new way of manipulating him just to pass the time.

On top of everything, E was dangerous in all her captivating ways and what had happened the night before was tangible proof of it. His inability to keep a clear mind near her had led him into Smith's house and had made him an unwilling accomplice of her vicious ways.

Riley hastily removed his tongue from the scratch and rubbed his face as he willed himself into a new resolution; he needed to put an end to the Alice situation.

The sleepless night slowly turned into a foggy Saturday morning. Riley was glad he didn't have to go to work because he simply didn't have the energy.

Aidan had tried to call him the night before but Riley had ignored him; whatever his cousin needed to tell him could have waited till their meeting. Neither party paid him enough to be available twenty-four seven, and he needed his beauty sleep or overthinking, in his case.

He swung his legs off the bed and sat on its edge, once again rubbing the fatigue off his face with a yawn, only one thought on his mind. Coffee.

After a long, thoughtless stare out of the window, Riley finally found the strength to get up and robotically walked to the kitchen to make himself an Americano. When the dark liquid finally touched his lips, he allowed himself to check his phone and its multiple notifications. He skipped the voicemails and only read the messages, mostly from Aidan or Caroline asking to call back. So he did.

His cousin's breathy voice came from the other end of the phone. "About time, Riley!"

"Why are you panting?" Riley asked, sliding a piece of bread into the toaster.

"I'm running, you eejit," Aidan replied.

"Without me?" Riley faked a hurt tone.

"Well, I would have invited you but you never answered your bloody phone," Aidan retorted, as his breathing came back to normal.

"I'm sorry, I was just exhausted yesterday. I passed out as soon as I came home," he lied, looking for a jar of Marmite in the cupboard. He was sure he had bought a new one.

"Are you feeling OK?" Aidan asked, now his voice laced with concern.

"Yes Aid, I'm fine," Riley replied, as a grin appeared on his face when he finally located the jar. "I just had a little too much to drink."

Aidan chuckled from the other end of the phone. "Yeah, Alice was tipsy too when she came over last night. Not that I mind..." he let the words linger and a wave of jealousy made Riley hold his breath, then he closed his eyes briefly.

Not your problem, Murphy.

He slammed the cupboard closed. "Why did you call, anyway?" Riley asked, ignoring his cousin's words altogether.