Chapter Twenty-Two: never had I ever
RILEY'S POV
The next day went by in a flash, and before I knew it, it was finally Friday afternoon.
We were more than halfway through working when Xander suddenly looked up from the book.
"Come over to my house tomorrow so we can finish this," he said casually. "The rest will be there too."
"Morning or afternoon?" I asked, peeking up at him.
"Anytime," he replied.
Later the next evening, I lay on my bed scrolling through Facebook, trying to find something interesting.
After several minutes of trying—and failing—I gave up.
I stood up, tying my hair into a high bun and leaving a few strands loose. Then I went to the bathroom to wash my face.
When I came out, I applied a little lip balm, grabbed my bag, and headed out after saying goodbye to Cleo.
A few minutes later, I was standing in front of Xander's house.
I rang the doorbell.
After a moment, Jason opened the door. He immediately smirked and winked.
"Hey, Riley. He's in his room."
"Stop teasing her," Kai said while coming down the stairs. "She might be your sister-in-law one day."
I glared at him before walking past them.
"It's just a project," I muttered.
I knocked on Xander's door and waited.
A few seconds later, the door opened.
He looked like he had just woken up.
Fine.
"Hey… are you busy? I can wait if you are," I said, glancing away.
"Wait downstairs. I'm coming," he said before closing the door again.
I stared at the door for a moment before heading downstairs.
About fifteen minutes later, Kayla and Mason came down and joined Kai and Jason, who were already playing what looked like some kind of game.
Just then Xander came down the stairs.
The sleepiness from earlier was gone, replaced with his usual calm, unreadable expression.
"Sorry for keeping you waiting," he said as he sat down beside me, gesturing toward the books.
We started working again, but no matter how hard I tried to focus, my attention kept drifting.
Sometimes to the game they were playing.
Sometimes to Xander sitting beside me.
Really, Riley?
At one point, I burst out laughing when Jason loudly claimed Mason had been raised on cow milk like a baby calf.
Xander looked at me.
I immediately stopped laughing and cleared my throat.
"Sorry," I muttered.
"Hey!" Kayla suddenly called from across the room. "Xander! Riley! Do you two want to play?"
"Riley, that question is for you," Kai added. "Xander will obviously say no."
Xander looked at me for a few seconds.
Then he closed the book.
"Let's go," he muttered while packing up the papers. "Before you start crying because I didn't let you play."
I blinked.
Who knew he had a sense of humor?
I snorted quietly but followed him anyway.
We all sat in a circle on the floor—Kayla's idea.
Surprisingly, Xander actually decided to participate.
"So we're playing Never Have I Ever," Kayla announced, placing a jar filled with candies in the middle of the circle.
"Take one whenever you've done something someone says."
Her eyes briefly flicked to me.
I nodded quietly.
"I'll go first," Mason said.
He thought for a second.
"Never have I ever choked on water."
Jason and I both grabbed a candy.
"Never have I ever done something just because someone else liked it," Kia said next.
I hesitated for a moment before slowly picking a candy.
Mason and Kayla did the same.
"Never have I ever had a crush on a classmate," Kayla said.
My head snapped toward Xander before I could stop myself.
Then I quickly looked down.
Jason and Kai both took candies.
Now it was Xander's turn.
He leaned back slightly, glancing around the circle.
Then he said calmly,
"Never have I ever liked looking dumb"