C H A P T E R T E N

R I L E Y A D A M S

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"OH COME ON." Caden pleaded, his shoulder nudging my own as our legs hung off the edge of the cliff. The one known as Caden's 'thinking spot'.

"Um, what do you mean come on? Caden King, I'm not kissing you. Ever." Eyes wide, I shot back my reply.

Yes, it was true. Caden asked if we could kiss to 'test out the waters' and believe me, I was beyond shocked. It took me hours to recover from his question until I snapped out of my daze of shock and raised an eyebrow at him, refusing to even discuss the topic.

But as always, Caden King managed to slip the question out of nowhere, resulting in the both of us debating our points, which is what we were currently in the midst of doing.

"Ever? Come on princess, you know we're going to have to kiss at some point. So why not make it now and save ourselves the hassle of making it look natural and well- right." He argued, eyes filled with a determined look, which had me smiling like a complete weirdo.

It was cute seeing him look so driven, even if it was whilst he was trying to convince me to kiss him. Which in no way was going to happen. Not now. Not ever.

"Caden, it's kissing, not some sort of hairstyle that needs to look 'right' or 'natural'" I retorted back bemusedly.

Sighing deeply, Caden shook his head, a devilish look upon his face as a smirk graced his lips. "You know it's only a matter of time before you give in like the others." He winked, gesturing a hand to his body.

Sorry, what?

Narrowing my eyes at his words, feeling a mix of disappointment and annoyance and anger, I sneered. "Well, thanks for the comparison but I'll have you know, I'm in no way like 'the others'. Unlike them, I don't jump at the chance to kiss jerky, arrogant, man sluts like yourself."

"I was just kidding, chill. There's no need to be a bitch about it." He shot back, obviously shocked by my comment. It was clearly shown on his face as hurt spread throughout his features.

First he puts me in the same category as 'the others' and now he calls me a bitch, is this guy asking for a death wish?

"Excuse you. Bitch? Wow, you sure know how to make a girl feel special." Angrily, clambering to my feet, I shot him one last look before I spun on my heel and trudged towards the woods.

"Riley!" He called out hot on my heels, but I didn't turn around. Not for the likes of him.

The others!

Seriously? Me?

"Riley, would you stop overreacting for a sec and listen to me!" Caden shouted, grabbing onto my arm as he spun me around to face him, eyes blazing furiously.

"Get the hell off of me." I snapped, shrugging off his hands as I glared at him just as ferociously.

"What's you problem? God, can't you take a joke. You're so childish, I swear to God." Shaking his head, Caden crossed his arms over his chest, cocking his head to the side annoyedly.

"For your information, I can take a joke, thank you very much and no! I'm not childish!" I sneered, mimicking his actions, which inevitably made him more annoyed.

"Actually, you kind of are acting like a child. I can't quite understand why you all of a sudden got so mad, but what I do understand is that you need to calm down and not run away from me when I'm trying to solve an issue." Throughout all of his words, my mind only registered them up until he stated his curiosity as to why I got mad and quite frankly I didn't know myself.

I was rendered clueless as to why this affected me so much. The more I thought of his words the more I realise that what Caden said was true. I was being childish and I realised that calling him what he detested to be labelled as was probably not the right move either.

"Look, I'm sorry, alright. I don't want to fight with you. So, I'm sorry." Offering me a small smile, I nodded, rubbing a hand over my face as I bit my lip.

"No. No, I should be the one that's sorry. I- I really did overreact and I was being childish. So if anything, I should be the one to apologise. So I- I'm sorry." I blabbed on, causing Caden to release a series of chuckles, his laughter bouncing off the trunks of the trees as his eyes filled with amused sparks, making me smile just as much.

"You have a nice laugh." I told him, witnessing the way his smile faltered ever so slightly, for not more than just a second.

"Thanks." Glancing down at me, an unknown look glimmered in his eyes. It was barely noticeable, yet I managed to peak a quick, brief glance at it before it disappeared.

"Uh." Uncomfortable with the newly sound silence between the two of us, I let out an awkward laugh as Caden rubbed the back of his neck, clearing his throat in the process.

"Want to go back?" He asked as he nodded towards the cliff, a ghost of a smile still lingering on his lips as his hand pointed towards where we previously sat.

"Uh, yeah, sure." I smiled, leading the way, hearing the crunching of leaves and branches as Caden walked beside me, returning to his spot as he patted the place next to him.

"Last time we were here-" He started, side glancing at me before he looked forward and stared into the distance. "-you asked me why I brought you here." He started, stalling for a moment as he took a pause to think.

Nodding in response, I ushered him to continue.

"I told you I didn't know and I- well that was a lie. I brought you here because you're- different." Confused by his words, I crossed my legs and shuffled round a bit to face him.

"Different, how?" I asked, curious as to know what he meant.

"You're not like any other girl I've met before." His words brought a smile to my lips and after glancing at the smile I sported, Caden's lips curled up too.

"How so?" Pushing him to elaborate, he sighed defeatedly, exhaling a puff of air as he leaned back against his palms, using his elbows as support.

"You're crazy for starters." Rolling my eyes at his words, I muttered a sarcastic 'thanks'.

Laughing and shaking his head, he continued. "You're sarcastic. Funny. Weird. Cute. And you're most definitely not like 'the others' because unlike them you don't make me feel like I'm Caden King the heartless heartbreaker. Instead, you make me feel like I'm Caden. Just Caden." Taken aback by his words, I found myself wrapping my arms around him and holding him in a tight embrace.

"Well, just Caden. Thank you for almost running me over that day." I joked, feeling his chest vibrate as his laughter rang in my ears like melodic bells.

"No, no, no. Thank you, for not looking both ways before crossing the road and getting in the way of my bike." He joked back, earning a slap on the back of the head from me.

Pulling a way, I shook my head at him, trying to rebut that he was the one that practically ran me over that day.

The day went on with two of us joking around and acting like we hadn't just fought. The whole time, there wasn't a second of silence, but instead constant rings of laughter and chuckles, between the two of us.

Watching the way his eyes filled with a glee glint, I couldn't help but thank the big man upstairs for sending Caden my way. I didn't regret that now. Not for a second.

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