Except he already had, Seth remembered abruptly. And screamed himself silly while he was at it.
In his embarrassment, Seth jerkily raised his cookie offering into the air once more. “Baked goods, anyone?”
Sybil waved a hand. “Save them for Riley. Though, they dosmell delicious.” Her eyes gleamed with some secret humor. “Is that orange I detect?”
Seth nodded. “Orange meltaway cookies.”
Riley had asked Seth about orange cake, and Seth hadn’t forgotten it. But he hadn’t had the steady hands necessary for cake baking today, and he definitely hadn’t had the patience to run out for extra ingredients. He’d gone for something simpler, with items he’d already had on hand.
“He’ll be delighted,” Daphne told him. She tilted her chin toward the stairs. “He’s up in the attic.”
Seth hesitated. “The…attic?”
“It’s not as gothic as it sounds. He’ll be so happy to see you.” Daphne was already urging him up the steps with that firm hand on his arm, leaving Sybil behind in the foyer.
Seth and Daphne hit a landing that split into two directions. To the right, a short hallway led to what looked to be a bedroom, and straight ahead was a much longer hallway, with doors on either side, in the middle of which a ladder hung from the ceiling.
Seth stopped in place, and Daphne gave him a not-so-subtle push. Seth turned, raising his brows. “Just so you know, Idohave people who’ll miss me if I disappear.”
Daphne broke into a peal of delighted laughter, like he’d just told a wonderful joke. “Of course you do! You’re too lovely not to. Go on.”
Seth secured his tote bag on his shoulder and climbed the ladder, trying not to feel like he was offering himself up as some sort of human sacrifice.
But his anxiety melted away as soon as he crested the top of the ladder, climbing less gracefully than he’d like onto his feet on the attic floor.
BecauseRileywas there, waiting for him. And he wasn’t limp and broken on the floor but standing tall and upright.
Upright and whole and breathing.
He’d changed out of the wet clothes Seth had last seen him in, and he was wearing ripped jeans and a faded tee. He looked so young and handsome andalive.
Riley stared back at Seth with a heartbreaking expression on his face, somehow stubborn and expectant and hopeless all at once.
He was clearly bracing himself to be met with anger or derision or fear, and that was just—justwrong.
Before Seth knew it, he was across the attic, flinging himself into Riley’s arms, wrapping his arms around him and not caring one bit that Riley didn’t hold him back yet.
“You scared me,” Seth said, the words muffled as he mumbled them into Riley’s neck. “God, Riley, you scared me so bad.”
12
RILEY
Riley didn’t know what to do with his hands.
Seth was holding him. Holding Riley. And not just holding him but holding himtightly, squeezing him with all his meager human strength while he pressed his warm face into Riley’s neck, his breath hot against Riley’s skin.
Riley was so surrounded by the scent of buttery orange perfection he barely dared to breathe.
He’d scared Seth. Scared him badly.
Riley had known that already, of course, but the way Seth was saying it, it didn’t sound like he’d been scaredofRiley. It sounded like he’d been scaredforRiley. Like maybe Seth had been worried for him. Like he was worried for him evennow, and maybe that was why he was holding Riley so perfectly tightly.
Slowly—so slowly and oh so carefully—Riley lifted his arms and wrapped them around Seth’s back. He held them there as loosely as he could bring himself to, so that Seth could still get away if he wanted.
Seth didn’t seem to want to get away though. If anything, he held Riley even tighter, his arms constricting around Riley’s neck. Then, with a deep sigh, he lifted his head from Riley’s shoulder and grabbed Riley’s face with both hands, his gaze searing into Riley like fire.
“You should havetoldme.”
