Riley Rasmussen Novels & Stories

The loft buzzed with forced casual energy. Someone had hooked up a projector showing old beta highlight reels—sanitized, of course. No full-frontal, just avatars dancing through neon cities or sword-fighting in fantasy arenas. Alex kept one eye on Riley while pretending to listen to some guy ramble about latency issues. His name tag said “GrizzlyTank.” In game, he’d been the loud one always trying to join public orgies. Riley stood a few feet away now, chatting with a small cluster of women. She laughed at something, but her gaze kept sliding back to him. Every time their eyes met, it was like a system ping.

She couldn't. “I… I can’t—” she choked out. “I can’t leave without Noah. Giovanni has him!” Isla’s face covered with frustration and panic flickering in her eyes. “Damn it, Kat! We can’t—” It was at that moment the bathroom door burst open with a violent slam. Riley stepped out, barefoot, in a sleek coral dress that shimmered beneath the chandelier and wrapped around her body. In her right hand, a pistol glinted. She looked from one to the other while her lips curved into a slow, venomous smile.

I know I do. But Riley makes sure I never forget I’m the new girl. “Emily, you’re half a beat behind again,” she snaps loud enough for everyone to hear during notes. Her voice is sharp, cutting. “Some of us actually earned our spot here.” I bite my tongue and nod. “Sorry. I’ll fix it.” The other girls exchange glances. Some look sympathetic. Most just look tired of the tension. Riley is the star. Tall, lean, with sharp cheekbones and long dark hair she usually wears in a high ponytail that swings like a weapon when she moves. Her body is pure power and grace. Everyone wants to be her. Everyone wants her.

"They'll see through it in an hour. Jax is there, Riley. He’s the captain of the defense. He hates me. He spends every single game trying to get under my skin, trying to find a weakness to exploit. He'll see your face, he'll see your eyes, and he'll know." Riley turned. She let the scissors hang by her side and looked her twin full in the face. With the hair gone, falling in messy clumps around her ears, the resemblance was terrifying. They had the same sharp jawline, the same slightly tilted nose, the same amber flecks in their irises. "Let him look," she said. "You're crazy. This isn't a movie. You’re going to get caught, and Mom is going to lose her mind."

“Riley, if you’re interrogating her, at least make it useful. Ask her why she nearly salted the cranberry sauce to death.” He appeared at the top of the stairs in a dark sweater and those stupidly good slacks that made him look less like a college hockey player and more like the man women in holiday movies made terrible choices about. His eyes found mine. Then flicked once to the closed nightstand drawer. Heat flooded my face. Riley missed it entirely because she was rolling her eyes at him. “Please. I’m doing God’s work.” “You’d need a better résumé,” he said.

POV: Ray Riley arrived at the library at eight-twelve. I watched her come through the door from the north window table where Naomi had her laptop open and three browser tabs running simultaneously and the particular focused stillness of someone who had found something significant and was being patient about how she delivered it. Riley sat down, dropped her bag, looked at both of us. "Talk," she said. "You first," I said. "The athletics director."

She wanted to feel alive. Riley strolled to what passed for a pantry and opened it. His phone went off and he paused for a moment to stare at the screen. She didn't mind. It gave her a wonderful view. Her initial impression of him was: big. A good deal of that was due to his tactical gear, but there was no denying that Riley was a tall, muscular man. His sandy brown hair was short, his skin a warm golden tan and those eyes. They made her think about mojitos. He'd showered sometime after her and changed into sweatpants and a t-shirt. There was something about plain, gray sweatpants on a man that looked damn good. "That's our company liaison. She said your family has not been notified, by the

We have the same picture framed in the game room as a trophy. Cindy proceeded to look up other members of our Broom StiXXX family. Winnie wasn’t a follower, of course, but I was surprised to see Riley on my list. Dave was not, which didn’t surprise me. He is entirely devoted to Riley. Riley probably only follows me out of curiosity. He is the nosiest person in the building and likes being informed about all that is happening.

Livie Ricky, Kaiden, Zane, and I had a long talk. We planned it all out. I'd call Desiree, and ask to see her. Once with her, Kaiden, Zane, and Ricky would join me and try to convince her to help, but, without letting Skylar and Desiree's husband Cole know about any of this. It sounds bad, I know, but we needed to do it this way.

"Ellie? How are you?" "Great. And you?" "I'm fine. How are your parents?" "They're great. Just my mom has been a bit tense lately." "Oh, let me introduce my friend. Lisa, this is Ellie, my boss's sister. Ellie, Lisa Dickens, my best friend." "Hello Ellie, nice to meet you," Lisa greets her. "The pleasure is mine." "So, you mentioned that Mrs. Ryan has been tense? Is she okay?" Ellie sighs. "Yeah. It's just that she hasn't given up on trying to get Nat back with his ex, and she's forcing me to help her with that mission." My stomach churns. "I think you met Mia at dinner, right?"