T R O U B L E D

S I N C E R I T Y

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I woke up the next morning happy, and incredibly sore.

I felt warmth from beside me, and as I turned over, dark eyes stared back at me.

"Morning."

Ugh, that deep sleepy voice. Kill me now.

"Morning." I smile.

"Sleep good?" He smirks.

"Perfect." I nod happily.

Suddenly, I feel something hard from underneath the blanket.

"Ah, and I see it's about to be a good morning." I smirk knowingly.

Mark laughs, but then in a second he's over top of me.

"Don't worry, I won't try to kiss you until we've brushed our teeth." He smirks before positioning himself between my legs.

I watch as he reaches over for another condom, having almost used the entire box.

"No, I want to be in charge." I find myself saying as I push him back onto the bed and climb on top of him. His smile grows as he rests his hands on my hips.

"It's all yours." He breathes while thrusting up into me.

I take my time, bouncing and grinding before we both reach our own state of ecstasy. When we finish, I don't make any move to get off.

"What, you just gonna sit there all day?" Mark smirks.

"Maybe." I laugh, but soon after I pull myself off him. He tosses the used condom into the nearby trashcan, and we both stand up to walk into my bathroom.

I start the shower while Mark fucks me with his eyes. I step inside, and before Mark does, he turns the hot water down a bit to cool it.

"You women always use scorching hot water, I don't understand it." Mark shakes his head teasingly.

"What can I say, we like to burn." I laugh as I begin to lather myself up in my body wash.

"Apparently."

"By the way, all I have is this strawberry body wash, so deal with it." I shrug, handing the bottle and a fresh rag over to him.

"Oh yay me." He says sarcastically, but eventually begins lathering himself up anyway.

Once we're both rinsed off, and Mark has bent me over in the shower for good measure, we get out and dry ourselves off before getting dressed for the day.

We both have a few classes today, and I still want to confront Jessica about her little stunt last night.

"You should just forget about her. I'm sure she is just jealous and wanted to make you look stupid." Mark sighs as I reach around him for my cell phone.

"I don't care what her reason is, I don't appreciate it and I'm going to let her know." I scoff, just as he yanks me down onto his lap.

"We're going to be late." I smile, leaning my forehead against his as I wrap my arms around his neck.

"I don't give a fuck." He smirks, leaning in to kiss me gently.

I eventually drop my bag, not caring that it lands on the floor. I wrap my legs around his waist, straddling him on the edge of the bed. His large hands hold my ass, keeping me in place so I don't fall backwards.

"Mark." I whisper against his lips.

"Hm." He hums contently.

"I love you."

His eyes open and he stares lovingly into my own, "I love you too baby."

Swoon.

"Come on, we need to leave now before we're late." I laugh, standing up and pulling him with me, though he's reluctant to follow.

I grab my bag from the floor and we both make our way out into the kitchen.

"Wow, I thought you two would never leave that bedroom." Riley smirks knowingly.

"Yeah, you two need to be less loud. I swear I thought he broke you last night." Lucy shakes her head with a laugh. "I'd really hate to be your vagina right now."

My eyes widen at her. "Shut up!" I laugh.

"It's alright babe, they'll understand when they find someone to blow their minds like I do you." Mark casually comments, and both Riley and Lucy laugh at him.

"He's not wrong." Riley shrugs.

"True." Lucy agrees.

I stare at them all incredulously. "Whatever, you two can take the car, I'll ride with Mark to school."

"Of course you will." Lucy teases. "See you both there, maybe." She then winks before her and Riley leave the apartment.

"We're alone again." Mark winks. "We can finally bless your kitchen properly."

"No!" I point my finger at him, "We need to leave."

Mark pouts, but follows me out to his car.

He drives us back to campus just in time to make it to class. I have my class with Marissa, and Mark has a business class.

As I make my way to class, I spot Jessica talking with another girl outside of the English building.

I immediately divert and head in her direction. She must sense me, because before I even reach her, her eyes snap up to meet my own.

"Jessica." I say sweetly. "A word?"

"I'll talk to you later." She says to the girl standing beside us. The girl nods and goes inside the English building, and then Jessica faces me.

"What's up?" She smiles.

Fake.

"I just wanted to let you know that the stunt you pulled last night, did nothing." I say casually. "Though it's cute that you were jealous enough to try to sabotage us."

"Whatever do you mean? I must've gotten Mark's schedule mixed up. He always works crazy shifts, besides we never really had that much time to talk, if you know what I mean." She smirks.

I know she's talking about the numerous times her and Mark have hooked up.

"Of course, just try not to let it happen again. Am I in any way unclear?" I raise an eyebrow.

"Nope, not at all."

"Besides, what you did helped us out after all." I begin to say as I smirk.

"I'm not sure I follow." She says slowly.

"Well, had I have seen Mark at his dorm, it only would've been for half an hour or so and then I would've had to leave. But since you so kindly got his schedule mixed up, I was able to call him in time for him to leave campus and come spend the night with me. Waking up to him is amazing, so thank you." I smile so sweetly, I feel as though I may give myself a cavity.

Jessica's face falls immediately.

Yes.

After a few seconds, she's able to give me another fake smile. "Sure thing, happy to help!"

I wave and walk off, but catch Marissa standing a few feet away from us.

"Oh hey." I chuckle as I reach her.

"That was fucking amazing. Way to put her in her place." Marissa laughs. "Almost makes me miss high school."

"Don't get any ideas, you're still on probation missy." I point my finger at her teasingly.

She lifts her hands up in surrender, "No worries, I am a changed woman."

I give her a smile before we finally make it to chemistry and take our seats.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

| Riley's POV |

I'm sitting in the quad after class, going over my notes, when a shadow appears on my paper.

I look up into the smiling eyes of Dylan.

"Hey Rie." He says excitedly.

"Can I help you?" I raise an eyebrow. I don't have time for this. My coffee from this morning did nothing, and I feel like I haven't slept a full night in days.

"Yes actually. Do you happen to have any pre-planned engagements this evening?"

What the hell is he getting at?

"No, if you don't count endless amounts of homework." I roll my eyes.

"Ah, I see. Well, perhaps I can take your mind off the stress for a little while. How does dinner sound?"

I glance up at him incredulously. "Are you fucking mental? What would Naveah think about this?"

"What do her thoughts have anything to do with us? She's perfectly happy with Mark." He says dryly.

"So that's what this is about. Look bud, I don't know what you're trying to do. I don't know if you're just asking me out to make Naveah jealous, but I'm not interested." I sigh, not hiding the fact that I'm annoyed.

"Oh come on, what does one dinner hurt? I promise I'm not going to try anything funny. I honestly want to take you out." He sighs while sitting down across from me.

"I missed the part when I offered the seat." I deadpan.

Dylan rolls his eyes. "Just one dinner?"

Why the hell is this one dinner so important to him? I know it has something to do with Naveah, I'm not stupid. He's just trying to make Naveah jealous, so she'll leave Mark and go running back to him. Hate to say it, but that's never going to happen. I know Naveah and Mark went through hell last year, even if I came into the mix late in the year.

But I've seen how they look at each other, and I saw how sad Naveah was at the beginning of the summer, so I know for a fact her and Mark aren't splitting up anytime soon.

But, Riley, this is a free dinner. Free food.

"Where are we going? And don't say Ashlynn's." I warn with my finger pointed at his face.

"I'm never going back to that ridiculous establishment, don't worry." Dylan scoffs. "But we can go anywhere else, my treat of course."

I think about it. What's the harm in one dinner? Naveah knows Dylan and I are friends. It doesn't have to mean anything at all, and I know for a fact it won't.

"Dessert too?" I ask.

"I mean..." He begins with a smirk.

"What the fuck, ew, no! I meant actual dessert, like pie or cake or something." I roll my eyes.

"What's dinner without dessert?" He smiles. "So is that a yes?"

"Ugh." I sigh loudly. "Let me run it by Naveah first, and I'll text you."

Dylan nods with a smile before getting up and leaving me to my work.

About time.

After I finish two of my assignments, I get up and gather my things before heading toward the parking lot. I have the car today and I'm supposed to be giving Lucy a ride home, so I have to wait for her.

I see Naveah and Mark holding hands in the quad, so I walk over to them.

"Hello, you sexy couple." I smirk.

"Hello Riley." Naveah laughs. "What's up?"

"Just waiting on Luc. Hey, Naveah, question." I begin calmly.

This could go one of two ways, but I'm sure Naveah won't cause a scene in front of Mark. That would be awkward if she were to get mad or something over another guy right in front of him.

"Shoot." She nods as Mark pulls her into his side lovingly.

"Well, a certain foreign friend asked me to have dinner with him tonight, as friends. I just wanted to make sure you were cool with it." I shrug casually, trying not to make a big deal out of it.

"You mean Dylan?" She raises an eyebrow.

I see Mark visibly tense beside her.

"The very one." I nod. "I told him you probably wouldn't care, but that I would make sure first."

I see Naveah's mind working. Her face says she's fine, but her eyes say something else.

"I mean, sure, I guess. I don't see why two friends can't have dinner together." She smiles, but I sense a part of it may be fake.

"Alright cool, I'll text him now. See you at home!" I smile with a wave before walking away and leaving the happy couple alone again.

I pull my phone from my back pocket and send Dylan a text confirming dinner. He texted back with a wink emoji, before saying he'll pick me up at eight tonight.

Cool, I can finish my last assignment before then.

"Hey Rie!" I hear Lucy shout, "Ready?"

I meet her at the car and we both get in.

"How was class?" I ask her as I pull out of the parking lot.

"As good as it can be. What about you?" She asks while reaching to turn on the radio.

"Fine. But something weird happened after." I admit.

"What?"

"Dylan asked me to dinner tonight." I blurt.

"Riley... we talked about this. I know you think he's hot, but I don't know how Naveah will react if you were to try anything." Lucy says quietly, even though we're the only two people in the car.

"I wasn't planning on trying anything, it's just dinner between friends. Besides, I already cleared it with Naveah." I shrug.

"You did? When?"

"Before I met with you. Her and Mark were in the quad so I asked."

"That explains it. She isn't going to show her real feelings about you and Dylan if she's around Mark. She knows it would set him off if he thought Naveah was jealous or something." Lucy explains with a sigh. "You little sneak, you knew that didn't you?"

I smile sheepishly. "It's not like I lied to her or anything. Dylan and I are friends." I defend myself.

"Just be careful. We had enough drama last year to last a lifetime, I don't want to repeat any of that." Lucy says with a grimace. "It wasn't fun almost losing my best friend, and I don't want to get in the middle if you and her start a fight, because you're my best friend now too."

"I hear you. Don't worry. I'll be a perfect lady tonight." I say with an eye roll.

"That's all I ask." Lucy smiles wide, before belting out the lyrics to the song on the radio.

I don't know why she's getting so worked up over this. It's just two friends eating food together.

It's completely innocent, right?