Fiftysix - Seven Rue Page 0,103

it. You need to calm down,” Andrew said, trying to get Della to walk away.

“No, it’s not it. Why do you think this is how eighteen-year-olds should behave? You’re still a child and not old enough to do such things!”

That was the one sentence that made Valley furious.

My Valley was many things, but her being a child and immature were far from the truth.

“You don’t know me! Just because you were raised differently, doesn’t mean I have to follow in your footsteps and lose my virginity at thirty!”

Which was literally what happened to Della, but this wasn’t about her.

Valley looked at me, silently asking me for help. “Let’s go,” she whispered, making it sound more like a question.

As much as I hated to leave confrontations open like this, I knew this wasn’t going to get resolved anytime soon, especially not with all these people watching the shit show.

I nodded and reached out to her, letting her wrap her hand around mine before passing her parents.

“He’s too old for you, Valley. What the hell are you getting out of this?”

Valley stopped, turning to look at Della, ready to answer that question with full determination.

“His love, and he gets mine in return. I’m happy and I’m not gonna let you ruin this for me!”

She turned back around, leaving not only Della, but myself speechless.

“Valley!”

“No, let them go,” I heard Andrew say before we walked away.

The stares from all those other people didn’t matter, because I had Valley’s hand in mine, showing me that no matter what would happen, she’d stand by me and vice versa.

Her words hurt.

Not only because she did in fact raise me, but also because she had shown me that she wasn’t okay with Riggs and me.

Instead of making it about the both of us, she pushed everything on me to make me feel bad, without giving Riggs and me the chance to explain.

Not that we owed her an explanation, but that would be the only way for her to understand why we were kissing back at the club.

I was sitting on Riggs’s couch with a blanket over my legs when he walked back from the kitchen with a cup of tea in his hand.

He sat down next to me, a worried look on his face and a heavy sigh leaving his chest.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, handing me the cup and then brushing back my hair.

I was still wearing the dress, but I had taken off my shoes in his car already, not wanting them to hurt my feet any longer.

I shrugged, looking down at my tea and then up into his eyes. “How are you feeling?”

The corners of his mouth curled down, and with a shrug he said, “Only thing bothering me was her calling you all kinds of names. I’m surprised your father didn’t throw fists. Thought I’d leave with a bloody nose and on my own.”

I smiled, placing my right hand on his cheek while holding the cup with the other. “I’m surprised too. But I’m glad he didn’t start a fight.”

I caressed his cheek with my thumb, studying his face as he let his eyes wander all over mine.

“Give her some time. I’m sure your father will talk to her to make her calm down, and maybe tomorrow you two will get along again,” he told me, but I doubted it.

“Della’s gonna be mad for a long time. She’s like a little kid who didn’t get a toy or candy at the store. She’s resentful,” I explained.

He grabbed my hand and kissed the palm of it gently, then held it tightly in his lap. “Then give her all the time she needs. But no matter how long that will take, I’m not gonna walk away from you,” he promised.

I smiled at him. “Me neither.”

“’Course you’re not. You said you loved me,” he said with a grin.

“I did not say that!”

“Sure did. I might be getting old but I can hear just fine, darling.”

I frowned at him as my cheeks turned red. How was I embarrassed when I did and said far worse things in the past?

“You didn’t hear correctly,” I muttered, taking a sip of my tea and then placing the cup on the coffee table.

“Sure about that?” he challenged, raising a brow at me with a smug grin on his lips.

I shrugged. “I might’ve said something about love,” I muttered, pressing my lips into a thin line and avoiding looking at him.

Riggs chuckled and leaned back with my hand still in his,