Professor Bryant's Second Chance

Chapter Eleven

Dylan



I could feel it. Everything was starting to shift. It might not be today or even tomorrow, but eventually, Riley would forgive me. That didn’t necessarily mean she would take me back. No, I had a lot of work to go before that happened, but for the first time in months, I could see hope of her changing her mind.

Riley was so close to giving in to temptation tonight. That would have changed everything between us, but she refrained. I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t a little disappointed, but I didn’t blame her for not jumping right back in. If anything, I praise her for being cautious. I couldn’t say that I would be so forgiving if it was me.

At least I spoke my mind and told her some things that I’ve been wanting to say since she left me. There were still a lot of words left to be spoken, a lot of actions still to be proven. It would kill me if she happened to turn around and run in the other direction, Justin’s direction. Hearing that she kissed him made it hard to breathe. There wasn’t anything that I could do about it but remain calm. What was I supposed to do? It wasn’t like I could get all possessive. Riley wasn’t mine right now, though I’d like to believe she was. Maybe someday she will be again, and I can rub it in Justin’s smug ass face.

After watching her run for cover in her bedroom, I dipped under the water once more before heading out myself. I was in desperate need of a shower, maybe a cold one, to get the dirty thoughts out of my head about what I would like to do to Riley.

I walked by her hut, stopping when I heard her voice. It was a little muffled due to the wall between us, but I could make most of what she said.

“Mom, everything is okay. You don’t need to worry about me. I know. Those media reporters make it seems worse than it is. Dylan did lie to me, but I’m starting to think there is a possibility that I don’t know the whole truth. I want to know, but at the same time, I don’t. No, mom, there is no going back. There can’t be. If I take those steps backwards to him, will I ever be able to move forward?”

I stopped listening after that. Riley had reason to doubt what I was saying. So, I walked over to my hut and immediately pulled up my laptop to email my lawyer, requesting a copy of the divorce papers be sent to me. They would be time-stamped, giving Riley the evidence that she needed that my marriage was over long before she came into the picture. Okay, maybe not long before, but long for me.

The email would arrive by tomorrow morning, and I wouldn’t hesitate to email it directly over to Riley. She may not even look at it, but it was worth a shot. I was laying all my cards out on the table and if I had to fight for her, so be it.

Just as I was about to jump into the shower, there was a knock at my door. I know that the chance of it being Riley was slim, but I still couldn’t help but smile, hoping that she was the one behind the door when I opened it.

Without hesitation, I jogged over to the door, quickly opening it. Who was on the other side stunned me for a second.

“You piece of s**t!” Nora yelled, fighting her way inside. “I knew it! Riley was right about this whole vacation smelling rotten from the beginning. It was you, wasn’t it?!”

“Yes, but don’t tell her that.”

Nora stared at me, opened mouthed. “You aren’t serious. She knows. She has to know that you were behind all of this. Was it not enough to put her through complete hell that you have to torment her here in this beautiful place too?”

I stepped toward her, but cautiously. Nora was a hot-tempered woman who I had no interest in pissing off more than I already had. “It isn’t like that. I did all this to get her away from the negative s**t back home, hoping that it would give me the opportunity to speak to her again. I know the slim chance of her forgiving me after what I’ve done, but I’m willing to try. I’m broken. It sounds cheesy as hell, but Riley is my other half. I felt it the minute she told me to leave that hospital, the minute I knew it was over between us.”

“It’s over between you because you lied to her multiple times. You’re nothing short of pathetic. I’ve known Riley a lot longer than you have. There is no way in hell she will be so easy to forgive you after what you have done. For f**k’s sake, Dylan, you are a married man!”

Calm, Dylan. Breath. “Technically, yes, but I haven’t been with my wife in a long time. Our separation started before Riley even came into the picture. Do you think that I wanted this? Do you honestly believe that it was my plan to fall in love with my student? Well, it wasn’t, but it happened. Every second of every goddamn day I’m without her, I lose a little piece of myself. I wanted to be that guy for her, the guy that she deserved. I’m not f*****g perfect, but I try to be for her.”

Nora rolled her eyes at me while scoffing right at me. “You aren’t in love with her. Someone that is in love with someone else doesn’t put them through what you have put her through. It would have taken one simple statement to the media to stop it all, but you stayed silent. You have no idea the number of nights that I listened to Riley cry herself to sleep over what you did, what you caused. The only thing that you regret is getting caught double-dipping.”

“No. You’re wrong. I filed for divorce months before meeting Riley. The only reason that I didn’t go to the media was that I felt like whatever I said would only make it worse for Riley, not better. I knew that she couldn’t handle any worse than what she already had. I wanted to defend her to those assholes, but my defense would have strengthened their assault on her name. You know that as well as I do. The only reason I stepped out of her life was to give her space. If I had shown up at her damn doorstep, she wouldn’t have listened to anything I would have said. Not just that, but I wanted her to move on. I was trying to let her go and give her a chance at being with someone that deserves her!”

She stood there, crossing her arms over her chest, but I could see my words weighing on her. “Still. It doesn’t make any of what you did okay. And this trip? Do you care to explain that one?”

I nodded. “Yeah. I paid for everything. I paid for four tickets instead of two because I wanted her to have a good time with her friends. Part of me thought that if I saw her happy with Justin, I could move on and let her be happy. Riley knows me better than that. I take what I want because I’m a selfish bastard through and through. It doesn’t mean what I did wasn’t f****d up because it was. I made mistakes along the way, as do most people. I’m human. I’m going to make mistakes, but I thought if I paid for a trip for her and her friends, she might get to escape from the hurt that I caused her, even if for only a little while. Selfishly, I thought it may give me an opportunity to explain my side of things to her, which I did get to, only a little. Just don’t say anything to her. Please. She may have her doubts but let her believe it for a little while longer that this was just all coincidence.”

“Why? So you can have more time to creep your way back into her life? No. I don’t think so.”

“It’s not like that.” Nora squinted her eyes at me, earning a smile from me. “Okay. It is, maybe a little. I also want her to be happy, even if she is pretending.”

“What if her happily ever ending isn’t with you but with Justin instead? Did she even mention to you that they have grown a lot closer? Without you in the middle of things, complicating it for her, she was ready to move on with someone actually deserving of her. Now you have come along yet again and messed that up for her.”

Screw Justin! All he ever did was get in the middle of my relationship with Riley. Well, he couldn’t have her. If he did, it would be because he won her affection over me, not by default. “We both know that he is the rebound guy for her. Sure, maybe she would eventually fall for him, but not the way she did with me. Doesn’t she deserve to be happy, truly happy?”

Nora seemed to ponder that question for a minute, surprising me when she nodded. “Fine, but I’m not helping you with your plan at all. Count me out. If you are going to win her over again, it’s got to be because she wants it that way, not because she feels forced. That means that she gets alone time with not just you but with Justin too. May the best man win, but my bets are on Justin.”

Without another word, she walked out and slammed the door of my hut behind her. That woman had some balls. I’d give her that. As pissed as I was about Nora coming in here and making accusations that weren’t justified, I was glad that Riley had Nora in her life. Riley could be a little shy about expressing her feelings, but she didn’t have to worry about that with Nora around. I mean, who else would have had the balls to come to confront me like that? Justin sure as hell didn’t, which makes me wonder why. If I was in his position, I would have stormed over here already and had his ass on the ground. We both know that he could do it. He could easily throw some of those wrestling moves on me and get me to submit. The big question was, why hasn’t he already.

I sat down on the couch that faced the ocean, looking at the beautiful scenery. I will make my second attempt tomorrow. Even if I get shot down again, it is worth fighting for. I refused to leave this island without Riley by my side. I don’t care if it took me groveling. I’d do anything she needed me to do as long as she could forgive me and possibly move forward. I wasn’t foolish to believe it could be how it was, at least not for a while, but I didn’t care. None of it mattered unless I had her, and I would work my ass off every damn day proving to her that I could be the man she thought I was all along.