"Riley?" Victoria says when Riley doesn't say anything for a long moment. Her voice carries both hesitation, but when he still doesn't respond, she shifts in her seat, looking at him more intently.
"I can pay you if you want," she adds, and those words land like another weight on his shoulders, another misunderstanding that grates against everything inside him. That, too, frustrates Riley.
He finally leans closer, the frustration in his chest pressing out in a blunt, raw honesty. "Just be yourself… Don't force yourself to be someone you're not. It won't work out. You'll only make things worse."
His tone is firm, but it isn't cruel. It's simply the truth as he knows it, the only way he can answer her. He doesn't have softer words or hidden wisdom to give her. That was all he had, and he meant it.
With nothing else left to say, Riley reaches for the bottle, his hand unsteady as he closes it around the glass.
