"Hey mom." Clay nodded, I noticed that he put on a forced smile as his dad stepped through the threshold.

"Clay, Riley." Richard nodded in greeting looking at both of us apologetically. "I'm so sorry about what happened, I shouldn't have done that. I would never hurt you Riley, I can't believe I did that. It was just heat of the moment, I shouldn't have."

Where I was pressed against Clay I felt his body tense up even more, he was like a snake poised for the attack. "If another moment like that happens again you and I are going to have a problem." Clay growled angrily.

Richard shook his head, "It won't, I'm so sorry and thank you for letting me come and help today. I really appreciate it, I don't deserve you to forgive me."

"You're not forgiven." Clay snapped looking at him warningly. He still hadn't shut the front door, he looked like he was contemplating throwing his dad back outside and slamming the door in his face. I winced at how uncomfortable this conversation was and squeezed Clay's hand, he looked back at me and I gave him the puppy dog face. Please let this go I begged with my eyes. He sighed and turned back to his dad, "But thank you for helping with the painting." he mumbled grudgingly.

Richard smiled at me gratefully and I smiled back, he really was a good guy at heart and was like a second dad to me, I didn't want to lose him from my life either if I could help it.

"I'd better go see what your mothers doing, probably spilling paint on your floor knowing her." Richard said excusing himself sheepishly and heading into the lounge at the end of the hall.

I put my hand over Clays on the door and pushed it shut, he sighed and turned back to me. I was extremely proud of him, I know he didn't want to see his dad again and the fact that he was putting that aside made him even more of a man to me.

"That was the right thing to do." I whispered stepping closer to him.

He nodded frowning, "I guess."

"Thank you for doing that for your mom, I know you didn't want to." I wrapped my arms around his waist and nibbled on his jaw lightly, Clay always seemed to like that.

"I didn't do it for her Riley bear. I did it because you wanted me to. It's killing me to have him in here after what he did to you." he mumbled.

I pulled back and looked at him, "Well then thank you for doing it for me." I kissed his lips lightly. He really was the most adorable boy in the world and I was so damn lucky to have him.

He sighed and nodded pressing his lips against mine for a second before pulling away and smirking at me. "Come on then Riley bear, my dad's right; you know your mom's going to be spilling paint on the floor."

I laughed and followed him into the lounge where they were busy arguing playfully over who gets the biggest roller and who has to paint in the edges. Richard smiled sheepishly as we walked in, he looked really uncomfortable and I actually felt a little sorry for him to be honest.

"Richard, do you think maybe you could help Clay move the rest of the furniture into the middle of the room before we start?" I asked patting Clay on the ass happily. Wow that is one perfect ass! I bit my lip as my slutty body started to react in the normal way to his, damn I was such a freaking pervert around him! Focus Riley, painting!

"Sure." Richard smiled happily.

I heard Clay groan quietly beside me so I gave him a little shove in the direction of the bookcase. I headed over to join the argument over who gets the rollers and who gets the paint brush, all the time watching Clay as he moved the larger pieces of furniture with his dad. They seemed to be making a little small talk, some of it about football and school. Clay seemed to be making a real effort and I was really proud of him for it.

The police called later that day to tell us that they had arrested Blake for breaking the terms of the restraining order but because he hadn't actually hurt me or threatened me that it wasn't a case that would be dealt with quickly. They'd let him out on bail and he would have to go to court in about a month but they said that the best outcome we could hope for with the court would be community service.

Clay was less than happy about it, well that's kind of an understatement, he actually smashed the glass he was holding against the wall in anger but there was nothing either of us could do about it. Hopefully now that Blake was actually going court that it would give him a little heads up that I wasn't interested. He wouldn't come near me again I was sure of it, if he did then the police would take him in again and this time they would hold him until his court case. They'd told him that too so he was very aware of the situation, he couldn't be that stupid so I relaxed slightly.

Clay and I finally started living like a married couple, we even had our first fight but to be honest it was kind of forced because we both found it funny. He moaned that I hadn't washed the dishes, I moaned that he didn't put his clothes in the laundry. We shouted for about a minute before we both burst out laughing and ended up making love in the dirty laundry still arguing back and forth; which was - in a weird way - kind of sexy, though I would never admit that to him because it made me sound a bit strange and perverted.

The apartment was incredible and I loved waking up to him knowing that he was mine and always would be. His parents and my mom had been over for dinner one night. Brian still refused to speak to me or Clay. My mom said that he would come round eventually but I didn't hold up much hope for it. I loved him like he was my read father and I would always think of him as my dad, but he was making me chose and I would chose Clay every time. Brian just didn't seem to understand the situation at all, all he saw was that his seventeen year old daughter had run off and got married in Vegas.

The decorating was finally finished and I swear Clay and I were on a paint fume high for a couple of days so I was glad that was over with. Clay's football team were doing great too, there was some sort of competition they were entered into and they had sailed through to the finals which was a week from tomorrow. He was training like crazy, everyday after school he would go to an hour and a half practice. I thanked my lucky stars that I'd arranged to volunteer at the library because that would kill me to see him tackled and taken out for an hour and a half everyday! Working at the library for this week had been like a godsend.

I couldn't wait for the football season to be over with, it was like a constant worry about him from start to finish but he just didn't seem to understand that. I hated to see him wince when he moved or be covered in bruises from a rough tackle, the sooner it was over and done with the better in my opinion. Other than that though we'd been living together for exactly two weeks and life couldn't be more perfect. Life as Mrs. Clay Preston really was like living a dream.

Today was Friday and I couldn't wait for the weekend to start. Last weekend we'd been painting and had his parents and my mom round so we couldn't just chill and spend time together. This weekend we were free to lounge around in our pyjamas eating ice-cream until it came out of our ears if we wanted to. Clay had been working so hard at practice all week that he deserved to be pampered for the weekend so I was going to do exactly that. I had lots of massages and bubble baths planned which I knew he would enjoy.

We just needed to get through one more practice with him not being hurt too badly and then the weekend could start. I kissed his lips one last time and skipped off towards the library ignoring the wolf whistle that he sent as I walked away. I smiled to myself and pushed the door open looking back over my shoulder to see him standing there at the other end of the hallway with his hand on the door, making sure I went in ok before he went to practice.

"Go." I mouthed pointing to the door trying to look stern.

He smiled, "I'm going." he mouthed back still standing there waiting for me to go in. He was so overprotective still that it was plain ridiculous but it made him feel better so I didn't keep complaining about it. He raised an eyebrow at me and smirked looking so hot that I had to bite my lip. An hour and a half and counting and then the weekend would start and I couldn't wait. I sighed and headed in knowing he was going to stand there until I went in so I might as well concede and let him win.

Mrs. Sing smiled at me warmly as I walked in. "Hi Riley."

"Hey, so what shall I do today?" I asked looking at the stack of returned books that were sitting there ready to be put away.

She smiled and nodded, "Returns if you don't mind." She looked at me apologetically but to be honest it was quite fun in a bookworm kind of way. Much better than sitting in the cold listening to Clay get shouted at and smashed to the floor so I was grateful for whatever I could do.

I loaded them onto a trolley and set to work putting them in the right places, taking my time with it so in case she didn't have anything else for me to do and sent me to the field or something. Just before four o'clock I couldn't string it out any longer so I headed over to the desk looking at her hopefully.

"Anything else need doing?" I asked desperately looking around for a job.

"Actually I have a lot of orders that students have placed that I need to order from the central library. Would you mind doing that for me?" she pulled up another chair next to me and flicked on the laptop.

I breathed a sigh of relief and headed round to the desk sitting in the chair next to her filling in the form for the requests. After about five minutes the library phone rang. She answered it smiling and I tried not to listen to her conversation but I couldn't exactly help it, she was sitting next to me. Something about an order that she'd placed being over budget, but she was adamant she'd checked it and that it was within the limit that she was given. Finally after a few minutes she agreed to go and speak to the principle about it in person rather than over the phone.

She looked at me apologetically, "Sorry Riley but I can't leave you in here on your own because of health and safety. It's after school hours now so the school could get in a lot of trouble if you fell and hurt yourself and no one was here with you."

I groaned internally but nodded putting on a brave face, there was only twenty minutes of practice left now so at least I wouldn't have to watch for that long. "It's ok, I'll go see how Clay's doing." I shrugged, reluctantly pushing myself up from the chair and grabbing my school bag.

"Have a great weekend Riley, you have anything planned?" she asked as she grabbed her purse and followed me out of the library flicking off the lights and locking the door behind her.

I smiled happily, "Nope and it's going to be awesome."

She laughed and rolled her eyes, "Young love, I remember those days. You make the most of it while you can because the honeymoon stage doesn't last forever."

I grinned, "I know, but whatever stage comes after that will be fun too." I skipped off towards the parking lot making her laugh and head in the other direction towards the principle's office.

I squinted when I got outside, it was a lot brighter than the dingy library so I needed to adjust my eyes. I set off walking through the parking lot towards the school field on the other side. I heard footsteps behind me so I stopped and looked around wondering who on earth could be here at this time of day. The whole school usually left this place as soon as possible, no one ever hung around after unless there was a club or sport on that they were attending. I flicked my eyes around the parking lot but couldn't see anyone at all, it was deserted. I was just being stupid, I knew that but I couldn't slow my heart beat down as I turned back and walked a little faster towards the field.

Suddenly someone grabbed me from behind, an arm wrapped around my waist and another clamped over my mouth muffling my scream.

Chapter 24

Finally coach blew the whistle signally the end of practice. I smiled gratefully and rubbed my sore hands together brushing off the dirt from the last tackle I'd taken. Coach Bradley wanted to run through all of our plays, and lucky me got volunteered to play the opposition for most of them so I'd spent a lot of the last hour and a half pushing myself up off of the floor. I silently thanked God that Riley was inside because she would have been freaking out today, that was brutal.

I guess Coach needed to work us hard, next Saturday was the final of the State Championship and we wanted to win. It meant a lot to the whole school not just the players and I was pretty sure we were ready for it, as long as none of us got injured in the week leading up to it then we should be able to walk an easy victory.

Coach Bradley waved me over as everyone headed in to shower, I lagged a little behind letting the rest of the team head in so he could speak to me in private.

He smiled as I got to him. "Great practice Clay, I just need you to keep your eye on Andy, he's still lacking in confidence and I need him to be top of his game ready for Saturday." He patted me on the back looking at me hopefully.

"I'll talk to him don't worry Coach, everything will be fine. It's going to be a breeze." I said waving my hand dismissively, we definitely had the better team and our record this season was relentless and would have The Crows scared of us ready for the match next week.

"Clay I just wanted to thank you for all of your hard work over the last year, I know you always put in a hundred percent but this year you've really made my job easy for me. You're one hell of a captain, you're definitely sure you don't want to try out for college ball? I know I could get a couple of scouts to come and look at you, I could pull in a few favours." he offered looking at me quizzically.

I smiled gratefully but shook my head, I didn't want to play professionally, that was never my intention and I wouldn't have the commitment or the dedication for this to be my life full time. My interests were more mechanical, since I was a little kid I'd always had a fascination for all things robotic or machine. Riley used to tease me about it because I would get a new toy for my birthday and then immediately take it apart to see how it worked instead of playing with it. The engineering apprenticeship I had been offered was actually more like a dream job to me and I knew I would enjoy going to work everyday. Well unless I had to leave Riley na**d in the bed in the morning then I'm pretty sure my job would become a pain in the ass!