Riley Bloom Dreamland Read Free

sat at his feet, tongue lolling out the side of his mouth.
    I ran toward them, dropped to my knees, and hunched my shoulders ’til I was nose to nose with my dog. Giving him a good, long scratch between the ears, and smiling when he closed his eyes and sunk his head low, feeling just as contented as he. So immersed in the moment, so overcome with the thrill of them waiting, that all of my earlier sadness melted away.
    While it was true that I didn’t have much of an afterlife, at least I wouldn’t have to go it alone.
    I cleared my throat, knowing I should say something nice. Nothing too mushy, I’d never been comfortable with that sort of thing, but still, I wanted to show the full extent of my gratitude. Let them know how happy I was to find them both there.
    My lips parting, just about to speak, when I saw the way Bodhi’s knee jiggled—the way his thumbs tapped hard and fast against the rail—and I knew I’d misjudged the whole thing.
    Bodhi had no interest in hanging with me.
    He was still in guide mode. Waiting was an act of duty.
    Perhaps even pity.
    He was just making sure I had somewhere to be—that I wouldn’t make any more trouble—so he could head off on his much-anticipated
    vacation
    with
    no
    further
    thoughts of me.
    I was the very last item on his to-do list.
    A terrible realization that made all the nice words die right on my tongue. While the words that sprang up to replace them were anything but.
    “So,” I said, still petting Buttercup as my gaze fixed hard on Bodhi. “The Council seemed pretty dang happy with all of my accomplishments. Bet that came as a big shock to you, huh?” I paused, waited for him to reply, hoping he’d volley right back with something sarcastic so I could return it with something even worse.
    I was looking for a fight. There was no getting around it. Mostly because I would not, could not, stand for him to pity me. That just wouldn’t do.
    Bodhi squinted, stared at me for a good long bit. And when he did finally speak, his voice was so casual you’d think he’d misunderstood the tone of my words. “Why do you say that?” he asked, the green straw sliding across his front teeth.
    “Um, maybe because they congratulated me ?” I said, stealing a moment to tack on a nice, dramatic eye roll to go with it. My energy growing so heated, so riled up and angry, it wasn’t long before Buttercup whined and scooted away from me.
    But if Bodhi was fazed, he sure didn’t show it. Instead he just laughed. Well, it was actually more of a cross between a laugh, a huff, and a grunt, but anyway, he just made a sound, tucked the straw in the side of his mouth, and said, “No, what I meant was, why did you say that bit about my not being happy for your accomplishments?”
    “Uh, because you’re not?” I made a face, frowning even more as I watched Buttercup scooch closer to Bodhi and farther from me.
    Bodhi shrugged, gazed all around, as his knee picked up the tempo, jiggling so fast it practically blurred.
    And that’s when I got it.
    That’s when I completely understood.
    It was worse than I’d thought.
    Bodhi hadn’t been waiting for me. This had nothing to do with me. He’d been waiting for someone else to catch up with him.
    I swear, if I’d still been alive, that would’ve been the exact moment when my cheeks would’ve burned so bright I would’ve had no choice but to run and hide. But, as it was, I stayed put, looking at him when I said,
    “Surely you remember what you said just before we came here? That because of me, because of my insistence on disobeying your rules—‘we may never glow again.’ You said that the Council can ‘give and take at will.’
    You said all of that, and yet, check it out—I still got my glow on!”
    I thrust my arm toward him, hoping he’d take a good look. But it was no use. His attention was claimed. He was already moving away.
    I watched as he ran a hand over his hair and his clothes. Trying to appear jaunty, self-assured,