Page 20 of Rock & Roll Nights: The Lila and Rivers Edit
If I did that, the least Taylor could do was reward me with a contract. I’d just have to remind her of that at every opportunity.
I grinned at Anna, incapable of stopping myself, and took her hand. “Anna, stop looking like I’ve just made the biggest mistake of my life. Taylor James owes me for this. And we’re going to get our contract out of it. I guarantee it.”
She didn’t look convinced.
But she also hadn’t believed me when I said I had a direct line to God. And look how that had turned out.
* * *
Word came down that afternoon that the tour would be moving on in the morning, and Anna and I spent the evening staying out of the way of the chaos that ensued. It was like a whirlwind had suddenly come into town and settled right on the hotel where we were staying. Roadies, managers, band members, and a number of other people with unknown positions were constantly coming and going, pounding up and down the hallways and shouting at each other about grabbing this or that piece of equipment and making sure the vans and buses were ready to go. Getting the stars themselves in line, with all their baggage—both real and metaphorical—and being sure to get Rivers on a different bus than Noah. Everyone seemed to know exactly what they were doing, and it was like the place had become a beehive. Or an anthill. No one was standing still, and everyone had a job. More than that, everyone knew exactly what their job was.
Everyone but Anna and me. We’d spent fifteen minutes packing our things and then stared at each other, at a loss for what else we were supposed to do.
The one thing I knew for certain was that I didn’t want to run into Rivers. I didn’t know what we were supposed to be doing—Taylor hadn’t exactly sent me a set of instructions—and I hadn’t yet managed to get my feelings about the situation under control. Until that happened, I didn’t want to risk seeing himagain. My brain was still too full of the secrets we’d told each other, the way he’d laughed as he answered one of my questions.
The whiskey on his breath as he leaned in to kiss me.
The echo of his fingertips brushing down my side just before he positioned the head of his cock between my legs and entered me, his eyes on mine and his lip caught between his teeth.
I gasped involuntarily, confirmed my idea that I didn’t want to see him until after I’d figured out how I felt about the deal I’d made, and turned to my best friend in the world—who only knew half of why this was going to be so complicated. I need advice, or at least an outlet for the maelstrom of feelings careening through my head, and I couldn’t tell the person I loved the most in the world.
Torture, thy name is Rivers Shine, and your weapons are tattoos, heartbreak, and an achingly sweet smile that I don’t think I was supposed to see.
“Dinner?” I asked breathlessly.
Anna frowned, obviously noticing my tone, but then shook her head. “Dinner. Somewhere away from the hotel, I think.”
I reached down and took her hand. “That,” I said, “sounds like the best idea you’ve ever had. Let’s get out of here and not come back until it’s quiet enough to sleep.”
* * *
The next morning came quickly and before I knew it, we were caught in the stream of people heading down the stairs and into the lobby, each of them babbling about some plan or other for during the tour, or something they were supposed to be doing today. I’d never been on such a large tour before—certainly not as part of the entourage—and I couldn’t believe how many people were involved. I knew there were three bands going on the road and that they all had people supporting them, but there had to be at least one hundred people milling aroundin the lobby when we got there, adjusting bags and equipment and visiting with each other. A couple of them seemed to be in charge of everyone else and were shouting out directions for who was going on what bus and where we’d be heading next.
Honestly it was all more than a little bit overwhelming.
When Anna grabbed my hand and started to pull me toward the front doors, I followed her gratefully.
“Thank God we have our own car and don’t have to worry about this lot,” she muttered over her shoulder. “If this is the kind of chaos they deal with on tour, I’m thinking Olivia and Connor might have been right to do it the way they did the first time.”
I laughed. “That first time was mostly a mistake, from what I’ve heard. I don’t think it was their choice.” That was an understatement, given what I’d read. They’d essentially been deserted on the road by their label and told to get home however they could. A great publicity stunt, as far as the label was concerned. Probably a terrifying nightmare for Connor and Olivia.
Though they’d come out of it in love, and with thousands of people hanging on their every word. So maybe it hadn’t been all bad.
“Maybe not. But Anna’s right. It was probably easier than dealing with all this,” a voice said from my right.
I glanced up, wondering who the hell was listening in on my conversation with Anna, and stopped dead when I saw Rivers looking down on me. His mouth was caught in something that was half smirk, half shy smile, and he shrugged.
“Hey, sunshine girl.”
“Hey,” I said faintly. I’d woken up this morning thinking I had a handle on my feelings. Or at least a plan for how I was going to get through this. It was just a business deal, I’d toldmyself. Just an agreement I’d made in exchange for a shot at a contract.
I wasn’t going to let Rivers Shine get into my heart or even under my skin. Hell, I didn’t even have to like him. I just had to pretend I did.
Easy.
But standing there staring up at him, I couldn’t stop the flood of emotions going through me. They started small. Just a tickle in my throat. But soon they were ballooning inside me like someone had injected pure Rivers into my blood. I was tingling all over and something had happened to my voice.
“Rivers. What are you doing here?” Anna, who evidently hadn’t had Rivers injected into her bloodstream, asked sharply.
