Page 15 of Rock & Roll Nights: The Lila and Rivers Edit
“So?” I scoffed, knowing as well as he did that having a girl in my room was nothing new. And further, that he probably also had a girl inhisroom. I took the brunt of the bad publicity, but at the end of the day, Noah Michael was just as bad as I was.
Plus, he smoked. I did not.
“Why are you running out of there like she’s trying to kill you?” he asked suspiciously. “What did you do, manage to get someone you shouldn’t have? Or are you just running from another mistake?”
“Both.”
I shoved him off me, slid off the wall, and stalked quickly toward the stairs. Fuck Noah, and fuck his god damned intuition. He’d always been too smart for his own good, and too quick to call other people on their bullshit.
That didn’t mean he had a right to this particular secret.
Because I’d never tell him about Lila Potter. And I’d damn sure never tell him that she was the sunshine I never should have tasted. That little secret was for me, and me alone.
If I ever allowed myself to pull it out and look at it.
7
LILA
Anna was looking at me with eyes so narrow I wondered if she could even see through them.
“So, you’re telling me you two went to his room and just talked, and then you fell asleep on the couch and that was that? Nothing happened between you?”
I gulped and tried to keep my face as neutral as possible. I mean I was obviously failing—the way she was looking at me told me that much—but I was going to do my absolute best. Because Anna was already mad at me for having flirted with Rivers Shine like he was the last man on Earth and like she hadn’t been warning me all night to stay away from him. She looked like she was about to explode with frustration at what I’d done.
And she only thought I’d fallen asleep on his couch.
She didn’t need to hear that what I’d actually done was stay up most of the night drinking and flirting with him, only to actually fall into bed with him at the end of it, my body screaming with need for him and his body proving to be quite willing. And after that...
I almost groaned aloud at the memory of his teeth on my skin, his fingertips dancing along my hip as he moved to spreadmy legs for him. I felt my back arching of its own accord at the ghost of that touch and remembered the way he’d slid into me and moved so slowly, so deeply, that I hadn’t had any doubt about it being more than just sex.
And the way he’d said my name as he increased his pace...
“Lila,” Anna snapped. “Are you even listening to me right now?”
No, I hadn’t been listening. I’d been too busy remembering how Rivers’ weight had felt on top of me and the way my body had responded to him.
“Sorry,” I gasped, knowing full well that my cheeks were flushing. “It was a long night, and I’m not feeling that great.” I grabbed my coffee and gulped it so fast that it scalded my throat. “I need more coffee; do you need more coffee?”
I got up before she could respond and walked toward the coffee bar of the diner we’d found for breakfast, trying to get my brain back on track and remind it of the only thing that actually mattered about last night.
Namely that I’d woken up this morning to find Rivers Shine missing from the room, his clothes and shoes gone as well, and no note of explanation. I’d waited around for half an hour, then an hour, thinking that he might have just gone down for coffee or something, but at a certain point my pride had kicked in and started talking some sense into me. He hadn’t gone down for coffee. Or donuts. He hadn’t even gone outside to make a phone call without waking me up.
He’d walked out on me.
He wasn’t coming back.
I’d gotten out of bed and dressed so quickly that I got out into the hallway before I was truly ready, and had paused for several moments there, trying to figure out a story for Anna.
Because she’d be furious if she found out that I’d slept with Rivers Shine. But she’d be a volcano in human form if she foundout that he’d then left me like I was just another of the infamous groupies he liked to sleep with in his spare time.
Music suddenly shot through the diner, taking my mind off that thought, and I turned to the side of the restaurant where I’d seen a stage, confused. We were here for breakfast. It was only 9 in the morning. Surely it was too early for a live show, or even music this loud.
There was definitely someone on the stage, though, and he was grinning out at the people eating like this was all completely normal.
“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen!” he called, like we weren’t all still half-asleep and possibly hung over. “I know it’s early and many of you haven’t had enough coffee yet, but here in Bardstown, when a tour comes through, we like to kick it off with a little performance of our own. What do you think of some music to go with your breakfast?”
No one groaned. Not out loud. But a quick glance at everyone’s faces told me that if he was going to take a vote, they were going to tell him thanks but no thanks. No one wanted music with their breakfast. They wanted coffee and potatoes and bacon. Preferably from a waitress who didn’t ask them too many personal questions.
