“That’s Jared,” Riley said.
It took me a moment to place where I heard the name. Then I remembered Marly’s empty threat, that she would root for Jared to win in the next competition.
“Oh, then I am definitely glad I said no,” I told him.
Just then, the music in the club slowed down, and “Rumor” by Lee Brice came on. Riley took my hands and placed them on his shoulders and pulled me closer to him. His hands rested on my lower back, right above my ass.
The song played through the chorus, and then Riley said, “Everyone has had their eyes on us—you—all night. Do you want to give them a show?” he asked.
He was referring to our discussion earlier about PDA. He was giving me an out, I realized, before trying to kiss me in public and making a bigger scene. I was touched by the thought.
I was even more nervous to kiss Riley this time than I was in our game of truth or dare in high school. I didn’t have all day to fret over it then like I did today.
“We haven’t already?” I asked, laughing, like he said the funniest thing in the world.
His eyes twinkled when he realized I was playing my part in the act we were putting on for the club. The very interested girlfriend, laughing at what her boyfriend said.
“No, I don’t think we have,” he said seriously.
His gaze was hot enough to melt steel. I nodded, hoping I knew what this was going to lead to.
He bent his head forward, and our lips touched. His mouth covered mine in a kiss that felt anything but fake. I felt heat and passion in this kiss; it was quickly becoming too hot.
His tongue swept across my lip, asking for permission. I opened my mouth, granting it. His tongue danced along with mine to the rhythm of the song, to the slow dance we were still in.
The song ended, and we broke away from the kiss. I opened my eyes, and his gaze was liquid fire, and I felt its heat, even in my toes.
This was exactly what I was afraid of feeling.
“Have you paid attention to the songs I play when I’m around you?” he asked.
“Is this one of your requests to the DJ?” I asked.
He nodded.
I thought back to the songs he had played. “React,” “One of Them Girls,” “Rumor.” I thought about what our relationship was like when each of those songs played. “React” was when we were just coming to a truce. With “One of Them Girls,” he was trying to figure out what I wanted. Rumor didn’t need any explanation, he needed his opportunity, and that had been it.
“Now that you mention it, yes I have. Do you like to use music to send messages?” I asked.
“Yes, I do. I have plenty of other songs I want to play for you, but I don’t know how you will feel about them,” he said.
His face was vulnerable. I just wanted to lean up and kiss him again and then tell him it’s okay to play those songs. But it wasn’t; this was fake. If he played those songs, this would feel real, and I couldn’t let it be real. I couldn’t let myself get hurt by Riley in a way I wasn’t prepared for.
I needed to get out of there. I needed to go home where I could overthink everything that happened tonight and talk myself out of what I was feeling.
I could tell Riley didn’t want to leave. He was having far too much fun rubbing his status in the faces of these people. He was having way too much fun proving to them he was no longer the playboy binge drinker. He was having too much fun proving it to himself.Most of all, he was having way too much fun proving to me, that I was in deep heartbreak waters. I was out far enough to drown in this.
“Do you really want to make them talk?” I asked him.
“What do you have in mind?” he asked with a wicked grin.
“Why don’t we leave right now, right after that kiss? Let them think what they want about where it is heading,” I said, further blurring the lines.
“You are wicked,” he said.
“I can be,” I said with a wink.
I needed to be convincing. I didn’t want to put a damper on his night, but I needed to go. Now. At least this suggestion was under the ruse that I was helping him make further impressions on these people.
