Page 25 of The Next Chapters

Who squirmed slightly in her chair, coughing as she answered, “I didn’t say those things… exactly.”

However, the sentiment was definitely there.

Riley stared earnestly up at Gianna, hoping she could see where Riley had been coming from. “I’m sorry if you felt like I was overstepping or–”

Anything else she was preparing to say fell right back down her throat as Gianna took two quick steps toward her before throwing one of her long legs over Riley’s lap. She gripped the back of the chair behind Riley’s head as she settled down, straddling her.

Surprised but very pleased, Riley’s eyebrows lifted even as she reached up to settle her hands on Gianna’s hips. “Huh. This seems like a good response?”

Any time where Riley could be surrounded by Gianna like this, her hair curtaining one side of their faces, her intoxicating scent all over her, Gianna pressed right against her – that was a good response.

“You are never overstepping, carina,” Gianna murmured, bringing one of her hands to Riley’s chin, tilting her head so she could look straight into Gianna’s eyes. “It would be impossible for you to overstep in my life because you are my life.”

Relief pushed through her, and with it, she tightened her grip on Gianna’s waist and pulled her in, their torsos pressing tightly against one another as she connected their lips.

“I feel the same way,” she breathed against Gianna.

She didn’t know why she’d been concerned, really. Gianna would absolutely tear someone to pieces if they treated Riley poorly, and she’d have no doubts about it afterward.

She felt Gianna sigh into her mouth before she pulled back, peppering Riley’s bottom lip with a few more short, sweet kisses.

Gianna settled back again, her weight on Riley’s thighs as she toyed with the ends of Riley’s hair. “I love that you said those things to her. The things I always think about, but never find the right way to say when we’re face-to-face. It doesn’t come as any sort of surprise to me that you, Riley Jane Beckett, were my defender.”

Riley shook her head slightly. “I just couldn’t help it. I couldn’t stand here, in our house, and let her say that you’re making mistakes and throwing your life away. Does she even know you? Everything you do is a success.”

Pausing, Riley’s memory of Giulia’s words snagged on one particular part. Something she hadn’t really given much attention to earlier because she’d been so worked up.

Forehead crinkling in confusion, Riley asked, “When she was here, she said that, especially today, you were making a mistake or something? What is that about?”

She knew the second she’d asked the question that there was something Gianna hadn’t yet told her. Just from the slight widening of her eyes.

“What’s going on?”

“Well…” Gianna slid her tongue over her bottom lip, before she cleared her throat and sat up straight. “My meeting with Cora today was to work out the next steps of quitting.”

“Quitting?” Riley echoed, feeling ridiculously slow but unable to connect with whatever Gianna was telling her. “Quitting what? A certain brand?”

“All of the brands,” Gianna succinctly told her, her voice falling soft. Earnest. “My reign as a social media titan is coming to an end, within the next six months.”

Riley’s hands went totally slack against Gianna as she stared, utterly dumbfounded. “You – what? What? Why?”

“I started thinking about it a few months ago. Before Anya was born. And the why is… I don’t want it anymore,” she said, simply, quietly. “I built up my influencer profile when that was all I had. I had you as my best friend, and I had followers on the internet. But now we have Anya.”

She smiled, that luminous, perfect smile, as she looked down at their daughter in her bouncer next to them.

“And during my pregnancy, I received so many comments about becoming a mommy blogger,” she shuddered.

Riley laughed, flexing her hands. “You don’t have to be a mommy blogger to still do what you do if that’s what you want. You haven’t even shown Anya’s face on your socials.”

It had been a quick and easy agreement between them – Anya and any future children would not be a part of Gianna’s online life.

“No, I know. But even without showing her on socials, I still get so many comments about followers excited to be going on this journey with us, and…” Gianna frowned deeply as she slowly shook her head. “I don’t want that. I don’t want to be one of those parents whose kids’ life was famous on socials, even if we don’t show her face. I want us to start to have privacy. To just be… us.”

Riley could only stare, trying to grasp all of the information thrown at her.

“So, you’re done on social media?”

“Well, my public ones, as soon as my current sponsorship contracts run out, which will be within three months. I posted a little video implying what’s coming… I’m sure that’s what my mother saw earlier.”

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