Page 20 of Tattoos and Heartbreak
Because I wasn’t sure Icouldrun from this guy. I didn’t know if I could get away from the magnetic hold he had over me.
I didn’t know if I wanted to—despite the fact that he’d spent most of the last three days acting like I was the kid sister he didn’t want around.
“I don’t run from my problems,” I said. “And I’m game if you are.”
RIVERS
Iwoke up on the couch in my suite, and that seemed...
Well, wrong.
I never slept on the couch. It was too short for me, to start with, and insanely uncomfortable. This particular couch had one of those raised designs, too, and when I moved, I felt like the design had somehow imprinted itself into the skin of my arm.
What the hell was I doing on the couch in my suite?
I opened my eyes and stared blearily across the room at the bed, wondering how I’d ended up here and not there. This didn’t seem right. The bed was only like five steps away. Why would I have slept here instead of—
Someone rolled over in the bed, groaning, and I sat straight up and stared. Who the hell was in my bed? And why? I stood up and walked in that direction, trying desperately to remember, and saw...
Oh God.
A flash of red hair. A nose covered in freckles. Eyes that were closed right now but that would be bright green when they opened up.
Fuck.
I tried to remember what we’d done last night—tried to remember if there had been alcohol involved—but all I got was the memory of us in the restaurant. I’d gone in because I couldn’t sleep and there’d still been a light in there. I’d thought I’d get some coffee and maybe ice cream or pie. Take my my mind down a notch or two. But when I walked in, I’d found Lila playing her guitar with her eyes closed. She’d been as beautiful as an angel in that moment and I’d drifted toward her without meaning to.
We’d spent most of the night talking. Playing that stupid question and answer game. We’d gone through nearly an entire pie together and by the time we came upstairs, it had been early morning rather than late night.
She hadn’t been able to get into her room. She hadn’t had a key and Anna had been asleep.
I’d told her she could have my bed and I’d take the couch.
There hadn’t been anything more to it than that. She’d fallen asleep immediately and though I’d stayed awake for what felt like hours, listening to her breathe, I’d eventually drifted off, feeling more peaceful than I could remember feeling in... ever.
At that moment, her eyes came open and she stared at me, horrified. I watched her face as she searched her own memories, looking for the reason she was here, and saw the relief when she remembered that we hadn’t done anything but talk and sleep.
Then her eyes went to the clock on the bedside table and opened up even further. She launched herself out of bed, still fully dressed, and started searching for her shoes.
“What are you doing?” I asked, shocked.
She turned and pointed at the clock. “Rivers, it’s 11 in the morning! We overslept!”
I looked at the clock, still confused. “Overslept for what?”
She turned on me, looking like she couldn’t believe how stupid I was. “The tour, Rivers! The schedule had everyone leaving this morning at 10. Which means we’re an hour late for getting our asses on the road!”
She finally found her shoes, shoved her feet into them, and literally ran out of the room, shouting instructions back at me for calling Taylor and Olivia and letting them know that we were up and getting ready.
* * *
Momentslater she was back at my door, her eyes enormous and her fair skin mottled with red.
“Anna’s not in our room,” she said, her voice shaky.
“What?” I asked. “Is she downstairs?”
“No one’s downstairs. No one’s here. I went and asked the receptionist and she said they left. An hour ago.”
