Page 9 of Tattoos and Heartbreak
I snorted. “That hardly counts. That’s freely available information for anyone who’s ever done research on you.”
“And yet it’s the only thing you’re getting.” He paused, then looked suddenly smug. “Wait, does that mean you’ve done research on me?”
“That would be a secret. And you haven’t had a drink yet.”
With a narrowing of his eyes, he poured his own shot and threw it back. “There. I’ve had a drink. Now spill. Have you done research on me?”
I felt the flush crawling up my neck at that—stupid fair skin—but pushed it down. “I have.”
He looked entirely too pleased about this, like I’d just given him the best news he’d ever heard. “How much research?”
Reaching out, I grabbed the bottle and poured myself another drink. “Don’t be impatient, Rivers. You already got one secret. Now it’s your turn to give me something.” I sipped the drink more slowly this time, watching him as I did, and then put my glass down. “Now spill.”
* * *
For the first few rounds,our secrets were pretty tame. I had sisters who I loved to distraction. He’d tried playing bass for a long time but just couldn’t get it done. I secretly wanted to play in New York at some point, and had once thought about traveling to LA to try to make it in Hollywood.
At that, though, he put his glass down very slowly and stared at me like he was trying to see right into my soul, and things started feeling a whole lot more serious. The air around us got thick with something I didn’t understand and my stomach felt like it was trying to reach up and crawl out of my throat.
“What?” I whispered. “Is that so hard to believe?”
“That’s a question, right?” he answered, his voice husky. “That means you have to drink for an answer.”
“Wait, that’s not how—”
His hand shot out and covered my mouth. “I’m changing the rules. You going to back out?”
I froze, his hand burning my skin where it touched me, and shook my head slowly. When his hand dropped, I took the glass he’d poured for me, my hand shaking, and lifted it to my lips. One sip. Two sips. Our gazes holding onto each other like we were drowning and saving each other at the same time.
“Now you can ask.”
I cleared my throat and tried very hard to keep my voice steady. “Is it so hard to believe I’d want to go to LA and try to get into the movies?”
“No,” he said. “I think you’d be brilliant at it. You’re beautiful enough for it. And you’ve got a smile they would kill for there.”
That dropping/climbing feeling in my stomach increased by about one hundred. “You think I’m beautiful?”
“I think you’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” he whispered. “And I’m positive that I’ve never said that to any girl before. I’ve never even thought that about a girl before.”
I was going to melt. Or explode. Or have a stroke.
And if I died from a stroke right now, it would be completely worth it.
“Oh please. I bet you say that to all the girls. It’s probably a line from one of your songs.”
“It’s not. I don’t write love songs. I don’t have the emotions for it. I didn’t even think I had—”
He stopped himself, his teeth pulling at his lip and his eyes torn. Something moved behind them and I wondered if he was going to change his mind. Tell me I wasn’t actually beautiful. Or interesting or funny or sunshiny.
Instead, he moved forward, took my face in his hands, and pressed his lips to mine, claiming me like I was the most precious thing in the world. Like he couldn’t go one more second without a taste of me.
I opened my mouth in a gasp and he slid his tongue between my lips like he’d been planning it, and in that moment I forgot everything. I forgot Anna in the other room and the fact that we’d driven hours to follow a tour, like groupies who had nothing better to do. The contract flew right out of my mind.
All I could feel, all I could think of, was Rivers Shine and the sensation of his hands on my skin and his lips on mine, the energy humming between us like we were magnets that couldn’t do anything other than come together. And God help me, I responded. I grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him toward me, groaning at the contact, and suddenly the kiss turned frantic, all tongues and teeth and growling need. His hands wrapped around the back of my head and tangled in my hair, pulling it and forcing my face up to take him even deeper.
And holy shit, if I’d thought my heart was going to explode before, I hadn’t had one single clue. Rivers was practically boiling, his hands supporting my head as he pushed against me and I was flying, so caught up in the moment that I didn’t even remember whether we were still earthbound.
When he slid his hands underneath my legs and stood, lifting me up with him, I gasped and wrapped my arms around his neck. He chuckled into my mouth but didn’t stop kissing me, though his mouth was now curved in a smile that I thought must be both sly and self-satisfied.
