Page 36 of Rock & Roll Nights: The Lila and Rivers Edit
He owed me an explanation. And an apology.
If he didn’t give me those things, I might turn Anna loose on him.
A knock on the door jerked me out of my thoughts, and I heard Anna making her way to answer it. There was a pause and a sharp laugh.
“Lila,” she called. “Tattoos himself is here!”
I closed my eyes in horror. We’d taken to calling him that when we were alone, thinking it was the perfect nickname for him, but I couldn’t believe she’d say it if he was actually at the door.
Of course, I also hadn’t thought she’d drive awayin my carand leave me in a hotel room with him, cursed to find our own way to the next town. She still hadn’t given me a satisfactory reason for her actions on that point. She’d said it had been Taylor’s idea, which I believed, and that Anna had only gone along with it when Taylor had promised that if we didn’t find a ride by a specific time, she’d send someone back for us.
I hadn’t sorted out how I felt about Anna going along with it. Or how I felt about the time Rivers and I had spent together. Because it had been one of the most wonderful afternoons of my life—despite the fact that it had only happened because his agent had played a trick on him. Unfortunately, we’d had come back to the real world before we could talk about what had changed, courtesy of him having to get on stage immediately. The only talking we’d really done was that strange situation on stage,when he’d called me up there and then acted like he didn’t know how it had happened.
And last night, when he’d found me in the hallway. Though we hadn’t exactly done a lot of talking.
In short, I was feeling both unsteady and out of sorts when it came to the local tattooed rock star, and that made me nervous. I liked to know where I stood with people. I liked when people told me they cared about me.
I didn’t know what Rivers thought of me or if he cared at all, and given what he’d done last night, I was feeling even more off-balance.
I hated that.
Almost as much as I hated the feelings I was starting to have for him. Because those had never been part of the deal.
“Lila!” Anna called again.
Shit. I’d been so lost in my thoughts that I’d forgotten about her.
And her claim that Rivers was standing at the door waiting for me.
I rushed out of the bathroom, ready to tell her that her joke wasn’t funny, but came to a sharp stop. She wasn’t lying. Rivers was lounging against the door frame, his hands in his pockets and his face looking unexpectedly ashamed.
Anna, of course, was smirking. Probably already coming up with all the ways she was going to make fun of me later, I realized. I narrowed my eyes at her like any of this was her fault—it definitely wasn’t—and then stalked toward Rivers. I didn’t know what he wanted or how I was going to react, but my stomach was already dancing some sort of jig inside my body, elated at the idea that he’d come to my room to find me. My heart had started pounding and butterflies were dancing through my veins at the sight of him.
Stupid body. Stupid, traitorous organs. Hadn’t they gotten the memo that he might not actually like us at all?
“Hey,” I said.
“I owe you an apology,” he replied, getting right to the point. “Can I take you to an apology breakfast?”
My heart stopped its pounding, and my mind started to spin. “An apology breakfast? Is that an actual thing?”
He reached out, took my hand, and pulled me through the door and into the hall. “It is now. Let’s go.”
19
RIVERS
Ididn’t know what an apology breakfast was, to be honest. I didn’t know if it was even a thing. But I knew I owed Lila something after the way I’d been acting, and by God, I was going to give it to her. I’d stayed up most of the night hating what I’d done and wishing I’d been more of a man about it, and had risen this morning with the sun, only one thought on my mind. I was going to explain why I’d done everything, from jumping her that first night to watching clouds to deserting her in a hallway by herself, and I was going to tell her exactly who I was.
Or something.
She glanced over the menu and then looked up at me, her face full of questions. “Is this a full breakfast sort of apology or an orange-juice-only sort of thing? Do I need to plan on getting out of here quickly or…?”
“Full breakfast, definitely,” I said quickly.
Partially because I wanted her to eat. Partially because I didn’t know how she was going to react to what I was about to say, and if this was going to be the last time I got to see her, I wanted to keep her for as long as I could. Full breakfast would at least mean we could take some time with it, right?
No, I didn’t know for sure that she was going to get up and walk out on me when she heard what I had to say, but if I was going to tell her everything, I had to keep an open mind. I mean it wasn’t every day someone came to you and told you they’d been orphaned and then ended up in the music industry, and had never had anyone they thought they could trust and how that had—maybe—led to a path where they’d never believed they could trust anyone. It was a long story, and I was honest enough to admit that it might be too much for her to handle.
