by Thorpe, Elle
Oh. That. “Is that why you’ve been such a grump tonight?” I asked, putting my hands on my hips and trying to look mad at him. He was hot when he was cranky. It was partly why I’d picked so many fights with him over the years. His eyes always darkened and laser-beamed in on me, and his eyebrows got the cutest wrinkle between them. I always wanted to kiss him and touch him until the scowl went away.
He folded his arms over his chest. “I haven’t been a grump.”
I laughed. “Yeah, Riley, you have.”
“Why are you laughing?”
“Because you’re being ridiculous. You were the one who said we should at least try to be friends! Isn’t that what we’ve been doing here? Trying to build a relationship? A relationship usually involves being friends, you know.”
He dropped his arms. “So, you do want a relationship?”
I took a step closer but didn’t touch him. “Yes. You idiot. I do.”
“Then why didn’t you tell that reporter I was your boyfriend?”
I threw up my hands in exasperation. “Because you’re not! We went on one date. Two if you include this one. We haven’t had any talks about exclusivity. I didn’t want to assume. Plus, you looked so uncomfortable out there on the red carpet, I wasn’t sure you’d even want to be with me after all of that. If I’d announced us as a couple you would have had a media circus out the front of your house by tomorrow morning. I wanted to at least talk to you about it before I just lumped all that on you.” There was so much more to being in the public eye than he even knew. Dangers, too, that he needed to know about before he signed himself—and Sadie—up for that sort of life. My family bore the scars of those dangers. My mother, and the loss of my sister, a constant reminder that not everything was golden in Tinsel Town.
“Oh,” he said.
I stepped into his space, and his arms wrapped around me. And for the first time all evening, Riley relaxed. His posture softened, and he dragged me in, burying his face in my neck.
“Sorry,” he whispered, and I rolled my eyes.
“You’re forgiven. I knew we couldn’t last too long without an argument. Truly, I was surprised we’d managed this long.”
“But, hey, I apologised, and you forgave me. That never used to happen. So high fives for progress.”
I laughed as I slapped his hand and he pulled me back in. He leaned down and brushed a kiss over my lips.
“Mmm,” I murmured. “Let’s just stay out here for the rest of the night.”
“Fine by me,” he whispered.
No sooner than the words had left his lips, the speakers in the wall announced that the Gold Logie would be up next. Riley leant back, making me pout.
He grinned. “We better get back, Miss Gold Logie nominee.”
I ran my hands up his arms and over his muscled chest to his tie. He let me loosen it enough that I could undo the top button and lean in to kiss his neck. He groaned.
“I’m not going to win anyway.” I let my teeth graze the sensitive skin while the announcer named the nominees.
“BB James, for her portrayal of Elaina on Ocean Bay.”
There was smattering of applause, but Riley’s hand made its way under the split in my skirt, and I’d found his lips. So I almost didn’t hear the announcer say, “And the award goes to…BB JAMES!”
Riley jerked back, and my eyes widened before I burst into laughter. “Well, shit!”
I thanked the cosmetic gods for smudge-proof lipstick while Riley helped me tug my dress back into place. Then he opened the door and let us out.
“BB? Is she here tonight?”
The announcer squinted through the stage lights as I skirted the edge of the room, heading as quickly as possible for the stage. But right before I hit the steps, I glanced back over my shoulder.
Riley leant on the wall with his arms crossed, watching me. When our gazes met, he gave me a grin and brought his hands together to clap me.
God, he was cute.
Unable to wipe the smile from my face, I took the stairs one at a time, careful not to faceplant, and accepted my award. I leaned into the microphone, looking out at the sea of faces, none of which were anything more than a blur with the lights blinding me, and thanked my parents, manager, the crew, the writers, directors, and my cast mates.
“And I’d like to thank some people who have always been there for me. To Elodie, Jamison, Low, Reese, and to Riley.” I turned in the direction of where I’d left him, standing by the wall. “To the best friends a girl could ever hope for.” I threw him a wink and hoped he was smiling.
21
Riley
“I’m so proud of you,” I whispered in Bianca’s ear as we strolled hand in hand toward the exit.
I squeezed her fingers, and she looked up at me with a coy smile that took my breath away.
“Thank you. That means a lot.”
Damn, she was beautiful tonight. That dress was a complete knockout, and despite the misunderstanding over where we stood, the night had ended on a high. Being here with her, at one of these events, instead of watching from home while jealousy consumed me every time her date touched her, was a pleasant change.
Her winning the gold was just the cherry on the top. She’d spent the rest of the night being congratulated by her peers, and she was inspiring when she was in her element. She was made for this life. If I hadn’t been the one working with her all those years ago at a racetrack bar, I would never have believed it had even happened. She was so far from that girl I’d once dated that I barely recognised her.
We pushed through the lobby doors and stepped out onto the street, only to be blinded by flashing cameras.
I tightened my grip on Bianca’s hand and surveyed the scene. There was less security out here now than there had been earlier, and the crowd barricades had been taken down. The fans had all left, but the paparazzi were hanging around, probably hoping to find someone drunk and disorderly, or leaving with a fellow cast mate. Something scandalous they could sink their teeth into. Something they could deliver to their editors that would get them the headline in tomorrow’s newspaper.
“BB! Congratulations! How do you feel?”
“Amazing. I’m so thrilled, honestly,” Bianca said graciously.
I kept us moving towards the limo across the street. Stopping would mean being swarmed; I’d learned that lesson at the hospital.
“We hear you’re up for a Ridge Leone project! Tell us all about it.”
I tucked my arm around her, pulling her close to me. Ten more steps and we’d be at the car, and she’d be safe. I really hated these vultures. They made me so uneasy. They were ruthless with their need to get the story or the exclusive photo.
“Oh, I don’t know about that. I’m very happy where I am with my Ocean Bay family.”
I got the door open and turned to face the paps. “Sorry, fellas, Miss James has to go.” I pushed her inside the car and put one foot in to follow her.
“Are you her bodyguard? What’s your name?”
I stared down at her gorgeous face, now hidden from view from the photographers, and safe within the limo. She had that come-get-me smile she’d always saved for me back when we were dating. And in that moment, she was the girl I knew. The girl I’d once loved and the one I’d pined over for years.
I turned back to the photographers as I leaned on the door. “I’m not her bodyguard. But here’s an exclusive for you. We aren’t just friends.”
I threw them a wink before I sat on the seat, lifting in my other leg and shutting the door. Outside, the paps exploded with questions. I laughed at the way they pounded on the windows, but when Harrison drove away, I watched in shocked amazement as some tried to run after us. My heart pounded.
Bianca chuckled beside me, and when her warm hand landed on my thigh, I turned in her direction.
“Playing with the media already, Riley? That’s a seasoned pro hobby.”
I shrugged. “I wanted them to know you were my girl.” Then I paused, running m
y finger down the side of her face. “I want you to know you’re my girl.”
Her lips spread into a smile so blinding I was sure my heart would stop.
“I like the sound of that.” She brushed her lips over mine, her tongue flicking out just briefly, but then she pulled back.
I frowned. Now that we’d made it official, all I wanted to do was take her home and kiss her until she saw stars.
“Do you want to go to an afterparty? We’ll have to surrender our phones, but they’re always a lot of fun.”
“Whatever you want. It’s your night. We should celebrate your win.”
She nodded happily and gave Harrison directions. But when we stopped in front of the swanky Bondi mansion, a crowd of paparazzi swarmed the car. Two security guards tried to hold them back, but they were woefully outnumbered.
“Whoa,” Bianca said quietly, her eyes big as she took in the crowd. “I’ve never seen this sort of media turnout at an afterparty. This is insane.”
A troubling thought occurred to me. “Do you think this has anything to do with me announcing us as a couple?” I asked and clenched my fingers by my sides. It had been a stupid, egotistical move. I’d hated her calling me her friend, and I’d wanted everyone to know we were more than that. I’d wanted every man who’d ever looked at her to know she was mine and she was off the market. But now, staring out at this swarm of photographers, I worried I’d majorly fucked this whole thing up.
But Bianca’s laugh, like windchimes in the breeze, floated through the car. “Don’t be ridiculous. They aren’t here for me. I’m too old to be of any interest to them at an afterparty. They know I’m not going to get drunk and dance on a table. Trust me, there’s much more exciting things happening for them to try to get a glimpse of than you and me announcing we’re a couple.”
But I couldn’t ignore the rising sense of unease. “I don’t want to let you out of this car, B. I don’t want you getting hurt.”
She seemed as if she was going to laugh off my concerns again, but then a pap banged on the window behind her. She jumped. Several more people knocked at the windows.
“Are the doors locked, Harrison?
“They are, Miss James.”
She was a little pale when she took my face between her palms and stared me in the eyes. Then nodded. “Okay. Let’s get out of here then.”
22
Bianca
Even though night had long fallen, the sand beneath my feet held the last traces of the day’s warmth. I held my heels in one hand, my other hand wrapped around Riley’s fingers.
“Better?” I asked, running my thumb over his palm. The waves lapped at the edge of the shore, the sounds of the ocean soothing after a long evening of too much conversation.
“Yeah. This was a good idea.”
A breeze blew over my bare shoulders, but it wasn’t cold. A sure sign summer wasn’t far away.
“I love this beach. We do a lot of filming here, and those days are always my favourites.” There was something about the beach that soothed my soul. The moon was barely a sliver in the sky, so the darkness that surrounded us was deep as we walked along. It was as if we were the only two people on Earth.
“You’re ruining your dress,” Riley said.
I shrugged, and to prove my point, I pulled him down in the sand to sit next to me.
“Wait.” Riley tugged off his jacket and laid it down on the sand for me to sit on.
I truly couldn’t have cared less about the dress. I knew I’d never wear it again anyway, so it didn’t matter if the sand ruined it. But it was nice of him to be a gentleman. We sat side by side, and for a long time, we just stared out at the dark ocean, breathing in the salt air. I laid my head on Riley’s shoulder, and that was how we stayed until I eventually looked up at him.
“Thank you. For tonight. I know it isn’t your thing. But it meant a lot to me that you came anyway.”
He nodded, then dropped his lips to my upturned face. His lips brushed over my mouth, soft and slow at first, teasing, before they pressed more firmly. His hand smoothed along the side of my face, his fingertips burying beneath my hair, finding the nape of my neck, and pulled me closer.
My lips parted, allowing him to deepen the kiss, and it felt as old and familiar as every other time we’d kissed over the past ten years. But it somehow still felt new and exciting as well. It was a strange mix of promises clashing with old feelings, and when he guided me to lie back on the sand, I went willingly.
His big body covered mine as he braced himself on his forearms and kissed me until tiny moans escaped my mouth. My core throbbed at the feel of him against my breasts, his erection pushing into my leg.
I shifted beneath him. I didn’t care that we were on a beach. It was so dark and one a.m. in the morning. There was nobody here. And I wanted him. I’d wanted him from the minute I’d seen him in that tux. I’d wanted him for a whole lot longer than that. And judging from the way he was kissing me, he wanted me, too. His lips trailed off the edge of my mouth and down my neck, moving across my chest. My back arched as he moved aside the material covering my breasts, his mouth taking my nipple. I writhed beneath him, my legs opening as if they had a mind of their own, and the breeze blew over my bare mound.
Excitement spiralled through me. This was so bad. So public, but with no one around, and in the safety of the darkness, all that did was spur me on. We’d had outdoor sex before. We’d had sex so many times and in so many places it was hard to keep track of them all. Ten years’ worth of sexual exploits all saved up in my memory, for nights I was alone and wishing we could get this thing right.
And now here we were. It finally felt right.
I palmed his erection through his pants, fumbled for the zip on his fly, then flicked it open and shoved his pants down over his ass. I wanted him inside me.
But he pulled back and out of my grasp. I tried to reach after him, but he grabbed my wrist and pinned it to my side.
“Stop. I don’t just want to fuck. Not yet. Want to taste you first,” he mumbled against my skin before sliding down my body to the split in my dress.
He pushed the silky black material high, so I was completely exposed to the cooling night air. And then he covered my core with his warm mouth.
My hips jerked, and though he still had one of my hands pinned, he couldn’t do anything about my other hand which flew to the back of his head. I ran my fingers through his short, dark hair as his tongue licked through my folds in long, slow strokes. Over and over again, his tongue caressed me until I ached to be filled.
“Riley,” I moaned, and knowing what I needed, he slipped two fingers up inside me.
With the practiced ease of a man who knew my body as well as I did, if not better, he found that spot inside me that made me see stars. And within moments, my walls clenched down on his fingers, and I cried out, holding him to me while I convulsed in pleasure.
As I came down from my orgasm high, I realised I had his hair clenched in my fingers, but he didn’t seem to mind. When he kissed me, I tasted myself on his lips, but then the head of his cock was probing at my entrance, and the feel of him inside me was all I wanted. Normally, the sex between us was quick, hot, and fast, but tonight Riley seemed content to take his time. He nudged inside me, inch by inch, until I was stretched and full. And then he moved. His hips rolled slowly, his cock slipping in and out so leisurely I thought I’d die from the drawn-out torture. But with each stroke, my pleasure heightened. He was toying with me, building me up by stopping to kiss me, and to suck or squeeze my nipples. My clit throbbed.
“Fuck you looked so hot in that dress tonight. I’ve been desperate to do this from the moment I saw you.”
I moaned, tightening around him. I’d wanted it, too.
He gradually increased his pace until I was panting, and then he reached between us, finding my clit with his fingers and rubbing over the already sensitive bud. And I was done for. I shattered around him for the second time.
“Fuck, Bianca.
” His cock pulsed, his groan in my ear only increasing my pleasure when he found his own release.
He stroked in and out a few more times, his pace slowing as we both trembled and fought to catch our breath, and then he collapsed down on top of me.
I buried my face in his neck and closed my eyes, memorising this moment. It was the same moment I’d lived for all those years. The same moment that had gotten me by when we were so damn angry with each other we couldn’t even see straight. But this time, instead of trying to cling to it, to hold on and wrap myself in it because I didn’t know if or when I’d get it again, I relaxed. He was mine now, and I was his. I wouldn’t have to wait months until the next event that our friends held. I wouldn’t have to go through a screaming match in order to have this moment I so desperately craved. This moment of tenderness that always seemed to break down the walls between us—it was something I could have as much as I wanted now. Now that we were a couple.
I smiled up into the inky-black sky.
Riley lifted his head and kissed the corner of my mouth. “What are you smiling at?” he asked.
“This. Us. You. It feels good. It feels right.”
A smile tugged at his lips. “I couldn’t agree more.”
23
Bianca
The minute I cracked one eye open, I wished I hadn’t. Blinding light speared in, stabbing through my brain, making me wince.
I rolled away and tried to bury my face in the pillow, but rolling was a bad move. My stomach lurched, and suddenly, I knew with certainty that I was going to be sick. Both eyes flew open, and I raced for the bathroom, barely making it before my stomach emptied. Sweat broke out on my brow, and my stomach clenched painfully. I retched again.
Oh my God. I was dying.
Riley appeared in the doorway, and even through bloodshot eyes, I noticed how damn adorable he looked, all sleep-tousled, his hair sticking up at odd angles and his boxer shorts low on his hips. My gaze traced the V of muscle that led below his waistband before another round of nausea overtook me and I hurled up the last of whatever we’d drunk when we’d gotten home last night.
