"Well, that was nice of your mom," I said, putting the note down and lying back on the bed.
"I woke up to the phone ringing," Landon said. "It was your mom. She told me to tell you that you can spend the day here, but she wants you home for dinner."
I nodded and yawned. "Well, now what?" I asked, rolling onto my back and stretching. I looked at Landon, to see him giving me the up-down again.
"You have your belly button pierced?" he asked.
I admitted that I did.
"When did you get that done?" Landon asked.
"It was on my sixteenth birthday. I wanted a tattoo, but Dad said no."
Then I started examining his bare torso. When did he take his shirt off? He certainly didn't do it before I fell asleep...or did he? I tried to think about it, but last night seemed all blurry.
"You go to a gym?" I asked without even thinking.
"Yeah, I have been going for about seven months."
"Lookin' good!" I commented-he did have a well sculpted body.
"Thanks. Well, I guess you could take a shower, if ya want," Landon suggested. I nodded and swung my legs off the bed. Landon left to find us something we could eat for breakfast.
I found a towel and went into the bathroom. I stood in the shower for a long time, just letting the hot water run down my body. The bathroom became packed with steam and I couldn't see my hand in front of my face. I was probably too busy slipping into some fantasy to pay much attention to anything, until I heard the door open.
"Geez, Riley, I said take a shower, not turn my bathroom into a sauna!" Landon cried. I froze and looked at the curtain.
"How'd you get in?" I yelled.
"The lock doesn't work," Landon said. "I knocked a few times, but I guess you didn't hear me."
"Okay, next question: What the hell are you doing in here?"
"Your phone rang. I didn't answer it, because it was Faith. Then she texted you. I suppose it was something important."
"You couldn't have waited until I got out of the shower to tell me?"
We both heard his home phone ring this time and he went over to answer it. After speaking to someone, he walked back into the bathroom.
"Your dad's on the phone," Landon said. I opened the curtain enough to stick my head out. Landon was holding the house phone to his chest.
I reached around the curtain to grab my towel, before I dried off. Then Landon handed the phone to me. "Hi, Daddy. What's up?"
"Riley, did you remember what's scheduled for today?" Dad asked.
"Oh yes, I'm sorry. I'll be there soon."
"You can relax. It's not for another hour and a half. I just thought I'd remind you."
"Okay, thanks, Dad. The others remembered, didn't they?"
"Yeah, they did. I'll see you in a while."
"K. Bye for now."
"Love you," Dad said.
I hung up and handed the phone back to Landon.
"So what was supposed to happen today?" Landon asked.
"Oh, my dad got our band an invitation to meet and perform for the top brass at his record company," I said, pulling my head back behind the curtain.
"I see. And when does that take place?" Landon asked.
"In an hour and a half. So I'm gonna finish here and change into my stuff from last night. Then you can drive me home, so I can get prepared."
"Sure," Landon agreed. I heard the door open and close again.
Half an hour later, we arrived at my house, where Landon asked if I wanted him to stick around.
"I guess, if you don't mind," I said. "I have no other way of getting there."
"No problem," Landon replied.
We got out of his car and I went up to my room and looked for something to wear to the meeting at the record company. Five minutes later I was calling Landon to come upstairs. He came quickly into my room, but instantly looked down as I stood in front of my bed in just a brief, transparent bra and panties set and stared at the four outfits I had lying on my bed.
"I can't figure out which one to wear. Can you help me?"
"Uh, I...don't know," Landon said.
I enjoyed the discomfort I saw etched on his face at seeing me practically naked. I knew he could see my nipples through my bra. "I kinda doubt this is the first time you've seen a girl standing around in just her underwear, so don't go all shy on me," I taunted him further.
Landon tried to look calm, but I detected that he was becoming aroused with the sight he saw before him. As for me-I was feeling a sense of power and awe at being able to turn him on. I was just a natural tease, I guess, even with my friends.
"Okay, which outfit do you think I should wear?" I watched Landon's eyes move to the bed.
"Try that top, with those pants," Landon suggested, pointing at said garments.
"Capris," I corrected him.
"Whatever," Landon said.
He chose a black, off the shoulder shirt with three quarter length sleeves and jean capris. I looked at myself, feeling impressed. Then I tied my hair up into a pony tail, put in some dangly earrings, changed my belly ring, since it was visible, then bounded out of my room with Landon slowly following me. It was obvious he had enjoyed the intimacy of being in my room while I got dressed.
And that's when it hit me just how nervous I was about the whole situation! I stood on the stairs, looking at Landon with wide fearful eyes. "I can't do this!" I cried. "I think I'll cancel."
"Riley, you have to go. The girls are counting on you, Lorne's counting on you and so is your dad. You've wanted this for a long while, in fact, for as long as I've known you. You've-"
"If I agree not to run away, will you shut up?" I asked. Landon smirked and nodded, relieved that I would not ruin any opportunity I had to make a good impression for my group.
CHAPTER THIRTY
NOW, WHY DID I let him talk me into this? Why the hell was I so freaked by this? And why the fuck did I keep talking to myself?
I shook my head and gave Landon one last scared look, before pushing open the door to the Knightsbridge Recording Studio and walking into the room where my father, the rest of my band and my manager were already seated, along with the top brass. I hoped and prayed not to faint.
"Good of you to show up, girl," Faith said, smirking. I rolled my eyes at her comment and walked over to the band.
"She's got good reasons for being a little late," Dad informed her, looking a bit guilty. Oh boy-it appeared that whatever he and mom were fighting about yesterday still wasn't resolved.
"Well, Miss Pratt," one of the company heads said, "Now that you've arrived, it's time for us to hear just how good you all are."
"Of course," I said. I didn't know why I was so nervous when I could do the same performance in front of a whole auditorium full of people. "We're going to begin with one of our original compositions, called There Won't Be.
My fellow band members and I climbed onto a stage set up in the recording studio and then proceeded to tune our instruments. As soon as the band started playing, my butterflies subsided.
When we finished the song, I was surprised that I hadn't messed up and that my voice wasn't shaking. I took a deep breath and let it out, feeling very relieved. However, we couldn't really hide our extreme nervousness, as I was to find out.
"Hmm, the fact that you all seem quite nervous is obvious," one of the men observed. "You girls are good, but..."
"We can do another song," I said, trying to salvage what was left of the audition. Everyone stared at me. I knew I had made a mistake interrupting the executive, but I couldn't back out now.
I looked at the door and saw Landon's face in the glass. Then, out of nowhere, I began singing To Know You. It was a song I wrote upon reminiscing about the first time I decided Landon was my best friend. I don't know why I did it; maybe it was seeing Landon's face. Bridgette then quickly went to the keyboard and joined in. Alice, also played the violin, grabbed her instrument and joined in as well. I think she was just making it up as we went along, becau
se I don't think she ever heard this song. Faith came in with her sax during a few parts of the song. Basically, it was a jam session, as we had never properly performed this piece before.
Dad was staring at me, appearing amazed. We finished and then Mr. Holzman, the VP in charge of new talent, took us aside to speak to us. He told us that, although we showed a lot of promise, we were still young and had room to grow. He advised us to continue performing and perfecting our music as much as possible. In two or three years, he suggested, we would possibly be ready to begin recording some music for his company. It was obvious to me that without Dad's connection, we would never have gotten past the front door to even meet Mr. Holzman. I still considered our session with him a success and felt jubilant as I excused myself to rejoin Landon.
"Damn, that was good!" Landon praised me. "Your girls sure can adapt."
"Thanks," I said, nodding. I held up my hand and laughed a bit as I watched it shake. "Oh my God, that was nerve wracking!" I filled him in on our discussion with Mr. Holzman.
"Can you leave now?" Landon asked.
"No, I need to stay here. You can go, though. Thanks a lot for driving me here and for letting me stay at your house. I really needed to get away from the mess at my place."
"No problem," Landon said. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" I asked. Why would I see him on the weekend?
"The extra practice, remember?" Landon said.
"Oh right, see you then," I said.
Landon gave me a hug and left. A minute later the door opened and Bridgette, squealing, threw herself at me and hugged me tightly.
"They were thrilled with that song," Faith said. "Of course, we have to wait a few years until they're ready to sign us, but we made a good start today."
The others in the group were excited too, so we went out that night to celebrate our accomplishments at the recording company that day. We decided to go to Uncle Jack's club, The Knightsbridge Tavern. He's actually my mom's uncle, but I don't call him Great-Uncle Jack. All of our parents were there, the moms looked just as happy as we were and the dads were happy, too, but it wasn't quite as obvious. Noah and his friends came along as well. I wasn't thrilled to see Charlotte there, but I didn't say anything. She was all over my brother, but at the same time I noticed her eyes on other guys in the club. I felt really sorry for Noah, but what could I do? He wouldn't believe me about anything.
"Come on, Riley, let's dance!" Alice said, grabbing me and dragging me to the dance floor. I laughed and both of us started dancing. Soon Bridgette and Faith joined us. I just knew our dads would be so pissed off if they saw us dancing so provocatively, so we put ourselves in the middle of the dance floor. We danced to a few songs and, one by one, the girls went off with someone else to dance. I felt someone take my hand and turn me around.
"Hey again," Landon said.
"Hey," I said, still swaying to the music. "What's up?"
"Nothing. My buddies dragged me along."
"How did you guys get in?" I asked. "The only reason we got in is because my mom's uncle owns the place."
"A little something called 'fake I.Ds'," Landon said. "Honestly, Riley, you are a little too goody-goody sometimes." Something seemed a bit off with him, but I just shrugged it off. "Do you want to dance?" he asked me.
"Is Lydia here?"
"Nope."
"Okay, then."
So Landon and I danced. I had little flashbacks of when we danced as kids and how goofy we were. But then I started to focus more on what was happening now. I thought about why Preston wasn't with us. He said he had promised to help Mia with some homework. I was mad at him because this was one of those days that, logically, your boyfriend should spend with you. I turned my back to Landon and just let the music wash over me, erasing all thoughts as I moved. Landon's hands started on my hips and slowly began to wrap around me fully. We swayed in sync with each other, our eyes closed, our bodies heating up and our senses aroused.
"You've gotten a whole lot better at dancing, Riley," Landon said, his mouth close to my ear.
I closed my eyes and leaned my head back. It must have been the song. It just had to be the song because I couldn't think of any other reason why I would do this, unless...Then it hit me: I knew why he seemed a bit off tonight.
"Were you drinking?" I asked, suddenly turning around.
"Just a bit," Landon said, holding up his hand with his thumb and forefinger about three or four inches apart.
"Ok," I said, "and?"
"And what?" Landon asked. I raised an eyebrow. "Well, maybe Curtis had some stuff and-"
I spun around and started walking away.
"Aw, Riley, come on." I ignored him. "Riley!"
Finally I got to a spot where I couldn't hear him. I knew he wouldn't follow me, especially when I was going back to where my brother, his friends and Uncle Andy were.
"Hey Riles," Lawrence greeted me. Oh great. I looked around, but didn't see Noah anywhere. "So I hear you finally got an audition with your dad's company."
"Yeah," I acknowledged, carefully.
"Well, you know you should celebrate," Lawrence said. I could smell the booze on his breath.
"I thought I already was," I replied, shooting death glares at him.
"That's not exactly what I mean, babe," Lawrence hinted.
"Hey Lawrence, I think there's some hot drunk girl over there who says she's horny." Nathan came up from behind Lawrence.
Lawrence instantly backed away from me and muttered something that neither Nathan nor I heard. Then he stumbled off in the direction of the fictional drunk slut.
"Thanks, Nathan."
"No problem. I think I'm beginning to have fun with this." Nathan began as he sat down across from me.
"With what?"
"Saving you from shit, my damsel in distress," Nathan said, laughing. I shook my head, and rolled my eyes. "Topic change," Nathan said. "You and Landon Callahan."
"What about us?" I asked.
"I think the temperature on the dance floor increased a few degrees while you two were dancing," Nathan winked, leaning forward. I felt my face turn red hot with embarrassment. "Don't worry-I don't think Noah saw you guys, so you should be fine. I'm just curious, though. I thought you two hated each other."
"I don't know," I admitted, looking around. Faith and Alice were sitting with their moms, Aunt Shauna and my mom. Both girls looked ready to fall asleep. I yawned as I looked at my cell phone and saw that it was nearly midnight.
"Not used to partying so late, are you?" Nathan asked.
I stood up and yawned again. "No, not really. See you later, Nate."
"Night, Riley," Nathan said. I walked over to the girls and sat next to Mom. Leaning against her, my weary eyes trained on Faith and Alice, who were giggling about some silly thing they wanted to keep secret from the rest of us, as usual.
"Riley, are you ready to head home?" Mom asked. I nodded in return.
We decided to stay until dad finally came around, however. Mom told him to tell Noah we were heading home, while she and I waited in the car. I was almost asleep before we ever started driving and when we finally pulled into the driveway at 1 a.m., I nearly stumbled through the front door. It had been one very long day!
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
LANDON DIDN'T COME over for practice on Saturday because he wasn't feeling well. On Monday, Mrs. Wilson came down with the same flu bug Landon had picked up, so the practice at school was cancelled for that day. Now, I could have left right after school, which meant taking the bus since Noah was not available until later, due to some tutoring he was involved in. On my way to the store to get some change for the bus, a car pulled up next to me-a car I recognized.
"Hey Nathan!" I shouted, bending over to look through the open window.
"Want a ride?" Nathan asked. I frowned. "Remember your doctor's appointment?" he wondered.
"Oh, yeah. Are you heading in that direction?" I asked.
Nathan smiled and nodded,
so I got into the car.
"If I didn't know better, I'd say that you enjoy doing this stuff for me," I said.
"Maybe just a little," Nathan said. I smiled. "So, seeing as how you clearly forgot about your appointment, what were you doing not going to practice?"
I explained about Mrs. Wilson being sick, but I also gave him another reason.
"I didn't want to see Landon," I said.
Nathan looked at me. Then he smiled and turned his head back to the road. "Why don't you want to see him?" Nathan asked.
"I don't want to talk about it." Nathan looked at me for a moment again, before nodding and turning his attention back to driving.
"So, are you glad that Thanksgiving is coming up soon?" he asked.
"Yeah, but I think the record company is trying to get us a concert for the holidays." I told him. We had found out a day after our audition that Mr. Holzman, while admitting we were not ready to record yet, was interested enough to help us now by getting some gigs so we could improve faster.
"Oh, that sounds good," Nathan said.
"You got any plans?" I asked.
"Not really," Nathan said.
"So, what do you think of Lorne? I saw you talking with him on Friday."
"He's cool. Seems like a nice guy."
"Single, you know."
"Okay," Nathan said.
"Want me to help you out, then?" I asked. Nathan stopped and I realized we were at the doctor's. He turned to look at me and then started to laugh.
"What gave it away?" Nathan asked.
"Oh please, I'm Noah's hot little sister. If guys don't want to get in my pants, then they hate me," I said.
"Well, you obviously figured it out a lot faster than he did. I was friends with Noah for about three or four months before he finally figured it out."
"So, do you want me to hook you up with Lorne?" I asked.
"If you're that bored," Nathan said. "Want me to wait out here?"
"You can come in, if you want to read something. These things usually take some time."
If I Never Knew You Trilogy Bundle Page 16
