by Kim Karr
That same drumroll rumbled through the sound system again and he quickly turned his head back to look at me. “I gotta jet.”
He was still holding my hand, as he looked straight into my eyes. “You’ll wait for me until after the show.”
It wasn’t a question. It was a statement. And then motioning between us, he added, “Because this isn’t finished.”
At that moment I realized that what had started as harmless flirting had turned into a situation that had gotten way too dangerous.
He placed his hands back on the bar and waited for a response. Since he hadn’t asked a question that I wanted to answer, I just smiled and said, “If you’re in the band, you’d better go. You shouldn’t leave your fans waiting.”
He gave me one last heart-stopping grin and then leaned in and kissed me. My body reacted strangely; a rush of something I couldn’t identify surged through me. At first he only lightly touched my lips with his; then for a few short seconds he pressed a little harder before pulling away. I didn’t kiss him back, but felt light-headed.
“I hope you’ve become a fan,” he said, winking at me before grabbing his hat. Then he turned and walked away.
I brought my fingers up to my lips and watched as his silhouette disappeared through the crowd. I became vaguely aware that “Superstition” was playing, but my mind was focused on him.
I shook my head, trying to rid myself of the thoughts that shouldn’t be there. I knew I had to leave, or I would end up doing something I would regret. I loved Ben, and Ben would fucking kill River just for looking at me the way he did. And then there was the kiss; yes, Ben would certainly kill him.
Knowing these things, I wondered why I hadn’t walked away in the first place. For a moment there, I felt as though I believed in love at first sight, which I didn’t. And how could love at first sight even exist when you were already in love with someone else? I didn’t want to keep thinking about what happened because I was confused as hell, and I knew the meaning of it all wasn’t what I wanted it to be.
I smiled about our encounter. He definitely was not a stalker. He was adorably charming and utterly charismatic, a guy who had a simple ease about him that I really liked, and a guy I didn’t ever need to see again. This I knew for certain.
With thoughts of River swirling through my head, I made my way through the crowd to the dance floor, where I found Aerie with some kind of pink drink in her hand. “We have to leave. Now!” I shouted at her while pulling her off the dance floor.
“What? Why? Are you sick?” she asked, struggling for words. Then she turned and pointed to the stage. “Because if you’re not, I want to see that hot guy sing first.”
I turned to see where she was pointing and sure enough it was him, River. I then realized I’d never even told him my name.
Pulling Aerie through the crowd under protest, I heard the audience chanting, “River Wilde, River Wilde.” I glanced up to the stage just in time to see him grab the microphone. Before the live music started we exited through the door, and Aerie started yelling obscenities at me. As we walked away I found myself thinking I had just had the most magical encounter and might never be the same because of it.
Photo by Studio One to One Photography
Kim Karr lives in Florida with her husband and four kids. She’s always had a love for books and recently decided to embrace one of her biggest passions—writing.
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