“I did,” he said, his head turning to me once again, and that time I couldn’t resist, so I turned to look at him as well. “I went there all three days, but you weren’t there. No note in return. Nothing. But I hadn’t given up. I just got caught at work shooting that scene. If I weren’t in this truck with you right now, I’d be sitting in that coffee shop waiting for you. I’d have waited there forever if there was still hope you’d show up.”
With his gaze darting between me and the road, I never got a clear look, but I knew his eyes had softened the way his voice did. The softness I heard there only went further to melting me on the inside.
A breathy, “Oh,” was all I could manage in return.
“We’ll talk about it at dinner.”
“Okay,” I said. Then he turned his head again and gave me that brilliant smile and my nerves came down another notch.
A few minutes later he pulled into a parking lot and made sure I knew to stay in my seat so he could open my door. I smiled as I climbed out, and then laughed when I saw his choice of restaurant.
“Pizza? What are you? Twelve?” I laughed and smiled at him, my belly flipping when I heard him laugh along with me.
“What can I say? I haven’t gotten the lay of the land here in LA completely, but I do know this place has excellent pizza and beer.”
“Well, in that case….” I laughed.
He opened the door for me and when we were led to our table he scooted in my chair. I wasn’t surprised; Riot had always been rather chivalrous and thoughtful. But it also made me feel slightly uneasy. It was feeling too much like a date and I wasn’t sure what was happening. Then suddenly, Riot Bentley was sitting across from me, smiling, and I didn’t know if I’d be able to stay away from him any longer.
Chapter Seven
Beautiful Torture
Riot
The past three days, waiting for Kalli to show, had been tough. At first I was optimistic she’d come, hopeful she’d take my note as a sign that it was time to move forward. But as each day passed and I sat there for hours, I began to worry she’d disappeared again. Retreated back into the darkness I’d left her in months before. It was difficult, but I knew I would go back there until I was sure there was no point any longer.
So, when Erin told me Kalli was in my dressing room, I’d never sprinted anywhere so quickly. I’d gotten to my room out of breath, but deliriously happy to see her there. In the months since I’d seen her, I had moments of panic when the dark thoughts would take over and I’d give in to the fear that I’d never see her again. But there she’d been, waiting for me. It was something I never imagined would actually happen, and I wasn’t about to let this opportunity go to waste.
Kalli was with me and it took every ounce of self-control I had not to reach over and take her hand, or brush her hair away from her face, which was so fucking beautiful. I wanted to hold her and touch her, but I couldn’t scare her away. I could already tell she was skittish. She’d changed from the Kalli I’d first met so many months ago. She’d been feisty, snarky, and sassy. Obviously, the hurt she’d been through had buried some of that. I was going to enjoy bringing it out again.
She was looking around the pizza place, obviously trying to avoid eye contact, but I let her. I wanted her to be comfortable, so if it took some time to warm her up, so be it.
The waitress came and Kalli ordered a beer, which I loved. I loved that she could hang. She liked her girly cocktails, but wasn’t afraid to drink a beer with her pizza. I ordered the same.
“So, how long have you been in LA?” I tried to open up the conversation with something light, something that felt like normal conversation.
“About four weeks. I started my new job about a week after I came to town.”
“How are you liking it so far?”
“It’s pretty crazy,” she said, her sweet laugh mixing with her words. “I never thought I would live here. We talked about that once,” she said, her hand motioning between us. Then she shrugged. “But the time was right and the job is amazing, so I made the leap.”
“Even though you knew I would be here?” I asked, my smile widening, eyes locking on hers. I watched her throat dip as she swallowed. Jesus.
“Even though.”
“I can’t tell if you think it was a mistake or not, coming here and having to see me.”
“If I thought it was a mistake, I wouldn’t have come looking for you.”
Jesus.
Her words shot through the air and hit me right in the chest, followed by a sweet burn I’d been longing for. Her, here, admitting she wanted to see me. It was the most beautiful torture. Beautiful because it was what I’d wanted for so long, ever since I’d met her, for her to want me just as much as I wanted her. Torture because she was still so fucking far away. Sure, she was sitting at my table, about to eat dinner with me, but she wasn’t nearly as close as I needed her.
We’d work on that slowly.
“I’m glad you did,” was my response.
She smiled and took a sip of her beer, her eyes wandering again. The waitress returned and I ordered us a pizza. “Can you also please make sure you bring a fork for her? She likes to eat her pizza with a fork.” The waitress smiled then walked away, and Kalli was laughing.