November 2011 - Present Day 10 страница

“When was this taken?” I ask, still looking at the large photograph on the wall. “A

while ago, maybe four years. It was our first official released band photo,” he says while laughing quietly. “It was a big deal for Xander. It was his first accomplished task as band manager.”

“Having your brother looking out for you must relieve a lot of stress. I don’t have any siblings, but always wanted a brother and a sister.”

“I love my brother and my sister, but they can both be a pain in the ass.”

“Well, since I am an only child, I would have loved to have had even one pain in the ass growing up with me,” I teasingly respond.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” he says, trying to reach for me, but I am already walking over to the large glass doors that seem to go on for miles. □Gushing when I reach them, I am in awe. The view is out of this world. In the distance I can see each letter of the Hollywood sign. It’s truly amazing. I wish I brought my camera up from the car because this is an incredible photo opportunity. Opening one of the doors, I step outside to an equally amazing outdoor living area that spans the entire length of the house. The upper deck has a wooden table with twelve chairs around it, along with a built-in barbeque grill. To the right and left are modern spiral staircases. Each circles down to the lower deck containing a large rectangular pool and hot tub. Several cloth-covered benches line the half-wall made of plexiglass.

I turn to River, who hasn’t said anything, and he’s watching me intently. “This is your view?” I sputter out. “You can see the Hollywood sign,” I whisper, spelling out the word instead of just saying Hollywood.

In the time we've spent together, River certainly hasn’t given me any indication that he’s as wealthy as his surroundings suggest. Sure, he stayed in a nice hotel and spent plenty of money over the weekend, but he’s just so laid back and down to earth.

After seeing this house, with this view, I start to wonder what I’ve gotten myself into with him.

Snapping me out of my reverie, he comes up behind me and wraps his arms around me. “Hey, you okay?

“Yeah, I just had no idea.”

“No idea of what?”

“That you’re one of the rich and famous.”

Chuckling, he says, “Hardly. Just in the right place at the right time.” River presses his body into mine and adds, “And I had no idea either.” “No idea of what?” I parrot back.

His body moves as he laughs, and I feel his hardness behind me. “That you’re one of the enamored that has to spell Hollywood instead of saying it.”

Pouting my lips, I turn around and give him a slight shove. “You’re an ass. I’m just surprised. It seems like something you would have mentioned. That’s all,” I say motioning to the sign, the view, and his house.

“You mean like, hey I just moved into a really sweet new place, and by the way, you can see the Hollywood sign from my backyard?” he mocks, turning me around and pulling me back in for a tight embrace.

“Well, when you put it that way, I guess not,” is all I can say because he’s leaning into

my neck, caressing it with his tongue so hard I know I’m going to have a mark. My body shudders from his touch, from his warm breath, and I giggle. “What are you doing?”

“I think you know,” he chuckles against my skin. I sigh and breathe deeply.

“I’ve had enough show-and-tell for now, and I have one more room to show you,” he says as he leads us back into the house. “Let’s finish what we started in the car, in here,” he continues as we cross the living room and walk down a hall to an open door at the end.

“Your bedroom,” I manage as I look into the very large empty room. There are multiple closed doors inside it. One most likely opens into a bathroom and the others are probably closets. The room also has the same large glass doors as the living room, and I can see the sign and the city from here as well. Everything is just so beautiful.

I laugh when I look into the actual room. In the middle is an air mattress with pillows and blankets thrown on it. Turning to face River, I smirk at him and he smirks right back. He really does light up my insides. So much so, I know my darkest days are behind me.

“What are you smiling about?” I whisper while running my hands firmly up his chest.

“I don’t know. What are you smiling about?” he responds while moving some of my hair aside.

“I can’t believe you were telling me the truth. We really are camping.”

“I never lie,” he says, suddenly very serious.

Grabbing his hand, I lead him to the center of the room and turn to face him. “I never meant it that way,” I whisper into his ear before sucking on his upper lip.

He mumbles something I can’t comprehend, but for some reason, I don’t ask him to repeat it. He lightly shakes his head and runs his finger over my lips.

The sun is shining so brightly into this room, there is no hiding myself. I cannot cover up what I once didn’t want him to see.

Never taking my eyes off his, I break our embrace and peel my shirt over my head before pulling down my skirt, letting it fall to the floor at my feet. I’m now standing in front of him in the lingerie I bought for his eyes only, and I smile at him as I run my own hands down my body and he gasps loudly.

His fingers trace the skin above my push-up bra and moves down to my ribs before tracing circles on my almost non-existent stomach muscles. “You’re so beautifully sexy, perfect really,” he whispers as he leans to kiss the same trail he just etched with his finger.

I stand there, unable to move, his touch is searing, my heart is racing, and I really don’t know what is happening to me. Every time he touches me, the feeling becomes more of a need and less of a want.

As he stands back up, his powerful green eyes scan the length of me—slowly. Grinning, he runs his hands down to my garter belts as he says, “I’ve been wanting to see what these look like since this morning.” Then unsnapping, first one, and then the other, he continues, “It was certainly worth the wait.”

He leans back a little, catches my hand, and turns it over. Bringing it to his mouth, he gently kisses each fingertip, stopping to suck on them for just an instance before kissing

my palm.

“I’m glad you like the outfit,” I pant out. My eyelids are fluttering as he breathes on the sensitive spot of my wrist and I continue, “I bought it just for you.”

I brush my fingers along his cheekbones and rub my thumbs underneath his eyes. As I jump into those eyes, I kiss him deeply before nipping at his lower lip then tracing my tongue along the inside of his mouth.

Groaning, he threads his fingers though my hair then runs them down my back, unhooking my bra but not removing it. I pull his shirt over his head and he rips his jeans off before I push him down on the mattress. As I stare into his eyes, so full of desire, I straddle him as he grunts, “I’ve wanted to do this since your little ‘name that tune’ game.”

I hover over him, wearing nothing but my lingerie, and I let his eyes devour me; I can feel our connection growing even stronger. And today, in the early hours of the evening, on the absolutely brightest and most beautiful day of the year, we slowly do what we haven’t done before. We begin to make love.

 

 

PINBALL WIZARD

 

 

How does she do it

I wonder how she is so good She doesn’t even watch

As the ball whizzes by

She’s always happy to win the game.

 

 

Despite having slept on an air mattress, I wake surprisingly rested. Rising, I make my way to the bathroom. I look back over my shoulder and grin at the sight of River sleeping so peacefully. I notice again we don’t seem to have sides of the bed. I quietly pad over to his closet and find a white button down shirt on top of a bunch of boxes. While slipping it on, something grabs my attention. The top box has River’s boxers in it and Pac-Man catches my eye immediately. Pac-Man? Really? I love Pac-Man! When I was younger, my father used to take me to an old-fashioned arcade down the street from The Greek at least once a week. Still grinning, I slip on the boxers and make my way through the empty house to the kitchen in search of coffee.

Walking down the hallway that leads to the living room, I think about how we spent the remainder of yesterday’s daylight hours in his room getting to know each other in a more intimate manner. I’m surprised by how comfortable I feel with him; the ease and playfulness we experience together is simply intoxicating. It keeps me wanting more, and I’m pretty sure it keeps River wanting more as well.

When the darkness fell upon us last night, the Hollywood sign glowed in the distance. After stepping outside to take it all in, we made our way back inside to the living room where we ordered pizza and bottles of water. We ate and talked, then we laughed outrageously watching Letterman discuss his version of Fifty Shades of Grey while we lie together on his new couch. Finally, we made our way back to his bedroom and continued our most intimate discovery of each other.

Entering the kitchen, I don’t see a coffee pot anywhere, so whether or not he has

coffee is irrelevant. He actually has nothing in his kitchen. No food, no small appliances, not even silverware.

I stand in the doorway to the bedroom and look around at the blank canvas. It gives away nothing about the person River is. But I am not looking for it to do so; I already feel like I know him so well. Yesterday, I may have been a little taken aback by my surroundings and the whole LA feel, however, as I think about it now, I know that where River lives is not an indication of who he is. And besides, I actually love this house, especially the incredible view. In fact, I’m pretty sure that I actually... I dare not think it, not yet anyway.

As I watch him sleep so soundly, I can’t help but think about how the sound of River’s voice melts my insides, how his gaze makes me quiver, and how his touch drives me wild. Everything about him, about us, feels so right. These feelings I have are unknown to me. I’ve never felt them before, not even with Ben. Suddenly, guilt washes over me with the reality of this situation. The culpability is beaming through my mind like the bright sunlight streaming through the windows. What is the difference? Why are my feelings for River so much more explosive than they were for Ben?

Squinting my eyes while looking out the sheer covered glass doors, I try to squash the remorse I am feeling. I stare at the scenic view and try to think about River, the man I am enamored with now and not Ben, the man I loved for so long. But the guilt won’t stay at bay, and I’m racking my brain trying to remember if Ben ever made me feel the way River makes me feel. I can’t recall having the same feelings for Ben.

Breaking me free of those stray, unwanted thoughts and questions is the voice that liquefies my insides. “Good morning sexy girl,” he says, and I glance his way. Stretching and yawning, he looks ever so sexy himself. “Whatcha doing way over there?” he asks, holding his arms out for me to join him.

“Good morning yourself,” I respond, smiling while I walk toward him and almost jump into his arms. “I was looking for coffee.”

“Sorry, a pot is the first thing on my list.”

Grinning at me, he lightly kisses my nose, almost as if he’s kissing each freckle. He raises himself on one elbow. “Do you wake up early every morning?”

Laughing a little, I speak the honest truth, “I can’t sleep when the light shines in from outside.” I shift to face him. “My parents installed blackout blinds in my room when I was younger so I would stop waking them up at the crack of dawn.”

“Hmmm...” he sounds before adding, “So you’re saying if I want to wake up before you and watch you sleep we’ll have to get some heavy duty blinds?”

Chuckling at him and pointing out the window I abash, “River, no, that would ruin waking up to that stunning view.”

“Wouldn't ruin the stunning view I see when I wake up," he says while looking right at me and tucking a loose piece of hair behind my ear.

God that’s what I’m talking about. Everything about him drives me wild. So grabbing him from behind the neck, I pull him toward me, kissing him hard. I rub my thumbs over his cheeks, continuing to clutch him to me. When I release him, he scans my body, now right next to his. A devilish grin appears on his face and I ask, “What’s that face?”

He runs his fingers down the buttons of the white shirt I am wearing, then follows with his mouth, tugging on the first button with his teeth. “Do you mean the ‘you’re wearing my underwear’ face?” he asks, moving to the second button and swishing his head back and forth as he does.

Laughing as his hair tickles my chest, I say, “Oh, I didn’t know people had a face for that.”

He lifts his head and narrows is glare at me. “People? Do people have faces for when their girl is wearing their underwear?”

“Well I love Pac-Man,” I say before realizing what he just said.

He winks at me adorably and says, “Really? You know how to play?”

“Of course I know how to play!”

“I think I’ll need to check that out,” he says as he checks me out, then says, “You look really hot in Pac-Man.”

Our laughter quiets down as his hand starts to trace the outline of the little yellow men located on my hip. He moves his head back up on the pillow next to mine. I immediately attach my mouth to his and suck on his top lip before slowly trailing kisses down his neck. “By the way... did you just call me your girl?”

“Yeah, I did.”

He’s staring at me with only truth in his eyes as he laughs again, tugging on the elastic band of his Pac-Man boxer shorts that I am wearing.

Kissing him again, all jesting is pushed aside. My kiss is full of want and need, and I make that quite apparent. He instantly groans, then rolls us so he’s now hovering over me.

Grinning mischievously at me, he says, “Dahlia, I don’t know what you’re doing to me, but if we don’t get off this thing very soon, we may be here all day.” He pushes his hand down on the air mattress. “And I’m not sure it will hold up.”

Swallowing, I laugh a little. “The air mattress or you, River?”

“Watch yourself girlie, you don’t want to mess with me.”

“Well actually, I do, but first I need coffee so you’re in luck, we can’t stay in this room all day.”

Raising an eyebrow, he jokes, “That’s not the kind of luck I want.” He presses his warm body against mine and continues, “First, I’ll get you coffee, then we need to hit the stores, and then I’ll let you mess with me.”

“You want to go shopping?” I ask, surprised at his plan for the day.

He laughs softly and twists to sit on the side of the mattress. “No... not shopping, nothing even remotely like shopping, I promise,” he says, crossing his finger over his heart.

Leaning back toward me, he chuckles against my mouth and pinches my ass. “Just quickly stopping in a few retail establishments to pick up some necessities.”

“Yeah,” I respond, gently slapping his twisted arm before grabbing it.

Sitting up, I lean against his back, keeping his body close to mine a little longer. “I’m pretty sure that is the definition of shopping.”

As I lean over his shoulder, his head turns toward me and I kiss him. I caress his

tongue with mine and taste him thoroughly before pulling away. Sliding over to the other side of the mattress, I stand up and stretch.

Still sitting, twisted with his feet on the floor, his eyes roam my body and my skin begins to tingle. I bite down on my lip at the sight of him and try to focus on what has always been my morning priority, coffee. But even the thought of my beloved morning coffee can’t suppress my insatiable desire for him.

He stands up and lets his unyielding gaze weigh on me for a moment longer. “We should probably take a shower.” He has a look on his face like he’s trying to convince himself that he should leave the room.

As he stands there, grinning at me, he’s completely naked and absolutely sexy as hell. Without saying another word, I grab my bag and saunter off to the bathroom, pushing my shirt off my shoulders and letting it fall off my body, knowing he’s watching me. Shortly after I reach the bathroom, I hear his feet padding across the wooden floor, and I know he’s headed in my direction. Game on, I win.

 

 

Having opted to wear the jeans and t-shirt I bought yesterday since they were my only clean clothes, I pull the jeans over River’s Pac-Man boxers and slip the t-shirt over my white bra with the black bow. Sliding my arms into my black leather jacket and tying my Converse sneakers, the ones I luckily threw in my overnight bag before I left home, I’m ready to visit a few retail establishments.

I haven’t been shopping in so long that I am actually a little excited. My excitement only grows as I walk out of the bathroom and see River texting on his phone. He’s wearing worn jeans, a black Ramones t-shirt, a black leather jacket, and black work boots. When he smiles at me while slipping on his black beanie, I am transported into the past, to the first time I laid eyes on him, and he’s just as sexy now as he was then.

While we’re driving, I check my many emails and listen to my voicemails. Both Grace and Aerie have left messages. I send Aerie a quick text and call Grace. I hang up just as my phone battery dies and I mention to River that I should be getting back to Laguna Beach by Wednesday. His eyes flicker to mine, and he very quietly says, “How about we take it day by day?”

I want to argue that I really need to get home, but don’t because I couldn’t care less about getting home. I just really like being with him. So instead, I smile over at him and respond, “I can’t stay with you forever, you know.” Poking him in the ribs underneath his jacket, I add, “You’ll get sick of me and all my games soon enough anyway.”

We walk into what appears to be almost a town unto itself. I have been to The Grove a handful of times. It really does have the best shopping. It hosts all of my most favorite stores including Nike Goddess, Pottery Barn, J. Crew, and H&M.

Coincidentally, the first place we hit is Pottery Barn. I’m quickly learning that shopping with River is rather comical. As we enter the store, he approaches the more-than-willing-

to-help young brunette, who instantly bats her eyelashes at him. She blinks at first, as if trying to place him, but blows it off as soon he mentions the wares he’s looking for. I laugh as he jumps on one of the mattresses and tries to take me with him. In a matter of no more than thirty minutes, we have selected neutral bedding, soft towels, and fluffy pillows. We also select a mattress, box spring, and a black leather tufted headboard. The flirty salesgirl didn’t have to bat her eyelashes to convince him to add the coordinating nightstands; he would have done it anyway. He quickly pays and arranges delivery for later today.

As we walk among the stores, his arm slung over my shoulder and my hand in his back pocket, he tells me that he wants to take me to a place called Smitten’s tonight. It’s a local neighborhood bar that The Wilde Ones have been practicing at every Tuesday night for over five years. He informs me I’ll get to meet his brother, sister, and bandmates. That makes me a little nervous, but I’m more excited to finally see him perform with his band.

Our next stop is Williams Sonoma where we select the newest Starbucks coffee pot and purchase coffee pods, cookware, modern white plates, and silverware. Once again, as he pays, he arranges for it all to be delivered later today.

As we walk through the very festive outdoor mall, we pass by an H&M. “Mind if I duck in and grab a few things?”

Nodding, he motions with his head to the side and says, “I’ll be over there. I have a few calls to return,” then he kisses me, slides his nose to my ear and whispers, “So take your time.” He knows what that does to me. I smile at him and run my fingers up his stomach. “It won’t take that long.”

I quickly select a few things to hold me over until I figure out if River has a washer and dryer or until I go home. Approaching the cash register, I hear the urgent pulsing, almost soaring track of an unmistakable musical opus. The distorted vocals, heavy electronic chords, and pounding bass beat all mixed together are undeniably the masterpiece of Justin Timberlake’s Sexy Back.

Looking around to figure out where the music is coming from, I finally determine it is my purse singing. As the word sexy blares out and the lyrics of the first verse come to an end, I can’t help but smile and step out of line. Reaching into my bag, I grab my phone. The name River Wilde is flashing across my screen.

“Heeelllooo,” I beam, glancing toward the front of the store. There he is, leaning against the wall between two glass window cases. His foot is propped against the pink flowery wallpaper of the store’s decor. He has one of his hands in his pocket and the other is holding his phone to his ear. He smiles his full dimple smile and I smile back. Holding his phone out for me to see, he then puts it back to his ear. “Do you like the ringtone I picked?”

I watch as he pushes the phone to his shoulder as a couple of fan girls approach him, pens in their hands. He gives them an obligatory grin and signs the back of one’s shirt and the shoulder of the other’s. Shaking my head and rolling my eyes that he claimed no one really notices him; I bring myself back to the ringtone issue. I guess he must have assigned himself that ringtone when he added us to each other’s contacts. “Yeah, I do

actually, Mr. I’m Not Really That Famous,” I answer while giving him a thumbs up and raising my shoulder indicating that I want an autograph too while miming a pen in my hand. Then I add while giggling, “But I didn’t know sexy ever left.”

Shaking his own head, he hangs up the phone. I almost stop breathing from his perfection as he charmingly waves goodbye to his two groupies and starts walking toward me. I step out of line to greet him. “Hey sexy didn’t you...” I start to ask when he’s close enough, but he ducks his head and kisses me, quickly preventing me from finishing my question.

“Hey sexy yourself”, he says when he pulls away, and I’ve forgotten what I was going to ask and figure it didn’t really matter anyway. Before taking my hand, he pretends to sign his name on my shoulder, and his touch sends shivers up my spine. “Thank you Mr. Rockstar,” I say and then he leads me back to the line.

 

Leaving the store, he takes the bags. “I have something I want to show you.” “What? The line of groupies outside waiting for you to sign their bare skin?” I joke. “No smart ass, that was random and seriously hardly ever happens.”

“If you say so, but you can give me an autograph any day of the week,” I concede and smile over at him, dropping the subject.

We hop on the Green Trolley that travels between The Grove and the Farmers Market and get off at The Entertainment Center. The complex has dozens of buildings of all shapes and sizes. It is located on a landscaped park with picnic areas in the center. It even has a dancing fountain. There is a lively crowd of people walking around. Some of the entertainment seekers have shopping bags in their hands, while others walk casually drinking coffee or eating pretzels. The street-grid layout of the sidewalk and older looking buildings makes the area feel like an old-fashioned downtown.

Exiting the trolley first, I grin as River steps off and moves behind me. Pressing his front to my back, he wraps his arms around my waist and guides me into an open red brick, double arched building. When my eyes adjust from the sunlight to the much darker room, I see lights and hear sounds everywhere. We’ve just walked into an arcade. It’s very much like the one I frequented with my dad so many years ago. Shaken with emotion, overcome by happiness, and full of joy, I turn around, throwing my arms around him and kiss him. He runs his tongue across the roof of my mouth before closing his lips around mine.

With labored breaths, I pull away. I clutch his shoulders while he wraps one arm around my waist, the other still holding my bags. “An arcade? Here at The Grove?”

“Yeah, I thought you’d like it.”

“Like it? I love it.”

Looking around, I see so many black stalls, all of which house video games from the eighties. There’s Mousetrap, Asteroids, Centipede, Frogger, Pac-Man, Space Invaders, and Venture. Along with Skee Ball, driving games, and even a Chicken Clucker.

The sounds, smells, and excitement of years gone by are right here, right now, and I can’t believe it. They remind me of a non-looping ambient audio track—beep, blip, ding,

buzz, and a click. Closing my eyes and just listening, I can clearly recall myself hanging out at the local arcade with my dad while feeding quarter after quarter into Ms. Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, and of course, the pinball machines. My dad was a pinball wizard, and he taught me well.

His favorite pinball machine was Flash Gordon. It was the first multi-ball table I ever played. It was equivalent to Black Knight, but better and faster. The table was amazing, and just the thought of getting that ‘fifteen seconds’ still gives me an adrenalin rush. I remember the first extra ball was easy to land, but getting the second was always a big challenge.

My favorite, of course, was Baby Pac-Man. It wasn’t the game for everyone, and my dad didn’t really like it because the flippers aimed at the center of the game instead of the sides. I thought this offered greater challenges; he thought it was a flawed table design. It really did make getting to the mazes difficult, which I thrived on.

“Look over there,” River says, pointing to Pac-Man. “How about it?” he asks with a twinkle in his green eyes.

“Game on, hot stuff,” I answer as I head toward the machine.

We stay here, playing different games for hours. Challenging each other, I sometimes win, but he mostly wins. I have no idea how. I decide to try my luck, solo, at the Drive My Course game while River goes to get more quarters. When I finish, I look around the room and spot him walking his sway of a walk my way. I melt.

“Close your eyes,” he says as he comes to stand in front of me.

“Why?”

“Just close them.”

Closing my eyes, I feel him take my hand and attach something around my wrist. It’s the same wrist where my Cartier LOVE bangle sits.

“Okay, you can open now.”

Staring down at my wrist, I can’t believe what I’m looking at. This adorably sweet and sexy man has just placed a very colorful linked bracelet of the cutest Pac-Man on my wrist. It has a yellow Pac-Man with the blue, red, pink, and orange monsters on it.

“I love it!” I manage as I swallow back my tears of joy. I throw myself around him and say, “Thank you.”

He lifts me up and twirls me just once before setting me down. “Happy?” Smiling up at him, I respond, “More than happy.”

 

 

THE SECRET IS IN THE TELLING

 

 

There is something you don’t know I don’t want to tell you

But tonight somebody else will So please understand why

Just remember the secret is in the telling.

 

 

Every town and every city has something that makes it a little unique. For Brentwood, it must be the beautiful white Dogwood trees that line its streets and the serendipity of the quaint shops, all very different but co-mingling so well. Downtown Brentwood is a small but trendy area. Its old fashioned streetlights display banners, its stores are covered with different colored awnings, and its Main Street sidewalks are even paved in bricks.

Having left the car in a small parking garage on a side street, we’re walking through the town where River grew up. We walk, with his one arm slung around my shoulder and my hand in his back pocket; he’s carrying ‘Stella’ on his other shoulder. We are on our way to what River described as his local neighborhood bar. It’s dusk, but light enough that I can see the town. It doesn’t look like an area where the word local seems to be the best description, but I’ll go with it. It’s actually very upscale. There’s a movie theater, a florist, retail shops, galleries, and many restaurants and bars. People are walking like they don’t have a care in the world, just browsing, talking, and laughing; just like us.

One place in particular catches my eye; it’s a bookstore named Fiction Vixen. My love for literature draws my attention toward the two piles of books in the large windows located on both sides of its front door. The books are displayed in a Christmas tree-like fashion with lights wrapping them. Pointing the store out to River, he laughs softly and tells me his mother’s friend, Vicki Mixen, owns it. He goes on to say that she has always been crazy about books and that when he was fourteen she decided to open a bookstore. He spent that whole summer helping her get it ready to open for business. It was his first