Everything But (21 page)

“I have no idea what kind of Japanese food you like.”

“Surprise me.”

“Sushi?”

“
Oh, uh…yo
u like sushi?”  She wrinkled her nose.  God…he was learning they had more things in common than he mig
ht have initially thought.  “I don’t
either.  So pick me anything
other
than sushi, and I’m sure I’ll love it.”  He opened the door and walked to the bathroom.

He ran cool water in the sink and splashed it on his face.  Then he put toothpaste on his toothbrush and while he was cleaning his teeth, he heard her on the phone.  God, he was falling hard.  He was acting like a schoolgirl.  What the fuck?  But he didn’t know how to stop it and didn’t think he wanted to.  He just wished he knew how she felt, but he was afraid to ask.

When he was done, he ran his fingers through his hair.  He was pretty sure he had some old baseball caps in his closet.  If he put one on, at least he could probably get away with going in for takeout without being noticed.  Erin looked too good to be seen with the likes of him anyway, so she might not want to go in with him, but he hoped she’d understand why
he was going to try to be as disguised as possible
.  After all, she was the one who’d pointed it out in the first place.

He went back to the bedroom just as Erin was finishing up the call.  “All done,” she said.

He opened a box on his top shelf.  There was a black
cap
that said
WHS Bulldogs
.  Good enough. 
Identified him as a citizen, not a visitor.
  “Would it bother you if I wore this?”
  He put it on his head and turned around.

“No.  Why would it?”

He shrugged and walked over to her.  She handed him his phone and he wrapped his arms around her waist.  Maybe it wouldn’t last, but he was
gonna
have as much fun as possible with this girl for the rest of his stay.

Chapter
Twenty

RILEY HAD BEEN
telling funny stories
about mishaps
in the recording studio
the whole way to the Japanese restaurant.  Erin told him he was going to have to drive if he didn’t stop, because she was bound to have an accident, she was laughing so hard.  She guessed she hadn’t given him nearly enough credit before.  She herself had been guilty of raising him up to
Metal God
status.  Of course, Riley had a sense of humor and was fun.  She just hadn’t thought of him as entirely human, and that was her fault.

So she relaxed
(and even managed to forget the fact that she wasn’t wearing panties under her dress)
and promised herself she’d appreciate him more while he was here.
  But the problem with appreciating him was that she was going to find herself caring for him more and more.  And that couldn’t happen.

When they got to her apartment, Riley pulled her coffee table out to the center of the living room.  “We should eat in traditional Japanese fashion, don’t you think? 
On the floor.”

So she nodded and went to the kitchen to get plates.  He helped her put the food on plates.  She was getting glasses out of the cabinet and said, “
Oh
…your soda’s still in the fridge.”

He nodded. 
“
Oh, y
eah…the celebration soda.
  Guess it’ll have to wait.”

“For what?”

“When we’re celebrating.”

She tilted her head, confused, but just asked, “So…do you want some ice water
instead
?”

“That’d be fine.”

When they got everything set up in the living room, they sat on either side of the coffee table.  “This smells great,” Riley said and Erin nodded, picking up her fork.  “Oh, no, you don’t.”

She looked up.  “What?”

“We got chopsticks, woman.  Use ‘
em
.”

She twisted up her mouth and then said, “I’m not that good at it and I’m hungry.”

He grinned.  “Show me.” 

She picked up the chopsticks he had set next to her plate and placed them in her fingers.  And, of course, just as she’d known, she awkwardly made a mess of her plate, not picking up anything
, instead just strewing food all over
.  She gave him a look—
told you
—and started to set them back down again. 

“Hold on.”  He got up and joined her on the other side.  He took the chopsticks from her and set them on the table. 
H
e took her right hand and moved her fingers, then placed the chopsticks in her hand so that they were almost an extension of her fingers.  He reached over the table and grabbed his and said, “See,
use
them like this, together, to pick stuff up.”

She practiced a few times and saw that it worked and she was able to do it.  She’d just never gotten the hang of it before.  Of course, no one had showed her
till now
.  Riley said, “And then, for rice, you just put them together and
kinda
scoop it up, like a shovel.”
  He leaned over the table and dragged his plate over after picking up his water glass.  “I like it better over here next to you.”  She looked at him and smiled, having just finished another bite.  He leaned over and kissed her, just a quick kiss, sweet.

That
was
not
good.  It was too
much
, too tender, too caring…just like his little chopsticks instruction.  It moved him from plaything category to something a little more serious.

And that was something she was
not
ready for.  Hot sex was one thing, having fun with
him,
just playing around…that was okay. 
Fantastic, even.
  But something requiring her to give more of herself was out of the question.  She couldn’t go there.

So she smiled at him and looked down at her food, concentrating on making the chopsticks work right again.  “So…how’d you learn to work the chopsticks like that anyway?”

“I wish I had a great story to go with that.  You know…
like,
I spent three years in Tibet or some shit like that.  But, no, I just watched other people and practiced.  It actually feels kind of natural after you get used to it.”

She doubted it would ever feel natural, but she’d give it a go just the same.  She wanted to keep talking about inane topics, but she knew she was just avoiding
the
question that had been on her mind all evening.  They’d had some awesome fucking sex at his parents’ house
and were spending a little more time together now.  But was this it?  He’d ridden with her in her car and they hadn’t talked much about it.  So she asked, “When do I take you home?”

He set his chopsticks down on his plate and propped his chin up with his fist. 
“Eager to get rid of me already?”
  He grinned.

“No.  I just…”  She took a deep breath.  “God, this is awkward.”

He brushed
a piece of
hair off her cheek.  “I was just kidding.  Seriously, I don’t want to overstay my welcome, and I know you have to work tomorrow.  I’m
gonna
cop out and tell you it’s up to you, because…”

Ohhh
…
the look in his eyes was
making her melt. 
“Because?”

“Because I’d stay here forever if you let me.”

Whoa.  If that wasn’t heavy, she didn’t know what was.  And was he being entirely truthful?  More than that, even if he was, was she
okay
with that?  She didn’t know.  She decided to play it off, because she wasn’t ready for deep thoughts
or emotion
.  “Yeah, well, if I
let
you, I’d put you to work.  My kitchen floor needs a scrubbing.”

He might have sensed her discomfort because he picked up the chopsticks again.  “But you still didn’t
say when
.”

No, she hadn’t.  “Well, what’s left on our agenda tonight?”

“Agenda?”

She smiled.  “Guess that sounds a little too formal, huh.  What else do you want to do tonight?”

He leered.  “I wouldn’t mind round two, would you?”

She felt a shiver crawl up her spine and she realized that, no, she wouldn’t mind that either.  Even though their first time together had freaked her out, he’d done nothing but make her feel great.  And he was probably ri
ght, that he’d made her feel better than she had in ages…and, she hated to admit it,
even better
, just like he’d
promised.  And what the hell was up with that?  Were rock stars known for their sexual prowess? 
No, just their sexual appetites.
  So Riley had certainly surprised her.

She couldn’t help the smile that crept over her face. 
“No, round two sounds pretty nice.
  What else?”

He raised his eyebrows.  “So…
do the number
of activities equal the amount of time
I stay?”  She shrugged, but the
smile didn’t disappear off her face.  “Hmmm…okay.  Do you have bubble bath?”

She sucked in a breath. 
God
.
  She had never done that cliché with a guy before.  Did he know what buttons to push with her or
what
?  “I think…maybe.”

“So, then, we enjoy a bath together and drink the celebration soda.”

“You still haven’t told me what we’re celebrating.”

“Well…” he said, licking his lower lip, “we’ll be celebrating that you haven’t kicked my ass out yet.”

Chapter
Twenty-one

GOD, ERIN WAS
so easy to talk to.  Instead of round two, they
spent the evening
talking,
talking,
talking…
Riley
told her
about
his
high school
days
and what it took to realize
his
rock star dream.  She talked about what she had to do to get through college, some of the harder classes
,
and working part-time to make ends meet.

At one point,
he
asked to use her restroom.  When he got out, he checked the time on his phone. 
Shit
.  It was ten-thirty.  He wasn’t about to make her go through with all their plans.  He knew she’d have to get up early in the morning, but they’d been having such a good time just talking
, sitting on the floor, leaning against the couch, listening to music
.  What the hell did that mean?

He
knew what that meant
,
but he wasn’t going to think about it.

He took a deep breath and pulled the
bathroom
door open.  Erin was in the kitchen, putting away the leftover food.  He saw their plates from earlier
,
and she had already scraped them.  “Do you want me to wash the plates?”

“No.  But you could rinse them and set them in the sink, if you don’t mind.”

“Got it.”
  He felt nervous and couldn’t figure out why.  Maybe it was because he wasn’t sure how things were going to end.
  That wasn’t like him, so he wasn’t going to say anything, knowing he’d power through it.
  When he was done, he started to turn around
, ready to talk about it
.  “Hey—”

But she was right there, on her tiptoes, and she grabbed him around the neck, pulling him down into a kiss.  Well,
hell
, he didn’t want to argue with the woman, but…

F
uck
,
that
was infused with a shit-ton of desire.  How the hell could he say
no
to
that
?  His hands were around her waist before he could stop them.  But when the kiss ended, he said, “I know you have to work tomorrow.  You probably need your sleep, don’t you?”

“Fuck sleep.  I’ll sleep when I’m dead.”  God, she had a way with words.

He
was kissing her again before she could say another word.  She tasted so sweet and she felt so firm yet soft in all the right places…and he wanted to touch them all again. 
So to hell with whatever war was going on inside him.
  He wanted her and it was obvious she wanted him, so what was he waiting for?  And maybe, he thought
,
if he could make her continuously feel like a million bucks, he might be harder to toss aside.

Where the fuck was that coming from?  First off, why was he so sure she’d just cast him aside once this week was over?  More importantly, though, hadn’t he already decided this
wasn’t
going any further?  Why did he keep thinking of the future with this girl?