Chapter Ten
His apartment was located in Beverly Hills. He owned the entire top floor that came with an infinity pool on the deck. It was a two-floor, glass-to-ceiling, all white and silver color schematics that reminded me so much of those homes I had seen in magazines. There weren’t a lot of baubles around. It was a pristine, intriguingly cold, spotless environment. The polar opposite of the home he invited me to before in the valley.
I directly observed through the open glass as my friends mingled with his, pouring out drinks as they sat on the recently lit glass fire pit that contained azure glass pebbles before taking out guitars and the smoking greens.
“Can I get you anything, petal?” River asked as he tightened his hold on my hand.
Even on our ride here, he hadn’t let go. It wasn’t due to my lack of trying. I did try to pull away, but he wasn’t letting me go and I ran out of excuses to keep fighting him off. I chose to save my energy and pretend this didn’t bother me an iota. His friends merely raised their brows when they saw us, so I easily assumed this was a common occurrence.
“So, this is your fuckboy lair.” I scanned the room before my eyes landed on his face. The man seemed too highly amused by my statement.
“You’re not making this easy for me, are you?” River laughed as he dragged me toward the bar. With the use of his free hand, he managed to open the dual wine cellar and pulled out a bottle before placing it on the bar. “Here, hold and steady it for me please.”
His avoidance in regards to my question was evident. This was undoubtedly the place where he took his women.
Ignoring that, I threw him a nonchalant look. “If you let my hand go, you won’t even need my help. How’s that for a helpful tip?” Fuckboy lair definitely had a nice ring to it.
River cocked his head to the side, giving me an amused look. “Now, why would I do that, woman? Come on; we used to be good at team effort.” He was persistent underneath all the beguiling smiles.
“I don’t seem to recall, but whatever,” I murmured as I held the base of the bottle, steadying it as he drilled the opener into the cork.
“Ta-dah!” he enthused as he swiftly drew the cork out of the way. “See? Teamwork.” He beamed at me before pouring the velvety red liquid into the stemmed glasses.
Teamwork my ass, I thought wryly as I tried to pull my hand away from his hold again, but he was too quick in catching me. River was being incorrigible.
“People are going to start thinking stuff if you don’t let go of me.”
He spun me around to face him before he lifted my chin with a finger, clashing my eyes with his formidable gaze. “And I care about what they think because …?”
Because …“I’m still with Parker, and I don’t want any gossip to start saying that I cheated on him with you.”
“I kissed you; that didn’t count?” he pressed, unrelenting. “But if it makes you breathe easier, you can count on my friends for secrecy.”
“I’m sure I can. I’m sure they do it for you all the time, too,” I bitingly retorted back. It was the way he delivered his words that grated me to no end.
He studied me a moment before uttering something ridiculous. “There’s no need to be jealous, Cara.”
“I’m not jealous!” Like hell I was. He could screw whomever he wished. I wouldn’t bat an eyelash.
“I hate it when you lie to me.” Those dark orbs penetrated into my soul, profound and merciless. “I’ve known you almost all my life. You forget how I know you better than you know yourself.”
“I’m not fucking jealous!” I vehemently hissed as I tried to yank my hand away from his tightened hold to no avail. The man was merciless. It was driving me insane.
River seemed unperturbed with my protests. “I’d kiss you right now just to settle this, but I’m afraid I won’t be able to stop myself if I do that.”
Thatgot my attention. “You promised me you wouldn’t.”
“I did?” His face lit up before bestowing me that mind-blowing, heart-stopping, evil smile of his. “Hmm, I don’t remember making any promises. But anyhow, let’s go outside and join our friends.”
“You go join them. I need some breathing space.” This time when I pulled away, he loosened his grip on my hand. I could feel the inquisitive gaze of my friends.
“Don’t go too far, petal. I want to see where you are from where I’m sitting,” he murmured before kissing my forehead.
“Gee, I’ll try very hard to please you, Your Highness,” I retorted in a hushed tone as I watched him take a seat in one of the loungers before pulling one of the guitars and placing it on his thighs.
As confused as I was, I obliged him by strolling toward the pool before sitting on the edge and dipping my feet into the cold water. I was in his line of sight and in close proximity to hear his conversation. Jokes. Music. And Pokémon Go.
I snickered at the last bit. It was great to see this side of him in a relaxed environment. Take away all the glitz and glamour, he was still the River I had grown up with. He cemented this conviction when I heard the first strum of guitar. I didn’t even have to look up to know that it was him and not Phoenix.