Fuck. I'm screwed. My stomach dropped, panic seizing me, but before I could manage to respond, Rock tapped him in the back, vying for his full attention.
"I got you, bro," he reassuringly stated, immediately breezing towards his laptop to surf the net. I had expected him to show the link and change from the contents on the screen projector. In a blink of an eye, River's clips shifted to little ole me in the studio.
What the fuck, Rock? I wanted to growl and chuck something at him. Thanks for nothing.
"Babe, I meant … " Words vanished from my lips as I watched my boyfriend's face change. I didn't need to see what was being played, because River's expression was enough to tell me how effective it was to anger him. His jaw was clamped shut, his undivided attention severely glued to the screen like everyone else in the Ari's movie theater.
Personally, I hadn't minded it at all. In fact, truth be told, I quite enjoyed it. It made me feel connected to my old self-that fun-loving girl who combusted with so much potential, with such feral passion within her soul that she had to perform. But even though that revelation left me ecstatic, I didn't want to place a chip on my relationship, either. I wanted to preserve this solidarity we had. It was just like old times, and I would give anything so long as River and I didn't revert back to our wretched treatment of each other. Seeing his stony expression, I might've just brought it back to Neanderthal era.
Once the longest three-minute clip of my life was over, laser eyes pivoted to me. It was cutting. It flayed me alive. Layer upon layer, it torched me inside out. The magnitude of its heat left me no doubts where his temper lied. It placed me in a very compromising position.
I was sure he wouldn't have minded had I done it without having Carmen record me. Alas, the video was out there and even if it was taken down, it was all over social media now. There was no stopping it once it began trending on Twitter.
"Well done, Cara," he coldly stated.
I ignored his hateful glare and let my instincts take over. I grabbed him by the arm and roughly dragged him towards the end of the hall, to the nearest secured room I could find, Ari's home office. After securing the lock, I spun on my heels and faced the furious man. My heart loudly thumping as I noted the dark glimmer in his eye.
"Let me explain," I began, but River appeared as if he didn't give a damn about what they were.
"What's there to explain? The fucking video said it all!" Raking a hand through his hair, he roughly tugged at it before shaking his head at me, as if he couldn't understand me at all. "What the fuck were you thinking?"
That was the thing, I hadn't been thinking.
Biting my lip, I eyed him with trepidation.
His vicious temper was threatening to detonate; I knew it well enough that shit was about to hit the fan. And if I didn't dampen it down, things could get ugly quick.
"If there's nothing to explain, then why the hell are you-"
"That was fucking too sexual!" He blew a fuse. "I don't have to be a genius to figure out that every male outside this door got hard imagining you riding their dicks as you gyrate and shit! Fucking hell, Cara!" he thundered so loudly that it reverberated all over the library.
He unfolded, and I was rendered speechless. Frozen on the spot. My apologies, whatever they were, wouldn't matter at this point. The damage had been done.
Could men be easily aroused with a dance video? From the limited experience I had, I couldn't be sure. Apparently, Mister Bombastic here believed so.
He considered me with utmost incredulity. "Why would you put something like that online? What are you trying to achieve here?" His eyes sparked fire, consuming him. "You want more popularity? My jealousy? Because you fucking have it! I'm fucking livid with jealousy. I'm being eaten alive with this bullshit!"
I gasped, a little insulted that he would even consider I would want popularity. That was uncalled for, but I was willing to let it slide.
My temper rose, yet I tried my hardest to calm down. "It was Carmen who uploaded it, but I gave my consent. I wasn't really thinking, and I'm sorry for upsetting you. Like I said, I wasn't thinking at all. So please, don't hurl insults because you're pissed off. It won't do us any favor."
"Upset?" he huffed as he planted his hands on his hips while the tip of his tongue stuck on the bottom of his lip, looking at me with disbelief. "She thinks I'm just upset. Well that's cute."
Regretting not telling him in the first place, I strode over to where he was, leaning against the floor to ceiling bookshelves.
He warily regarded me as I reached him.
Placing my hand against his chest, I lifted my face towards his, ready to beg. "Baby, please … " I gave in to my heart's desire and brought his lips to mine, kissing him with my all. I pressed my body against his, parting my legs over the high slit of my long silk dress as I situated my lace-covered mound against his thick thigh. The kiss silenced us from fighting.