"All right." He threw the bottle in the garbage before striding over towards me, hoisting me up and twirling me around. "You will have to wait, beautiful."
His smile was infectious. I beamed down at him before tilting my head and kissed him with my all for a good two minutes.
River felt so good. How stupid was I to get so carried away by Juan's charms? This was all I needed, and not much else.
"Try to be a good girl while I'm gone, yeah?" He sought my lips again and gave me a thorough picture of what was to take place tonight before he placed me down and kissed my forehead. "Room service will be here soon, then the ladies from the spa will arrive in an hour or so."
"Got it. Now go or you'll be late."
Willa cleared her throat, irritated. "We have to go, River."
I had forgotten about her. River and I normally didn't display affection in front of people, most especially with Willa around.
River, crazy man that he was, grabbed my ass for the last time before leaving me alone in his suite with Willa trailing behind him.
I thoughtfully gazed at the shut door, comforted that River would never abandon me. We were young and bound to make countless mistakes. He and I did a lot of things to hurt each other, but at the end of the day, we always overcame it.
Before I had the chance to step into the bedroom and have a quick nap, there was a knock on the door. Room service. It was like clockwork. River had it all planned out how my afternoon was going to be spent. By the time the three ladies finished with me, it was time to get ready for River's concert. I was told that it was a sold-out arena, and I best get there before it got mad crazy.
River hadn't had the chance to drop by again, but Willa had. She would be back here in thirty minutes' time, and we would ride to the venue together.
Dressed in all black, my silk mini dress showcased my cleavage, my great tan, and my toned legs. The same vehicle and driver who came to pick me up greeted Willa and I in the underground garage.
"What's with the faded pink hair?" I couldn't help asking her ten minutes later.
Her face lit up, confident with her new punk rock chic look. "It's so pretty, isn't it?" She brushed a hand over her hair, quite delighted. "River thinks so, too. He prefers it straight instead of wavy."
There was something in her tone that made me look at her suspiciously. "I'm sure he does," I bitingly remarked.
My boyfriend wasn't a crass person. Like that time she had come home with jacked up boob implants and they turned out to be crooked, River had smiled and told her they looked good on her. Willa had found a sugar daddy to pay for her uneven breasts the second she had turned eighteen. And to this day, the woman still hadn't looked in the mirror yet.
Trying to make a decent conversation without wanting to strangle Willa was a difficulty. So, I decided not to even bother. What was the point? She was delusional and her poor attempt at making me jealous made me roll my eyes from boredom.
When we arrived at the arena, everything was chaotic. I barely got to say hi to Phoenix and Rock. It was insane. Everyone was doing something-rushing, yelling, double-checking that things were in place. River apparently made it a ritual not to have anyone in his dressing room while he readied to perform. He confined himself for two whole hours and didn't emerge until it was time to hit the stage.
After learning that fun fact, I remained in the shadows backstage. And when the show began, Phoenix and Rock had me next to them at the sound and visuals station, giving me a great vantage point of the show.
River took the stage with a guitar hanging off him, and the arena went wild with glee. It was deafeningly loud. All I could do was grin silly. I was in tears, happy tears, because I was so proud of him. To be standing here, to be a part of this journey with him made me choke on my tears.
"What's up, Stockholm?" he boomed, making the crowd go extra gaga.
"My muse is here tonight," he began to say, smiling into the crowd. "She inspired most of the songs in my album. Just want to take this moment to thank you for loving me the way you do. Happy anniversary, baby."
Umm, what? We just got back like …
Oh. He meant our first real anniversary. The day he had first kissed me. I had been fourteen years old.
How had I forgotten? Now I felt like a useless girlfriend.
Chapter Seventeen
River
Cara was waiting for me in my changing room backstage. And when she saw me enter the room, she rushed towards me and jumped on my body, hugging and kissing me everywhere. "That was so amazing!" she exclaimed.
"We have to make a quick appearance at the club, then we can be on our way back to the hotel." I laughed as I secured my arms around the bottom of her ass, lifting her in place before looking up to meet her lips. God, I'm so in love with her.