Until Forever (ROYAL RIDERS SERIES BOOK #1)

33| Love

This chapter is REALLY long, just letting you know

┏━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━┓

Love

┗━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━┛

Chapter 33: Love (Demi's POV)

I don't know what snapped inside of me today, I don't even know when it happened. 

Somewhere between that paint fest. Somewhere between watching him smile and laugh around those kids, somewhere between him kissing me and pulling me into his lap, neither of us caring who saw. Somewhere between him smearing paint on my cheeks and then kissing my lips before running off with a little boy. Somewhere between the handprints, he left on my skin and clothes in red, blue, and green. Somewhere between the real and the fake, it finally hit me. 

I didn't just like him, I loved him. I loved him more than I knew, more than I realized. I've loved him for a while but I have no idea how long. I liked him when I started working for him. Maybe it's that stupid crush I always had and tried to bury deep inside of me. But it never really went away. 

It just got bigger and bigger until it took up every corner of my heart. And then that crush became adoration and I really liked him. And between the real and the fake, between pretending and knowing that I wasn't just pretending, it became love. 

I was in love with Vince Hunter. 

And I was trying so desperately hard to just keep my patience, to just wait a little bit longer, but I couldn't because all I could think was how he said he wanted me before he slept with me in New York. 

How long did he really want me for? What if we wasted two years just fucking waiting? What if we slept together way before New York? This would have happened sooner, I would have had him sooner. And I wanted him sooner because I don't even know how long this will last. It's half a miracle if someone so busy and famous like Vince can even keep a relationship going with the media getting in the way. But I could have had a shot. Because I really do love him. 

"Why are you doing this right now, Demi? If you want to do this now, let me at least drive us home." 

"Why? Why does it matter where we are or who sees?" 

"You know why it matters who sees," he sighed. 

"Tell me anyway, Vince." 

"Demi, there are people here. People I can't afford leaking information about me." 

"You didn't care earlier today. Sometimes, you don't care at all who sees you kiss me, and other times you do. Vince, this isn't a game." 

"I know that, Demi. I don't care who sees me kiss you but this conversation isn't something people can know about and I know you know why. If someone finds out we're not really together, it'll ruin everything we worked for." 

See. We're not really together. 

I sighed and gathered the dress, turning to leave. I just needed to be away from him for a while, I needed time to wrap my head around what was happening, to get my emotions under control so I wouldn't lash out. I stopped as I stepped onto the grass, realizing that I had stepped into the downpour.