The Night We Met

Chapter 15

Riley's POV:

I stood outside the tall building James had said I should meet him at. The sign outside read 'Toronto University of Music' and I looked at the text messages I had sent James. It was already getting late and the sun had set into darkness. James wasn't answering my texts, nor calls and I was unsure of where to go and what to do. I could spot his car in the parking lot but he wasn't inside it, meaning he was definitely inside that building somewhere.

"Hey," a voice calls from behind me. Startled, I quickly turn around on my heel to come face to face with three guys I hadn't met before. I think I'd seen them in a few of James's Instagram pictures but I couldn't match their names to their faces. "Are you okay? You look a little lost?"

"Yeah . . . I'm, uh, looking for James. Do you know him?"

"James . . . ?" one of the guys ask in search of a surname.

"James Vinchely?" I say and then they all look between each other before grinning, their eyes wide. I look at them confusedly whilst checking my phone again to see if James had sent me anything but there was still no response.

"You're the girlfriend, aren't you?" the one wearing his hat backwards says and I frown.

"Pardon?"

"You're Riley, aren't you?" another one of them says. He looks me up and down and I shrug.

"Yeah . . ."

Before either one of us have time to say anything else, I hear footsteps, causing me to turn around. I smile when I see James approaching me. These guys were beginning to freak me out. 

As soon as James reaches me, he places his hand on the small of my back, avoiding the skin of my waist to respect my wishes. 

"Hey, babe," he says softly before kissing me. Smiling, I lean against him, placing a hand over his chest and kissing him back. Resting my feet back on the ground, I look at the three guys with confusion still evident on my face and James chuckles. "I see you've met the band then," he comments.

"The band?"

"We don't have a name yet," one of the three says. James laughs a little and, keeping his hand placed on my back, he uses his free one to gesture towards each of them as he introduces us to one another.

"That's Theo - vocals and plays bass," he says, signalling the one who had just spoken. "John - lead guitarist and backup vocals." He points at the boy wearing a blue cap on top of his light brown curls and he waves at me, smiling. He was definitely the introvert of the group. "And that's Luke-"

"Lead singer and guitarist," Luke cuts him off. I chuckle and wave at both John and Theo before Luke steps forward to shake my hand. He was definitely the extrovert. James was the ambivert and it was probably one of the main things I found attractive about him.

"Nice to meet you," I say politely. I brush my hair out of the way of my forehead and then step backwards, leaning into James's arms.

"Nice to finally meet you, too," Luke chuckles. "Now, tell me, what made you choose James over all of us?"

"I . . ." I stutter and James rubs my back softly, laughing.

"She met me first, obviously," he says.

"Okay, well now that you've met all of us, you can consider your options," Theo steps forward and says. I roll my eyes at all of them, as does James, as he moves to stand slightly behind me, places his hands on my hips and nuzzles his face into my neck, his chin resting on top of my shoulder.

"Sorry guys but I think Jay's a keeper," I laugh, turning my head around to peck his cheek. When I pull back, he smiles at me.

"I like that name," he whispers. "Call me that more often."