The Night We Met

Chapter 45

Riley's POV:

It's the first night of performances since James took me with him back to Montreal. Theo had moved into Luke and John's room in the hotel in order for me to stay with James. The kids' workshop has been pushed back to tomorrow and the day after that, whereas today was merely just a concert with Lost and Found headlining along with other artists and bands.

I'd been looking around for James for about the past five minutes now and I still couldn't find him anywhere. I'd looked in the tour bus, around the restaurant and even checked our hotel room twice but couldn't find him. I'd asked Mr. T but he told me hadn't seen him either. It was when I was walking past Luke, Theo and John's room that they saw me and called me inside.

"Hey, Riley. You okay?" John asks, calling me inside. I stop and turn around before entering the room, crossing my arms over my chest and smiling lightly. "Your cheek is still a little red, you feeling any better?" he asks. All the boys knew about the hospital incident but like most other people, they didn't know what had happened to make me get hurt.

I touch my cheek a little where it was still slightly throbbing and then remove it and click my tongue, sighing. "I'm fine," I tell them. "I'm actually looking for James, have you seen him anywhere? I'm pretty sure I've looked everywhere."

"I thought he was with you in your room?" Luke asks and Theo smirks.

"We thought you two must have been getting it on," he teases but it only makes me look down, biting my lip. It's obvious what he means by that phase. I know what he was intending to say and it only makes me shudder. The last time I did anything close to having sex was with Aiden and I hate to be reminded of those memories. Now that I'm in a relationship with James, I have a feeling it will eventually get to the point where he does want to do it with me and I just won't be ready. What if that will be the route to the end of us? The end of this . . .

"Yo, Riley, you okay?" Luke says, pulling me out of my thoughts. I look up at him and then shake my head, scratching my eyebrow briefly.

"Yeah," I shakily breathe out. "I'm fine, I'll, uh, go and check to see if I can find him anywhere," I mumble under my breath. Turning to leave, I sigh to myself and place my hand on the doorknob to open it but as I do, I hear John say my name.

"Riley." Turning around again, I raise an eyebrow to pester him to continue. "I last saw him talking in the corridors with Madelyn about something," he tells me, immediately making my eyes widen. I don't want to show that I'm insecure but I am. I really hope it's not what I think it is that's happening right now.

"Oh," I mumble, blinking and looking towards the ground again."Okay. Thanks, I'll see you around soon," I smile before leaving.

Heading down the corridors, I look left, right and centre in search of either James or Madelyn. I smile at one of the hotel hostesses who walk down the hallway but as soon as they leave the one room which had the door open, I instantly make my way over there. Standing by the wedged open door, I look inside to see both James and Madelyn in there standing on either sides of the large double bed in the middle. Biting my lip, I listen to their conversation.

"What if I get Mr. T to give you a solo? You could be the star, James. I could put you in the spotlight of all the advertisements and webpages. Isn't being a pop star what you want?"

I watch her as she takes a step around the bed towards James and I begin to bite my lip so much harder that I could taste blood. This can't be what I think it is. She can't be doing this.

"All you gotta do," she whispers, tracing her finger down his arm, "is kiss me." Her voice was so sultry it made me sick. My breathing hitches as my body begins to quiver slightly. Is this what had been happening while James was away and I was back in Toronto? Were they having an affair all this time? It wouldn't surprise me if they did.

"No," James's voice says, gaining my attention again and bringing my worried thoughts to a halt. "I'm not here to play your games, Madelyn. Riley's the love of my life. She will always come first to me. I'm not about to let her go because of you or some offer that will only ever end in tragedy. I'm not like that. I'm not a cheat and I do not play those games. I love that gorgeous girl with all my heart and you are not about to stop me. So I'm going to leave this room," he says, taking two steps away from her, "and I am going to find my girlfriend and make sure she knows how much I adore her. So goodbye. This conversation is over," he finishes.

I wanted to leave and quickly run back to our room. I didn't want him to think I didn't trust him or that I'd been looking for him all this time. However it doesn't seem to matter as he eventually leaves the room and then when he looks down and sees me, he has nothing but a stern and hard expression on his face. Taking a firm hold of my hand, he purses his lips while shaking his head before dragging me towards our room.

"James," I say as I run along after him.

"Come on, Ri," he says sternly. It was too stern for my liking. His fingers were right around my wrist, his nails digging into my skin so much that it hurt and I couldn't release them.

"Jamess," I cry once again. "You're hurting me. Stop it."

He looks down at me and sighs, moving his hand down to my waist instead and then once we reach the room, I follow him inside for him to shut the door behind him.

"James, what the hell is going on," I say, tears beginning to form once again. He tries to sit us both down on the bed but I resist and stand up in front of him, throwing my arms. "James, please talk to me. Don't . . . Don't act like him, okay. Please don't."

As soon as the words leave my mouth, he shakes his head and licks his lip, reaching for my hands which I allow him to take.

"It wasn't anything, okay," he says. I look at him, not believing a single word that leaves his lips.

"Don't lie to me, James. I know you. I know when you're lying."

"You have to believe me, Riley," he says, holding my hands still. "Nothing's happening, okay. You know that I love you, right?" he inquires and I roll my eyes, looking up at the ceiling for one moment extra before looking down at him again.

"I know that but that isn't the case, James. You were talking to your ex. Isn't that reason enough for me to be worried?" I question and he sighs, pulling me down onto his lap to which I allow myself to sit above his thighs. I let myself loose in his touch and I wrap my arms around him for him to kiss my forehead in return.

"There's nothing you need to be worried about as long as you trust me. Do you trust me?" he asks. It takes me back to our last date. At the Canopy where we had to enter the pond and he asked if I trusted him. I didn't trust myself because I thought that I might have fallen but I trusted James and because I trusted him, it meant he was right behind me to catch me if I did fall. I trust James. I trust the guy with my life.

"I trust you," I whisper. Looking up at him, neither of us smile exactly but we both lean in to kiss one another gently on the lips. It was only a short, soft one but it made me feel secure.

A little bit.