Chapter 20 #2
I snort. “Yeah. That. But we’re also kind of, um, dating?” The last word comes out as such a high-pitched squeak it’d be a miracle if anyone besides dogs can hear it.
“You’re what?” Aida shrieks, her stunned expression matching Ray’s. “It’s like, legitimately a thing?”
“Good god, are we fifteen?”
“Answer the question.”
“Yes. We’re legitimately a thing ,” I say with a scowl. “And that’s why I’ve been avoiding Soundbites stuff so hard. If we were just hooking up it would be different but I… I really like him. And I want to see what that’s like without other people getting a front-row seat.”
“Ray, I’m sorry to interrupt, but there’s a small issue with the pastry chef,” a woman in a catering uniform says, materializing at his side. “We need you.”
Ray’s gaze whips between me and the staff member, and he lets out a groan of frustration.
“Dammit. Okay, this conversation is not done,” he says, pointing at me as he walks backward toward the kitchen.
“I need more information. In fact, you both are forbidden from speaking to each other until I’m back and we’re in a safe place with a cold bottle of pink wine because I refuse to be the last to know the details. ”
“Whatever you say.” I salute his frown.
“Tell me everything,” Aida demands as soon as his back is to us.
I giggle like a schoolgirl, trying to figure out the best way to condense all of these feelings for Rylie into something that makes sense. I open my mouth, but Aida’s face falls, her eyes going wide like a prey animal being cornered. “What’s wrong?”
“William,” Aida hisses.
“William?” There’s a tap on my shoulder, and I spin around, mind doing somersaults as I come face-to-face with my boss. “William,” I croak. “What are you doing here?”
He arches a thick, black brow at my less-than-couth greeting but otherwise doesn’t react, taking a moment to watch me squirm.
“Soundbites is a substantial donor to the organization,” he says as if this should be obvious.
“Keeps the zillenials off our backs about less-savory channels of funding we have. It’s good to put a face forward at events like this.
My mother is here too.” He takes a sip of blood-colored wine, then nods over the rim to an approaching Landry.
He waits until she has joined us to ask, “And what are you doing here, Miss Kitt?” His tone makes it obvious he knows exactly what I’m doing here.
“I… I…”
“Our best friend is catering,” Aida supplies. “Ray Williams. This is his first big solo event, so we purchased tickets to support him. Isn’t the food wonderful?”
“Quite,” Landry says, pursing her lips as she looks at a passing tray of hors d’oeuvres. “A bit heavy for my liking, but I’m sure there’s an audience for every dish.”
I’m still too surprised by their presence to speak, and Aida swoops in to save me again. “Plus, mastermind Eva here thought it might be a good chance to pin Rylie down. He’s good friends with EI’s founder, Lilith Flores. Had her on his podcast recently.”
Aida subtly steps on my toes with her heels, and I straighten, nodding rapidly. “Yes. Exactly. Just trying to scope him out. So many people here.”
William makes a low sound before taking another sip of wine. “Isn’t that him approaching with two glasses of champagne?”
“My, my, what a choice of suit that is,” Landry murmurs, letting distaste play across her features.
My hackles raise, and I want to snap my jaws at her for even hinting that he looks anything but handsome.
I spin around, gut sinking as I clock Rylie approaching us.
His smile is broad, a lasso right around my heart, and my body can’t decide if it wants to panic or swoon.
Reading something in my expression, his grin sinks and eyebrows furrow.
A second too late, he registers Landry and William over my shoulder, too close to make a beeline to safer ground.
I can see his mind working, trying to determine how to play this, what’s already been said. I give him a hopeless, desperate look that conveys my only thought: I think we’re fucked.
Rylie’s reached my side now, and I’m so attuned to his face—spent so many of my recent nights studying every flicker of muscle and emotion—that I don’t miss the protective edge to his posture, the lines of his dazzling smile poised to drop to a scowl, the quick way his silver eyes assess William like he’s sizing up an enemy general, ready to go to battle at a moment’s notice.
“Mr. Cooper,” Landry says, giving him a beatific smile that doesn’t reach her eyes. “I see your profound digestive issues have subsided.”
“A medical miracle,” William mutters.
“Who doesn’t love an impromptu gut cleanse?” Rylie counters jovially. “It’s great to see you two again. Eva, Aida.” He nods at us. “You both look lovely this evening.”
William rolls his eyes, taking another sip of wine as we mumble our thanks. “Oh, good, we’re keeping up the ruse. Do you need a moment to compose a reason you’re over here? A good explanation for the extra drink?”
Rylie’s mouth firms into a straight line. “Didn’t think these two should be without a drink when the wine is so good and the evening’s purpose is so worthy.” He hands us each a flute. Mine almost slips through my shaking fingers.
“Of course,” William says in a clipped voice. “Now’s the part where you try to convince me of your good reasons for violating your contract. Feel free to add yours too, Eva. Wouldn’t want to silence our bleeding-heart feminist risking her career for a C-level internet personality.”
“Stop it.” I’m startled to realize I’m the one who said that so loudly. It’s hard to hear much over the pounding of my heartbeat in my ears.
William gives me a look of mild surprise, cold eyes narrowing. “Excuse me?”
“I… I…”
Holy shit. This is my boss . This is my career . I can’t be snapping at the man who holds my future in his palm, especially not when his mother, my other damn boss, is right there to witness.
I look wildly at Rylie, expecting his panic to match mine. But he’s calm, a soothing, steady force that tells me he’s not moving from my side no matter what I say next. He’s in this. And dammit, I’m in it too.
“I’m sorry for raising my voice,” I say, looking at William, then to Landry. Her expression is softer, so I focus there. “And I’m sorry for lying, but you’re right, Rylie and I have had contact since our last recording, and we don’t want to move forward with the remaining dates and recordings.”
“See, Mom,” William whines. “I told you she was playing games. You need to—”
“Shush.” Landry’s eyes spark, her expression stony as she glares at her son. She turns the look on me, the softness from moments ago gone. “Care to share any details, or am I to fill in the blanks myself?”
My skin prickles with sweat under her stare. I’m a deer in the headlights, my tongue feeling too big for my mouth, like I’ll choke on it before I can muster up the spine to tell her the truth.
“Don’t turn prudish and coy on me, Eva,” Landry says, her voice light but a thread of discipline poking through. “It’s boring.”
“I’m… I’m not,” I say, shrugging like a dumbass. “It’s just…”
“ Just is a lazy word, dear. You should know that.”
Rylie opens his mouth to speak, but I tug the sleeve of his suit jacket, stepping forward, and swallowing my trepidation like a hot coal.
“Things are starting to become real. Between me and Rylie. And I ju— We no longer plan to go forward with the recordings because we’re seeing each other and would both like to protect the early stages of our relationship from the stress of public observation and opinion. ”
I can’t believe the steadiness in my voice, the cool command that somehow threads through every word while my knees feel like they’re about to give out. Landry and William could ruin me right here and now, and I’ve given them an arsenal of tools to carry it out.
But they surprise me with silence, William seething while Landry’s expression shifts from cutting to curious.
I clear my throat, having nothing to lose. “It’s been harder than I anticipated, managing this level of attention. I’m sure you know how hard it can be to feel like you’re under a microscope, everyone analyzing your every move, critiquing everything you do.”
“We don’t want your excuses,” William snaps. “You—”
Landry silences her son with a touch to his arm, sharing a speaking glance with him. After a moment, she inclines her head toward me.
“Experiencing that in the context of a relationship isn’t something I was prepared for,” I say, voice fragile.
“And to protect my mental health and the delicacy of my—our—relationship, I need to take a step back from having any of it online.” I feel raw, extremely exposed, in this beautiful room filled with beautiful people admitting that I’m not tough enough to hack it and I’m not sure I really care.
Rylie’s hand slips into mine, the warmth of his skin swirling through me, climbing like a vine up my arm, across my chest, shooting roots into my stomach and all the way down to my toes, something in my chest aching and expanding like a flower opening its petals to the sun.
Landry stares at me for so long, I wonder if I missed a key moment and I’m supposed to walk away with my tail tucked and head down.
“You’ve given me a lot to think about, Eva,” Landry says at last, careful consideration in her eyes.
Her voice lacks the cruelty I was bracing for, and even William gives her a double-take.
I bite the inside of my cheek against a tiny gasp, not willing to risk spooking away this soft side of my boss.
“R-really?”
She nods, lips curling up in what I think is supposed to be a reassuring smile. “Let’s plan to meet on Monday morning, the three of us.” She gestures at me and William. “See what we can make of this tangled web. I’ll have my assistant send you a calendar invite.”
“Okay,” I choke out. Landry spares the briefest of glances for Rylie and nods at Aida, sauntering away with her head held high and posture impeccable.
William shakes his head in disgust, his look lingering much longer than his mother’s on both me and Aida.
He clunks down his empty wineglass and stalks after his mother.
“Holy shit,” I whisper, more breath than voice. “Did that go… well?”
I share dumbfounded expressions with Rylie and Aida before Rylie lets out a tiny whoop , swooping me into a hug.
“That was so fucking hot,” he mumbles against my lips before capturing them in a deep kiss. I laugh, feeling giddy and exhausted and more than a little drunk on the taste of him.
“I can’t believe William didn’t explode,” Aida says, a rigid wariness still in her expression, eyebrows furrowed as she stares in the direction he exited.
“Landry too, if I’m being honest. She’s more even-keeled than her son but she’s notoriously not warm and fuzzy.
I thought for sure we were about to get fired. ”
“Maybe the tin woman had a heart all along,” I say, smacking away Rylie’s roving hands. He gives me a boyish smile, stealing one more sloppy kiss before I push him off for good.
Rylie looks at me with a wildfire spark in those eyes of his, catching fire in my chest and making my cheeks burn.
He looks like he wants to touch me some more, like he wants to pin me against the wall and kiss me until I can’t think straight, like he wants to steal me from this party and take me up to our room and not let me out until every part of me is incinerated.
And, god, I hope my look tells him how much I want him to do just that.
“Rylie, there you are.” Lilith materializes again at his side, making us jump. “Aida, so good to see you,” Lilith adds, registering my friend.
The two hug, Aida offering a string of congratulations that Lilith graciously waves away.
“Thank you, thank you. It’s been the effort of a lot of people—”
“Take a damn compliment, Lil,” Rylie scolds.
She pinches his arm, making him laugh. “I’m so sick of playing nice hostess, that’s for sure,” she says to Aida. “Which is why—and I’m so sorry to do this to you again, Eva—but I need to steal Rylie and have him charm people into giving me lots of money.”
“Please don’t apologize, I’m just glad someone’s found a use for him. Capitalize on it. Go, go.” I shoo them, Rylie sending me an apologetic but promising smile over his shoulder as Lilith pulls him into the crowd.
Aida and I turn to each other, both still dazed over the confrontation that didn’t ruin us.
“Want to get drunk and hunt for sugar daddies?” she asks, tracing the movement of a handsome, salt-and-pepper-haired man in a three-piece suit and a watch that costs more than a year’s worth of rent.
“I’ll wingwoman,” I say with a wink.
Aida shakes her head. “Not Rylie Cooper making an honest woman out of you.”
“I’m horrified too,” I say with a grin, lifting my champagne flute in a cheers.