Chapter Ten
Colin
I saw the note that had been slipped under Riley’s hotel room door first. Riley was showering, and I just happened to hear the raspy sound of paper rubbing against the carpet. I assumed it was possibly a bill for the room, so I didn’t hurry to pick it up. When I finally did, I found it was a piece of notebook paper. I opened the door, but there wasn’t anyone in the hallway.
The shower stopped, and I moved back into my room to check over the note in private. When I unfolded it, the scrawled words were written in black marker.
Why won’t you love me back?
I frowned. There wasn’t anything particularly threatening about the message. But it made me uneasy that whoever it was knew Riley’s room number. We still had four more days in Denver, and the note made me uncomfortable enough that I decided I was going to ask Tom to have the hotel move Riley to another suite.
There was no way to do that without Riley noticing, but I didn’t want him knowing about the note because I didn’t want him feeling freaked-out. I texted Tom and told him about the letter, and we agreed we’d tell Riley the hotel had moved us because there was a problem with the room he was in.
Riley was drying his hair in the bathroom, and so I quickly went around his room unplugging the TV and all the lamps on one side of the room. I’d just slipped back into my room when he came out of the bathroom in a cloud of steam.
I poked my head into his room, and as casually as I could, I said, “Hey, the front desk called and said there’s an electrical issue with this suite. They’re going to move us.”
“Really?” He frowned. He ran his fingers through his blond strands, looking distracted. “Everything seemed fine in the bathroom.”
“Huh. Well, I’m sure they wouldn’t go to all this trouble for no reason.” I kept my expression blank.
“That’s so weird. Everything worked great earlier.” He moved toward the TV remote and tried clicking it on. When it didn’t come on, he stepped toward the armoire that housed the TV as if he was going to check the plug.
I moved closer to him and tried to distract him. “Hey, what time do we need to get to the concert hall today?”
He met my gaze and stopped what he was doing. “Four for a sound check.”
He wore only a pair of faded jeans, and his bare chest was distracting. Despite my many speeches about staying professional, I wanted to touch him. But I kept my hands to myself. “That’s perfect. Tom will get some of the crew to move all of our stuff to the new room once we go over.”
He started toward the armoire again.
“So do you have to rehearse today?”
He stopped again and faced me. “No. I’m going to save my voice. I feel confident after the run-through yesterday.”
“Got it.” I put my hands on my hips. “We should go for a walk. There’s a park across the street. Might be nice to get some fresh air and clear the head.”
A little smile touched his lips, and he moved closer. “What’s going on with you?”
I laughed uneasily. “What do you mean?” My stomach clenched when he touched my arm.
“You’re unusually chatty.” His eyes were amused.
He was so close, the urge to lean in and kiss him was almost too hard to ignore. “Just thought you might want a little exercise.”
He licked his lips, and I could smell his arousal. I had little doubt he could sense mine too. There was no way to avoid these feelings when we were in such close proximity.
“I’m kind of hungry,” he said softly.
I cleared my throat and took a step away. “Let’s get some breakfast and then go for a walk.”
“Or we could order room service and burn some calories indoors.”
“Riley, you know that can’t happen.” I hated the disappointed tilt of his mouth when I spoke. I knew keeping my distance from him was important, but it didn’t mean I wasn’t frustrated.
He sighed impatiently. “Fine.”
I’d managed to successfully distract him from checking the plug on the TV, but I now also had to pretend I didn’t have a painful erection. I went back into my room, dragging my arousal-drugged brain back to the problem at hand. I had high hopes that changing suites would solve the issue of the admirer who knew Riley’s room.
We ate downstairs in the hotel, and Tom and a few others joined us. We were interrupted multiple times by people coming up and asking for Riley’s autograph. He was super gracious, and if he resented the interruptions, he didn’t show it to them. I’d worked with all kinds of celebrities, and Riley was by far one of the most approachable.
At one point, I pulled Tom aside while Riley chatted with some fans and we discussed the note. I wanted to be proactive, but I didn’t want to be an alarmist. Fanatical fans did silly things like leave lovesick notes all the time. It didn’t mean the person was dangerous.
Once breakfast was over, Riley and I headed across the busy road to the park. It was a clear, gorgeous day, and in the distance we could see snow covering the peak of Mount Elbert.
We walked along talking about music and some of the places he’d been. Riley was able to relax, while I stayed alert, making sure no one came up behind us. We found a bench along the path, and we sat and listened to the swallows above our heads in the branches.
Riley inhaled deeply and exhaled. “Man, it’s nice to be outside.”
“Got to get your vitamin D.” I pushed my hands into my jean pockets. It was chilly, but I liked the crisp snap in the air.
“I used to ride my bike everywhere.” He lifted his face to the sun and closed his eyes. “Now I’m always in a limo or a plane.”
“I’ll go bike riding with you.”
He opened his eyes, looking pleased. “Awesome.” His smile faded. “But it still isn’t quite the same as just being able to hop on my bike and go anywhere anytime.”
“Yeah. With fame comes a loss of freedom.”
“I didn’t really think about that until I started getting noticed.” He met my curious gaze.
“You didn’t?”
“Nope. I wanted to be famous to prove I was good enough. That I deserved a place in the world. My parents kind of made me feel like I wasn’t worthy of any respect. But it didn’t occur to me that fame would mean I couldn’t live in that world the same way anymore.”
“Huh.”
“I guess I was naive.”
“You were young.”
“Is twenty-one really that young?”
I shrugged. “Depends, I guess.”
“I do feel like I’ve changed a lot in the last three years. I’ve met a lot of fake people, that’s for sure. This industry is crawling with them.”
“Tell me about it.” I chuffed. “But fame seems cool from a distance, and it does provide a lot of opportunities you might not otherwise have.”
“True. I got to meet Mick Jagger once.”
I whistled. “Cool.”
“He had a whole team of security.”
“You’ll probably need that before long.”
“God. I don’t want that.” He grimaced. “I’m happy with just you.”
“Awww. That’s so sweet.” I smirked.
Riley laughed. “I will say Mick Jagger was way nicer than I pictured.”
“One thing I’ve learned working in this business is that celebrities are just people.”
“I know I am.” He gave a funny laugh. “I thought maybe fame would change me.”
“In what way?”
His eyes were dark. “Maybe make me more aggressive and domineering?”
“Would you want that?” I frowned.
He shrugged. “I’m an alpha, but I get mistaken for an omega or a beta all the time.”
I thought back to how assertive he’d been in bed. “You’re perfectly aggressive when you want to be.”
His lips twitched. “Yeah. My alpha comes out when I fuck.”
My face warmed and I kept my gaze averted.
He chuckled. “Sorry. Was that too blunt?”
“To be honest, I was thinking the same thing.” I gave a short laugh and poked my finger at a splinter of wood on the bench.
He sighed. “People have expectations of alphas.”
“Society likes to pigeonhole everyone.”
“Yeah. I know most alphas are very dominant, but I’ve just never felt like I needed to push someone else around to make me feel good about myself.”
“I respect that.” I added, “Your gentleness is one of the things I like best about you.”
“Seriously?” He sounded pleased.
I felt dumb for having blurted my feelings out, but it was too late. I decided he deserved to hear the truth since he was so open with me. “I usually avoid alphas like the plague. Their energy turns me off. But yours is pleasant and appealing.”
He surprised me when he put his head on my shoulder. “That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me.”
I should have moved away from him, but I couldn’t do it. It felt so right with him pressed against me. We sat like that for a while, listening to the traffic in the distance and letting the golden sun warm our shoulders.
“I heard you playing your guitar this morning,” I said softly. “The tune was pretty. I didn’t recognize it from your rehearsal yesterday.”
He lifted his head. “Yeah, it’s new.”
“I liked it. It was kind of sad but beautiful.” I watched some kids playing Frisbee across the park.
“Thanks.” He glanced over at me. “It’s about your brother.”
Surprise rippled through me. “What?”
“It just came to me when I was sleeping.” He laughed. “I had a dream about Garrett. Well, I never met him, so obviously it was my idea of him in the dream.”
I didn’t know what to say.
“I hope that doesn’t make you mad?” He sounded worried.
“No.” I shook my head. “It’s kind of cool, actually.”
“I was thinking about how you’d said he gave everything to his alpha and didn’t keep anything for himself. That struck me as so sad.”
I hung my head. “It was sad. It was heartbreaking.”
“The alpha should protect his omega.” He faced me, his eyes bright. “You don’t have to be an asshole to be strong.”
“I… I agree.”
He sighed and took my hand in his. Little prickles of awareness tingled up my arm and through my fingers. I knew I should pull my hand away. Getting closer to him would only make things harder, but I liked the feel of his flesh against mine too much.
“So many alphas think they need to be jerks to gain respect.” He swept his thumb over my skin.
“Maybe if Garrett had met an alpha like you, he’d still be alive,” I said quietly.
His breath caught in his throat, and he squeezed my hand. “Thank you. That means a lot to me.”
“He had horrible taste in men. Garrett was my twin, but he was very different from me when it came to relationships. He was always more needy. He hated being alone.”
“You don’t mind not being paired?”
I shrugged. “Not really.”
I was stretching the truth a little. I’d never felt the desire to be with an alpha the way my brother had. But since meeting Riley, I’d begun having odd feelings. When he looked at me a certain way, or we shared a laugh over something, I sometimes wanted to be his. I didn’t want him to have those moments with anyone else. Was it petty jealousy or something more? I couldn’t tell, but I found it extremely confusing because I’d always resented the idea of needing an alpha.
“You don’t ever want to belong to someone?”
I scowled. “Belong to them?”
He shrugged. “I don’t mean like a pet. I mean both people belong to each other. The alpha and the omega look out for each other. Why would that be wrong?”
He didn’t know all the details of my brother’s death, so I couldn’t really fault him for not understanding. But as a solar eclipse omega, the alpha played a far greater role in the relationship. If the omega became pregnant, he was truly at the mercy of his alpha. Garrett’s death had solidified my fear of depending too much on an alpha.
I pulled my hand from Riley’s and stood slowly. “We should probably head back now.”
Riley’s eyes were perceptive. “You’ll see I’m different, Colin.”
I clenched my jaw, confused and uneasy. “I already know you are. And if I was looking for an alpha, you’d be perfect.” I lifted my chin. “But I’m not. I never will be.”
“You think you’re safer on your own.” It wasn’t a question.
I grimaced.
He tilted his head, his expression compassionate. “I believe you can belong to someone and still be your own person. But I understand you don’t see it that way.”
I hated that his gentle words made me want to go to him. As an omega, I knew his arms held comfort for me, but that just made me feel weak and needy.
“We really should go.”
He nodded, his expression thoughtful.
We didn’t talk much on the way back toward the hotel, and both of us seemed distracted with our thoughts. As we stepped off the curb to make our way across the street, the engine of a car parked a few feet away caught my attention as it roared to life. I frowned at the car, as the tires spun against the road, sending smoke into the air with a screech.
Little alarm bells went off in my head as the car lurched from its parking space and headed straight for us. Even though everything happened in the space of mere seconds, it felt like slow motion as I stepped in front of Riley and shoved him back toward the grassy curb. He stumbled, but managed to stay upright, and I swung around to face the car racing toward me.
I was off balance from pushing Riley to safety, and my weight was on the wrong foot. I still tried to leap out of the way, but I couldn’t seem to get any momentum. My gut clenched as I realized there was no way I could avoid the car that was barreling toward me, and I closed my eyes and braced for impact.
Fuck.
When strong fingers curled around my wrist, I snapped my eyes open in confusion. Riley was behind me, and with a growl, he yanked me toward his body and out of the path of the car. The vehicle still managed to scrape my hip as it passed, and I grunted in pain as the smell of burning rubber and exhaust filled my nostrils.
We slammed onto the sidewalk, and the wind was knocked out of me for a few moments. Riley still had hold of my wrist, and he swore loudly in my ear.
Somebody hauled me to my feet, and Riley scrambled up. He let go of my wrist finally, but his eyes were pinned on me.
“Are you okay?” He wiped his forehead, leaving a streak of dirt.
“Yeah. You?” My hip ached where the car had bumped me, but I was mostly unharmed. We were vulnerable out on the sidewalk, so I put my arm around Riley’s shoulders, shielding him with my body, and I glanced around the area warily.
A small crowd of onlookers had gathered near us. People were yelling and taking pictures with their phones. The car was long gone, and I was frustrated I’d been unable to get a license plate or a description of the driver.
“Did anyone get the license?” I demanded.
The group just stared at me shaking their heads.
One older woman stepped forward and handed me a white handkerchief. “You have blood on your lip.”
I wiped at my mouth and saw the smear of scarlet against the crisp white linen. “Thanks.”
She nodded. “Of course. I’m sorry I couldn’t get the license. It happened so quickly. The car was white if that helps?” Her gray eyes were filled with shock.
The color and make of the car were burned into my memory. What I needed was the license plate, and that I didn’t have.
“White is probably one of the most common car colors in the country,” Riley grumbled.
Just in case that car hadn’t been just a really shitty driver, I wanted to get Riley inside the hotel and off the street. I called Tom’s cell, and when he answered, I told him what had happened and he hurried out front. I walked with them to the hotel, but then I went back out to talk to the police.
With no description of the driver and no license plate, there wasn’t much the cops could do. After a couple of hours of talking with the police, I found Riley and Tom in the hotel bar tucked away in a private corner. I would have loved to have a drink, but I knew better.
“Can the cops do anything to catch the guy?” Riley looked pale, and his hand shook as he lifted his beer to his lips.
“I’m sure they’ll do their best.” It was pretty much a nonanswer, but I didn’t have much else to offer him.
“That was probably just an accident, right?” Tom asked, a deep line between his eyes. “Maybe a drunk driver or an old person with bad vision?”
“It’s entirely possible. They might have fled the scene because they didn’t want to get in trouble with the cops.” I sat next to Riley. “But to be safe, I think we should move hotels, not just rooms.”
“Whatever you suggest.” Tom nodded and pulled out his phone. “I hate to think that the note that was slipped under Riley’s door would be connected to that car.”
I stiffened and gave Tom an impatient glance.
“What note?” Riley asked.
“Crap. Sorry.” Tom looked embarrassed.
“Were you guys hiding that from me?” Riley raised his brows. “Why would you do that?”
I clenched my jaw. “We didn’t want to worry you.”
He widened his eyes. “Yeah? Well, I’m officially worried.”
“You don’t need to be.”
“What did the note say?” Riley asked.
“I gave it to the detectives to see if they can pull a print off of it.”
Riley scowled. “Are you trying to pretend you don’t remember what it said?”
I shrugged.
“What did it say, Colin?”
I exhaled. “It said: ‘Why won’t you love me back?’”
“What does that mean?” Riley’s cheeks were flushed.
“It means some crackpot has the hots for you, kid. There are probably a million of them out there.” Tom grimaced. “It comes with the territory.”
“Yeah, but this one knew his hotel room, so that changes the game a little.” I stood and looked around the area. “Tom, pick a hotel and let’s get Riley to a new location ASAP.”
“You got it.” Tom wandered off with his phone pressed to his ear.
Riley stood and met my gaze. “You don’t have to hide stuff from me.”
“It’s my job to handle this stuff so you can concentrate on your side of things.”
“I’m not a child.”
“I know.”
He sighed. “Thanks for saving my ass today.”
“Back at you.” I dropped my eyes to the tile floor. “If you’d hesitated just a couple of seconds, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
“Of course I didn’t hesitate.” He frowned.
“Most people would.”
He shook his head and said, “Told you I was different. Maybe now you’ll believe me.”