I nodded, unsure of what to say in response. I moved to exit the limo and was blinded by all the flashing bulbs, deafened by all the yelling. I turned back, not forgetting my duty to help Lexi from the limo. I saw her come out of the darkness and reached out to her. When she took my hand, it was as if the cameras went even crazier and the energy surrounding us started buzzing in such a way I could physically feel it in the air.
Lexi didn’t let go of me, even after she was out of the limo completely; instead, she laced her fingers through mine and curled into me, clutching my bicep with her other hand. She was smiling still, her red lips surrounding sparkling white teeth, and I couldn’t find any words, so I just led her through the crowd, following close behind Ronny and Tank, who seemed to be parting the bodies with camera heads for us.
We made our way slowly down the red carpet and were stopped in front of a backdrop and suddenly the camera heads knew my name.
“Riot! Look this way!”
“Riot! Are you and Lexi dating?”
“Lexi! Does George know you’re seeing someone else?”
“Lexi! Give Riot a kiss!”
At the command, Lexi leaned farther into my side and pressed her lips to my cheek. I stilled, panicking a little. I didn’t want to be rude to her, but I definitely didn’t want to be photographed as she kissed my cheek. I didn’t want anyone kissing my cheek. Well, that wasn’t true. I’d let Kalli kiss me anywhere. But I definitely wasn’t comfortable with what was happening.
Lexi leaned away from me, smiling, then brought her thumb up to where her lips had just been, laughing. “You’ve got red lipstick all over you,” she justified as she tried to brush it away, all the while the flash bulbs blinded and people yelled.
I brought my mouth closer to her ear so she could hear me when I asked, “What the hell, Lexi?” As I said the words, I felt her hand come up to cradle my cheek and she giggled. I pulled away, confused by what she could be laughing about. Then it dawned on me. She was putting on a show.
She was using me.
She didn’t just want to go to this event with me, she wanted to be seen with me, to make people believe we were together. I pulled away, prepared to drop her hand and find my way back through the camera heads, but before I could say anything, she pressed her lips against mine.
It had been so long since I felt a woman’s mouth on mine that for just one moment, I let her linger, caught up in remembering someone else. Letting my heart pretend, for the tiniest moment, that Kalli was here with me instead of Lexi. But then my brain remembered who she was, realized where we were, what was happening, and I pulled away, furious. I put my hand on the back of her neck, trying to keep her close enough to hear me.
“What are you doing?”
She put on her fake smile and replied without moving her lips much, “Just play along, Riot. It’ll all be okay.”
I searched her eyes, then let her go, stepping back. She laced her fingers through mine again and turned back to the cameras.
“Lexi! How long have you been together?”
“Riot! Has this been going on ever since you shot her music video?”
“Lexi! Is he the one?”
“When are you going to put a ring on it, Riot?”
Lexi giggled but didn’t answer any questions and I stood there, thoroughly pissed off and pretty sure my mood was evident on my face. I didn’t care if I ruined their precious photos, I wasn’t happy so I wasn’t going to smile.
Finally, Lexi led me into the building and once we were out of sight of the photographers, she dropped my hand.
“What the fuck was that?” I growled, feeling my face turn red with the rage building from my gut.
“Calm down, Riot. It’s no big deal. They’ll print some stories about us being together, our names will be hot for a few weeks, and then it’ll all die down.” She looked past me and waved at someone, obviously not caring how I felt about the matter.
“You could have warned me about what you were going to do. I definitely wouldn’t have come if I thought you were going to kiss me in front of all those reporters.”
She smiled at me, a genuine smile that showed me she didn’t mean me any harm, and said, “Why did you think I invited you, silly? This is what the business is all about.”
“What about George? Won’t he be upset?”
For the first time that evening I saw an emotion other than happiness cross her face. She looked hurt and sad, and I immediately felt like shit for bringing him up.
“He doesn’t care what I do,” she whispered, looking down at her hands, which she was wringing between us.
“Lexi, I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”