Better Than Me

Dinner was a fun and noisy affair. There was an awkward moment at the beginning of the night when Riley had to explain to Andy why Jacob, of all people, was there. Other than that, their dinner plans went off without a hitch.

Their party had grown without Riley's or Jacob's knowledge and now consisted of the two of them, Andy, Jeremy, Sammi, Jake, Lonnie, Slash, and John 5. The guys were almost constantly talking over each other while Riley and Sammi simply listened. Riley's main focus of the evening was behaving in a more or less normal manner, though with Slash and John around, she doubted Andy would notice if she was a bit off kilter.

Once Jeremy and Lonnie finished their desserts, the group filed out onto the sidewalk. No one was really ready for the evening to be over, except Riley. There were several minutes during which they lingered in the parking lot, then Andy suggested that they continue the evening at his and Riley's house.

"We don't live that far from here," he said.

Slash, John, and Lonnie immediately agreed.

Riley's eyes flicked to Jacob. He was leaning against the sports car he'd rented upon arrival in L.A. His arms were crossed over his chest and there was no expression on his face.

"Are you coming, man?" Lonnie asked him, pausing in the middle of opening the passenger side door of Slash's car.

Jacob glanced at Riley. Their gazes locked briefly and he turned back to Lonnie. "Yeah."

"I'm riding with Riley!" Sammi told Jeremy. She pecked him on the lips before hurrying to Riley's black Jetta and climbing in. They were a few miles down the road when Sammi revealed the reason for this decision.

"Are you alright, Riley?" she inquired, studying the other girl with concern. "You don't act like you're feeling very well."

Riley wasn't feeling well. She was still dwelling on the conversation she and Jacob had had at the pier. Plus, she was afraid to even speak to Jacob with Andy in their presence. Corinne had overreacted to Riley exchanging messages with Jacob via Facebook; it made sense that Andy wouldn't like how close the two of them had gotten in a matter of weeks.

But Riley couldn't share all of that with Sammi. So she forced a smile and assured Sammi that she was fine. "I'm just tired," she said. "Andy kept me up late and I awoke early this morning and couldn't go back to sleep." That wasn't a total lie. It was a half-truth.

"I swear, you and Andy are bunnies," Sammi muttered. "I don't know how either of you ever gets anything done in the real world."

"Mad skills, in and out of the bedroom."

"Please spare me the details."

"If you insist."

"I do."

"You don't know what you're missing."

Sammi giggled. "That might be a good thing. I don't want to find out that I chose the wrong band member."

Riley snickered.

They pulled into the driveway of her and Andy's house ten minutes later. Andy, Jeremy, and Jake were already there. Slash and Lonnie were right behind Riley and Sammi. Jacob and John brought up the rear.

Andy led the way inside. Joker was bouncing around in excitement. He loved new people. Ghoul was nowhere to be seen. Riley wished she could sneak off and hide somewhere, too.

The guys settled in the living room. Sammi handed beers to Slash, John, Andy, Jeremy, Jake, and Lonnie while Riley brought Jacob a bottled water. He flashed her a faint smile. She returned it and moved to sit beside Andy on the sofa.

"You don't drink?" Andy said in some surprise.

Jacob shook his head. "No. I never have."

"Never?" Jake and Jeremy echoed incredulously.

"Never," Jacob confirmed.

Riley remembered the night at Café Firenze, how she'd had the urge to throw her drink away because of Jacob's aversion to alcohol.

"Jacob is a stand-up citizen," Slash said, clapping Jacob on the shoulder. "He doesn't drink, smoke, or do drugs."

"Do you have any vices?" Sammi queried curiously.

"Sex," Andy cut in. "That has to be it. There's nothing else left."

Jacob shifted uncomfortably. Riley knew he hated being the center of attention unless he was on the stage.

"Music," she said, and everyone looked at her. She addressed Andy. "His vice is music."

"Jeez, Jacob." Andy lifted his bottle of beer to his lips, watching Jacob. "You're, like, a saint or something."

"It's gotta be an Alabama thing," Jake commented. "Riley and Cori were pretty sweet when we met them. They'd done some stuff, but we were who really and truly corrupted them."

"Yeah." Andy set his beer down and dragged Riley onto his lap. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he rested his chin on her shoulder.

The subject was changed and the guys began an enthusiastic discussion. Riley tuned them out. She didn't want to be here. She could feel Jacob's gaze on her and couldn't bring herself to face it. He probably wanted to be here even less than she did.

"I've got to feed the kids," she murmured to Andy once the situation had become unbearable to her. "The kids" was a reference to Ghoul and Joker.

He kissed her on the cheek and let her up. She somehow managed not to run into the kitchen. Alone at last, she went to the window over the sink. The last dying embers of the sunset were fading beyond the trees, a trace of red-orange in an otherwise dark blue sky.

Riley stayed there until the blue had swallowed the red-orange. She turned away from the window and, startled, barely managed not to cry out. Jacob was standing on the other side of the center island.

"I'm sorry," Riley said softly.

"Why?"

"Andy. He's not usually this obnoxious."

"He doesn't like things he doesn't understand. For example, band guys that don't drink, smoke, fuck, or do drugs."

"Especially the ones that knew his girlfriend in high school," Riley said.

Jacob rounded the center island, bringing himself much closer to Riley. "Can you blame him for being jealous?"

"He has nothing to be jealous of."

"Maybe 'jealous' is the wrong word."

"Is possessive the word you're wanting?"

"Riley, he thinks you're the most desirable woman in the world. In his opinion, every guy in the world wants what he has."

Riley shook her head, giving Jacob a look that was a mixture of bewilderment and amusement. "I don't get you."

"What don't you get?" Jacob questioned.

"Are you advising me to leave Andy, or are you encouraging me to stay?"

"Neither. I'm just making observations."

Riley didn't get the chance to respond. Andy sauntered into the room, angling for the refrigerator. He hesitated at the sight of Jacob and Riley.

"What happened, Riley?" he said, opening the refrigerator and retrieving a second beer. "Did you forget what you came in here to do?" This last was said teasingly.

"I needed a break," Riley said, going to Andy and slipping her arms around his waist. She tilted her face up for a kiss.

"Don't be too long," Andy said as he drew back from her. His slightly narrowed eyes were on Jacob. "I might start getting suspicious." It was delivered as a joke, but Riley detected both warning and threat in his tone.

Jacob's expression never changed. Andy went back to the living room.

"He's accusing you of being unfaithful." Jacob frowned, looking at Riley. "Should I be advising you to leave him?"

"No, he's accusing you of being interested." Riley turned and walked out, following Andy's path to the living room.

**********

Andy sighed, shutting the front door. It was nine o'clock and their guests had just left. He listened to the sounds of engines coming to life. The click of toenails alerted him to Joker's approach.

"Hey, buddy." Andy lifted the puppy off the floor. His entire body was squirming with his pleasure as he strained to lick Andy's face.

Andy wandered slowly to the living room, only to find it empty. He continued down the hallway and checked the kitchen. Riley wasn't there, either.

Andy ascended the staircase with Joker panting happily in his arms. Riley wasn't in their bedroom, but he could hear the shower running in the bathroom.

Andy let Joker onto the bed and crossed to the bathroom door. He needed to talk to Riley. He had been unable to shake his bother since entering the kitchen earlier to see Riley and Jacob standing facing each other with barely two feet between them. Had he interrupted something?

No, he assured himself. Riley would never cheat on me.

But that didn't mean that Jacob wasn't attempting to seduce her.

Andy slipped into the bathroom. "Riley?"

He heard a thump as something hit the bottom of the tub. Riley stuck her head around the edge of the shower curtain. "Jesus, Andy! You almost gave me a heart attack!" She vanished again, bending to pick up whatever she'd dropped.

"Sorry. Um, can we talk?"

"Yeah. I'll only be a couple of minutes."

Andy used the time to brush his teeth. He was tempted to push aside the curtain and join Riley under the hot spray. However, he couldn't bring himself to do it. She had been subdued all night and the only cause for this that Andy could see was Jacob.

She was just surprised that he was in L.A., he told himself. That's all. She hadn't known about his work with Adler, and it had to be a shock to discover someone who was supposed to be three thousand miles away in Birmingham, Alabama, here in L.A.

Andy walked back into the bedroom. He sat on the bed, absentmindedly stroking Joker's head and fighting not to think. Attacking Riley would be no help whatsoever. He had to discuss this calmly, rationally. He had to make Riley listen to him. She might not realize what Jacob was doing. It was up to Andy to put her on her guard.

Riley emerged in an Avenged Sevenfold tank-top and a pair of plaid pajama bottoms. A towel was twisted around her hair like a turban. Even in such a state of carelessness about her appearance, she was very beautiful to Andy.

She smiled. "Hey. What did you want to talk about?" She crawled onto her side of the bed, her expression inquisitive.

"Jacob."

Riley's smile faded and her lips pressed into a grim line. "Oh."

"What was going on in the kitchen, Rile?"

"Nothing. We were talking."

"It's funny." Andy stood and meandered to the window, grabbing a pack of cigarettes from his bedside table as he passed. "You said you were feeding Joker and Ghoul, but there was no food in their bowls. Jacob said he was going to the bathroom, but I found him in the kitchen with you."

Riley rolled her eyes. "For your information, I didn't find our company as stimulating as you did. I needed time to myself."

"You weren't by yourself."

"Jacob had been in there for about a minute. Breathe, Andy. We weren't fucking on your kitchen cabinets."

Andy lit a cigarette, cracking the window to allow the smoke to escape. "I'm not accusing you of anything, Riley."

"Really? Because that's what if sounds like." Anger was evident in her voice. "Jacob and I have been back in touch with each other for barely more than a month. We're enjoying that reconnection. Why is that such an issue for you?"

"You are enjoying the reconnection. Jacob has other things on his mind."

"Why do guys always assume that about other guys?"

Andy's jaw clenched in frustration. "Riley, I love you, but you're naive about guys."

"Was I naive about you?"

"Stop it! Just fucking stop!" Andy looked at her. "Why are you defending him?"

"Because you're wrong!" Riley inhaled deeply and released the breath gradually, calming herself. "I get it, Andy. I really do. You think that every guy in the world sees in me what you see in me. You don't trust any guy with me, short of your friends, and you've had your doubts about Ash." She managed a smile. "Jacob's not after me, Andy. And even if he was, why would I be interested? I have you."

Andy felt a knot in his stomach loosen. His bother trickled away. "We have to agree to disagree. Jacob's stalking you, Rile. He's a predator and you're his unsuspecting prey."

"So...you want me to stop talking to him?"

Their eyes met. Andy could read the anger and defiance in her blue-green gaze. She wasn't going to stop, no matter what Andy said.

And is it really fair for me to make that demand? Andy asked himself. I trust her. It's Jacob I don't trust.

The reality was that Riley and Jacob being in contact via Facebook wasn't a big deal. Jacob wouldn't be in Los Angeles often. It wasn't as if he and Riley would be hanging out all the time. Besides, if Jacob did make a move, Riley would reject him.

"Why would I be interested?" she'd said soothingly. "I have you."

"No," Andy mumbled finally.

Riley slid off the bed and approached him. She stretched up to plant a kiss firmly on his lips. "You have nothing to worry about."

Andy caught her before she could pull away and kissed her again, deeply. He believed her intentions towards Jacob were pure. She wanted to be his friend. However, he knew she was wrong about Jacob. The man had her fooled.

Holding her in his arms, Andy hoped she would remember his words later and be cautious with Jacob. He couldn't forbid her to talk to Jacob or see Jacob while he was in Los Angeles, but there were other ways for him to protect her.