Better Than Me

Riley sent Corinne a text during the show that night, telling her that she was going back to Alabama with Lynam and wouldn't be home until late Sunday evening. Corinne simply said "Enjoy yourself, babe. I love you." Riley knew that Corinne agreed wholeheartedly with her decision to spend an extra day in the presence of Lynam. Corinne only wanted what was best for Riley and right now, it seemed that time with Lynam fell into that category.

Riley had the option of flying to Birmingham, but she wanted to indulge in every second she could get with David, Cody, and Jacob. So once the show was over and the band's equipment was stowed away in the trailer, Riley joined the guys in packing their belongings and preparing for the long ride home.

Jacob volunteered to drive first. Riley immediately scrambled into the passenger seat, barely beating David to the punch. He grabbed her leg and attempted to drag her out of the van. Half-shrieking and half-laughing, Riley planted a well-aimed kick right in his gut.

"Bitch!" he grunted, releasing her and doubling over.

Riley quickly slammed the door. When David straightened up, she flipped him off through the window.

"Jeez, what are y'all, like five?" Cody said teasingly from the bench seat directly behind Jacob and Riley.

Riley twisted around to give him the finger, too. Jacob chuckled and started the engine just as David collapsed on the back seat with Todd. Cody pulled the sliding side door shut.

"Onward, ho!" he shouted.

"Stop talking about yourself in the third person," David cracked, kicking the back of Cody's seat.

"Oh, ha ha," Cody drawled.

"Speaking of being, like, five," Riley said, arching an eyebrow at Cody.

"Hey, Riley!" Cody leaned forward. "If you're really nice, I'll let you go down on me."

Riley rolled her eyes. "Drop dead."

"Cody, seriously," Todd said. "Has that line ever worked?"

Cody settled back in his seat. "You'd be surprised, Peen."

"Gooch is being awfully quiet back there," David commented. He peeked over the top of the seat he and Todd were sharing. Joseph had curled up in the storage space between their seat and the back doors. "Oh..." David again faced the front. "He's sexting with his girlfriend. We'd better not disturb him."

"If you need a sock, you know which backpack is David's!" Cody called back to Joseph.

Riley wrinkled her nose. "Really, Cody? Gross."

"What?" Cody said innocently. "We don't want his cum all over the place. Jacob's guitars are back there."

Riley glanced at Jacob. "Maybe being trapped in a van with the five of y'all wasn't such a great idea."

He met her eyes briefly, a faint smile on his lips. Riley shifted to get more comfortable.

"We need music!" David yelled. "Riley, get on it!"

"What do y'all want to hear?"

"KISS!" David replied.

"The Misfits!" Cody said simultaneously.

Riley frowned. "Fail and fail."

"You don't like KISS!?" David yelped. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"I like them," Riley said. "I just don't think they're one of the best things to ever happen to music. Are there any other options?"

"The Misfits," Cody repeated.

"Your vote doesn't count," David told him.

"Give her the CD case," Jacob instructed.

"Where is the CD case?" David wondered aloud.

There were a few moments of silence while David, Todd, and Cody searched for the case. Todd found it stashed under the duffel bag that held all of Cody's stage clothes. He passed the case to Cody, who held it out to Riley.

Sitting Indian-style, Riley set the case in her lap and began perusing the contents. She wasn't having much luck: there were way too many CDs from the 1980's glam rock and hair metal bands. Not only was she not crazy about that genre, but listening to any of those artists was only going to bring on memories of Andy and his friends. She really didn't want to take a trip down memory lane.

Finally, she came across the first Hollywood Undead CD. Piper had been obsessed with the album for months after it was released. Riley could remember shaking her ass to "No Other Place" and "California" on multiple occasions. She smiled and slipped the disc into the CD player. She could handle pleasant memories.

As track one blasted from the speakers, Jacob groaned good-naturedly.

"Not a Hollywood Undead fan?" Riley asked, knowing the other guys were too distracted by the music to pay attention to her and Jacob.

"I doubt they're even on my list of the one hundred best bands of the last ten years," Jacob said.

"Sorry."

"It's fine, darlin'. David's played it so many times that I'm almost immune to it now."

"I couldn't listen to KISS. Or Guns 'N Roses. Or Motley Crüe."

"Shh," Jacob said. "You don't have to explain anything, Riley. It's okay. Don't think about it."

Riley hadn't been thinking about Andy until she'd seen so many of the same albums that he had in his collection. To be honest, Andy rarely crossed her mind when she was with the Lynam guys. That was why the trip to Ohio had been so relaxing for her and why a day in Alabama had been almost irresistable to her.

"We'll probably stop to eat before we're even out of Ohio," Jacob said, changing the subject.

At his words, Riley realized she was hungry. "Good. I'm starving."

"As soon as they eat, they'll pass out," Jacob said, referring to Cody and David.

"I probably will, too," Riley admitted.

"If you want a different seating arrangement after we eat, I'm sure they won't mind."

"No. I want to stay up here with you."

Jacob's eyes flicked from the road, to her face, and back again. "The person riding shotgun has to keep the driver awake."

Riley smiled. "Don't worry. I've got this. Like a boss."

**********

David took over the driving somewhere near Tennessee and drove the rest of the way to Cody's house in Florence, Alabama. The van had barely ceased movement when everyone climbed out. Yawning and stretching, they filed inside and began dividing up the available places for sleep.

Riley and Jacob were given the guest room. Cody, of course, was sleeping in his bedroom. David, Joseph, and Todd were left to fight over the sofa and recliner in the living room, the loser destined to end up on the floor.

Riley washed her face, brushed her teeth, and changed into an oversized tee-shirt before crawling onto the wonderfully soft bed. Jacob slouched in a bit later, having rinsed off in the shower. He was in nothing but a pair of pants. Riley enjoyed the view as he crossed the room.

He slid beneath the covers with Riley and she immediately snuggled against him. Smiling, he kissed her lightly on the lips.

"Just so you know," she said, her fingers wandering into his hair. "I'm never riding in the van with y'all again."

"That was the full Lynam experience," he said, grinning.

"Yeah, well, the 'full Lynam experience' should only be experienced once."

Jacob chuckled. "What killed the excitement?"

"Hmm. It was either Cody's third moderately obscene phone call or David asking 'are we there yet' every time he regained consciousness. No, wait, I take that back. It was having to listen to David's rendition of 'Burn' by Papa Roach while I was trying to take a nap."

"David is--"

"Annoying?"

"High-strung," Jacob finished, blue eyes shining with amusement.

"I don't know how you haven't murdered him," Riley grumbled.

"I have never-ending patience," Jacob said, and kissed her again.

Riley giggled. "I thought we were going to sleep."

"We will."

"So much for never-ending patience."

"To be fair, I've been waiting to do this for a long time, remember?"

"Oh yeah." Hands tangled in his hair, Riley brought him down for another kiss.

She gave herself over to the moment. She wasn't worried about anything; her mind was blissfully blank. The only things she was aware of were his arms around her, the softness of his hair, the warmth of his lips, the taste of his mouth, the tingle of arousal he was stirring in her.

Jacob broke away first. He was half on top of her and she had a leg hooked around him. He was gripping the back of her thigh. She could feel his firm length through his pants and the thin fabric of her panties. Somehow, her shirt had ridden up past her waist. Both breathing heavily, they looked at each other.

"Shit," he swore. He rolled off of her and sat up with his back to her.

"Jacob..." She reached for him, but he shrugged off her touch.

"I'm sorry, Riley."

"For what?"

He glanced over his shoulder at her. "I don't want to do...this."

Riley frowned. That makes perfect sense, she thought sarcastically.

"I mean." He let out a frustrated breath. "I do want to, but not like this. You're hurting and vulnerable and I'm not going to take advantage of that."

Riley almost laughed. Cody's description of Jacob as a saint might have been more accurate than he'd imagined.

"Besides," Jacob added. "I don't want to be nothing more than a way for you to ease the pain for a while. I want it to be about us, not him. I can't do this knowing that all it is for you is another distraction."

Riley mentally sighed. He does have that pride that all males have. I knew it had to be somewhere in there. It's just overshadowed by the fact that he's a hopeless romantic.

"Sorry," Jacob repeated when Riley remained silent.

"Why did you lie and say you didn't care if you were a rebound?" she queried.

"I had to say something to get you to give me a chance."

"And less than twenty-four hours later, you've already realized you can't do this."

"I can do this," Jacob disputed. "But I'm not going to fuck you just to fuck you. If you want that, go to Cody."

Riley frowned. "Then what are you going to do, Jacob? Because none of it means anything. That's the beauty of a rebound."

Jacob abruptly got to his feet. "I'm going to make you stop being such an idiot and accept that this is not just a rebound relationship. This is what you want, what Andy can't give you. This will make you happier than you've ever been...if you take a chance and don't just throw it away." He strode from the room.

Riley slumped back against her pillow. It hadn't even been twenty-four hours since she and Jacob had shared their first real kiss and this was turning into more trouble than it was worth.

Why can't anything in my life just be simple? she mused.

Jacob's words echoed in her mind: "I'm not going to fuck you just to fuck you. If you want that, go to Cody."

Riley stretched out again, closing her eyes and thinking that maybe she'd chosen the wrong member of Lynam to help her get over Andy.