Better Than Me

Cradling Ghoul in her arms, Riley padded out onto the patio, where Christian was busy grilling ribs. Corinne was finishing up the packing for their trip to Alabama the following day.

Riley had moved out of Andy's house Wednesday morning. She was staying with Corinne and Christian until she could find an apartment, which she was certain wouldn't take long. It was now Thursday evening. The reason they were flying to Alabama tomorrow was that Riley had decided to tell Jacob what had happened with Andy in person instead of simply calling him. She'd demanded that Corinne accompany her. Wanting to spend time with Corinne now that he was off the road, Christian was going as well.

Riley hadn't spoken to Jacob since that day at the studio. She hadn't heard from him, either. She figured he assumed that her silence meant she and Andy had made up. He was probably pretty upset and more than a little angry. But all of that would vanish when he saw her standing in the crowd at the venue in Florence tomorrow night.

Christian smiled at the sight of Riley. "The ribs are almost done."

Riley nodded, releasing her hold on Ghoul. The cat landed with a light thump and immediately sprang onto the nearest chair.

"CC," Riley said, lowering herself into an empty chair.

"What?"

She messed with the bracelet she was wearing, not looking at him. "Do the guys hate me?"

"No. Why would you think that?"

"Do you hate me? I mean, Andy's your best friend..."

Christian pulled a chair close to hers and settled himself in it. "I've known Andy a long time. He was happy with you, and I loved seeing him happy. But the thing is that I got to know you, both because you were dating Andy and because you were my girl's best friend. And you became my friend. I care about your happiness, too. The way I view it, if you weren't happy with him, it's better for both of you if you end it. You need to be with someone who can always make you laugh and smile."

"Am I a horrible person for wanting Jacob? After everything Andy suspected, it feels wrong somehow. Like I'm proving him right."

"Personally, as long as you were always faithful to Andy, I don't care who you want now. It's really simple, Riley. Does Jacob make you happy?"

"Yeah," Riley said softly.

"That's all I need to know." Christian reached for her hand. "Riles."

She finally looked at him, meeting his eyes.

"Andy will live," he said. "He'll be fine. And so will you."

"Thanks, CC."

He planted a swift kiss on her forehead and rose to his feet. "I've only been to Alabama once. I hope it's more entertaining the second time around."

Riley grinned. "Everything's more entertaining with the Lynam guys."

"For you, maybe. For those of us not fantasizing about mounting their front man, however..."

"Christian!" Riley squealed, blushing.

He smirked. "I knew it!"

"If you think Alabama is so boring, why are you tagging along?"

"Uh, one, because I'd like to have some time with my girlfriend. I've been on the road for the last six months, in case you didn't remember."

Riley rolled her eyes. "How could I forget? You've been bitching about it every since you got back."

"And two, I have to check out this new boyfriend of yours," Christian said. "He has to meet my standards. And I'm going to need your new brothers to prove that they'll always protect you."

Riley stared at him. Her throat and nose burned with tears. "Christian..."

"We're family, Riley," he cut in before she could get any more words out. "You know that Ash, Jake, Jinxx, and I have always viewed you as a sister."

"Ash might not view me that way now."

"He's not mad at you, Riley. Not really. He's just in shock. Hell, we all are. Still, he'll realize soon enough that things don't change just because you and Andy split up. And when he does, he's going to want to know if he can trust Jacob's friends to take care of you when you're three thousand miles away. My report will be ready by then."

Riley arched an eyebrow. "Your report?"

"That's how we do it in the CIA. We write reports. Top secret reports. For our eyes only. If you were to stumble across one of these reports, we'd have to kill you."

Riley laughed.

"Is dinner ready yet?" Corinne demanded, emerging from the house. "My stomach is making love to my backbone."

"Ten more minutes," Christian told her.

Corinne slumped into the chair that Christian had so recently inhabited. "This is why I never let you cook. You take ages to get everything done and we don't eat until fucking--"

She broke off as Christian approached her chair, bent down, and shoved his mouth against hers.

"EW!" Riley yelled. "GET A ROOM!"

Christian drew back from Corinne and looked at Riley. "I'm going to remember this moment tomorrow night when you're in the middle of sucking face with Jacob."

Riley held up her hands in a gesture of defense. "My bad. Forget I said anything. Pretend I'm not even here. Please, continue."

Corinne giggled and tilted her face up for another kiss.

**********

Riley walked briskly to the entrance of the club. Corinne and Christian were behind her, talking quietly. Riley knew that they would probably leave as soon as they could be positive that they weren't responsible for getting Riley back to Birmingham.

The thought of spending the night with Jacob had Riley picking up her pace. She didn't even want to stop long enough to show a club employee her ID and pay the cover. She was dying to see Jacob. She couldn't wait for his reaction to her being here.

Riley slowed enough to allow Christian and Corinne to catch up with her. They hurried down the hallway that connected the lobby and a second room that housed the bar and a few pool tables. A wide staircase led down into yet another room, this one filled with tables; the low stage took up almost an entire wall.

Christian and Corinne both detoured to the bar for drinks. Riley hesitated at the top of the stairs. There were very few people in front of the stage. Jacob was going to notice her quickly. Heart pounding, Riley licked her lips. Why was she nervous now?

"C'mon!" Christian urged, approaching her and grabbing her arm. They descended the stairs together and Christian steered her across the room in the direction of the stage.

The band was just beginning their cover of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'." Jacob had set aside his guitar, shrugged off his vest, and freed his microphone from the stand.

Christian and Riley's vertical wrestling match had caught Jacob's attention. As Cody and David kept the basic rhythm of the song going, altered slightly into another familiar song, Jacob stepped off the stage and angled for the place where Riley stood. His eyes were fixed on Riley. He lifted the mic to his lips.

"See the stone set in your eyes/See the thorn twist in your side/I wait for you/Sleight of hand and twist of fate/On a bed of nails she makes me wait/And I wait without you."

Jacob reached Riley. He caressed her cheek with one hand, continuing to sing U2's "With or Without You."

"With or without you/With or without you.

"Through the storm we reach the shore/You give it all but I want more/And I'm waiting for you.

"With or without you/With or without you/I can't live/With or without you."

Riley smiled, feeling that her heart was about to beat its way out of her chest. Jacob grinned at her. "Oops," he said into the mic. "Wrong song." He turned and strode back to the stage, singing as he did so: "Just a small town girl, living in a lonely world/She took the midnight train going anywhere."

"I think he forgives you for not calling!" Corinne shouted over the music.

Riley agreed. She had never wanted a Lynam show to end so badly.

**********

Riley didn't care that everyone was watching; the instant Jacob announced that Lynam was taking their break, she sprinted to him and threw herself into his arms.

Jacob also didn't care that everyone was watching. His arms went around her, pressing her close, and he captured her lips in a long kiss. Riley returned the kiss eagerly.

"EWWW!" Christian hollered from the table he and Corinne had claimed. "GET A ROOM!"

Laughing, Riley pulled away from Jacob and flipped Christian off.

"Let's go outside," Jacob suggested, twining his fingers with Riley's. He led her to the side exit and they pushed out into the warm night air.

"I'm sorry," Riley said as soon as the heavy metal door slammed shut behind them.

"For what?"

"For not calling after I talked to Andy. I know I promised I would--"

"This is better," Jacob interrupted.

"Do you want to know what happened?"

"Um, I'm going to hazard a guess and say it's over."

"Yeah," Riley confirmed. "I almost forgave him, but Cori told me that even while he was insisting that he needed to talk to me, he asked her again if I'd slept with you." She sighed. "I realized he'd never quit doubting me."

Jacob frowned. "I'm sorry, Riley."

"It hurt. A lot. It still does. But I know I deserve better."

"You deserve the world."

Riley looked up at him. She couldn't help her smile. It was an automatic reaction to Jacob, in general.

"Jacob?" she murmured.

"What?"

She dropped her eyes to their hands, still clasped together, then met his gaze steadily. "You're not a rebound. I was an idiot to think that's all you'd ever be to me."

"So..." Jacob's grip on her hand tightened. "We're doing this?"

Riley bit her lip and nodded. "Yeah. We're doing this."

Jacob flashed the smile that caused his perfect face to be even more achingly beautiful and once more caught her lips in a kiss. Riley sent her free hand up into his silky black hair, her mind blessedly silent and peaceful for the first time in months.

It was going to be a challenge to make this relationship work, but it would be worth it. For now, all that mattered was that she was here with Jacob. There was nowhere else she'd rather be, no one else she'd rather be with. This moment was perfect.