a random moment I really liked and had to write, while working on the next chapter. Hope this is enough to satiate your hunger for more lando and riley content. ❤️
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PART 3 | YOU KNOW ME
FRIDAY 11:26pm
They both felt it—an unspoken truth heavy in the air, a craving for each other's touch so desperate it felt like an addiction. But neither dared to speak it aloud.
Riley stood before the mirror, carefully wiping away the remnants of her makeup. The day had worn her down, she felt raw and vulnerable. She usually hated that feeling.
She called out to Lando, who appeared in the doorway of their hotel room, leaning casually against the frame, his eyes watching her with quiet intensity, waiting for whatever she was about to say.
At first, sharing a room had been an inconvenience, an unwelcome consequence of their fake relationship. But somehow, in the midst of whispered conversations that stretched deep into the night, they'd found comfort in the intimacy. In the quiet hours when their words slowed, their voices turned raspy, and sleep ached in their limbs. Waking up to her hair splayed across his pillow, her body curled instinctively into his—it had become something dangerously more than habit.
"I, um," she murmured, her voice catching as she turned to face him. Her eyes met his. "I just want to say thank you again... for earlier."
Lando nodded, his gaze drawn to her face, natural and bare. She was breathtaking in this simplicity, and it unsettled him how deeply it struck. He looked away, trying to steady himself.
"Yeah, no worries," he managed, his voice carefully neutral.
But Riley stepped closer, closing the gap between them. "No, really," she whispered. "I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't been there." Her voice trembled, the words thick with emotion, her eyes blinking back unshed tears.
The ache in her expression shattered the last of his restraint. Slowly, he closed the space between them, his arms pulling her in tightly. Showing her that he'll always be there.
Her body melted into his, arms slipping around his torso, her face pressed against his chest. A soft, broken sob escaped her, the sound barely audible, yet it pierced him. He held her tighter, as if he could shield her from everything that had ever hurt her. His warmth seeped into her, anchoring her, giving her permission to let go.
She inhaled deeply, trying to memorise this feeling—Lando's solid body enveloping her, his heartbeat steady beneath her ear. Something unlike anything that had ever happened between them.
"Sorry," she whispered, her voice muffled against him. She tilted her head up, her eyes finding his, tiredness shadowing her gaze.
He shook his head, brushing a gentle hand through her hair. "Don't be sorry," he murmured. "You've done nothing wrong."
His fingers traced comforting patterns on her back, his touch so tender it made her want to crumble and stay whole all at once. He could have stayed like this forever, letting the world fall away, turning to stone if it meant holding her in this perfect stillness.
He liked being the one that took care of her—the one who could offer her something in ways no one else did.
Reluctantly, Riley pulled back just enough to see his face, the absence of his warmth already a loss. He understood her, saw her, in ways that both terrified and comforted her.
A soft, self-conscious laugh escaped her, a weak attempt to break the tension. She glanced down quickly, the weight of his gaze threatening to unravel her entirely. The silence stretched between them, charged and fragile, full of words neither dared to say.
・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。
'love me like you do'
//I'll let you set the pace, cause i'm not thinking straight, my heads spinning around I can't see clear no more. what are you waiting for? love me like you do. //
