Tough Love

Chapter 27

James POV

"Now can you tell me?" Riley demanded. I wanted to tell her when we were alone in Studio B so nobody could hear us. I sigh.

"Well, Kate wanted me to-"

"James! Isn't it great Kate asked you to do another duet with me!"

I turned around and saw Beth standing in the doorway. I turn back to Riley.

"Yeah, Kate asked me to do another duet with Beth." I tell her. I can see the disappointment in her eyes.

"Oh." She says, breaking eye contact with me. Before I can respond, Beth rushes over and hugs me.

"Me and James got a lot of practice and catching up to do, Riley. So leave!" Beth hisses. Riley stares at me for a long time until she turns toward the door to leave.

"Wait, we're still hanging out later, right Riles?" I ask her. She looks at Beth, who was still hugging me, than looks back up to me.

"No, your obviously busy. I'll see you tomorrow." She sighs and walks out the door. I push Beth off of me and chase after her.

"Atleast let me drive you home." I say. She crosses her arms and rolls her eyes.

"No thanks. I'll walk." She turns around to leave, but I grab her arm.

"Please Riles. Just wait down stairs, I'll only be about an hour with Beth. Or I can quickly bring you home now, just please don't act like this again." I plead. She puts a hand on her hip and glares at me.

"What do you mean 'act like this again'?" She hisses.

"Jealous! You always acted so jealous before when I was around Beth, or when I was around any other girl for that matter, for God's sake Riley! You can't deny it!" I yell at her. She puts her head down.

"I'll just wait downstairs." She mumbles and walks away. Immediately, I felt guilty.

"Riley, wait." I call out. She stops walking and looks up at me. A tear rolls down her cheek. I walk up closer to her.

"I-I'm sorry, I know I get jealous. It's just that when I see you talking, or laughing, or fooling around with any other girl, I just get jealous because I guess I'm just used to being the only girl getting your attention, and I start thinking that your starting to get bored of me, and your about to just dump me and move on to the next girl." She sobs. I feel pretty guilty. Did she really think all that?

I stare at her for a bit more without saying anything, still in shock. Another tear slips down her cheek until she puts her head down again and turns around again and mumbles,

"Forget it, I'll just walk home."

I run after her again.

"Riley, I'm sorry I snapped at you. I didn't know you thought all of that, and I'm sorry. I love you with all of my heart." I plead. She finally faces me again.

"Really?" She sniffs. I smile down at her.

"I would never lie to you about something like that babe." I whisper to her, kissing her forehead.

"I'll go wait downstairs." She whispers back. I nod, give her a quick hug, and head back to Studio B with Beth. Her face brightened up when she saw me.

"Ready James? I'm so excited to be dancing with someone amazing like you!" She gushed, batting her eyelashes.

This is going to be a long hour...