Chapter 28: Wrong (River's POV)

"Goodnight," she smiled, waving our last guest goodbye. 

"Brielle." We both turned around where her parents were calling her from. 

She stiffened almost immediately beside me. 

I grabbed her hand, bringing her attention back to the front. "Shall we head out?" I asked. 

She nodded in response. 

"I'm talking to you, Brielle," her dad called out. 

She faltered in her steps. She took in a breath, her grip on my hand tightening. 

"Brielle!" 

I stopped in front of her, putting my hands over her ears. I looked at him over her head. "What?!" I snapped. 

He looked at me in disbelief. "I wish to talk to her. Let her go," he demanded. 

I rolled my eyes, looking down at her. 

She had her eyes closed too. 

I pulled my hands down and she opened her eyes. I grabbed her hand and started walking, neither of us stopping when her dad called after her. I took the keys and held the door open for her on the passenger side. I shut the door, climbed into the driver's seat, started the car, and quickly backed out of the parking spot. I shifted gears and then hit the road to get us back home. 

She let out a huff, leaning her head back and staring out the window. 

"It's okay, just ignore him. I know that's easier said than done, but you have to try, Bri." I glanced over at her. 

Oh, please don't cry, please don't cry, please don't cry. 

She has her dress bunched up in one hand while her other elbow is propped up on the window frame while she's pinching the bridge of her nose with the other hand. But fortunately, she isn't crying.

I grabbed her hand that was in her lap and pulled it away from the dress, bringing it to the console in between. She rested her elbow on it and I locked my fingers with her, keeping it there, moving her hand with mine whenever I had to shift gears. 

When we entered the palace gates and I parked the car, she finally looked at me. Then her eyes traveled down to our hands. She didn't see it at first. She blinked once, then twice. "Is that my hair tie?" she asked. 

"Yeah." 

"How long have you had that on?" 

"A while," I answered, leaning my head back and looking at her. 

"Can I have it back?" 

"No." She grabbed it but I pulled my hand away. "It's mine now." 

She scoffed, looking at me in disbelief. "What are you going to do with it?" 

"Wear it." She opened her mouth to argue more but I beat her to it. "Come on, let's go inside." I got out and then got the door for her before locking up the car and heading inside with her. When we got to our room, I lost the coat and my shoes immediately just as she took off her heels and the jewelry. 

She grabbed her pajamas and went into the bathroom, locking the door this time. I pulled on my sweatpants and then waited for her to open the door. When she did I tossed my clothes in the hamper and grabbed my toothbrush while she did the same. 

She turned to me when we finished. "Give me the hair tie. I have to tie my hair." 

"Take a new one, this one's mine," I replied, pointing to the drawer where she kept the whole box of hair ties. 

"No, I want that one," she demanded, folding her arms across her chest. 

"For what?" 

"I have to wash my face, let me tie my hair." 

I grabbed her shoulders and turned her around so her back faced me. 

"What are you doing?" she huffed. 

I gathered her hair and put it in a ponytail, making sure all the strands were out of her face. 

She turned back around, looking at me in confusion. 

"Wash your face." 

She cast me a weird look and then washed her face anyway, patting it dry with a towel and then putting a moisturizer on. 

I grabbed the hair tie, sliding it out of her hair. 

"Hey!" She reached to grab it but I put it on my wrist and stuck my arm up so she couldn't reach it. 

"I told you, it's mine." 

She clicked her tongue in frustration. 

"Unless you want to argue over a hair tie, I'd suggest you let it go," I smirked. 

She rolled her eyes and left the bathroom, getting in bed. I flicked the lights off and lay down beside her. 

I turned my head to look at her and found her staring at the ceiling. I rolled over onto my side and watched her silently. 

"Why aren't you sleeping?" she asked. 

"Why aren't you sleeping?" I retorted, keeping my voice down. 

"I'm thinking about what happened." 

"Nothing happened, so what are you thinking about?" 

She sighed, rubbing her eyes before dropping her hands onto the bed. "Will I always be so scared of him? Every time he's around or calls my name?" 

"No, of course not." I shifted closer to her. "He just caught you off-guard. You haven't seen him since that day and you haven't spoken to him since that night. It's okay." 

"No daughter should ever be so terrified of her father. No kid should ever be that horrified by their parents." 

"It's not your fault though. He chose to treat you that way, you didn't do anything wrong." 

"I don't know. I feel like if I just listened to him more instead of challenging him then he wouldn't have..." she trailed off, rolling onto her side to face me. 

I think both of us stopped breathing for a second, realizing how close we really were to each other. 

Is something wrong with me? Why can't I move on from this stupid feeling of lust? She's everything I could ever ask for and so much more, then why can't I open my heart to her? Maybe it's because I've never liked anybody in that way before, so it's just taking a while for me to adjust and open up to her. I don't have all that time though. She'll only wait for so long before giving up and when that happens, she'll stop liking me. And she'll probably never like me again after that. 

"Why did you cover my ears then?" she mumbled, staring at my eyes. 

"To help you block out his voice. That way you wouldn't focus on it." 

"Why have you been helping me with everything if you don't even like me, River?" 

"I don't know," I whispered, my eyes falling to her lips. "Can I kiss you?" 

"Is that all you think about? Kissing me?" 

"It's what I can fathom right now." 

"You know what the problem is?" she asked as she leaned in. "If I kissed you, I don't think I'd be able to stop." 

I swallowed, feeling my heart pounding beneath my chest. 

"And I think we both know that's not a good idea." 

"We can stop," I nodded reassuringly. 

She chuckled, "You don't even want to." 

"That doesn't mean I won't stop you either. Unless you don't trust me." 

"Of course I trust you," she replied. "I don't trust myself right now, though." 

"Don't worry, I'll make sure you keep it in your pants," I rolled my eyes. 

She laughed, placing her hands on my chest as I moved forward and grabbed her waist. "You're unbelievable," she chuckled. 

"Unbelievably handsome," I corrected. 

"Please," she scoffed. 

I bunched up her shirt in one hand and slid my hand under it, resting it on her waist and doing nothing more because like she said, she isn't ready for more. I leaned forward and kissed her, taking my time with it. I like the slow kisses. 

I've never really done them with another girl before. It's always about making it quick but with her, it's the complete opposite. I don't want to do anything too quickly with her, I want to take my time with every little thing. 

It doesn't seem she likes that idea right now, considering she's the one deepening the kiss and speeding it up. I pulled away to look at her. "Slow down," I chuckled. 

She groaned, closing her eyes and taking a minute. 

"You know what? Why don't you let me take the lead tonight." 

"You take the lead every time," she mumbled. 

"No, we constantly switch. Tonight, let me take the reins. Only me." 

"What's the difference?" 

"The difference is..." I pushed myself up so I was hovering over her while she rolled onto her back. I straddled her before grabbing her hands and locking my fingers with hers, pinning her hands down to the bed. "You do what I tell you to. You don't get to speed up the kiss or take it up a notch. You have to take what I give you, even if it's at a painstakingly slow pace." 

"That doesn't sound very fun on my end." She lifted a brow at me. 

"Let me do it and then you can tell me later how fun it was," I smirked, not waiting for a reply and kissing her immediately. I started fast then I slowed it down. 

She really doesn't like taking it slow. And I say that while she arches her back off the bed to try to pick up the pace. 

I chuckled, looking down at her. "You're very bad at following rules." I let go of her right hand and brought my hand to her throat, kissing her while pushing her back down. I moved my hand to the side of her face, keeping it there, still refusing to deepen the kiss, and every time she would try, I would just pull away. 

Patience is what she needs to learn. I'll happily teach her. 

I pulled back, holding her wrists above her head. 

She sighed, turning her head the other way. "You're very annoying," she mumbled. 

"It's you who's impatient. Catch your breath." 

She took a few deep breaths and then turned to me.

"And stop trying to take the lead." 

"Fine," she agreed begrudgingly. 

I leaned back down, taking her lips in another painfully slow kiss. This time she didn't try speeding it up or deepening it. She let me lead. I slowly let her wrists go before breaking the kiss. "Don't touch me until I say you can." 

"You're evil," she remarked. 

I smiled, resuming the kiss. 

She kept her hands at her sides but I could see her bunching the sheets in her fists and her grip only tightened when I moved down to kiss her jaw and then her neck. 

I saw her hands coming up when I hit a sweet spot but I grabbed her wrists, pinning them back down. 

"I hate you," she groaned. 

"No, you don't," I smirked against her skin.

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Chapter 28

I love how much both of them contradict themselves lmao

next chapter: handsy