Riley

I've been anticipating the moment Lucas walks in. The thought of seeing him in person again gives me chills. I saw the news report of him trying to find me. Every time I think about it I begin to cry ugly tears.

I even watched the video where Rita said I was dead. To her knowledge I was. His reaction clenched my heart. He did care. I can feel myself starting to cry again. The only thing I don't understand is he says I didn't come back for him when I did. Brian and Stan must have lied to him. The fact that he didn't trust me in the first place reminds me that I'm bitter and I begin to put up my walls.

Jonah gives me a wary look like he doesn't know what's going on. The cameras begin rolling and they are pointed towards me.

Lucas enters with Stan and Rose and another bodyguard I remember but don't know their name. He looks so sexy I can feel my eyes roaming over every inch of him as if they had a mind of their own.

The white tank top he's wearing has cap sleeves and half the side of his body is shown from the arm hole. His full chest and side tattoos are exposed. Every inch of him has tattoos there is no blank skin left. The sexy neck tattoos that is sticking out the collar are probably my favorite ones. He's wearing a pair of fitted dark blue denim shorts that are frayed on the bottom. His calves are covered in colorful tattoos. He is even more attractive than I remember. Fuck.

In the next second Jonah is draping his body over mine. Lucas's eyes widen not expecting to see this. "I'm okay, Jonah," I tell him even though I don't feel fine.

"No, you're a mess come talk to me," Jonah says worried.

"I can't he's here." I push him off and walk up to Lucas. Sticking my hand out for a handshake I wait for him to accept it. He smiles genuinely and puts his hand into mine.

Once our hands connect there is an electric jolt that shoots into our palms. We both stare at each other with our eyes wide.

"Static cling, what were you doing running your feet on the welcome floor mat?" I say to defuse the situation. He nervously laughs and looks uncomfortable but doesn't say anything.

"It's very nice to meet you. I'm a huge fan." He says to me his grin growing.

"Let's see the tattoo," I say trying to rush this along. I don't think my heart can take too much exposure. I grab his left arm and bring it to me looking down at the tattoo.

It takes me a moment but I realize that I'm an idiot and I'm not supposed to know where the tattoo is. He has a full sleeve of tattoos. Except where our tattoo is he has a thick circle of skin so no other tattoos are touching it. I grab his other arm to not look suspicious and I can feel him get goosebumps under my hands.

"You must be cold in here we keep the AC on high. Sorry about that." I decide to deflect.

"Yeah cold," He says trying to be dismissive. "This is the tattoo," He turns his arm up to me. He kept it pristine but I can tell some of the color has faded.

"Alright, well let's get down to it." I turn from him and walk to my station. We both sit down and he places his arm face up on my workspace.

I turn on the gun and it starts to buzz. I place it on his skin and begin working. "So you want to tell us your story?" My voice came out hoarse.

"Yes, It first began when I had my concert here on June 1st. I saw her outside the window of my bus and knew I wanted to meet her. I quickly got changed into a disguise and went outside to see her." I didn't know that he came out just for me. He has a sad smile on his face. Those gray eyes of his looked dim and empty. The urge to hug him is strong.

"I was struck by how nice and genuine she was instantly I was smitten. I got her to agree to come with me. It always hurt realizing she was quick to leave me. She tried twice afraid she was going to ruin my career." That's how he sees it? I guess it could appear that way.

"So anyway, I saw her in the crowd after she left and brought her up to the stage. We sang two songs together and it made me so happy. I wanted to be the next June and Johnny Cash. I thought we could tour together and not have to leave each other." He really thought that? My heart stutters.

"Basically I asked her to stay with me for a week and she agreed. We fell deeply in love. I know without a doubt she is my soul mate. But I found out recently that she might be dead." His head hangs low and he begins to cry making loud harsh breathing noises. Fuck.

"I can't believe it though. I would have felt it in my heart if she was. She is still out there and I will find her." He sniffles and looks at me.

"What was the thing that ruined your relationship?" I say through a tight throat. Tears streaming down my face so much I have to stop his tattoo. I look up to Stan and he is looking at me with his eyebrows furrowed inspecting me closely.

"Brian my manager said that she went to the paparazzi with our story for money. He showed me a picture on his phone of her talking to one. His narrowed eyes turned to Stan. "Stan here said he overheard her and it was true. Of course, I would listen to them I knew them longer." His eyes looked at Stan with murderous intent.

"Angrily I told her to leave. Directly afterward I realized it was a mistake that she would never of done that. But then it was too late. I hoped she would come back to me but she didn't." He says but I start to feel bitter.

"When did you decide you didn't trust her before or after you fucked her?" I say my voice laced with poison.

He rears back like I slapped him and I continue working on his tattoo and hear him wince.

"I--I-- That's---" He fumbles his words it's obvious he is stunned by what I said.

"Jesus, Riley what the hell?" Jonah says from the other side of the room.

"What? We were all thinking it."

"Why do you want to see her so badly? What do you want from her?"

"I want another chance if she is single. If not I would like closure."

"If you wanted another chance and closure why would you sleep with almost every single supermodel?" I say looking up at him with a fierceness.

Again he looks aghast. "You shouldn't believe everything you see in the media. I figured you would understand." He nods his head towards Jonah.

"Is he your boyfriend?" I laugh hard.

"No, his wife is right over there." I point to her.

"Oh please Riley you know I've been trying to bring you into our relationship," Julie says sassily.

My face turns bright red and I ignore what she said.

"That just proves my point all the media says is you're a couple." He says challenging me. "I haven't slept with anyone besides Jen. I kissed a few girls but it never felt right it felt like I was cheating on her. If it felt that bad kissing someone else I wasn't going to go further."

My eyes become wide with disbelief. "That's hard to believe," I say with my voice sounding skeptical. Although I haven't slept with anyone either It wasn't for the reasons he had. I was terrified even with the protection of getting pregnant. So maybe it isn't so hard to believe.

"You're telling me you haven't slept with anyone else? Lucas, you're a sexual icon. How is it possible to be one if you only had sex once before? The media linked you with hundreds of girls over the years."

"How do you know it was only once?" He asks narrowing his eyes at me. I look at Stan and he's doing the same.

"Good guess." I shrug one shoulder.

"Your story is heartbreaking, I hope you find her," If he only knew.

"It's funny I got all my tattoos knowing she is more attracted to guys with tattoos. It was one of the first things I learned about her." I look up at him and he laughs and he is looking off into the distance as if revisiting the memory.

"I hope being on this show Jen knows how much I love her and she will find me," His eyes light up a bit.

Jonah walks up to me and puts his hands on my shoulders. He looks down to see my work and he gasps loudly. Oh shit. No! He recognizes my tattoo and how it goes with Lucas's. Julie, Jonah's wife comes over. She looks over the tattoo. "That's so pretty."

"Let's take a break for a few minutes." I quickly walk my way to the backroom I can feel Jonah hot on my trail.

As soon as the door shuts Jonah starts grilling me. "He's the guy you've been hung up on all this time? Why the fuck haven't you told me?" He is pissed off.

"I signed an NDA! I couldn't say anything! Trust me I wanted to tell you. Now I can get into shit if his manager finds out you know somehow."

"You changed your name? That sounds extreme."

"I was being bullied by this rich bitch and I wanted to change back to my birth name in case my parents wanted to find me."

"That man is in a tremendous amount of pain Riley," He says looking at me with disgust. "You need to tell him, now!"

"I can't, he's not the only one in pain," I shout at him then look to the door. I leave the room and head back to my station. He is there waiting patiently for me. The cameras turn on again.

I hang my head and get back to work. "So tell me about you Riley," He says cautiously.

"There's not much to tell. I am what you see." My fingertips have sparks whenever they make contact with his skin.

"I talked about my trauma and it helped a bit I hope one day you can share yours." I look into his eyes and he gives me a small smile. Fuck, I can't look away. I force my eyes to look downward.

"Maybe..." That is all I can think to say.

"You're all set," I say while releasing his arm. He takes it and looks it over. "This looks even better than the original. Thank you so much. His eyes start tearing and it releases a floodgate. Which causes me to begin crying as well.

The cameras are now off and everyone is beginning to clear out. I begin clearing up my workstation. I can feel Lucas's eyes on me and he is hovering and not leaving. "Um, Riley. I was wondering if you would like to hang out with me tomorrow?"

I look up into his eyes and he looks nervous. What is he playing at? I stare at him looking between both his eyes trying to find a motive. Does he know it's me? No, he can't have a clue.

It would be nice to be around him again.

"Sure," I say casually.

"Really?" His voice squeaks cutely like he doesn't believe I would. "I'll come pick you up at ten," He smiles at me brightly.

"Okay, see you then." He and his bodyguards leave and so do all the cameramen.

"Your such a fuck, you're in deep shit Riley," Jonah yells at me. He has never yelled at me before or gotten mad at me. This change has me scared. It's not like him.

"What's going on?" Julie asks alarmed not understanding Jonah's outburst. He pulls me by the arm and shoves up my sleeve so she can see.

Her hand comes up over her mouth, she gasps and looks at me wide-eyed. "You need to tell him, how could you do that?" Julie says just as angry as Jonah.

"Mind your business, both of you." I leave the tattoo parlor and go home.