That was the moment Rhys chose to appear in the doorway. His gaze momentarily narrowed on at me in AJ’s arms. Then as if he realized we weren’t alone, his expression softened. “What’s going on?”
Taking a step back, AJ peered around me at Rhys. “Where the hell have you been, man? You knew Allison needed to get our measurements before rehearsal.”
He shrugged. “Sorry. I didn’t know it was such a big deal.”
His words had the same effect as if he had driven a dagger deep into my chest. Although I should have looked away, I couldn’t help staring into his eyes, desperately trying to find the Rhys I had loved for so long. For the life of me, I couldn’t understand why he was being an ass**le to me. And while his dissing my internship hurt, the total lack of kindness he was showing me was much worse. Mainly because it was so against Rhys’s usual character.
Rising off the couch, Jake eyeballed Rhys, and I could tell the big brother in him was getting rankled. “Allie’s fashion internship is a big deal.”
Instead of looking at Jake, Rhys looked at me. Deep down, he knew how important it was. He’d been right there with me in Savannah when I’d told him all about it. In fact, he’d believed in me so implicitly then. But now, he was downplaying it like it was nothing at all to him.
“It’s fine, Jake. I was busy with you guys anyway,” I replied, as I brought the tape measure to AJ’s neck.
Undaunted, Jake said, “Why don’t you do Allison a favor and go get Eli and Gabe?”
“They’re still rehearsing with Abby,” Rhys replied, as he grabbed a bottle of water out of the cooler.
“Worthless,” Jake muttered under his breath.
Just as I was finishing up with Brayden’s measurements, Frank, the head roadie for Runaway Train, came in the door. “Hey, Jake, I need all of you guys to head on up to the stage. One of the set changes is giving us problems in this arena, and I want to make sure you guys think it’s working out okay.
“Rhys, once you’re done with your measurements, come meet us on the stage,” Jake said.
“Okay,” Rhys replied.
When the door shut behind them, leaving us all alone, I couldn’t help jumping. Loud silence reverberated around the room as if we were locked in a tomb. As I stood in front of Rhys, I slid my measuring tape off my neck. I knew I was going to have to break the silence between us. “You know, I thought we had agreed to be friends.”
Rhys’s brows shot up in surprise. “Who said we weren’t?”
I gave him a sad smile. “This—” I motioned between us, “Doesn’t feel much like friendship.”
With an apologetic expression, Rhys protested, “I’m trying my best, Allison.”
“By blowing off this fitting? You, of all people, know how important this internship is. You were there cheering me on from almost the beginning. Now you act as if you couldn’t give a shit.”
“Please believe me when I say that I am sorry for being late to the fitting. I wasn’t intentionally blowing it off to be an ass**le. I couldn’t say it in front of the others, but I’ve been trying to give you some space to work through your feelings for me. That’s what I was doing this afternoon when I lost track of time. Then I thought by acting like I didn’t care in front of Jake, he wouldn’t think there had been anything between us.”
I couldn’t help feeling wounded by the fact he was actually working to avoid me and treating me with kid gloves. But instead of showing my hurt, I plastered a smile onto my face. “I see,” I replied. I then brought the tape measure to his neck. The moment my fingers touched his bare skin, he jumped. “Sorry if my fingers are cold.”
“It’s fine,” he replied, as I turned away to scribble down the inches.
“Raise your arms,” I requested. As I brought my arms around Rhys, my face brushed against his chest. I couldn’t stop the tremor that went through me as I inhaled his cologne. While I fitted the tape against his pecs, I remembered what his bare chest looked like, even what it felt like as his body hovered over mine when we were making love. Even though I hated the way he had been acting, I couldn’t deny the attraction I still felt for him. I wanted to rub my body against his, feel his hands on me like they had been once before.
After pushing away my lustful thoughts, I ordered, “Bend your arm at the elbow and place it on your hip.”
“Don’t I get a ‘please’?” he asked, with a teasing lilt in his voice.
“You missed out on ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ because you were late,” I countered, running the tape measure down his bicep.
He sighed. “I did say I was sorry. I promise the next time you need me for something, I’ll be on time. I swear.”
Eyeing him, I searched his face and saw true sincerity. I nodded. “Okay then.”
After getting his waist and hips, I scribbled down the measurements, all the while dreading what I had to do next. For some reason, it hadn’t seemed as mortifying to do Brayden or AJ’s inseam. But I already felt my cheeks warming at the mere thought of doing it to Rhys. It also didn’t help that we were all alone.
I dropped to my knees in front of him. “What the f**k do you think you’re doing?” Rhys demanded, as he jumped back from me like he had been scalded with hot water.
Tilting my head up at him, I blew a few strands of hair out of my face. “I’m sorry. I have to get your inseam, or the pants won’t fit right.”
Rhys clenched and unclenched his jaw a few moments before he stepped back in front of me. It didn’t help matters that my face had to be right on eyelevel with his crotch to get the measurements.
“C-Can you s-spread your legs a little?” With a grunt, Rhys shifted his feet and moved his legs. “Thank you,” I replied, as I brought the tape up to the inside of his groin. The moment my hand brushed against his crotch, Rhys’s h*ps jerked forward.
Trying to ignore his reaction, I took the tape and ran it down his leg to the back of his heel. When I started to remove the tape, I sucked in a breath. The front of Rhys’s jeans strained with a half-mast bulge.
When I jerked my gaze up to his, he shook his head furiously. “Don’t look at me like that!”
“How am I looking at you?” I whispered.
He licked his lips. “Like you want to do something about what you caused.”
Heat warmed my cheeks. “I didn’t mean to. I was just getting your measurements.”