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“You know, I think I will take the bed over the couch.”
“Thank god,” Riley giggled as she stood and walked over to the bedroom door. Smirking, she turned around to Harlow. “I don’t know how to sleep without your snoring.”
“I don’t snore,” Harlow whined as she followed after her.
“Okay.”
“I don’t.”
“If you say so.”
Still smirking, Riley got into bed as Harlow did the same on the other side. Riley turned the lamp off on the nightstand as Harlow snuggled into the warm sheets. Unlike every night for the last month, Riley scooted closer to Harlow in the bed. She placed a quick kiss on Harlow’s forehead as she smiled.
“See, we’re already arguing like a couple.”
“A couple of idiots.”
“Oh, hush,” Riley rolled her eyes and yawned. “Goodnight, Harlow.”
“Wait,” Harlow propped herself up on her elbow as she looked down at Riley. “You can’t go to sleep yet.”
“Why?”
“Because I can’t sleep without knowing if you’re my girlfriend.”
Even in the dark bedroom, Harlow could see Riley’s eyes soften. Never in her life had Harlow said that to someone before, but there was no way she could go another minute without knowing. Riley smiled up at her, gently cradling her palm against Harlow’s cheek.
“I’m your girlfriend, Harlow.”
Chapter 12
Riley
To say the last few weeks had been a whirlwind would have been an understatement. After nine blissful days in the Cove, Riley had been anxious about getting back on tour with Harlow. She didn’t want to leave the safe little bubble they had created for themselves. The Cove’s magic had worked wonders for them, making Harlow and Riley closer than she could have ever anticipated.
Riley had also been worried about getting back on tour, worrying that the safe space she and Harlow created would be destroyed. But to her happy surprise, they’d managed to keep the easiness of their new relationship going. They even had announced their relationship to Skylar and Elena, who happened to be in the Cove at the same time. The couples had dinner together and away from the tour, everything felt so much more relaxed and free. It had been nice to see that side of Skylar and Elena, as well as Harlow.
But being back on tour meant back to work for Harlow and Riley. After working long days and weekends, they had learned to treasure their time alone at night. They would lay in bed together and talk for hours or watch movies on a laptop or simply scroll on their phones quietly while occasionally sharing funny videos with each other. Overall, Riley knew she’d never been happier than she had been the last few weeks.
Now she just had to deal with about a million emails and requests for interviews, and weed through thousands of comments on the latest article Riley had shared to the blog.
At Skylar and Elena’s request, Riley had set up an interview with Nora Dyer, a well-respected journalist for an online news outlet. After a photo was leaked of them kissing, they wanted to announce their relationship to the world on their terms instead of having a grainy photo tell the narrative for them. It felt like the end of the world when the photo first dropped. After all, it was part of Riley’s job to stay on top of all social media. But Skylar and Elena had assured her that this wasn’t her fault; it was just the nature of being a celebrity. If Riley had learned anything from the experience, it was that if she were going to protect what she and Harlow had, a life in the spotlight wasn’t for her.
Harlow walked out of the bathroom, fresh from a shower. Her hair was still wet as she put her arms around Riley and kissed her cheek.
“You’ve been hunched over that computer for hours. Why don’t you go to bed?”
“I just can’t believe this.”
Motioning for Riley to scoot over, Harlow slipped into the booth beside her. She wrapped an arm around her shoulder as Riley smelled the lavender shampoo. Harlow was wearing only her panties and a long sweatshirt, which was a much more casual attire than Riley had ever seen her in before.
“I really thought there would be some backlash when the news dropped that Skylar and Elena were together. That’s just the world we live in. But there’s been almost none of that.” Riley turned her laptop toward Harlow. “I mean, yeah, there’s been some, but look at all of these. These are requests from queer journalists, news outlets, and bloggers wanting to interview them.”
“That’s awesome, right?”
“Yeah,” she sighed, “it is.”
“Then why do you sound sad?”
