Riley Green as Himself

+++

There's an annoying chime going off and it's hurting Kate's ears. She grunts and blindly reaches over, whacking her alarm clock a few times before it goes to snooze.

She glances at the time then cuddles back into bed, back into Morgan's arms. She missed this intimacy, a lot. She cracks an eye open again to look at the green numbers then she leaps out of bed.

"Shit!" She says, reaching for a random shirt off the floor. "Wake up." Morgan hums and turns on his back, still asleep. "Wake up." She repeats, gently shaking him by his shoulder. He lazily pushes her away, his eyes still closed. She huffs and grabs a pillow, hitting him in the chest. "Wake! Up!"

His eyes snap open. "Hey!" He suddenly grabs her by the waist and pins her to the bed, his knees on either side of her hips while her hands are pinned above her head.

She gasps, taken totally off guard, her brown eyes wide as they dart between his tired blue ones. "I- I-" She blushes, licking then biting her lip. He untucks her bottom lip from her teeth then brushes his thumb across it. She swallows hard, her heart beating in her ears.

Morgan leans down and brushes his lips against hers, just barely touching- teasingly close then pulls back.

Kate huffs under her breath, leaning up on her elbows. She watches him stand and stretch then run his hand through his bed head.

"We're late." She whispers, still leaning back on her elbows.

"No we're not."

"Yeah huh! It's two!"

"Right. We'd be late if it was three."

Kate groans and stands. "Whatever. I'm gonna shower." Morgan bites his lip and gives her that look. She hides a small laugh as she picks up clean clothes and heads to the bathroom, leaving the door open as an invitation for him to join.

And he does.

So much for not drinking or hooking up while he spends the night.

+++

Morgan smiles to himself as he sits across from Katie at the small table. She's got her leg up against the side of the table with her elbow on her knee, looking over her laptop.

"I can feel you lookin' at me." She mumbles, peering at him over her glasses. "Penny for your thoughts."

"Just can't believe you made us late."

"Me!?"

"Yeah. I mean, you could've just locked the door when you showered."

They didn't really shower, they hooked up.

Again.

She blushes but hides it as she looks down at her screen. "You could've just declined my offer."

He scoffs playfully. "You know I can't say no to you." He immediately looks away. "I mean-" He clears his throat.

Kate's phone thankfully starts ringing. "Yeah?" Her eyebrows furrow at the voice on the other end. "The hell do you mean!?" Morgan jumps slightly. Kate is an incredibly easy going person so it takes a lot to make her mad. "Are you fuckin' serious?"

He sits silently as he listens to the one sided conversation. She lets out a guttural groan as she slams her phone down on the table. "Riley's tour manager, Finn, got some family emergency goin' on so I got his tour dropped on me."

"Is that allowed?"

"I don't fuckin know." She sighs heavily, rubbing her temples. "What the fuck." Morgan scratches the back of his head. "Hey Phil, can you get off at the next gas station you see? I need smokes." She says then stands.

"Since when do you smoke?" Morgan asks, following her to the bunks.

"Since college." She tugs her sweater off, her t-shirt riding up. "Only when I'm stressed."

He hates that she smokes.

She hates that he dips.

Kate steps into her boots then drops her already exhausted body on the front couch. "What did I get myself into, Morgan? I can barely manage this tour and now I'm expected to handle Riley Green's tour too? I should've just stayed in Sneedville. I was a kick ass waitress."

"You were a waitress?"

She glances up at him. "Yeah. But in Atlanta I was a bartender and a waitress."

They both just realized they have no idea what happened in the last four or five years between them.

"Huh. And you smoke now?"

"Well, it started with weed back home then I stopped doin' that because I had a bad trip. Durin' my first finals, I got so stressed that my body just shut down so I bought a pack and sucked 'em down and I was totally fine after that." She looks at him again. "I heard a song called 7 Summers on the radio a few days later and..."

His chest tightens. He wrote that song about her and she knows it. He knows she knows it.

The bus stops.

"I'm goin' in." She grabs her phone and wallet then heads into the shady looking gas station.

She pockets a pack then opens the other. As soon as she lights a cigarette, her phone rings. "Hello?"

"Hey, it's Riley."

"Riley, what's up?"

"I just- I'm so sorry that my shit got put on you. That's not fair to you..." He continues to apologize but she zones out, a small smile making its way to her lips at the fact that he took time out of his day to apologize to her. "I'll look for you when we get to Savannah to apologize in person." He states. "I'll see you in a couple hours."

"Sure."

Katie exhales a cloud of smoke as she hangs up. She can't be that upset anymore. She hasn't met Riley yet but she already likes him.

+++

"Excuse me." A soft, slightly raspy voice says, a hand sliding to Kate's back. She jumps, turning to give the guy a weird look. "Sorry."

"Riley, right?"

"Yeah."

"I'm Kate. Kate Hurst." She extends her hand.

"Oh shit." He chuckles slightly. "Hey listen, I'm sorry again about this tour-"

"Hey," She puts a hand on his bicep. "Don't even worry about it." He smiles slightly but hides it as he looks down at his sneakers. "But thank you for goin' outta your way to say sorry." His smile grows. "I gotta go check on somethin', you wanna walk with me?"

He stuffs his hands in his pockets and walks with Kate. The two talk about anything but mostly the tour and what she does. She's never really talked about what she does with anyone before but she doesn't mind it.

Riley doesn't mind listening either. In fact, he could listen to her talk for hours. She laughs at something he says and he feels his belly heat up. She steps away to talk to the stage manager. Riley takes this time to take in her beauty.

She is gorgeous.

His sight shifts to a guy walking up to her. She gives him a slightly irritated look but then blushes at something he says. She elbows him away playfully then points at Riley. She grabs his wrist and pulls him to the taller guy.

"Morgan, this is Riley. Riley, this is Morgan."

"Hey man."

"What's up?"

Morgan and Riley look at each other like they're sizing each other up. Kate is unaware as she types away on her phone. "Morgan, you got sound check." She says without looking up, her glasses slipping down her nose. She looks up and pushes them back.

"C'mon." Morgan says, taking her hand.

Kate pulls her hand away. "I'll see ya on the stage in an hour." She tells Riley then walks with Morgan. "He seems like a nice guy." Morgan rolls his lips into his mouth.

Why is he upset?

Is he jealous?

He can't be jealous. He broke up with her because she left him-

She didn't leave him.

She left Tennessee not him.

+++

The tour is actually a lot of fun. Kate is surprised. She was expecting it to be hair-pulling stressful but it's been a breeze. The only stress is Morgan being a jerk to her for no reason but she's been getting closer to Riley so she's just brushing it off.

Speaking of Riley, he invited her out for a drink after the show because they're in Tupelo tomorrow night too.

Riley opens the door to a bar for her, following her in. She picks a high top in the corner. "What do you want?" He asks, his eyes running over the bottles lined up on the shelf.

"I'll- Uh- Surprise me."

His eyebrows raise and he nods, turning to the bar. He returns with a cup with salt on the rim and a beer.

"What's this?"

"Salty somethin'." He shrugs. "It has peanut butter whiskey in it and salt on the rim."

"Ooo." She smiles at him then takes a drink. She pulls a face at how sweet it is but it's not bad. "So, Riley Green," She starts after taking another drink. "Tell me 'bout yourself."

He chuckles. "What do you wanna know? I'm an open book, Katie Hurst."

Her cheeks heat up at the nickname. Morgan has been the only one to call her Katie and it feels a little weird for someone else to call her that.

She licks her lips then downs the rest of her drink before speaking. She asks the basic ass questions.

"I want another-" She raises her glass at the bartender for another and he starts making it.

She knows she should pace herself. She doesn't drink often but when she does she usually has a good time.

She's been on the road for about two months and she deserves a little celebration.

Riley smiles at her, a feeling he's never felt before bubbling in his chest and stomach.

They stay a little longer than they anticipated. They're both past slightly intoxicated but it is what it is.

Tour life, right?

He has his hand tight around hers, leading her to the hotel she booked for everyone.

The two keep shushing each other on their way to her room, his charming laugh bellowing through the halls from his chest. Her hand relocates to his bicep as she presses herself against the door and struggles with the keycard.

As soon as the door closes behind them, she's pressed against it with Riley's lips against her hot skin.