Summary: Aria goes to Raleigh’s dressing room after the show to give him a piece of her mind.
Aria can’t figure Raleigh Carrera out. One minute he’s making out with her backstage, and the next he’s being overly critical of her performance on the show. It’s not that she feels entitled to his praise just because he might be into her, but she knows she killed it out there, and all the other judges had nothing but good things to say. To top it all off, in the end he’d voted for her anyway.
And then there’s that fucking smirk. That smirk he had displayed numerous times today, like when he’d teased her that she was already in love with him, or immediately after he criticised her and again when she clapped back at him. And then there’d been that whole thing when Avery kissed her cheek maybe a little too enthusiastically, and Raleigh just looked amused. It’s like every single thing in life is a game to him, and feeling emboldened by her big win, Aria’s determined to give him a piece of her mind.
Aria knocks on Raleigh’s dressing room door. She hears shuffling inside but nobody answers, so she turns the handle and walks right in to see Raleigh standing with his shirt off.
“Aria, what the hell are you doing here?”
“Uh…” She’s so caught off guard by the sight of his perfect abs, she forgets all words.
And there it is again. He sizes her up and down with that shit-eating grin. “You’re two minutes too late for the full show.”
Aria scoffs. “That’s not why I’m here.”
He takes a step closer. “Then why are you here?”
Raleigh and his intoxicating aura are getting too close for her brain to function properly, so takes a step back. “I came to ask what the hell that was out there. I get that you’re going for the whole hard-ass Simon Cowell vibe, but if I was that terrible, why did you vote for me?”
“Heh. I don’t think I was that hard on you. You heard what I said to Jaylen. Nice just isn’t my brand.” He closes the distance between them and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, lowering his voice. “I don’t think you are into nice either. Otherwise you’d be in Avery’s dressing room and not mine.”
His lips are so close, begging her to kiss them, but she resists. “Ugh, you are so full of yourself. I told you why I’m here.”
“Then why can’t you keep your eyes off my body?” He puts a hand to her chest. “And why is your heart beating so fast? Tell me you don’t want this as much as I do.” He loops an arm around her waist and presses against her hips, his arousal evident. “You can walk out that door right now if you want to…but I’m pretty sure you don’t want to.”
Dammit. That arrogant bastard knows just how to get her, so while every last brain cell is telling her this is a terrible idea, her body takes over, and she crushes her lips to his. He responds instantly, parting her mouth with his tongue, his hands wandering down her back and settling on her ass as he grinds against her. He blazes a trail of kisses down her neck, nibbling and sucking along the way and sending shivers down her spine. He continues lower tracing his tongue along the line of her necklace between her breasts,and she moans. She walks Raleigh back against the plush armchair and pushes him down before straddling his lap.
Raleigh smirks. “I knew you couldn’t resist me.”
Aria really can’t, but she also can’t let him know that. She wants him to take her right, here, right now, but that would be a terrible idea for so many reasons. If this is just another game he’s playing she can’t let him win. She kisses him deeply, running her fingers down his washboard abs. She grabs hold of his belt buckle, and he groans into her mouth, kissing her with increased ferver. She undoes the belt buckle, lowers the zipper of his jeans, and abruptly jumps off his lap.
“Oops, would you look at the time? I almost forgot I have plans with Avery. See you around…maybe.”
Raleigh sits motionless with his mouth agape, and Aria thinks this might be the first time his his life he’s been left speechless. She turns back towards him as she walks out the door to see him shaking his head and trying to suppress a smile. Raleigh Carrera just got beat at his own game.