Page 16 of River
River loosened up a little. “I’m just a bit of a scaredy cat, and when I’m pushed outside of my comfort zone, I tend to lash out.”
“Give me an example.”
“No. I don’t want to embarrass myself.” She looked over her shoulder to a street vendor who was carrying a cooler on his front and calling out, “Ice cream.”
“Come on.” She pushed up and ran to her towel, where she picked up her small handbag.
I walked behind her, trying to distract myself from the sight of her delicious ass rocking from side to side. River was shaped like a goddamn goddess.
“He only has Magnum,” she called back to me before I caught up to her.
“That’s fine.”
River used her fingers to show the man that she wanted twelve ice creams, and his broad smile revealed three missing teeth.
I helped her carry the Magnums back to the group and called Peter, Eas, and the others out of the water.
“Thanks, River.” Maximum ate his ice cream with one hand while collecting the wrappings from the kids with the other. All the kids sat planted in the sand indulging in the sizeable chocolate-covered ice creams.
I studied the dynamics between them and wondered why Maximum didn’t kiss her. It was hard for me to understand how he could keep his hands off a woman so gorgeous.
“This thing with you two volunteering at an orphanage… is it a religious calling?” I asked them.
“No.” Maximum tilted his head. “You mean like missionaries.”
“Yes.”
“I’m not religious, and I don’t think River is either. Are you?” He turned to her, and it stirred my curiosity. Surely a boyfriend would know if his partner was religious.
“I go to church,” she said.
“Do you? I thought you only went for weddings and funerals.”
She shrugged. “With all the weddings I went to this past year, it feels like a regular thing.”
“How many weddings did you go to?” I asked.
“Six. Three of my siblings and three of my friends got married.”
“Wow. That’s a lot of weddings.”
“I know, and I cried at every one of them.”
“Are you two married?” I saw rings on her fingers, but I couldn’t tell if one of them was a wedding band.
“No, we’re not married,” River said and looked away.
Peter threw himself next to me and made slurping sounds when he ate the ice cream. “This reminds me of the Austrian twins.”
“Yeah, it does,” I agreed.
When Maximum asked us to explain, Peter propped himself on his elbows and explained.
“A few nights ago, Noah and I met these cute Austrian twins, and we ended up having dinner with them. One of them has a party trick where she can take a whole Magnum inside her mouth and close it.”
Maximum’s eyes grew large. “You’re kidding.”
“No, we demanded proof, and she showed us. No gag reflex whatsoever.”
