Page 54 of Light Up The Night
“You are certainly correct there," I say, and then sigh. "I believe I have effectively ended the moment we had. I am sorry."
He shakes his head. "Don't apologize. I'm glad you shared that with me."
"Glad? Why glad?"
"I mean, not glad. I dunno. It's a shitty thing that happened, so I'm not glad it happened. But Iamhappy you chose to trust me enough to tell me about it. Having your trust means a fuckin' lot to me."
"Oh," I whisper. "Trusting you is important to me, as well."
"And you didn't ruin the moment," he murmurs. His hands slip down my spine…and then his phone dings with an incoming message. "Fuck."
He pulls it out and looks at it.
"My brother is wondering where we are."
I swallow the hot lump of nerves in my throat and speak the bold truth on a shaky, uncertain whisper. "Maybe…perhaps we could…resume this interaction later."
He grins at me, and his hands cradle my backside—very gently and very briefly—over my dress, and then he pats me there, once. "I think that could be arranged. For now, let's go hang out with my brother and Ember."
Riley's brotherand sister-in-law live outside town, a few minutes north and a few miles down a dirt road through the forest. Their home is a brand-new build, with lots of windows on all sides, a deep front porch beneath a triplet of dormers, the whole covered by a hunter green metal roof. There is a garage on the right side, with a winding blacktop driveway snaking away through the surrounding forest. Perhaps two acres have been cleared around the house, with verdant green grass still showing the lines where the rolls of sod are joined. The structure itself is a log cabin, but of the magazine-worthy variety. The windows still have stickers on them in places, and there are piles ofmaterials and power tools scattered on the driveway outside the garage, along with a roll-off dumpster piled high with construction debris.
Riley parks his truck behind the dumpster; the garage is open, revealing a gold-colored pickup which is otherwise very similar to Riley's in age and condition, although I know little of such things. Beside the truck is a classic orange Volkswagen Bus covered in stickers. Riley exits his truck and is opening my door before I realize he's parked the vehicle; car rides always put me in a contemplative mindset and I tend to tune the world out until forced to return. In this case, the impetus to shake off my thoughts is Riley leaning into the cab to unbuckle me.
"I know how to do that, Riley," I murmur as he depresses the red button to release the buckle.
He grins at me from very close—kissing close. "I know. I like to. Gets me close to you."
"You…um…you do not need an excuse to draw close to me, you know." I grab his wrist as he steps back down out of the cab.
"No?" He grins at me, and my stomach flips. I wonder, will his smile will always do that?
I shake my head. "No. I would allow, and indeed encourage, your proximity in most circumstances."
"I'll keep that in mind. But unless you want me not to, I think I'll keep helping you out of the truck. Makes me feel like a gentleman."
"You are a gentleman, Riley," I answer.
He snorts his disagreement. "No, I sure as fuck am not."
"With me, you are."
"Does a gentleman grope a girl's ass?"
"If she allows and desires the action, it cannot be considered groping, can it?" I say. "And if the action is both allowed and indeed encouraged, then one can hardly declaim the gentleman's virtue, can one?"
He frowns, puzzling through what I've said. "No?"
"No," I agree, and twist my hand to place my hand in his, and he helps me step down.
I put myself in his space, my other hand on his chest; I like his chest a lot. I do not know why, but I do. It appeals to me on a visceral level. I like the feel of it under my hand. The firmness juxtaposed against softness, perhaps.
"When we first spoke, I told you I thought there was more to who you are than you give yourself credit for." I trail my index finger from his lower lip to the point of his chin. "The more I come to know you, the more true I believe that to be."
A door opens nearby. "You two gonna hang out on the driveway makin' out all day or fuckin' what?" A male voice—Felix.
I gasp in shock and jump away from Riley as if caught misbehaving, cheeks red.
Riley laughs and tugs me against his side, murmuring in my ear. "Hey, relax. It's alright. He's teasing."
