Page 62 of Reckless Rebel

Riley shakes her head in disbelief, the usual light in her eyes coming back to life as she smiles, “There is so much to unpack there.”

I laugh, grabbing a Twinkie from the cupboard, “You have no idea.” I take a bite of it but it doesn’t hold any taste to it today for some reason. I need some proper sustenance. “So, what’re your plans for the day then?”

“Nothing,” Riley shrugs. “I’m usually alone so don’t really have any option but to lounge around here and read or something.”

“Do you wanna do something with me?” I offer the olive branch hoping she will take it and we can move past any awkwardness from last night.

I see hesitation in her eyes as she stares at me, like her eyes are trying to penetrate into my soul and figure out what my game is. I’m not sure what she sees but after a quiet minute she slowly nods her head yes.

“Okay,” she drawls. “What are we doing?”

I stumble at that, because I didn’t fully think this out and start to fumble over ideas, “Hike, swim, lunch?” Honestly I could probably watch plants grow with her and not get bored.

She smiles, the one that I love so much and I feel pressure lift off my chest for the first time since last night, “How about all of the above?”

“Sounds great,” I tell her and she grips her book and slips from the stool.

“Okay, give me ten minutes, I just need to get changed.” She doesn’t wait for me to answer, just brushes past me with her sweet scent and heads to her room while I stare after her.

I head back to my room and throw on some shoes, grab a backpack and toss in a towel, sunscreen, some spare clothes, and my phone and then head back out to the kitchen. I pack some water out of the fridge and also some snacks from the cupboard, zipping it back up just as Riley reappears with her own bag in hand.

“Ready?” I ask and it sounds like my question means more than just the hike.

“Lead the way, Playboy.”

We eat lunch at a diner not far from the cabin and then head back to the waterfall we went to the other day where we bumped into Billy, but it is much quieter today. It’s later in the day so there are only a few people lingering around. The sweat soaks my back as the sun blisters down on us, and it’s a relief when we make it to a spot by the falls and drop down our stuff.

Neither of us say anything, just stare at the magnificent water feature in front of us and get lost in our thoughts. I’m not sure what Riley is thinking of, but the only thing that crosses my mind is Rachel. I think about the time she took me to the falls back in Hallows, how she promised me everything was going to change. A promise I wish she hadn’t taken so literally. Just being here makes me miss her.

“Rachel loved waterfalls.” I don’t know why I say it aloud, but I feel like after what I admitted to Riley last night, that I need to defend my actions and explain what I lost. I don’t want her to see me as cold-hearted, she should know that I was good once. “She took me to one of these back home once, it was a rare good day for us, the last one we had before I lost her, before she was taken from me.”

Riley doesn’t say anything and I’m glad she doesn’t feel the need to attempt to comfort me when just her presence besides me does enough. So many people offer empty apologies filled with fake pity and I can’t stand it. My brothers are the only ones who never offered me sympathy for what I’d lost, because they understood it themselves, had felt it, experienced it. It’s hard to find that connection with somebody.

“I wish I could have met her,” she admits. “And I can see why she loved waterfalls, they’re mesmerizing.” Her whispered words are almost lost in the crashing of the water but it’s as if nothing else exists around me when she is here. “I feel like I can truly think here, like I can just get lost in the water and figure out all of my problems.” Her words are more for herself than me now, but I smile at them anyway.

“Sometimes you gotta get a little lost to find what you are looking for.” I echo the words Rachel said to me on that day to Riley and I feel her eyes on me.

She nods and then abruptly stands, stripping off the long shirt she was wearing, and I gape as she stands in nothing but one of the bikinis I bought for her before the trip. My mouth hangs open in awe at her body on display. Fuck.

“I’m going for a swim, are you coming?”

In my fucking pants at the sight of you? Maybe.

Without waiting for my answer she takes off towards the shore and I waste no time in ripping off my own shirt and following after her. The freezing water does nothing to douse the arousal I feel at the sight of her creamy skin, and I will myself to not get hard as fucking stone in my shorts.

We paddle around for a while, swimming deeper towards the falls and laughing at the spray that hits us, splashing one another every so often, and I struggle to remember the last time I felt this carefree. We are a little far from the shore, but I’m not worried, I can still see all our stuff perfectly, and there is only a family of five on the other side of the shore left now.

I float on my back, letting the sun warm me as Riley treads water next to me, all is peaceful until her curse cuts through me.

“Fuck.” Her body begins to flap in the water.

“What’s wrong?” I swim over to her immediately as she struggles to stay afloat.

“Cramp,” she pants out. “I need to head back to shore.” She tries and fails to swim, and again struggles to stay afloat.

My hands reach out before I can stop them and I grip her hips and pull her towards me, she squeals at the motion, until her body molds perfectly to mine. “Wrap your legs around me,” I instruct her, and for once she doesn’t fight me.

She clings to me tightly and I hold her up with one arm banded around her waist and the other slowly paddling back and forth as I lean back and keep us afloat. Neither of us say anything, just lie against one another and slowly breathe in and out. I dip my head back into the water and push my hair back out of my face and I feel her stare on me. She doesn’t look scared of me, doesn’t look at me like I’m trash or like she feels sorry for me. It’s like she looks at me and sees me for who I really am, and it should scare me, but if anything it sets my soul alight. Is this what it’s like? When you find the one who is worth more than just fucking.

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