Page 37 of Another Love, Another Time
A lot of my friends come up and wish me a happy birthday while also wanting to check out my new ride. Gracie brought a cake and candles. Everyone sings “Happy Birthday.” I’m sure the cake will be gone before the end of the night. I give Gracie a hug to thank her for thinking of me.
Melissa heads toward River and me. The last couple of years, Melissa and River have stayed away from one another.Occasionally, Melissa throws a snide remark at River when all our families get together, but for the most part, they don’t speak. However, Melissa tries to attach herself to me at school and at these parties. I usually don’t say anything. I don’t think it’s a big deal. I let her sit at our table when we are at parties so I can make sure no one takes advantage of her. Our families are still friends. I would hate for something to happen to her when there is something that I could have done.
Tonight, with River being here, it will throw off the normal routine. It won’t matter if River is in Melissa’s world or not; she will not go out of her way to be nice to Melissa. Melissa is used to being the center of attention, but with River here, no one is paying attention to Melissa.
Melissa greets us, “Hey, Aug. Happy birthday. Let me guess: River got you that shirt?” She rolls her eyes while giving me a side hug; she stays there a little longer than I feel comfortable with, and I gently shrug out of the hug. As always, River ignores her. When Melissa sees she’s not going to get a reaction, she moves on to the others. River is fitting in with my core group of friends. They are playing around, telling stories about me. They think they’re funny, but I don’t.
River tries to get my attention, and I excuse myself from my current conversation. She tells me she has to pee. I grab the toilet paper out of my glove box, and then we head into the woods so she can pop a squat. I turn around so she can have some privacy, even though it's dark, and I can barely see my hand in front of my face. I know everyone here, but there are some I don’t trust as far as I can throw them. I definitely wouldn’t chance it, especially with some of them drinking. I would never let someone hurt her.
I wish her family lived closer so that we could be together. I suddenly feel the urge to kiss her. It’s dark, so no one would see—not like I would care. It’s been a while since we kissed. Kissing her is so much better than kissing any other girl. She doesn’t know how many I’ve kissed, and I don’t plan to tell her. I think she would be disappointed. She kissed one guy besides me, and that pissed me off when I heard about it.
I hear her pull up her shorts. “River, you done?” I speak into the dark.
“Yeah. I can’t see. Where are you at?” I pull my phone out and turn the flashlight on. I point the light so that we can see, but I don’t want to go back. Not yet, anyway.
I want to feel her lips on mine. I hold my hand out to her, but when she goes to walk past me, I tug her back into my chest. There’s a tree behind her, and I press her into it.
“Auggie?” she questions.
“Riv, can I kiss you?”
She giggles. “When’s the last time you had your lips on another girl? I don’t want to taste some other girl’s backwash.”
I wrap one arm around her waist and lean the other against the tree. I lean in closer and brush my lips against hers. “It’s been weeks, Riv. Please. I need to kiss you. It’s been too long. Plus, it’s my birthday.”
She responds by pressing her lips against mine. I feel her arms wrap around my waist so our bodies are against each other. I know she can feel the hard-on I’m sporting; I have no shame. She knows the effect she has on me.
I press my hard-on into her, and she moans into my mouth. Just when I go in deeper, I hear someone call my name, and we break apart.
She giggles and says, “I think we should get back to your party, birthday boy.” With that, we intertwine our fingers and return to the party.
“Why were you gone for so long? Did River have to take a dump?” Logan asks with a knowing look.
Amber makes a snide remark about River giving me a blowjob. All her little friends laugh at the jab. Melissa is right there next to them, but River just rolls her eyes. She knows they’re just jealous. She’s used to it with Melissa.
Speaking of Melissa, the next words come from her, “You’re such a knight in shining armor, Auggie. Like always. I have to go pee. Are you going to escort me? I guess not since River is here. Let me guess. He kissed you out there. Don’t feel special, River. He does that for all of the girls.”
Yes, I have escorted girls out in the woods to watch over them, to make sure someone didn’t take advantage of them, but only when they didn’t have another girl to go with them. I have never initiated a kiss there except with River, and I have never kissed Melissa.
Before I can respond, River snaps, “Bless your heart. Thanks for your concern, but I don’t believe a word out of your fucking mouth.”
If you didn’t know River, you wouldn’t be able to tell that she’s about to lose it; River never cusses. That one slip could letMelissa know she’s getting to her. I hear a bunch of oohs and ahhs and oh damns.
River turns from the group, and I follow, not wanting to feed into Melissa’s drama. We walk back to the truck, and I lift her onto the tailgate. She looks around. I know she’s trying to avoid me, but I won’t let her, and she knows it.
“What are you looking for?” I ask.
I know she’s trying to calm herself down. “My water,” she answers absently.
Just then, JD, the guy Melissa has been hanging out with all night, comes up to ask River, “Is this what you’re looking for? I think it fell on the ground.”
“Oh, thanks,” she responds. Before she can take a drink, I grab the bottle from her and pour the rest of the water out. I reach for the cooler to get another one. “Hey! What was that for?”
“You just left it sitting there when we went to the bathroom. It’s better to be safe than sorry.”
She smirks and coos, “My hero. Do you do that for all the girls, too?” She unscrews the cap and takes a big sip.
Before I can respond, she changes the subject, but I know the conversation is not over. “So, this is what a party in Hannibal is like? Huh.”
