Page 39 of Another Love, Another Time
“Yeah. I’m getting tired,” she says as she yawns. “I was seriously ready to hogtie Melissa if you agreed to take her home. I have had enough face-time with her to last me a decade at least. Thank God for Logan.” She waves. “Bye, JD. It was nice to meet you.” She hops off the tailgate without a second look and heads to the passenger door.I lift my tailgate back up so the cooler doesn’t fall out.
Once I’m in, I look at River. She starts, “Not that I’m not happy we’re leaving, but didn’t your mom say we don’t have to be home until midnight?”
“Yes, but I just wanted to spend time with you.” I smile almost shyly.
“Yeah.” She looks me straight in the eyes.
“Yeah,” I respond, and entangle our fingers.
“Where’re we going?” she asks.
“I thought we could park by the river.”
“It’s your birthday. We can do anything you want.”
I put the truck in drive, and we start in the direction of the riverfront.
We’ve been sitting by the river for about ten minutes. It’s a comfortable silence, neither of us feeling the need to talk. River finally breaks the silence, though. “Melissa is a dealbreaker for me.”
“Wha—”
She interrupts me by holding her hand up, and I snap my mouth shut. “I know Melissa has a thing for you. She always has. God love you, but you are such a good person that I feel like one day she’s going to take advantage of that and manipulate you into doing something.” She pauses and thinks for a minute. “Or has that already happened with her?”
“No,” I say immediately. I know it would put a wedge between River and me if I gave in to Melissa.
She lets out the breath she was holding. “Good. Look, Auggie, you are the most thoughtful, selfless person I know, but you don’t understand girls. We are manipulative, mean, and we look for weaknesses in other people to use to our advantage. We have both seen Melissa do it multiple times with our parents. Like tonight.
Thank God Logan was there, or she would have weaseled her way into our night. I know you are friends. You hang out in the same crowd. You make sure she gets home from parties safely because you are a good person. I just want you to know where I stand.”
I squeeze her hand. “Nothing will happen with her. She knows that, too. We really are just friends. She only acts like that when you are around. It’s like you flip this switch in her. But yeah, River, I know how you feel about her. We’ve never talked about it, but I would never do anything with her.”
She hesitates. “Can I ask you another question?”
“You know you can.”
“Are you still… a virgin? I know you’ve had other girlfriends, so…” She winces.
“I told you I wanted you to be my first.” I stop. Wait. Is she not a virgin? “Did you have sex?” That came out a little louder than I thought it would.
“No!” she shouts. “I’m not ready for that… yet. I just wanted to check in. I know it’s a lot to ask. I know I’m being selfish. I want you to be my first, but I also want to be your first. If that changes, will you tell me?”
“River, did you not hear me? I want you to be my first, too. And I promise I’ll tell you if I change my mind. You’ll be the firstto know. Just know I still want it to be you whenever you are ready.” I take a deep breath and then exhale. “Okay.” I bring our intertwined fingers to my mouth and kiss her knuckles. “We'd better start heading back to the house, or we are going to miss curfew,” I note.
“Hold on,” she breathes, and before I can think, her lips are on mine, and her tongue is coaxing my mouth open. I have kissed quite a few girls, but kissing River is so different. So much better. She pulls back too soon and whispers, “Happy birthday, Auggie,” as she smiles at me with nothing but love.
Chapter 10
Auggie, Age 16
I’m so excited for this weekend. It’s been a while since we have all been on a float trip. The last time we went on a float trip, River, Logan, and I found two hundred dollars’ worth of twenty-dollar bills. We were ecstatic! We also saw boobs. Lots of boobs. We haven’t been back since. Our parents said we weren’t “ready for that talk.” Our moms almost got in some fights, telling the girls to cover up. My mom started throwing bologna sandwiches at them. It was kind of funny until Logan and I saw some old woman’s boobs, which looked like a pair of old tube socks.
Last time, we all stayed in tents. This time, our parents booked what they called “glamping tents.” All the parents got their own cabin or tent. Then, they got two cabins, one for the boys and one for the girls.
Logan, River, and I had been discussing our weekend and everything we were going to do. We all had our driver’s licenses, so we could drive around. We were only thirty minutes from River’s house, so her parents were letting her drive her Jeep to the campsite.
Our moms are also planning to try some new campfire cooking recipes. I always like trying the new things that our moms cook on vacation. If the meals are winners, my mom usually incorporates them into our meals at home. Plus, I love eating over a campfire.
What will not be fun is spending time with Melissa. Melissa somehow found out we were going on this float trip, and not only did she get herself an invite, but she also got an invite forher friend. I only found out she was coming when I got a text from Logan this morning to let me know that he was riding down with my family, and Melissa and her friend were riding with his parents.
