Riley and Devin

Chapter Forty-One

We lay there for a little while. Maybe an hour or so. Maybe longer. I think it's time to move. I stretch and get up. "Why don't we go exploring?" I ask him.

"Okay, you can pick where we go," Devin says. I nod and pull my shoes on. We stand up and I decide to walk across the field and down a small path. Devin trails behind me and is always there to catch me when I stumble or trip.

"Do you hear that?" I ask him. He shakes his head? "It's water!" I say. He stares at me like I'm crazy. I walk a couple more steps and then there's a pool of water. It's probably connected to a river or something. In the middle of it there's a rock, that's oddly big. It could probably fit both me and Devin.

"Let's go swimming," Devin says as he takes of his shirt. He kicks off his sneakers and I'm pretty sure that he's just going to jump in but then he starts to unbutton and unzip his pants. He slips out of his jeans and is left in black boxer briefs. He stares at me staring at him. "Are you coming in?" he asks.

"Yeah," I cough. "Yes." He nods and then jumps into the water. I panic. I take off my shoes and my fingers linger at them hem of my shirt. It's just a bra and panties. Just like your bikinis, a voice tells me inside my head. I nod and then unzip and unbutton my jeans. I slip out of them. On the count of three take off your shirt: One, two, three! I take off my shirt and walk towards the water. I wore a brand new matching bra and underwear set. It's got a lacy pattern.

I jump into the water and come up for air. It's cold. "Shit," I gasp. Devin smirks. "Well, I guess that's refreshing," I say. I have to tread water to stay above it. Devin's just standing there. I swim over to him. "You can touch?" I ask him. He nods.

"It must suck, being so short," he says.

"I'm not short! I'm average and it's not my fault that you're freakishly tall," I say.

"Whatever you need to tell yourself," Devin says. I swim past him, closer to the rock. He starts to walk towards me but then he's submerged completely into the water. I laugh. He comes up and coughs.

"Too deep for you?" I ask him. He shakes his head. "Let's go over to the rock," I say.

"Okay, I'll race you to it." I shake my head but he's already swimming to it. I swim after him and we end up making it to the rock in a tie. I pull myself up onto it and then Devin lays down next to me.

I throw an arm over my face and stretch out. "Scoot over, you can't have all the rock," Devin tells me. I scoot over a little bit and he takes up the space I just gave him. I feel his leg against mine and I try not to think that we're both in our underwear.

The sun feels amazing against my skin. I could lay here forever. I feel Devin get up and then I feel the splash of him jumping in. I feel Devin climb into the rock. Water drips onto my stomach. I stretch out more. Devin's hand brushes my knee. What is he doing? He puts his other hand on my shoulder and I know. "No! Don't throw me in!" I yell.

But then my back hits the water. "Happy birthday!" Devin yells, way too enthusiastically. I splash water at him. He sprawls out lazily on the rock. I swim underwater and hold my breath for as long as I can. I hope that he'll realize what an asshole he's being and then he'll jump in after me.

My lungs burn and I'm about to come up for air but his arms lock around me and I'm dragged to the surface. He drags my body onto the rock and hovers over me. I stare at him with wide eyes. His torso is against mine and his knees are on either side of mine.

I want him so desperately to kiss me.

And he's so close. So very close to me. Does he know what he's doing to me? It's agonizing; I can count every single inch of skin that we're touching, but I can never be the one to touch him. Because I don't want to touch him like a best friend should, a simple touch of the hand or a protective arm around the shoulders.

But I don't want to touch him like that. No, I want to run my hands along him and I want to have touched him so many times that I'm so familiar with his body that I've memorized it.

I want his mouth on mine and I want his hands tangling in my hair and running up and down my body. I want him to touch me like he loves me and I want for him to want me as much as I want him. To need me. And most of all I want him to love me.

The kind of love that's all consuming. So consuming that you can't think. The head over heels kind of love that renders you stupid and leaves you gasping for breath. Aching for them. And suddenly you can breathe when they're there.

I want him to love me like that because that's the way I love him. So, no, I don't want to touch him like I should.

And then Devin's head is right by my neck and his lips are brushing the sensitive spot right by ear. "You can't do that again," he whispers. "You can't scare me like that." My arms wrap around him. I can't seem to stop myself. I feel his strong arms around me and then he's released me and is laying right next to me.

I stand up and dive into the water. The coldness of it brings me back into reality. I pop up and look for Devin. "Hey, you wanna go back to the field?" I ask him. He nods and jumps in. I swim to the shore and slip my shoes back on. I grab my clothes and start walking back to the field. Devin joins me. He hasn't put his clothes back on.

Once we get to the field we air dry on the blanket. "I'm sorry that I forgot about your birthday," I tell him. I roll over to face him.

"It's okay. There were some distractions," he tells me.

"Yeah, but I should have remembered," I say.

"It's okay," he tells me. I sit up and grab some of the food. I stand up and pull on my jeans and a my shirt. Devin has on his jeans but no shirt. I look at my watch and it's 2:30.

"We should probably get going," I tell him. He nods and stands up. He stretches and then puts his shirt back on. He packs up everything and insists on carrying everything. We walk back to his car and he loads it up.

"So, what else do you want to do birthday girl?" Devin asks me. I shrug and kick my feet up on the dashboard. "There's an amusement park," he suggests.

"Yes! I love theme parks!" Devin grins.