Riley and Devin

Chapter Sixty-Four

"Let's hit the beach!" TJ says. I groan. He woke me up at six in the morning, dug through my bag and threw me a swimsuit.

"No," I grumble. I sip my coffee.

"Come on," he says. "In only here for another five days and I want to get laid. The best place to do that is the beach," TJ tells me.

"Is that all you think about?" I ask him.

"Pretty much." He smiles. I frown. Landon walks down and stretches. He sits down next to me.

"So you guys are cousins, huh?" I ask. Landon looks at TJ.

"Yeah," he says.

"We're going to the beach!" TJ yells. He looks at Landon. "You aren't ready." I look at Landon and he's just in a pair of athletic shorts.

Landon yawns, "It's only like nine." TJ walks to the sink and fills a glass with water. He has this evil little look on his face. Landon sees it the same time I do. "No-don't you do it!" he yells at TJ but TJ's already thrown the water at him.

Landon looks like he's going to murder TJ. And TJ's laughing. Landon wipes off some water from his face. He mutters something and then walks away.

"Ah, shit. You're kinda dead," I tell TJ. He swipes a hand through the air dismissively.

"Not really," he says. I shrug and Landon walks down in a pair of swim trunks and a shirt. The others file down slowly, grabbing coffee and a donut and then walking back up and coming back down, ready for the beach.

We pile into the car, Colin and Shonda in the front, Emily, Bella and Stephanie in the middle row and then Lindsey and TJ climb into the back, leaving me and Landon looking at each other.

"Uh, I can stay back," I say.

"You can sit on my lap!" TJ yells. I look at Landon and shrug, but climb onto TJ's lap. Landon sits on the other side of TJ. TJ seems a bit too excited to have me on his lap. We hit a bump and I go sprawling onto Landon. His hands steady me. TJ laughs. I shoot him a dirty look and sit on Landon's lap with my back pressed against the window and my feet on TJ's lap.

I slide my feet and kick TJ in his special place. "Dick," I say. Landon laughs.

"High five," Landon says. I high five him. Lindsey laughs at TJ. Landon's hands are warm on my legs. We pull up to the beach, file out and then walk to an open area. I lay down my towel and take off my shorts and top. I then put sunscreen lotion on.

"Catch," I say to TJ, throwing sunscreen at him. He puts sunscreen on my back. "Thanks," I say. He nods and then wanders off. I put my sunglasses on and lay down on my towel.

After twenty minutes I walk into the water. I dive under and swim, feeling free. TJ swims out. "Sup?" he asks me. I shrug. "Let's go back to the sand and get an icecream or something," he says. I frown.

"Okay," I say. We swim back. TJ drags me over to the ice cream stand. There's a guy leaning against it, he's probably college age with messy light brown hair and blue eyes. TJ smiles at the guy. I turn around but slam into TJ's chest. "No, TJ. No," I say.

"Yes," he says. I go limp but TJ shoves me forward anyways. The guy looks up and he and TJ do a weird bro hug. "This is my friend Riley, the one I was telling you about," TJ says. "And Riley this Jimmy," he says.

I turn to Jimmy, "Look I'm sure that you're a very nice person, somewhere buried deep inside, but I have a boyfriend-Landon get over here!-But if you're looking for some company I'm sure you and TJ could hang out." Landon walks over to us and raises an eyebrow. "You see this is my boyfriend, Landon and Landon this is Jimmy, TJ's friend," I say. "His special friend."

"You really her boyfriend?" Jimmy asks. Landon smirks at me. I elbow him in the stomach.

"Yeah," Landon says. Jimmy frowns at TJ and TJ throws us dirty looks.

"Right so, Landon and I have to go, but TJ's single sooooo...maybe you guys could have some fun," I say. TJ's eyes flash and I grab Landon by the inside of his arm and drag him away.

We laugh and walk to our towels. "So I'm your boyfriend, huh?" he asks me.

"Fake boyfriend," I correct him. Landon smiles. I lay down on my towel and he lays down next to me on his.

"Do you want to go out on a date?" he asks me. I roll over to face him. He doesn't look nervous or worried, he looks like he always does: cool and composed.

"Um, you know what? Sure," I say. We both grin at each other.

This is what I need. I like Landon, he's sweet and nice and easy to be around. He doesn't ask too many questions. A date sounds good.

Devin and I never had a first date.

I hate myself for thinking that. It's like I'm wired to Devin. Everything I do, every move I make, every breath I breathe, I'm always thinking about him. About us. What could've been. But mainly I think about all of the happy moments we had together.

So, maybe a date with Landon is exactly what I need. "So what'd you have in mind?" I ask Landon.

"Dinner," he says. I nod. "Dress fancy."

"Okay, like tomorrow?" I ask him. He nods.

"I'd say I'd pick you up around seven, but we live in the same house so," he says. I grin. I look over at TJ.

"I'm going to go check on TJ, make sure he hasn't gotten into too much trouble," I tell Landon. He smirks and puts on his sunglasses.

"You do that," he says. I walk over to where TJ is.

"Hey, guess what?" I ask him. He shrugs. "Landon just asked me out," I say smiling.

"Like on a date?" TJ asks me. I nod. "That good."

"Why are you so surprised?" I ask him. He shrugs.

"It's just...I dunno. Are you sure you're ready though?" TJ asks me.

I tell him the truth, "I have to be."

I really do have to be ready. If I'm not ready now, I'm might not ever be. I have to get over Devin. There's no life with him. No fairytale ending and the sooner I accept that the sooner I'll be able to get over him.

Colin said that I had to mourn my heart and I've mourned and I've mourned him. I've cried and I've been sad and I've been depressed. But now's my chance to be happy.

And I'd have to be an idiot not to take it.