Three's a crowd

21

When Riley and I arrived at the lake, a large group of our friends were gathered around a pontoon floating on the dock. I had no interest in getting on it at all, the beach area was full of people with coolers and beach towels, as girls laid on the sand hiding their faces with oversized sunglasses.

I gave Riley a sweet chaste kiss before laying my towel down on the sand away from the large group. I laid back on it, putting my own sunglasses on and closing my eyes. I laid there for a while just listening to the crowds conversing around me.

"Hey stranger, you alive?" A male voice came from beside me. I lifted my head and turned to locate who was speaking, instantly recognizing Kyle who was sitting on a towel beside me.

"I'm fine, just enjoying the beach." I said sitting up.

"Where's Riley?" He asked.
"I'm not sure, I know you think we don't do anything separate but I don't always keep him to myself." I said.
"Oh, I thought it was more him keeping you to himself?" He smiled, a flicker of amusement in his eye.

I leaned back on my elbows and turned my face back towards the water, spotting Riley standing on the pontoon with Brett and Claire and some other girl who was clearly older than us. She was curling her brunette hair around her finger as she looked up at him, even though he was too engrossed in whatever he was talking about with Brett to notice.

"So, where's Ava?" I asked.
"No clue, she disappeared with some dude a few minutes after we got here." He said rolling his eyes.
"Sounds like Ava!" I laughed.

A few beats of silence passed before he spoke again.
"So I wanted to apologize for last night. I shouldn't have grabbed you like that and I'm sorry. I know you have a boyfriend and I should have respected that." He said as his shoulders slumped.
"Kyle it's fine, honestly." I smiled.

I hadn't told Riley about it, not that he was sober enough to understand that it was probably nothing. I also wasn't about to tell anyone other than my family and Riley's about the whole situation that happened with Carl.

"It's not. I had no business to touch you and I want a formal do over if you'll let me?" He asked, his eyes soft and vulnerable.

"My name is Brittney, but my friends call me Britt!" I smirked holding my hand out, as he took it and shook it.
"Nice to meet you Britt, I'm Kyle!" He smiled back before letting go of my hand.

We fell into comfortable conversation after that, talking about hobbies, our families, awkward childhood memories.

"No seriously!" I said laughing "Rileys mom has a picture of my brother running towards the water slide buck naked with a burger king crown on his head and a foam sword in his hand." I continued to laugh as he joined me. "I remember he was nine or ten and he was yelling that he had to free man kind from the peril of underwear!"

I was hunched over laughing and red faced by this point and Kyle was laughing beside me.
"Stop it!" he chuckled playfully swatting my arm.

"What's so funny?" I turned away from Kyle and looked up as Rileys handsome face.
"I was just telling Kyle about Levi when he had to free mankind from underwear!" I giggled.
"Wait, doesn't mom have a picture of that?" He smiled as he chuckled slightly at the memory.
"Yeah, that was back when you didn't like me!" I playfully rolled my eyes.

Kyle coughed behind me as I remembered that we weren't alone like we usually would be at these things.
"Wait there was a time when you didn't like each other?" He asked playfully.
"Yeah, but I was an idiot as a kid!" Riley admitted.
"You were mean!" I cut in. "The boys would never let me or Anna in the treehouse, well not until we started dating and hid in it." I grinned at the first memory that came to mind.

It was the night I went to dinner at Rileys for the first time after we started dating. Carl had left and Riley had admitted that he didn't want to fake break up from our fake dating. We had finished dinner with his parents who seemed more than happy that I was his date, although they had been very strict on the no being in his room with the door closed.

I had suggested that he finally let me hangout in the treehouse and surprisingly he had agreed. We had to kick the twins out because they were up there reading when we finally climbed up. We sat up there forever, talking about who we wanted to be, what we wanted to do as I sat cuddled into his arms against the cushions. Later that night he had his mom drive me home where my mom and Averleigh planned out our entire future together.

"I mean I don't blame him, treehouses are too cool for girls!" Kyle joked pulling me out of my memory.
"Yeah, we don't go up there much now, the twins practically turned it into a reading nook once everyone got too big." Riley said.

We sat for a while before I began to tire from the sun. Riley and Kyle were engrossed in sports talk as I turned to Riley.
"You care if we leave? I'm tired?" I stated as a yawn escaped my lips.
"Nah, Kyle its been fun man, You'll have to come out with us sometime. Maybe Brett can introduce you to that brunette chick and we could double date." Riley suggested as Kyle stiffened slightly.

To anyone else it would have been unnoticeable, but because of how close he was, and how relaxed he had been I took notice to his change in posture.

"Yeah, maybe! You guys be safe, I'll catch you later!" He said as I stood up with Riley, grabbing my towel and phone before we walked back to Rileys car.

"So are you and Kyle good now?" Riley asked as we got in the car.
"I never had an issue with him, I just didn't really know him to be comfortable with him, but he's not actually so bad!" I admitted.
"Good, because Ava may have asked me to give you guys some space to talk today."

Oh Ava. I should have known someone had done something. I remember how uncomfortable Riley looked as the brunette kept trying to touch his arm, the way he kept taking steps away from her. Now it all made sense, because Ava was nothing if not subtle in how she fooled people into talking and working things out.

She always had been a problem solver. She was the type of person that didn't handle drama in her inner circle, and I guess her best friend and live in cousin not getting along had put a wrench in her plans to keep everyone hanging out this summer.

It did beg the question about whether the apology was real, or just an attempt at calming the waters after he grabbed me last night. I was glad she did it though, made him apologize. It was refreshing to see the other side of Kyle. The friendly side that laughed and joked. The side that would hold a conversation without mocking you or being a complete dick.

"What do you think of him?" I asked.
"I mean I didn't really think much of him at first, but after he got you out of the mall, I kind of figured I needed to give him a chance." He shrugged.
"Yeah he's really not so bad. I mean I didn't like him, but he was different today. I don't know." I sighed reaching over to grab his hand.

"Should I be worried?" He asked sarcastically after a few minutes.
"Sure!" I rolled my eyes playfully "as worried as I should be with college brunettes staring at you like a piece of meat!"

He laughed and the sound warmed my insides forcing a large grin on my face.
"Hey there's only one person that can eyeball me like that!" He joked.
"Yep and there's only one person who gets to sleep beside me each night, so neither of us needs to worry!" I turned and pecked him on the cheek.

"Jokes aside I really don't care about other girls, I love you. I'm all yours, forevermore!" He smiled wrapping his arm around my shoulder.

"I love you! Me and you, together always, forevermore!" I agreed leaning into him as he continued to drive us back to his house.

It would always be us. No matter what. No specific thing would ever change that, but that's the thing about teenage love, it's unpredictable.