Last Summer

Rafe

I hadn't been more nervous in my entire life before going over to River's. My nerves were unwarranted because here we were, sitting on our surfboards in the ocean. She wore an electric blue bikini, her tan skin complimenting the color so well. Her bright eyes were even brighter against the salt water. She laughed as she paddled ahead of me, every so often she would turn her head and look at me. I felt like I was in a dream. How did I pull this girl?

"You coming?" She called out to me, paddling forward.

"Yeah, I'm coming. Just capturing this moment in my head." I held up my hands like a camera, her smile getting wilder as she impromptu posed.

I chuckled and got back down on my stomach to paddle.

I had never seen a girl so effortlessly gorgeous. She could probably wear basketball shorts and an XXL sweatshirt and my mind wouldn't change. I stayed back and watched as she went under a small wave, in preparation for the larger one she was going to catch. In one fail swoop, there she was, riding one of the biggest waves I've seen in the OBX. She did it like it was nothing. Whipping and snapping her board with everything muscle in her small body. She smiled the whole time she did it. It was contagious.

"You're wild." I said to her after she had crashed and paddled back to me.

"These are things you have to experience, Rafe Cameron." She winked at me and laid back on her board.

"You're like half Pogue, half Kook. It's weird." I pointed out to her. She looked at me sideways.

"What does that mean?"

I forgot she doesn't live here year-round. I wonder if she even knows what I'm talking about.

"You've got the money and house of a Kook, but wild, carefree spirit of a Pogue. I've never seen anyone quite like you, except maybe Kiara. She is actually half Kook, half Pogue." I laughed as I said this. She laughed back.

"You are the Kook King, Rafe." She teased.

I tipped my metaphorical hat to her.

"Do you not get along with your sister?" I blurted out.

She looked at me a little bit shocked, then answered, "No, I do. We're twins and all so we've been close our entire life, she's just so much like my mom. It's suffocating. My mom and I don't mesh very well."

"Oh. But you get along with your dad?"

She nodded and smiled, "He's the best. I hate leaving him every summer, but he talks me into it every year. He didn't have to talk me into it this year though. Maybe I knew what was waiting for me." She winked at me and leaned over her board to press her lips on mine. She tasted like salt and peppermint. I smiled at her touch.

"What about you? Do you get along with your dad?" She asked.

"Ha," I laughed, "It really depends on the day. He basically hates me right now because I dropped out of college after like a month and now I'm back here."

"He seems like the type. The type to put on this fake facade but be a total judgmental asshole behind closed doors." She stated bluntly.

"Yeah," I said, "It's true. Except with Sarah. She's his absolute favorite. Anything she wants, she gets." I rolled my eyes as I spoke. It irritated me so much.

"My mother is the same way with Harper." She pushed her sopping hair behind her ear.

"Rafe?" River said my name as a question, then bit her lip, looking at her hands.

"Yeah?" I replied, suddenly anxious about her upcoming question.

"Can we go on a real date? I love this stuff, spending everyday, all day at the beach but I want to really get to know you." She looked shy while she asked the question. She touched my leg with her foot, making me smile.

"Of course." I pulled her board closer to mine so I could kiss her.

"Ready to head back in?" She asked pointing at the beach. I nodded and began paddling back.

"I'll race you!" I teased, yelling over the wind. Her face got pure determination on it as she took off past me.

"Shit." I mumbled.

......................................................

"Hey, are you hungry?" I asked River, handing her a towel once we were back to the car.

"I am absolutely starving." She replied, scrunching her hair with the towel in her hand. I turned to walk to the drivers side of the car when she grabbed my arm and pulled me into her. Her hands slid up my bare torso. I rested my forehead on hers, rubbing my index finger against her collarbone. I watched goosebumps cover her tan skin.

"Rafe..." She whispered, pulling on my open button up.

I take her face in my hands and push her up against the car. I feel her heart beat faster under my hand.

"Rafe..." She said again, more urgently.

I met her gaze.

My heart fluttered a bit as she looked up at me through her eyelashes. I bite my lip. She was fucking with me, but I wasn't going to let her get away with it. I knew what to do back to make her squirm.

I began kissing her face, my lips lightly touching her skin. I heard her breath shudder as I moved to her neck. I keep moving my lips down her neck until I've reached her chest. She tugs on the waistband of my trunks and my heart begins pounding rapidly.

"Are you sure?" I asked her. She nodded, seductively. I kept kissing, grabbing her hips and her waist, not wanting to leave even an inch untouched.

"River!" A voice makes us both jolt.

"Oh my god." She gasped and set her forehead on my chest. I looked around for the voice. Behind me, stood River's mother, Veronica Maxwell. I turned around quickly, moving out of the way of River.

"Hey, Ms. Maxwell. Weird seeing you here." I tried my hardest to keep a straight face, but what's more embarrassing than parents cockblocking? Ms. Maxwell glared right at me while River covered her face with her towel. I can only imagine how red her face must've been.

"River, get in the car." Her mother lowered her sunglasses on the bridge of her nose, not taking her eyes off me once, while River grabbed her bag.

"I'll call you." River whispered at me and slipped into the backseat of the white BMW.

I turned my attention back to Ms. Maxwell.

"Mr. Cameron, you're not going to see River anymore." She said, plainly.

I smirked. I figured she wouldn't like me.

"Why is that?" I asked, my smirk getting bigger. I leaned back on my car, crossing my feet, putting my arms over my chest.

Ms. Maxwell stepped closer to me, her eyes angry. River looked a lot like her but also very different at the same time. While River's eyes are a captivating green, her mother's and sister's eyes are a soft hazel brown. Her curled hair cascaded down her shoulders.

She pursed her lips before she spoke, "River leaves at the end of August. What is this little fling going to do to her? What about you, huh? I interrupt your make out session? You're nineteen, Mr. Cameron. Don't break her heart for temporary satisfaction."

Her mother's words were like ice. She did have a point. River had two more months here before she returned to her father's in Oregon.

I simply nodded my head. She gave me a dark smile and turned and got back in the car. Her window rolled down at she was reversing, "Don't forget what I said." She reminded. I looked behind her at River, she had a confused look on her face and I just shook my head.

I'll tell you, I mouthed.

I wasn't going to let this happen again. It seemed as if the universe was trying to tell me something. But, I was choosing to ignore. I wasn't going to lose River before I had to.

My mind raced the whole drive home. Why did Sarah have to say that to me? Why did Ms. Maxwell? I was so confused, it didn't even make sense. Her mother couldn't keep us apart. I wouldn't let that happen.