Always With You - A Best Friends To Lovers Novel

Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

Bowie

It wasn't easy to get Whitley off the dance floor. She had a lot of alcohol throughout the whole evening, and luckily for me, she didn't put on a show that could cause others to already dislike her before classes started in a week.

With Aiden's help, we got her safely tugged into her bed. I had promised River that I would sleep in his bad tonight, so I made sure Aiden was okay sleeping at our place, keeping an eye on Whitley. He didn't mind at all, seeming fairly excited and happy to watch over her while she dozed off.

On our way to River's apartment, we didn't talk much. River asked me a few times if I was tired, and if I wanted him to carry me. I declined, wanting to keep holding his hand while we walked along the side of the road.

We danced for hours, and I slowly started to forget about Loren, and all those other girls staring at River while he held me close and moved to the music with me in his arms.

As we reached the door to his apartment, it took him a moment to unlock it. He had a few beers, but he was nowhere close to being drunk. He was able to keep his head straight. I walked inside behind him, and he turned on the lights in the hallways and living room.

"Are you hungry?" he asked, turning to look at me. I shook my head and smiled at him. "Thirsty," I replied. He nodded, walking to the kitchen. I followed him, leaning against the counter while he poured water into a glass.

"Did you have fun?" he asked, holding the glass to me. I nodded, taking a sip, and trying to keep my eyes open. Dancing was tiering, and I needed a bed.

"Did Mom and Dad tell you what time they'll be here tomorrow?" he asked, leaning against the counter opposite of me, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I'm not sure," I told him, fighting against the sleep slowly coming over me. "Probably in the afternoon," I added.

River was watching me closely as I drank my water, keeping my eyes on his face in the meantime. He did that often. Letting his eyes wander all over my body and face. It was never in a sexual way, but tonight, I wished it were.

His hands moved all over my body as we danced, and he planted kisses on my neck whenever he got the chance to. He whispered things in my ear, telling me how pretty I was tonight and how he wished he could just take me home and have me all to himself.

I knew he missed me, and I felt the same, but I had to get rid of that stupid idea of us ever becoming more. It would ruin everything.

He suddenly moved toward me, his hands pushed deep into the front pockets of his jeans, and his muscular body towering over me with his eyes glued on mine. I set the glass down behind me on the counter and stopped him from coming closer by putting my hands on his chest.

"Riv," I whispered, and he caged me in by putting both his hands on each side of me on the counter. He lowered his head, stopping inches in front of mine.

A smile touched his lips, and his head tilted to the side. "Hm?"

I lifted both hands to cup his cheeks, brushing my thumbs over his skin. I liked it when he shaved. "Can we listen to our songs to fall asleep to?" I asked. We created a playlist years ago with every song that held a special place in our hearts since we were little. It always reminded us of the good times we had. His smile grew, and he leaned in to kiss my cheek. "I'd love to," he said against my skin, then pushed back and nodded toward the bedroom. "Come on."

I took his hand, walking straight to the bedroom and into the bathroom connected to his room. I wish I had that in our apartment. Whitley loved make-up, and I knew the sink and mirror would be dirty real fast. But she promised to clean up after she used all her colorful palettes and weird sponges.

He grabbed a new toothbrush out of the cupboard and gave it to me, letting me know that I had to let that brush right there next to his for the rest of the college.

After brushing our teeth, he gave me one of his shirts to sleep in. I got out of my dress and into the shirt, then tried to wash off my mascara with water. After scrubbing a while, I didn't look like a panda anymore and walked back into the bedroom. River was already in bed, leaning against the headboard and tapping on the screen of his phone.

I turned off the lights, walked over to his bed, and got in next to him. "Want me to put it on shuffle?" he asked, and I watched him tap on our Spotify playlist called Bow & Riv. Not very creative, but we were eleven and thirteen when we decided to put all of our favorite songs into a big playlist.

"Yes," I replied, pulling up the covers and putting one leg over his. Bed of Roses by Bon Jovi started playing, and I knew he must've put that on the top of the queue to play first. It was my absolute favorite song, so powerful and full of emotion.

He set the phone down on the nightstand, then turned to me and pulled me into his arm while I buried my face into his chest, closing my eyes. He planted a kiss on my head, then rubbed my back with one hand while holding me close to his body with the other on the back of my head.

I breathed in deeply, listening to the words of the song and putting my hand on his naked chest. "What happened between us today, Bow?" he whispered. We both knew something was different today, and both of us acted weird, yet we were lying here the way we always did before he left for college.

I slowly shrugged, pressing my lips into a tight line. "I guess we were overcome by our emotions. We haven't seen each other in a while, and I personally missed being so close to you," I whispered back, running my finger along his chest in small, circular motions.

He didn't speak for a while, the ran his fingers into my hair and pulled on it just a little, making me lean into his hand more. He knew how much I liked his head rubs.

"I guess so," he said, his hand on my back now pressing me closer to his body. "So, there's nothing weird going on between us?" he asked, and I thought it was time to get over myself and all those things I had been thinking since I arrived in Durango.

"We're friends. I love you with all my heart, Riv. I don't wanna lose you," I told him, turning my head to look into his eyes. He smiled, nodding, and bending down to kiss my forehead. "I love you too."