Always With You - A Best Friends To Lovers Novel

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Bowie

It was New Year's Eve, and Whitley invited us to her house to celebrate with her and other people we went to school with. Her parents were out of town and since Mom and Dad also weren't going to be around to celebrate with us, we decided to get ready and head over to Whitley's party.

We didn't take the car because River and I knew we would probably drink some alcohol. I was trying on an old dress I found in my closet, and I was surprised to find that it still fit, even after growing a few inches in the past years.

"River?" I called out from the bedroom to ask if he could help me with the zipper, and he came out of the bathroom with only jeans on. "You look beautiful," he said, smiling at me and eyeing the red dress covering my body. It was tight on the top, had long sleeves, and was flowy from my waist down. I looked at the dress in the mirror, then smiled up at River who without my request, pulled up the zipper on my back.

"Thank you," I replied, pushing my hair back over my shoulder.

"You'll put some tights on, right? It will be freezing outside on our way to Whitley's house."

I nodded and turned to face him. "Yes. And I hope you'll be wearing a sweater tonight," I mocked, looking at his bare chest and stomach. My eyes lingered there, and I started to pull at my sleeves, feeling nervous all of a sudden.

River chuckled. "I might."

We were quiet for a moment and I felt his eyes wander over my body. His hand came up to cup my face, and the pad of his thumb softly caressed my skin. Then, slowly, he leaned in and kissed my other cheek, lingering his lips on it for a moment before moving them closer to my mouth. He planted a kiss to the corner of my mouth, and although he was so close that I only had to turn my head to kiss his lips, I didn't.

"We should get going," I whispered, and a smile appeared on his face.

"We should," he whispered, taking his hand off my cheek and walking back to the bathroom to get dressed.

I breathed in deeply, then grabbed some tights out of my dresser. It didn't take long until he came back out of the bathroom and for me to get the tights. He looked handsome, with his slightly longer blond hair pushed back with some gel.

"Ready?" he asked, and I nodded, grabbing my jacket, and then walking downstairs with him.

The walk to Whitley's house didn't take long. She lived in a wealthier neighborhood, and her house was huge. Her parents often let her through parties in high school, and we made great memories.

The front door had a sign on it that said guests can enter without ringing the doorbell. In such a huge house, and with so many people in it, it wasn't easy for the host to stand by the door at all times and let new guests in.

River pushed open the door, and I walked in closely followed by him. The music was loud, and there were people everywhere. Whitley decorated the place nicely, with golden balloons and strings of lights hanging from the walls and ceilings.

I reached for River's hand to not get lost in the crowd, and we pushed through it to get to the big living room where surprisingly enough, a DJ was playing music. Last year, Whitley just played songs from her phone, and even then, the party was a success.

"She's outdone herself," I said to River over the loud music, and he laughed. "I'm not surprised," he confessed, pulling me toward the long table with drinks, cups, and appetizers on it. But that didn't stop there.

On another table, a few pizza boxes were stacked on top of each other, two platters of sushi were sitting next to them, and a variety of cakes and pies were displayed on the other side of the table.

"Holy shit," River said next to me, and I couldn't agree more.

"Do you wanna get something to eat first?" he asked, and I nodded, thinking that everything on that table looked delicious.

We grabbed a plate each, put some of the food on it, and sat down on a couch in the corner of the room where we were a little less crowded by others.

"There she is," I said, pointing into Whitley's direction. She grinned the second she was us and came over to where we were sitting.

"You made it! How do you guys like the party so far?" she asked, squatting down in front of us. She put one of her hands on my knee, the other on River's.

"It's incredible. Your parties at the best," I told her, and she grinned at me like a little kid who just received a bag of candy.

"I know, right? Don't have too much fun. If you need anything, I'm around the house somewhere. And if you do wanna have too much fun, my room's always open for you two."

River chuckled. "Still just friends, Whit," he said, and from those three words, I felt my heart sting a little. Shit. No, I wasn't going there. Not tonight. Not ever.

"You guys shouldn't be lying to yourselves. Really not healthy," she advised us with a wink, then she left us again. I kept my eyes on my slice of pizza while neither of us said a word.

We finished our food in silence, then, to light up the mood, River asked if I wanted to dance with him.

I sight, turning to look at him. I had to get one thing off my chest. "Why is it so awkward between us when someone mentions us being attracted to each other?" I asked.

River puckered his lips, looking down at my hand, and reaching for it to squeeze it tight. "Because they're right."

I didn't answer. Maybe it was time to come clean and speak up about what we felt. But just as I had that thought, River got up and pulled me off the couch with a grin on his face. "Let's enjoy tonight," he said, pulling me to where others were dancing.

Great. So he wasn't serious about what he said?