We Were Us (13 page)

“Why?” Mrs. Riley seemed genuinely interested in me and my plans for the future.

“I don’t know. I think that’s part of the reason I came back to Riverview for the summer, to gain a little perspective and maybe find some closure for what happened when I left.

“Closure?”

“When my mom was sent to jail, I had no one on my side. I was three months from eighteen. Three months from being out on my own. If they’d just let me go, who knows what would have happened. I wouldn’t have gone to my dad’s but I also felt like I was being treated like a child. I wasn’t given a choice, I was just shuttled off to his house because I wasn’t legally an adult. I still don’t know all the details of my situation, but if I’d had some kind of advocate or even just a safe place to go when everything went down, better decisions could have been made. I could have finished school here with Josh and Michelle. I could have made my own decisions about my future.”

“But I thought you liked your Dad.”

“I do. I’m glad I was sent to him, but I think about all the other kids who don’t have a stable parent who are just shuttled around until they age out of the system. The thing I didn’t like was that I wasn’t given an option. It was go to my dad’s or go to foster care. And then my dad and Linda had to have a home inspection and all that stuff and Linda was just livid about the whole thing. Dad later told me that if we’d been able to talk about it, he would have signed the papers for me to be an emancipated minor and I could have just stayed here and finished school. It would have saved a little heartache on both sides.”

“I see,” Mrs. Riley said. “So you wanted to stay here. Do you want to stay here now?”

“I just wanted to finish school here. I felt like everything just got so crazy and I didn’t get to say goodbye to anyone, especially Michelle and Josh.” I noticed Mrs. Riley fidgeted in her seat and looked down at her lap at the mention of Michelle.

“Where is Michelle?” I asked.

“You’ll have to talk to Josh about that,” she said looking at me again.

“Well I have and he won’t tell me anything. Did something happen between them?”

“Jenna, I…” She trailed off and looked past me. I knew Josh was there.

“Hey you two.” His slow drawl sent shivers down my spine. He didn’t even say anything sexy and my body was ready for anything he would do to me. “What are you talking about?” He took a seat between his mom and me and helped himself to the bacon and eggs in the middle of the table.

“Jenna was just telling me about her school and her plans for the future.” Mrs. Riley said with a smile.

“Oh yeah. What are you going to do?”

“I’m not sure yet. Nothing has been decided” I looked down at the red checkered tablecloth.

Josh and I spent the rest of the morning cleaning up the kitchen for Mrs. Riley, then he had to go off to work. He said I should stay, but I felt awkward just sitting around his house. Like what was I supposed to do all day? After Josh left, I packed up my things, put the hideaway bed back together, and waited for Mrs. Riley to reappear. She’d gone back to her room while Josh and I cleaned up.

Finally, after about forty-five minutes and countless thoughts of just leaving, she emerged from the back rooms into the living room.

“I’m going to head out.” I said before she’d even made into the room.

“Oh, alright.” Her face fell a little at my words.

“I just want to check in at home and call my dad.”

“Have you told him what’s going on?”

“No. It would only worry him and he’s got a family to worry about.”

“You’re his family too,” she said sternly.

“I know.”

After a short pause, she said, “Okay, well you are welcome to come back and stay. I know I was hesitant before about you staying here, but I was wrong. This is a serious situation and I don’t want you to get hurt.”

The sentiment behind her words was real. She cared about me like my own mother didn’t. She cared about her son’s girlfriend, someone who wasn’t even related to her, someone who was connected with her marriage ending, and someone with whom she had no business caring about, but she did. My heart swelled and tears formed behind my eyes. The stark difference between her and my own mother hit me like a ton of bricks. This was the reason I was in school and the reason I needed to continue. I needed to be the one to care for a child the way Mrs. Riley cared for me. I needed kids in my situation to know that they mattered to someone.

I got up off the couch, walked over to her, and hugged her. She immediately embraced me putting one hand around my back and one on my head.

 
 “Oh Sweetheart” was all she had to say and the tears that threatened were now spilling over my eyelashes and down my cheeks. I cried quickly and silently, wiping my face when I pulled away from her.

 
 “Thank you Mrs. Riley. I’ll be back later.” I left quickly, leaving her watching me go in the living room.

 
 I spent the next few nights with Josh and his mom. She cooked amazing dinners like enchiladas, chicken and rice casserole, and lasagna, which was way better than my frozen meal by far. Mrs. Riley let me stay downstairs with Josh in his room to watch TV and hangout, but when it was time for bed, I always came upstairs and slept on the pullout bed even though Josh protested each night. But I just couldn’t disrespect her kindness like that. During the day Mrs. Riley and I talked about the situation with my mom and tried to think of who else might be in on the whole thing. We knew the mayor and the sweaty man who came to my house that day, but since neither of us know who that man was, there could potentially be other people involved that we didn’t even know about.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

“Jenna. Fancy meeting you here,” the mayor said with a sneer.

I was about to find a new grocery store. I had decided to buy a few items to help restock Mrs. Riley after staying at her house for the past week. It was the least I could do.

This was the second time I’d run into him and it was two times too many. I didn’t even want to respond to him. Not now that I knew he was behind the attack in my own home. I wasn’t even going to bother to finish my shopping. So I abandoned my cart and walked the other way.

“Don’t you turn your back on me.” He hurried over to me, grabbed the back of my t-shirt, and held me against him. “I know you’ve been staying with the Riley’s. You don’t want them involved in this mess. Yes, I know you know what I’m talking about. You better find what you have of mine and return it to me.”

“I don’t have anything of yours. Let me go.” I struggled against him, but he held on to me.

“Don’t play games Jenna.” I frantically looked around the store in hopes that someone would pass by and see us, but no one did.

“I’ll call the police,” I said. It didn’t come out as threatening as I wanted it to.

“And tell them what? That your mother was still trafficking drugs through your house even though she’s in jail. That you came back to help her? That you are using that poor innocent Riley boy to do your business for you? Face it Jenna, I have you cornered. Get me what’s mine, and no one will get hurt.”

He pushed me and let me go. I didn’t turn to look at him. I headed straight for the door at a run and hightailed it out of the parking lot as fast as my car would take me. I texted Josh.

Meet me now. You know where.

***

I waited for Josh for the better part of an hour before giving up. I stripped down to my suit and slipped into the river. The water bubbled happily over my feet sending chill up my spine despite the fact that it was over a hundred degrees today.

“Watch out for snakes,” came Josh’s low rumble of a voice. I smiled, my back was too him, but I knew he was staring at me.

“Thanks for the warning.”

I heard his sandals flop as he walked down the embankment to the water. I didn’t turn around to face him, but let him walk up beside me and stand, both of us staring out over the clear water. I side glanced at him. He was wearing bright orange board shorts and a blue t-shirt with Dodgers printed across it. Memories flooded the forefront of my mind. He always wore that shirt to the river. In high school we’d party down here. The girls would be in the water or lounging on the banks while the boys played a pickup game of soccer. Even after he and I broke up, I’d still catch myself watching him. I even watched him kiss Michelle and wish it was me.

I let out a breath of air and moved further into the water. The slimy moss covered rocks squished between my toes. Josh rustled beside me. I guessed that he was removing his shoes and shirt. I kept going. At its deepest, the river was to my neck. I walked until it covered my hips. I lifted my arms and skimmed the water with my fingertips creating tiny waves all around me. Josh came up behind me. He stood unusually close to me, the warmth of his body sizzling against my back.

“Jenna.” He breathed in my ear sending shivers of desire down my spine. My heart rate accelerated, deep breathes heaved in my chest. What was he doing to me? All he did was say my name. I leaned back slightly so my back was touching his chest. I leaned my head back against his shoulder. He met me with a soft kiss on my temple. I reached up and ran my fingers down his arms to his hands. I took them in mine and pulled them around me. I placed them on my stomach and reached on hand up and around his neck. He kissed my temple again, then trailed tiny kisses down to my ear, then down my neck. I gasped and drew in a deep breath. That must have been enough for him because he spun me around to face him.

I was met with his glistening, tanned, well-toned chest. I couldn’t stop staring at it. I watched it rise and fall with each breath he took. I attempted to match my breathing to his in hopes it would calm me, but his breathing was just as erratic as mine. I tentatively reached up and put my hand on his chest over his heart. It was racing just like mine. He flinched at my touch so I pulled away and we just stood there inches apart breathing each other’s air as the river rushed passed us.

I had no idea what Josh was thinking right now, but I wanted to know. I wanted to ask him why he was still here in this going-no-where town, why he wasn’t with Michelle anymore and why was he here with me now.

Before I could get my words out, his right hand was cupping my face. He tilted my head up to meet his so I was gazing into his stormy blue eyes. He searched my eyes with his before lowering his gaze to my mouth. I parted my lips and drew in a breath. I barely had time to exhale before his lips were on mine. This wasn’t a soft, test the waters, kind of kiss. His hand was pressed to my face, his left hand squeezed just above my hip then snaked around and rested on my lower back. The current of the river nudged me so I fell into him. My hands gripped his waist.

I pulled him to me and returned his kiss. I parted my lips and granted his tongue access to mine. Both of his hands were in my hair now as his tongue danced with mine. I slid my hands up his back gripping his firm muscles along the way. A soft groan escaped from his throat, igniting an old flame I thought I’d long extinguished.

Josh pushed me gently backwards so I was heading into deeper water. He pulled away from our kiss, but only briefly. He continued pressing his mouth to mine mirroring the soft flowing current of the river. Before I knew it he was trailing kisses under my chin and down my neck. I was now chest deep in the water and my feet were slipping on the rocks at the bottom. Josh released my head and held me around my waist pressing my hips to his.

I gasped at his erection pressing against me. This only spurred him on. He pulled at the strings that tied my suit top on until it fell away freeing my breasts. His left hand traveled up the side of my body until he cupped me and massaged gently, his right hand still holding me to him. I stopped kissing him and looked him square in the eyes. Longing flashed over his face, probably mirroring my own expression. I bit my bottom lip between my teeth and slipped my hand beneath the waistband of his short and took hold of him, sliding my hands up and down his hard shaft. He looked hungrily down at me and kissed me hard again.

He groaned in protest when I released him, but I quickly hopped up and wrapped my legs around his waist and squeezed against him. I felt him smile against my lips and I smiled back at him and kissed him again.

He started walking toward the opposite side of the river. With his long strides, it didn’t take long. I knew where we were. The shadow of the massive willow tree engulfed us and soon my back was pressed up against its smooth trunk. The water stayed deep where he walked so it almost covered my shoulders.

Josh started kissing me again, but now that I was wedged against the tree, his hands were free to roam my body. And roam they did. He started at my breasts and cupped and squeezed them both. He then moved down slowly taking in every inch of me then grabbing my ass. He untied each side of the bottoms of my suit until it fell away. I’d need a new suit I thought to myself. All thoughts were quickly erased when Josh slid his hand over my thighs and between my legs. I let out a soft moan causing Josh to kiss me harder and pull me down against his ready and waiting member.

I pushed him away from me and tried to pull his shorts off, but they stuck to him. We both struggled until finally they fell away. Josh pushed me up against the tree trunk again and simultaneously pulled me down so he entered me full on. I cried out his name and clung to his neck but he pushed me up guiding my hands above my head.

“Hold on to the tree,” he whispered. I did what he said and grasped the tree with both hands. He stood firm against the bottom of the river, placed both hands on either side of my hips, and began to thrust into me. The cool water lapped against my skin igniting my senses. I could feel each thrust, the sound of the water in time with them cut through the silence around us. I threw my head back allowing Josh access to my neck. He took it and trailed kisses down to my collarbone gently sucking at my tender skin. I moaned again and Josh pumped harder against me. I gripped the tree as I felt my body building toward its release until I came hard around him. I let go and wrapped my arms around him. He still pounded into me so I kissed his neck up to his ear and licked it. I felt his body tense and he pulled my hips against his and held me there. I felt his own release inside me. He let me go and we floated out into the water.

I found footing and stopped myself. Josh did the same and walked over to me. He took my face in both of his hands and locked his blue eyes onto my green.

“That was amazing.” And he kissed me.

It was amazing and completely unexpected. I wasn’t sure what to think about what we’d just done. I mean, I wasn’t a virgin, I’d had a short fling with a guy at school. But it was nothing compared to what I’d just experienced with Josh.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

I just nodded. I was still processing everything. We’d just had sex in the river. Against a willow tree. All I wanted was to lie next to him and for him to hold me. But we were in a river. Naked. Oh god. I looked around but our respective swim suits were missing. I knew I had shorts and a t-shirt on the bank I could wear, Josh on the other hand, had showed up in his trunks and the Dodger shirt.

“Do you have pants?” I blurted. After all of that, I was worried about him having pants?

Josh laughed.

“I do. I have a pair of old jeans in the truck.”

“Okay.”

“Is that what you’re thinking about right now? My pants?”

He still held my face loosely in his hands so I leaned into his palms as I laughed.

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Come on. Let’s get dry.”

We waded out of the river. I stayed back and watched the evening sun bounce off the glistening water that rolled off his backside. Damn, he had a nice ass.

“Here.” He threw his towel at me. I wrapped it around myself and walked up to his truck. I gathered the clothes I’d folded on the ground and slipped into my shorts and tank top. I looked up and Josh to find him staring at me.

I blushed as he watched me get dressed. I was just glad I didn’t do the hopping on one leg thing I usually did when I would get dressed.

“Hey,” I said.

“Hey,” he replied.

I walked up to his truck and into his arms.

“What are you doing to me?” I asked into his neck.

“Me? It’s you who is doing the things.”

“That doesn’t even make sense.” I kissed his neck again.

“Keep doing that and I’ll be ready for round two,” he said.

It was a hot day, but cold heat exploded through my body. Just the thought of having Josh again was enough to make me shiver with desire. I looked him in the eyes, searching them. All I saw as intensity.

I almost kissed him again, but before I could he leaned in and whispered something in my ear. Something I’d rarely heard and never sincerely experienced.

“I love you.”

I stilled. Frozen. He’d said those words again, this time with no ‘I think’ before them. Walls I didn’t know I’d built crashed around me. I held on to Josh. I pulled him against me in a fierce embrace. Tears spilled over my cheeks but I doubted he would notice because we were both still wet from the river.

No one had ever said those words to me like that before. I don’t ever remember hearing them from my mom, and my dad whispered them hurriedly when Linda wasn’t around. Josh said them loud and to me, to my heart. Granted, we were alone at the moment, but I have no doubt he’d proclaim his love for me publicly if given the chance.

“I love you too, Josh,” I said.

I meant it. I did love him. We’d been friends for years, but it was more than that now. I felt safe with Josh. He made me feel wanted and beautiful, two things no one had ever made me feel before. No one except Andrew. I sighed heavily in Josh’s arms.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Nothing,” I said quickly. How could I explain Andrew to Josh? How was I going to explain Josh to Andrew? I had been friends with Josh for years, so we just made sense together. We could figure out the logistics of our relationship later. Right now, I wasn’t worried about leaving at the end of the summer. Right now, all I cared about was the two of us together and what we had just done in the river.

Josh’s arms tightened around me so I squeezed him a little tighter as well. I didn’t want to move, I wanted to stay in this moment forever.

“I’m assuming you didn’t tell me to meet you here so we could do that?” he asked, breaking the magicalness of the moment.

“No, not really.”

Josh laughed at me then.

“It was good. Don’t get me wrong. The best I’ve ever had.”

“Wait, you’re not a virgin.”

“Josh. Seriously. That’s not why I need to talk to you either.”

“I’m just messing with you. I’m not either.”

I did a double take at his last comment, but chose to ignore it in light of what I really needed to tell him.

“What is it?” he asked.