Forever With You (Silver State Series) Read online

  I know that look – ordinarily I’d be all over it. Tonight, though, I’m feeling edgy for some reason, almost like I’m missing something important. It has me too distracted to give much of a damn.

  Not long after I notice the girl, the kid next to me takes out a joint and lights it, then begins passing it around the circle. When it gets to me I gamely take a puff of it. I’ve only smoked weed a handful of times in my life, and I’ve never much cared for it, but I could use something to help relax me that won’t result in a hangover tomorrow morning.

  We keep passing; gradually I begin to feel the tension releasing inside me, and I’m able to enjoy myself a little bit better. When one of the girls suggests a game of spin the bottle, though, I make my excuses and stand up to find Nick and let him know I’m leaving. I’m not up for playing games that belong back in seventh grade.

  Nick’s playing foosball with some chick down in the basement – he barely notices when I go to tell him I’m heading out. I stop in the bathroom to take a piss, then start for the front door. As I step over the idiots still camped out in the living room, the same girl I noticed earlier scrambles to her feet and says, “Hey, can you give me a ride home? I don’t have a car here.”

  I just stare at her for a couple seconds, trying to decide if she’s toying with me. Remembering my manners, I clear my throat and say, “Yeah, sure.”

  She grabs her purse off the couch and follows me out to my Jeep. I don’t bother opening her door for her; instead I climb in and wait for her to go around to the passenger side.

  “I’m Candace, by the way,” she says as she fastens her seatbelt.

  “Kyle,” I tell her. “Where to, Candace?”

  “I live up in Sun Valley,” she replies. “Off Highland Ranch.”

  I look at her. “Seriously?” I ask. She bites her lip and nods, and I sigh. “Okay.” I start the engine and pull out into the road, suddenly very glad I have the pot in my system to mellow me out some.

  Candace settles down in her seat and puts her feet up on the dash. “Do you mind if I turn on the radio?” she asks. I shake my head and she reaches over to fiddle with the knobs. She finds some pop station and starts singing along with the song that’s playing. Her voice actually isn’t half bad.

  Once the song is over Candace grows quiet. After a moment I can sense she’s looking at me, and I throw a glance in her direction. She’s unabashedly staring at me, like there’s some question she’s dying to ask. Finally she says, “Do you have a girlfriend, Kyle?”

  I pause for a beat, not liking where this is heading. “No, I don’t have a girlfriend,” I answer finally.

  She raises her eyebrows at me. “That’s surprising.”

  I frown. “Why?”

  “Because you’re a… very good-looking guy.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Aren’t you gonna ask me if I have a boyfriend?” she asks after a moment of silence.

  “Do you have a boyfriend?” I say. My tone is flat, but she doesn’t seem to get that I’m not flirting with her. She shifts a little, subtly readjusting her shirt to show off more of her cleavage.

  “Nope,” she replies, popping the “p.”

  I nod, keeping my eyes trained on the pavement in front of me. I almost swerve off the road when she unfastens her seatbelt, grabs my leg and scoots herself closer to me. “Has anyone ever given you road head before, Kyle?” she asks softly, a dare in her voice.

  I look at her – is this girl for real? Her hand inches further up my thigh before I can respond, until her fingertips are brushing against my dick.

  I’ll never be able to explain why – maybe it’s that the weed has me mellowed out to the point of not really caring, or maybe it just wore down my resolve – but I let it happen. I watch her unfasten my shorts and whip out my cock like I’m a bystander in the situation instead of the one she’s actually going down on. She pumps it with her hand a few times until I’m erect, then bends down and starts sucking.

  The second her lips make contact with the tip it’s like I’ve been sucked through a wormhole, and I’m reliving that night I shared with Tawny. It’s not because it feels anything like the way it did with her – this girl is a little too rough, whereas Tawny was pretty much spot on. It’s more like a weird manifestation of all the desire I’ve had pent up inside of me for days. I continue to focus on the road, but my mind’s eye is filled with images of Tawny – her stunning, naked body, her lips on mine, her tongue swirling around my cock. Without giving it much thought I place my hand on the back of the girl’s head, inciting her to continue, pretending it’s Tawny’s wavy auburn locks my fingers are tangled in.

  A minute later I explode into her mouth, and she spits into an empty water bottle that’s been rolling around in the floorboard of my Jeep before grinning sheepishly up at me. I use my free hand to pull up my boxers and pants, but I’m not dexterous enough to fasten myself back up one-handed.

  We turn on Highland Ranch Parkway, and Candace gives me directions to a small brick one-story house that sits off the road a ways. I pull up to the detached garage and wait for her to gather her purse.

  “Do you wanna come in?” she asks, cocking her head to the side in a way I’m sure is supposed to look cute.

  “No thanks,” I tell her. I hold her gaze, not wanting to appear rude. Anyway, I figure we’re pretty much even – I gave her a ride home, and she gave me a mediocre blow job.

  She shrugs and slides out, shutting the door behind her without a backward glance. I re-button my pants, back down the driveway and angle south toward Reno, left to my own dangerous thoughts.

  Tawny – Saturday, 12:15 PM

  We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day to visit the beach. The sky is a brilliant sapphire blue with only a few spotty wisps of cloud, and the LED display outside the bank we passed on our way in says it’s eight-two degrees. Rhiannon and I are making a girls’ day of it – I could tell Blake wanted to come, too, but he’s always been a good sport when it comes to giving us our “sister time.”

  On the drive down I filled Rhiannon in on most of the details surrounding my “relationship” with Kyle. I also told her about the conversation I had yesterday with Aiden. She listens to me, something she’s always been great about, adding her input when I ask for it and biting her tongue when I don’t.

  When we reach the parking area for the beach, Rhiannon noses her little Subaru hatchback into a narrow space between two SUVs and shifts into park. “Tawny,” she says as soon as the engine goes quiet.

  I pause with my hand on the seatbelt release. “Yeah?”

  “Are you thinking about having sex with Kyle?”

  Her tone is so unashamedly matter-of-fact, it somehow prevents me from feeling embarrassed at the frankness of her question. “I’m thinking about it,” I reply, equaling her bluntness.

  She nods thoughtfully. “I know you’ll make the right decision for you,” she says after a moment, “so I’ll spare you all the banal bullshit about being careful, etcetera – you’re smart enough to know all that stuff already.” I give a slight nod as I wait for her to finish.

  “I will say, in my role as your responsible big sister, you should not have sex until you’re at least twenty-five and in a loving, long-term relationship.” Slowly her face morphs into a smile, and she concludes, “But as a fellow woman? – Hell yes, you should sleep with him. Have fun, sweetheart – just don’t forget to use a condom.”

  She winks at me before swinging her door open and climbing out, and I throw my head back in gleeful laughter.

  Saturday, 2:00 PM

  The beach is unsurprisingly packed, but when I close my eyes and concentrate on the sounds of the lapping water and the gulls, the clamor of the crowd fades to white noise. For the past hour and a half I’ve lounged blissfully in the warm, late-summer sun, intermittently napping and daydreaming. Rhiannon, who’s more prone to burning than I am, sits next to me under the shade of an umbrella, reading a book.

  Around two o’c
lock, we take a break from our lazing just long enough to grab hot dogs from one of the food trucks. As we shuffle back through the sand, my phone buzzes in my purse, and I retrieve it to glance at the display.

  “It’s Aiden,” I tell Rhiannon.

  She smiles. “Answer it.”

  “Hello?” I say as I press the phone to my ear. I can hear laughing and a loud buzz like the whirr of a motor on the other end of the line.

  “Hey! Tawny?”

  “Yeah, hi, Aiden.”

  “Hi! You still at Tahoe today?”

  “Yes, I’m here.”

  “Are you still up for some tubing?”

  I look up at Rhiannon, who’s picking bits of relish off her hot dog as she attempts to tune out my conversation.

  “Is it still okay if my sister comes along?” I ask. Her eyes snap up to meet mine, but she doesn’t say anything.

  “Of course!” cries Aiden. “The more the merrier! Can you get to the marina on Lakeshore?”

  “Umm…hold on.” I hold the phone to my chest and address Rhiannon. “He wants to know if we want to go on his friend’s boat. I can tell him no…”

  “No no, don’t be silly!” she says. “Let’s go boating!”

  Twenty minutes later we’ve gathered up our stuff, and we’re back at the car, tossing armfuls of beach blankets and sunscreen in the backseat.

  We have to pay three dollars to park at the marina. As we begin the walk out to the pier, I look at Rhiannon and say, “Are you sure you wanna do this? You’ll just be hanging out with a bunch of dumb college kids.”

  She laughs. “I only want to go if you want me to go. I’ll be fine to hang back here, but if you want me with you I’m more than happy to go along.”

  I smile. “Okay – we’ll just go for like an hour, is that okay?”

  “Your wish is my command.”

  As soon as we set foot on the pier I can hear someone calling my name. I turn to see a shirtless Aiden standing up on the back of a blue and white ski boat, waving his arms at me. As we turn to head that direction, Rhiannon leans in and says, “You didn’t tell me he was hot.” I laugh as she pretends to look miffed, like I’ve been holding out on her.

  Aiden is balancing on the edge of the boat, one foot propped up on a huge black inner tube. He holds out his hand to help me up into the boat, then turns to introduce himself to Rhiannon as he helps her as well. Next he introduces his two friends, Logan and Brady. Brady, whose parents the boat belongs to, takes the driver’s seat and steers out to deeper water while Aiden finds lifejackets for Rhiannon and me. I can’t help smiling to myself when I notice Logan heaping extra attention on my very pretty older sister, and I can’t help but let loose a furtive chuckle when he catches the flash of her diamond engagement ring and suddenly appears crestfallen.

  Logan sits up front with Brady, while Aiden, Rhiannon and I take seats along the back bench. Aiden offers us drinks from a cooler, and Rhiannon accepts a Corona while I take a Dr. Pepper. Once we’re far enough out from the marina, Brady begins to accelerate. I hang over the side of the boat, delighting in the feel of the water that sprays in a fine mist over my face, moistening my lips and clinging in droplets to my eyelashes. We skim over the surface of the smooth blue water, occasionally bouncing when we hit a choppy cross-current that’s been kicked up in the wake of another boat.

  As soon as we reach the center of the lake, Brady draws back on the throttle, and I twist in my seat to take in the stunning panoramic view that surrounds us. “Who wants to go first?” Logan yells over the droning of the engine as he turns around.

  “You should go, T,” says Rhiannon.

  “Wanna try?” asks Aiden as he pushes the inner tube over the edge of the boat so it’s floating on the surface of the water, trailing from the stern on a length of rope.

  “Yeah, I’ll go,” I say, smiling.

  Aiden grins back at me. “I’ll take Tawny,” he announces over his shoulder. My eyes dart to Rhiannon as she sends me a knowing smirk.

  I unfasten my lifejacket and shrug it off so I can peel off my sheer swimsuit cover-up, not wanting it to get too wet. I shiver a little as the breeze sails over my bare skin before I can re-buckle my preserver.

  I wait while Aiden hops agilely onto the tube, then extends his hand to help me cross the distance between the boat and the huge rubber donut. He shows me how to lie down on my stomach and hold on to the handgrips, then goes over a few hand signals that will let Brady know whether I want to stop, slow down or speed up.

  Logan walks to the back of the boat and bends over, leaning on his knuckles. “You want rough or smooth?” he shouts.

  Aiden looks at me to make the decision. “Rough!” I say without a moment’s hesitation. He grins and turns around to relay the message to the driver.

  “You sure about this, T?” yells Rhiannon.

  I flash her a reassuring thumbs-up as Aiden laughs appreciatively. He flops onto his stomach alongside me so our sides are touching. “Okay, hang on tight,” he says as the boat begins to inch forward, tugging us along behind.

  First Brady zips us along in a straight line, and I laugh excitedly as the cool water splashes in my face and against my bare stomach. After a couple of minutes he slows down just a little, and I can see him standing up at the wheel, his body twisted around to look at Aiden and me. He holds up his left thumb, asking if we’re okay to continue, and we both respond in kind.

  “He’s probably gonna try to throw us off,” says Aiden just as we regain full speed – his warning is almost swallowed up in the noise from the motor. Suddenly Brady jerks the boat to the right, pulling us along in a tight spiral. We bump over the waves, around and around as a cyclone of water swirls between the tube and the boat. My knuckles are white from clutching so hard at the handgrip to keep from flying off, but I laugh maniacally as adrenaline surges through my veins. Finally Brady straightens up again, dragging us directly over the spinning funnel of water, and we soar several feet above the lake’s surface. Everything seems to slow down as we glide through the air and my body loses contact with the tube.

  Time catches up in half a second when we crash back down, and my hand is wrenched from the grip. Panic wells up inside me as the tube slips away and I fly backward, landing a split second later with an enormous splash in the lake’s chilly depths.

  I bob sputtering to the surface, thankful for my lifejacket, and see the boat slowing to a stop several dozen yards in front of me. I’m momentarily distracted by the sound of laughter, and my head turns to find its source. I grin when I see Aiden swimming toward me. “Are you all right?” he asks as soon as he’s near enough for me to hear him speak.

  “That was so much fun!” I gush, unable to contain my enthusiasm.

  He laughs. “Should we swim back?”

  I flip over on my stomach and paddle after him until we reach the ladder on the side of the boat, where Logan is waiting to help pull us back onboard. Rhiannon waits just behind him, her eyes glazed in terror that quickly fades when she realizes I’m okay.

  “Dude, I did it!” says Brady. “I finally flipped you off!”

  I look at Aiden, confused, but he only laughs and shakes his head. “Naw, man, I let go.”

  “Brady’s been trying to fling Aiden off the tube all day, but he’s got Popeye forearms and he won’t let go,” Logan explains to Rhiannon and me.

  Aiden shrugs out of his lifejacket and sits down heavily on the bench seat. “I let go when I saw Tawny fly off,” he insists, flashing his dimples as he shoots me a good-natured grin.

  6:00 PM

  Rhiannon and I are both drained by the time we reach the car to start heading back, a product of spending hours in the sunlight and taking multiple turns each on the inner tube. We stop at a Starbucks drive through on our way out of town to refuel with iced vanilla lattes.

  Once we reach the highway, Rhiannon switches on the cruise control and leans her head back against her headrest. “I’ll tell you what, kiddo,” she says, “I always knew you�
�d end up a heartbreaker, but I must admit it’s still a little surreal seeing my baby sister attract the attention of so many males.”

  I frown as I lick at the mound of whipped cream floating on my drink. “What do you mean?”

  She sighs. “Oh, honey. You don’t even see it, do you?”

  “See what?”

  “Well. The way every guy’s eyes locked on you from the moment you stepped on that boat, for one. Plus the way Aiden was practically drooling when you took off your cover-up. I thought I was gonna have to pick his jaw up off the floor for him.”

  I snort. “First of all, Logan was looking at you from the get-go. Second of all, I’m pretty sure all guys react that way whenever they see any girl removing an article of clothing. I’d be offended if they didn’t give me a second glance. It’s not like it means anything.”

  Rhiannon chuckles, looking at me as if I’m the most amusing person she’s ever encountered. “Okay, babe, whatever you say. All I’ll say is, if things don’t work out between you and Kyle, I have a feeling Aiden would be more than happy to fill that role for you. You may not have noticed the way he was watching you all afternoon, but I definitely did.”

  Chapter 12 – The Barn

  Monday, September 5

  Kyle – 11:00 AM

  My body feels broken and sore from the grueling labor I endured this weekend. Thankfully, it all became worth it the moment my uncle laid the stack of crisp fifty dollar bills in my hand this morning right before I left. One or two more months of working odd jobs, and I should be able to replace my broken lens.

  I got back around half an hour ago and swallowed some aspirin to ease the ache in my arms and shoulders. The meds are just beginning to kick in – I can feel the knots in my muscles beginning to gradually unwind.

  I plug in my phone then sit down at my desk and power on my laptop to check my email. I figure I’ll wait till around noon, then send Tawny a text and see if she still wants to hang out. Were it not for the prospect of seeing her today, I probably would’ve stuck around my aunt and uncle’s place a few hours longer to rest up before attempting the three hour drive back.