Salvaged (34 page)

He placed his cheek against the side of my head. "You're killing
me here, Charlie."

That made two of us.

His fingers skimmed the surface of my skin. "I can't take my
hands off of you." His confession was pained. "You feel amazing."

I could feel his heart beating through his chest. "Riley... "

"Say something to make me walk away."

"I don't want to."

The skin of his cheek gently skimmed mine as he spoke. "We
can't do this. I can't. You're gonna have to make me walk away."

"No. I want you to kiss me again."

He pulled away from me and shoved his hands into his pockets.
"No, Charlie."

I stepped toward him, but he backed away. "You don't want to
kiss me again?"

"Shhh." He looked around to make sure nobody was paying
attention and then walked around to the side of the car farthest away
from our friends. I followed. "Of course I want to, but we can't do this." He was practically crying. "I promised myself and my dad that
I wouldn't do this. You have to help me keep that promise."

"Oh, all right!" I kicked the car tire, threw my back against the
side of the car, and crossed my arms across my stomach.

"Don't start a temper tantrum here, Charlie."

"Fine!"

Removing his hands from his pockets, he clasped them behind his
head and started pacing. "Remind me, when does your dad get here?"

"Two weeks," I grumbled.

He kicked the dirt before throwing his hands on his waist and
turning to face me. "This is freakin' agony."

"Who's throwing the temper tantrum now?" I asked. "I just
wanted you to kiss me for my birthday. That's all."

"Your birthday?"

I shook my head. "It's stupid, I know. So shoot me."

"No. I mean, when's your birthday?"

"Tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" he shouted. "You didn't tell me your birthday was
tomorrow." His pacing quickened. "I'm such a jerk. How did I not
know your birthday was tomorrow?"

"So."

"I didn't get you anything. You love presents, and I don't even
have anything to give you on your birthday." He slapped himself in
the head. "I'm such a heel."

"I told you what I want."

His swift movement stopped, and he turned to look at me at me
again. "What? You want me to kiss you?"

"Yes."

"For your birthday present?" His voice was like ice.

"Yes."

"That's not fair. I'll give you anything but that."

"Why?"

"Because to give you what you want requires me to break a
promise. It's not fair."

My heart sank. "Oh."

He walked over to me and grabbed my hands. "You have no
idea how hard this is for me. Please, please help me make it two
more weeks."

I felt my face scrunch. My disappointment was growing, but I bit
my thumbnail so that I wouldn't say anything I might regret later.

"Please. In two weeks I'll kiss you like crazy, I promise. You'll
probly have to peel me off of you. But for right now, no matter what
I say or do, you have to keep me from kissing you-or doing anything for that matter."

I started coming to my senses. "You're right."

"I am? No. Right, I am, I'm right." He rolled his eyes.

"At least I got kissed once before I turned seventeen. It's a good
thing you're so darned noble."

He wrapped his arms around my neck and hugged me close to him.
"It's too bad you're so darned irresistible." He slowly kissed me on the
tip of the nose and then pressed his forehead to mine. "In two weeks I
won't mind that you're so alluring. At least, I won't mind as much."

"I'll do better next time. I won't give in."

"Hopefully there won't be a next time. It's all too much." He
kissed me on the forehead again. "Now let's go have some fun and
forget about all of this. All right?"

"All right."

"Make sure you wear lots of sunscreen. You haven't been out in
the sun for a while."

"Yes, sir."

With camp settled and kayaks rented, we finally made our way onto
the water. We took the "Round-the-Mountain-Trip," which lasted
about seven hours, and divided up into four kayaks so we could switch
riders and all have the opportunity to share kayaks with each other.
The scenery was beautiful, and other than the boys tipping the kayaks over on several occasions, the journey was very peaceful. We all
stayed close together, and our conversations flowed right along with
the water. With each passing moment I was crazier about my new friends. They were true and genuine people who weren't trying to put
on a show for anyone. Everyone was free to be themselves, and I felt
more comfortable with this group than I had with any other.

At one point when Tess and I were sharing a kayak, Curt tipped
us over, and somehow I got caught under the water with the kayak
on top of me. I flailed around until a pair of arms grabbed hold of me
and pulled me out from under the boat. Coughing and sputtering, I
looked up through the mat of hair that stuck to my face and realized
that my rescuer was Riley-of course.

"Are you my very own personal lifeguard?" I dunked my head
into the water so that the hair would unstick itself from my face.

"I'm on duty twenty-four/seven." He picked me up and tossed
me back onto the upright kayak. "Now stay put. I don't wanna chase
you down the river."

"Tell your boys to quit tipping my kayak and that shouldn't be
a problem."

"Will do." He waded over to the kayak he was sharing with
Anne and hopped in.

"Is that a snake?" she asked him as she pointed at a tree.

"Probly. They're everywhere." His voice was calm.

"What!" She shrieked. "We've been on this water for five hours,
and nobody told me there are snakes in the trees!"

I frantically looked around at the trees surrounding me.

"They're in the water too." Curt laughed.

"What?" I screamed as I grasped onto the sides of the boat.

"Relax. They stay away from humans," Chase said before shooting Curt an evil glare.

"What? It's true," Curt said back to Chase.

"It may be true," Chase was talking slowly and quietly, "but you
don't always have to share everything you know."

"Oh yes, he does," Tammy added from the seat she occupied in
the kayak with Curt. "If my life's in danger, I need to know it."

Chase looked over at Tammy. "Your life is not in danger. There
are hundreds of people on this river today. The snakes are hiding
away. Plus, it's too hot for them to be out and about."

"Yeah, they wait until dark to come out," Matt added as he gave
an evil laugh.

"Matt!" Chase scolded. "Enough, you guys are gonna have these
girls scared to death."

"I'm already there," I admitted.

"Me too," Anne and Tammy added.

"You girls are fine, I promise." Chase glanced at each of us. "Let's
enjoy the rest of the river, all right?"

We all agreed and tried to push the thought of snakes in trees
out of our minds. I glanced over at Riley and caught him smirking at
me. When he realized I caught him, he shrugged his shoulders and
then put his oar in the water and paddled.

After seven long hours, our float trip finally ended. It was a long
seven hours, and I was exhausted. My muscles hadn't ever had such
a workout and were already starting to ache. I never dreamed that
floating down a river could be so much work. I envisioned that we
would sit back and relax as the boat drifted down the waterway,
but that wasn't quite how it happened. The kayak drug on the river
bottom several times, so we would get out and push the boat until
the water was deep enough to float again. All in all, it was a good
workout. I looked forward to doing it again the next day but wasn't
looking forward to the hike that we planned for later this evening. I
was tired enough as it was and could only think of resting.

(Riley)

"So, Riley, I hear Tiffany's pretty upset with you," Matt informed
me.

"Me, why?"

"You haven't called her or anything in a while. I guess she was
under the impression that you two were an item."

"Well, she's delusional then because I never said we were."

"Didn't you guys date pretty hot and heavy there for a while?"
Curt asked.

"Hot and heavy petting maybe." Matt laughed.

I ignored him. "We went out a handful of times before prom
and then twice after. It wasn't any big deal. I wasn't that into her; it
was just kinda convenient." I didn't like the word convenient as it left
my mouth. It sounded cheap.

"Yeah, Curt, now he's got Attie in the room with him every
night. Talk about convenient."

"That's a lot different," I tried to correct him.

Matt grinned at Curt. "Sure it is."

Chase didn't say anything as he sat looking down at his shoes.

"Come on, Riley." Curt laughed. "You've got a sixteen-year-old
girl living in your house, sleeping next to you every night, and you're
trying to convince us that you don't have a little fun? We know you
better than that, my friend."

"I would think it would be nearly impossible to control-with
her walking around in a towel or nightie," Matt said.

"I'd have done it in every room by now," Curt added. "Not that
you'd tell us if you did."

"Shut up, Curt," I snapped. "Look, I'm not gonna tell you again
that it isn't like that; now drop it."

"Yet, you mean, right," Matt chided. "It isn't like that yet."

"Just give him time, Matt. Give him time. He'll get `er done,"
Curt continued.

I stood to walk off and told Chase that I was gonna check on
Attie.

"Ooh, Riley, save me, I can't sleep," Matt teased in a girl's voice.

"I'm sorry I even told you," I shouted.

"Dude, we were just fooling around; lighten up," Curt pouted.

"I don't see that topic as funny," Chase said without looking up.

Matt became angry. "It was a joke, Chase."

"And I'm saying it wasn't funny," Chase said as he got up. I gave him
a grateful smile, and he shrugged before walking toward his tent.

Still wearing her swimsuit, Attie was lying in our tent on top of her
sleeping bag.

"Whaddya doing, Riley?" she whispered without opening her
eyes.

"Looking at you," I said as I lay down next to her.

She smiled, but her eyes remained closed. "Enjoying the scenery?"

"It's by far the prettiest I've seen all day. You're perfection
personified."

"Hmm, good line."

"I think I heard it in a movie."

"I'm sure you did."

"Go to sleep, Charlie. I'll stay; you don't need to worry."

"Thank you."

The small bathing suit didn't hide her scars, and I was proud
of her for wearing it. For me, it was confirmation about the comfort level that she felt with her new group of friends. The raised lines were pinker, more sunburned than the rest of her body due to
their first real exposure to the outside world. A thick scar ran from
her belly button up to just below her ribcage, and then another one
started what looked to be between her breasts and up to the bottom
of her throat. There was also a scar from the tube they stuck into
her neck. Her left arm, the one closest to me, sustained the most
damage. It was the arm that kept her pinned into the car. There
were several small scars, but the largest ran down the outside of her
tricep. She tucked the other arm behind her head so I couldn't see
how much damage it suffered.