Chapter 7
The next morning Riley got up at the crack of dawn. She had asked Shawn the night before if she could take a jet ski out and with reluctance and a lot of coercing, he finally said yes. She wanted to enjoy the lake one last time before they went back to Burleson. The brunette put on a bikini, not even bothering with a cover up and snuck out of her room.
"Hey beautiful." Lucas' whisper scared Riley half to death.
"Lucas, dang it that scared me!" Her breath steadied and she regained her demeanor. "What are you doing?"
"Going out on the jet ski's. Notice i'm in my swimsuit with no shirt, and I have the keys!" He dangled both keys in front of her.
"How did you know i'd be going out?"
"I've got connections." The cheerleader rolled her eyes.
"In other words, you were eavesdropping."
"Yep, now let's go before it gets too late." He opened the back door for her and the sunrise hit his abs, making Riley's heart beat faster. The pair ran down to the docks and they each had their own jet ski.
"Remember, nothing loud until we get passed the wake zone."
"Yes m'am." He looked at her and could barely get himself to turn away, how was she this good looking? "So, were you surprised?" They started gliding across the water.
"That you were waiting outside of my room at the crack of dawn when I thought I was going jet skiing by myself? Yes. I was very surprised, but the company will be nice."
"I was curious if you'd like it. You strike me as the type of person who goes it alone quite often."
"Only when Maya can't come with me." She chuckled. "I'm independent. I don't need to be coddled or constantly told what to do. That's probably why my parents give me so much freedom, they aren't worried about me making an idiotic decision."
"Well independence, it can be good and bad." The brunette's eyes looked towards the top of her head trying to think of a situation where independence could be bad. "I can tell you're trying to think about that."
"Yeah, I mean. If you don't rely on others you don't get screwed over all the time, I believe people are generally good though so, I don't think they screw you over on purpose."
"Until you have to rely on someone. Like me."
"I don't want to have to rely on anyone. It's nice that I can, but it prevents me from being disappointed."
"That pessimistic attitude! That's what turns me on about you!" She started laughing. "I love your laugh. It makes me smile." The cheerleader looked ahead and saw the signs.
"Race?"
"To where? I don't know this lake as well as you."
"Hell's Gate. Go left and just keep going it will be on your right. Wait, who am I kidding? You'll be following me anyways."
"That's cocky, and sexy."
"On 3. 1..2.." She took off before she said 3 and Lucas followed behind her.
"She cheats, I like it!" The morning air was cool and every time water splashed on him, he shivered from its chill. Riley didn't seem to mind it as much, she looked beautiful. He was of course watching in front of him. But, everytime he'd glance over, her hair was blowing in the wind, her smile was huge and she wasn't wearing any make up. Just the way he liked it. A quick 5 minute trip and they were in the cove.
"I win!"
"What do you get if you win? I think we should've set those terms before we raced." His grin was perfect.
"Ultimate bragging rights, and" Her eyes circled and locked on him. "And, ice cream. You have to buy me a gallon of ice cream."
"But, then I couldn't take you out for ice cream. How about, I take you to get ice cream 5 times?"
"You'd think it was a date."
"Correction, it would be a date." The sunlight shone perfectly behind her head, the glow around her mixed with her smile made her look like an angel. He stared, she was so pretty. The brunette stood up to break the silence and dove in the water. "What are you doin'?"
"Swimming. It's the act of being in water and moving from point A to point B."
"I thought it was you trying to get away."
"If I was tryin' to get away would I invite you in?" He stood up revealing his God like abs and dove in. "See, the water feels great. The ride back will be pretty bad though."
"You're gonna make my truck smell like lake water."
"Well, then maybe i'll ride with someone else." She raised her eyebrows and giggled.
"Oh yeah?" The brunette started to swim away when she saw the look in his eye. He grabbed her ankle and pulled her back. "No m'am."
She was giggling, and flopping around like a fish out of water. "Let me go."
"Say you'll ride with me!" He pulled her closer to him. "Say it!" Riley went under water and got her ankle loose. "Oh, you hiding from me?" The cheerleader snuck up behind him and pushed on his shoulders, dunking him under water and immediately swam away. "You're gonna get it! You just wait." He ran his fingers through his hair.
"We'll see." She smirked. "You ready to go?" She climbed onto her jet ski but fell off.
"Havin' trouble?" He swam towards her laughing as she fell off again.
"No. I am not. Just can't get the right footin'."
"Here." He grabbed her waist, Riley's heart stopped. "Let me help." The brunette nodded and he instantly flung her into the air and on the jet ski.
"Wow." She whispered, then immediately turned to the side hoping he didn't hear.
"Thanks. I appreciate that." He climbed onto his sea doo and winked. "Where we headed?"
"We can just ride. It's only like 8 o'clock."
"When do we have to be back? I didn't hear what Shawn said." Riley chuckled.
"Around 10." The brunette squeezed out the excess water from her hair.
"2 hours of Riley time. I like that." Her hands fell from her hair.
"Have you figured out why you're obsessed with me yet?" Her smile kept the conversation light hearted.
"I think it's your astounding wit that's keeping me around. Who would want kindness when i've got sheer attitude." Riley couldn't help but chuckle.
"You're pretty optimistic."
"Well, I have to balance out the pessimistic attitude if our relationship is going to work." He started circling her jet ski.
"You're awful sure of yourself."
"I just know what i'm capable of. I am capable of a lot of things, but I feel like i'd excel in making you happy."
"What makes you say that?" She quit following him and looked at her seat.
"Oh come on sweetheart. You're a smart girl. I've made you happy so far haven't I?" The brunette didn't answer. "Of course I do." The cheerleader dropped her jaw and followed him with her eyes. "We enjoy spending time together. I don't know if you feel the same way, but you make me very nervous. I know what you want out of a boyfriend."
"You've known me for 5 days."
"Then that should tell you something."
"Enlighten me."
"I've known you for 5 days and i'm this confident! I know that you're a hardworker and very smart. I know you don't think you're as great as you truly are, and I blame Charlie. You want romance but you don't want to admit that."
"Oh, why wouldn't I admit to that?"
"It would break the guard that you've put up." He parked his jet ski right next to hers. "I've already started smashing through. A few more punches and the wall comes tumbling down."
"How long did it take for you to come up with that speech?"
"See! That's what I like, right there." She rolled her eyes, started her sea doo and sped off. "Give me more!" He followed and rode beside her. The pair played in the water for another hour and a half then went back to the house to pack.
"Thanks for the company."
"Don't thank me, it was a purely selfish move."
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"How was your morning ride?" Josh laid on his bed and watched Lucas pack.
"Great. She's tough to crack though."
"I could have told you she would be! But, i'd rather you bug her than Charlie." Lucas chuckled and zipped his bag.
"Was Maya that feisty?"
"Are you kidding? She wanted to date me and it still took a lot of coercing."
"She wants to date me bro, don't diminish progress."
"I'm saying, she wasn't saying 'no, I don't want a boyfriend right now'. But, it took a lot of taming and a lot of Riley."
"A lot of Riley? What do you mean?" The running back sat on his bed.
"I mean, Riley has a way of calming people. It's like a gift, she's like that girl from X-Men Wolverine where when she touches you she can manipulate you. It's weird, i've gotten out of several fights with Charlie because of her."
"Yeah, she did that with Charlie and I on the first day of school. I didn't really look into it that much though, but that makes sense."
"Anyways, Riley convinced her to go on a date, Maya's always been skeptical because her dad ran off. But, just so you know Riley wasn't always guarded."
"Charlie?"
"Yes sir. He did a number on her and didn't even know it. Hell, she didn't even know it until after she got out."
"So, she wasn't always sarcastic?"
"I didn't say that, she was. But, she wasn't as quick. Either way though, she clearly struck your fancy."
"You got that right."
"She's mine bucko!" Farkle appeared out of nowhere and made the guys laugh.
"Farkle, you have Smackle."
"Point?" Lucas started laughing.
"You can't have all 3 of them."
"Says who? When I rule the world that will be the first law to go."
"I'll fight you for Maya." Josh raised his eyebrow. Farkle turned to Lucas.
"I'll fight you for Riley."
"BATTLE OF WITS!" Lucas and Josh threw a pillow at Farkle and he ran off.
"That guy, is interesting. He's funny though."
"Don't worry about him. He was a lot worse before Smackle came along."
"I don't even want to think about that."
"Eh, he means well. He's one of the good ones."
"ALRIGHT GUYS, WE GOTTA GO!" Lucas grabbed his bag and walked into the living room where he saw Riley sitting on the couch.
"Hey beautiful."
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