After making short introductions, interwoven with many smiles, Beth finally met Annie's eyes with a question on her face. It couldn't be Annie got a hold of her to urgently introduce her to a new friend. There was also something a little formal in the way that Annie and Sylvie had their arms folded on the the table, nearly matching each others' body language.
"Sorry, I just remembered, I needed to tell my sister something," Annie said pseudo-casually, motioning to her head as if she'd just remembered something important.
Beth scrutinized the graphic designer flyer between the girls and Lucy, failing to find any clues as to why that was seated on the table.
"I needed to tell my sister something?" Beth asked once she and Annie were out of Lucy's earshot, huddled in the narrow hallway by the bathrooms. Beth pulled at her hair, pushing it forward.
"Well, I did!"
"What's going on?" Beth glanced at the back of Lucy's head. Sylvie was smiling, her hand bringing the flyer closer to her.
"We have a plan," Annie lifted her hands, her eyes shining.
Beth shook her head, a little wary, and motioned for Annie to continue.
"Lucy's a graphic designer. A professional. We saw her working here with her laptop, she had this whole set up," Annie smiled, motioning with her hands downwards.
Beth inched her head lower, trying to follow her sister's trail of thought.
"Do you remember something, in particular, that needed replacing," Annie said, knotting her hands together, as a young man squeezed behind Beth. "From a few days ago." She continued.
Beth blinked at her, thinking of her conversation with Annie at Rio's house. Like a lifetime ago. Her question to Annie about what she and Sylvie had destroyed.
"She's going to make you plates?!" Beth's eyes widened.
Annie pushed downwards with her hand more steadily, shushing Beth.
"She's going to make the design. The plates should be the easy part," Annie said, with a little less confidence. "It's gotta look legit."
Beth was still confused. "What were the plates of?" Beth asked, trying to remember if Annie had shared that.
"We didn't know at first but-"
Annie's eyebrows raised, and Beth flashed to a younger Annie pouting to get Beth to give her and her friends a ride.
"Bills."
"They were making bi- they were make counterfeit bills?" Beth spoke lowly and Annie nodded. Beth thought it over. No wonder they had been so angry. "How do you know she'd be any good? You just met her."
"Trust me," Annie said. "She was getting all into the details of these designs. She showed us what she works on. For over an hour. She's… She has a lot of stories," she closed her eyes briefly. "But she's way talented."
Lucy was moving her head and Sylvie nodded her head, listening.
"She's going to do it?" Beth asked.
"Well, she doesn't know that yet."
"So I'm – I'm here to talk to her?"
"To help." Annie put her hand out. "You're practically an adult."
Beth raised her eyebrows at her.
"You know what I mean."
She understood. Annie thought Beth was older- and she was, and that it would maybe make the offer – whatever it was – sound more legitimate.
"So what's the plan?" Beth asked, willing to give it a try.
"So we are planning a fundraiser night, a casino type game event, and we want the guests-" Annie made eye contact with Beth, raised her hand. "To feel like they're dealing with real money."
Sylvie and Annie nodded.
Lucy seemed unimpressed.
"Isn't it a crime to use real money?"
Sylvie waved her hand, a little nervously, like that wasn't an issue.
Annie smiled again. "Well, it's not gonna be real money. But we want people to feel that it's real. People get a kick of that."
"You don't play with money at a casino," Lucy shook her head. "You get it at the end."
"Yeah..." Annie started and paused.
"You see people will use that money to trade it in for real prizes," Beth smiled, the words finding themselves easily. "We've done something this before, people just get a real kick out of it. We auction some of the items. It's all part of the game."
Lucy had left to take a call with Max, her boyfriend, agreeing to get back and continue talking. It had taken a little more conversation, but she'd gotten more interested once Beth concentrated on the purpose of the fundraiser, helping Detroit at-risk youth.
Lucy was a character, Beth could see when she'd joined Lucy and Sylvie at the table.
"We were just talking about Max," Sylvie said, in a tone that made it sound she wasn't sure what to make of her.
But as long as she could pull it off and Beth could work with her, that was what mattered.
The girls exchanged smiles once Lucy had left the coffee shop, a hope hovering above them. Maybe this could be it, Beth thought. A relief filled her with a strange hint of something missed.
"When are you going to talk with gan- Rio?" Annie corrected herself.
"What?" Beth glanced between her sister and Sylvie. "Why do I have to talk with him?"
"I'm not talking to him," Sylvie tapped on the table.
"I'm not doing it," Annie said resolutely.
"It was your idea," Beth exclaimed, tilting her head.
"What do you care?" Annie asked her and Beth reminded herself to tone it down. "You're bffs."
Flashing to the night before, Beth tried to cover up the memory, hoping nothing showed on her face.
"Ugh," She groaned, pulling up her cell phone.
"Hey now," Rio answered after a few interminable rings, Beth immediately reading into his tone without meaning to or wanting to.
"Hi," Beth said, her cheeks warming at his voice. "I was just sitting here at Lou's,"
"Yeah?"
What was she doing? Get to the point.
"You should get here. There's something that we want to talk to you about."
"We?"
"Yeah," Beth nodded without thinking. "Your sister and my sister. No," she said as Rio started making a disgruntled sounding noise. "It's good."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah," Beth said more firmly, encouraged the uptick in Rio's voice. "It's probably best you get here. Sylvie can explain it to you," She said, staring squarely at Sylvie who tapped her fingers on the table again and sulked.
Lucy had returned, chatting about Max and their phone call, probably picking up from where she'd left off with Sylvie.
"We talk seven times a day if we're not together," She laughed.
"Seven times?" Annie asked.
It didn't seem too unusual. It was common enough for Beth and Dean to call and text, if not text often during the day, especially when things had been good. Just with living together there came more texts. But Dean would send her sweet or funny messages here and there, which true, had become more funny with time. She'd missed that.
"It's a kind of superstition."
Beth and Annie nodded as Beth prayed for Sylvie and Rio to get inside the coffee shop. Just like Annie had done with her it was Sylvie's turn to update her brother was how she figured it should work. But she was itching to get them all talking already. So long in the last few days was she waiting for something to happen.
"Good afternoon, ladies," Rio smiled down at the women, Beth forcing herself not to look away when his eyes briefly passed over her, before he introduced himself to Lucy.
Sylvie went to the empty chair beside Lucy and without a word Rio moved to join Annie and Beth on the booth against the wall, the girls squeezing to give him space. Rio settled in front of Lucy.
"Seems like there's a lot of people involved," Lucy fixed the glasses on her eyes as she surveyed the four of them.
Beth nodded, trying to keep a soothing smile as she wished she could step all the way to the other room to avoid Rio leg and arm pushing against her. She saw Lucy trying to avert her eyes from Rio's tattoo and failing and wondered how she took the bruise near Rio's eyes that had changed to a darker shade of purple.
"That's all of us," Beth said assuringly and Lucy's shoulders loosened a little while Beth's posture remained stiff. "Rio's' our-" she paused, struggling to finish her sentence.
"Partner. You know how there's the silent partner," Rio said folding his arms on the table. "I'm kinda the opposite," he smiled widely, his eyes bright.
Sylvie shook her head slightly, looking up with her eyes, and Beth was grateful that Lucy couldn't see her, her attention focused on Rio.
"I was just looking at your website," Rio nodded, and Beth could tell he was impressed. So that's what had taken so long. "Can tell you pay attention to every detail."
"It's all going to a good cause," Rio assured Lucy. "You don't got to volunteer to do this. It takes time to do it. And you live in Detroit?"
"Yeah, I was saying I could work on it there. I don't want to get paid for it," Lucy waved her hand, turning her eyes from Rio, to Beth, and Annie. "Not if it's going to the kids."
Rio smiled reassuringly, but something about the way he was talking with Lucy was, not strange exactly. Not the way he'd talk to her or Annie.
After a few more minutes of conversation, Lucy agreed to Beth offering to stay in touch, Lucy getting back to Detroit in the next week, so they could get the first designs then. It made her feel bad for a moment, Lucy's excitement at being part of help at risk youth. That was quickly replaced by the reality. This needed to be done, she told herself. Better than an alternative of her sister getting hurt.
At the end of their spontaneous meeting, Lucy picked up her bag and laptop, left her card with Beth, before leaving, saying something about horse riding.
"I didn't know you have that here," Annie said as the door closed behind her.
Sylvie grinned happily and Annie too, glancing at Beth who joined in. She turned to Rio who was looking after where Lucy had left.
"Well?" Beth asked him.
Rio's expression was cool as he turned back to her. "We'll see," he said before looking at his sister.
"Happy to help," Sylvie said cooly. "What are you looking at?" She asked Annie, whose attention had turned to the cooled shelves under the cashier's counter.
"The desserts," She said distractedly. "Is that-" She got up, not finishing her sentence, Beth moving quickly to put space between her and Rio.
As she did Sylvie got up too following Annie.
"Thanks for coming," Beth said, her shoulders having not quite relaxed since Rio had come in. She held back a comment about how busy Rio had been, now that yesterday had happened. It's not like they were friends now.
"Yeah," he said, keeping his eyes steady on hers.
"I think this can work," She said, trying to muster confidence. It was easier than she thought, though, when she talked business.
Rio stared back at her, tilting his head slightly to suggest "we'll see."
"So what happens now?" She asked, feeling warmth tinge her cheeks. She definitely meant this, what Rio would do now that they were talking with Lucy. Would he talk with someone on his - team? What the next step was, but as his expression slackened, she knew he was giving weight to the pause to - make it seem as if she were talking about them. She just met his gaze, waiting him out, not about to give him the satisfaction of thinking he was getting to her, making her frazzled.
"See what they say," he finally said, and though it bugged her how little he was giving her, she tried to keep her face as neutral as she could. This was going to be how much he'd give her.
Sylvie and Annie came back, one with a slice of banana pie and the second with a pyramid shaped chocolate dessert.
"You want something?" Annie asked, before sitting down.
Beth shook her head no, turning her face to Rio who looked away from her immediately, like he was caught staring at her. An abrupt pleasant rush flitted in her stomach at his response as he answered Annie he was good.
"I'll see you back at the house," Rio said, and it wasn't clear if he'd said it to her or Sylvie and Annie.
As he stepped away Beth felt herself breathe easier, be able to take deeper breathes. It had been uncharacteristically gentle, hadn't it? His voice when he'd answered the phone. He knew it was her, he had her number. Had gotten it some time around their first day at the cabin when they'd all exchanged phone numbers (and to see Rio's face as Annie asked for it was priceless). No, stop, she told herself.
She wasn't used to this, the day after. Or rather, admittedly, it had never happened before. But it wouldn't always be like this, she told herself. Give it some time.
Her screen rang with Ruby's number. Beth got up and stepped out, eager to talk to her friend and hear how she was doing. Just as excited to talk with her Beth was seamlessly and equally ready not to share anything but the bare minimum with her friend. She'd catch her up on it all when she'd get back. A very specific part of it anyway.
"Hold on, Stan just asked me something. What?"
Beth waited as they spoke and distractedly turned to the bulletin board outside the coffee shop, her eyes stopping at one colorful flyer. Another cooking class was coming up, a week from today.
"Excuse me," An older woman interrupted her pause by the door, and motioned with her hand to the entrance. Beth apologized and stepped outside into the sunny air.
"We're good," he said, leaning against the wall beside Beth's room, facing the girls.
For the past few hours Beth, Sylvie and Annie had sat around at the house, Beth and Annie occasionally asking each other if it would work, if Lucy'd be their ticket to fix what had happened. Sylvie had stayed quiet, her feet on the side of the couch, only offering she wasn't going to guess what her brother was doing.
"I'm sure he wants to get home too," she'd said.
Now with Rio standing in front of them Beth shook her head.
"What does that mean?" She put her palms up.
"It means we can go home," Sylvie said, exchanging smiles with Annie.
"Really?" Beth's eyes shot back to Rio.
He nodded.
"Don't you wanna see the plates first?" Annie asked the question Beth had to admit she herself was thinking
"We got time to make it work," Rio said cryptically.
"Means that something else came up that's distracting them from this," Sylvie translated. "That works for me."
Too bad Sylvie wasn't always there to decipher his sentences, Beth considered. Rio = English dictionary.
"Her designs are all right," Rio admitted. "Maybe you worked something good out for once," he narrowed his eyes at his sister, but Beth could see affection in them.
Sylvie curtsied to him, reminding her of her sister. Though Sylvie had actually done it sarcastically, which she didn't think she'd seen before.
"Ben," Annie said with relief and Sylvie hugged her shoulder.
Just like that. She had to catch up to the whiplash of Rio's announcement. They could go home. She could go home. Finally.
Though she knew packing wouldn't take long Beth still spent some time putting away her clothes, figuring Annie'd need some help tomorrow and that she'd want to finish up the cleaning she didn't get done today. Rio and Sylvie had tried to tell her she didn't have to mop and dust, but Beth said it wasn't a big deal as she went through the pantry to discard expired cans of food. The two ended up lending a hand with cleaning, with Annie volunteering as well but mostly entertaining Sylvie as the latter worked.
It felt better this way, with the biggest task for the following morning left to be washing the lien. She'd try to get an early start on that, maybe try to sneak in a load of some clothes too, just so she wouldn't- well.
Now that they were heading home and things were looking to turn around with Lucy's help, dinner was speckled with easy laughter as relief could be felt from everyone. Mona had even joined them briefly as it was the last night before they'd leave, though she'd had to leave fairly early. Beth hadn't gotten to make amends as she'd liked, she thought as she watched Mona leave, but she'd hope it was a step.
Once two girls had done the dishes, courtesy of Rio's firm encouragement, Annie and Sylvie huddled on one of the couches, lost in their own laughter, still texting with Lucy as they'd done since the afternoon, showing Beth and Rio photos of her yellow bird Au Ju.
All in all Beth felt she kept a good face when it came to Rio, acting as if nothing happened. In fact she didn't even think about what they'd done the night before, and if she wasn't looking at him she could almost forget it altogether. It helped Rio didn't seem to act unusual at all, was talking to her just as usual – what wasn't that much, though at times while the group was talking she felt his eyes linger on her, and when she'd give in and look his eyes were focused on hers even if she wasn't speaking, felt him seconds away from breaking into a smile, sensing her cheeks warming up as a result.
One more night, she thought as she looked towards the direction of the lake, hidden in the darkness, from her seat at the kitchen counter. Her last night. It'd be colder to swim in now that the sun had gone down. She really would miss being out here. Annie and Sylvie had gone upstairs, still laughing, chatting away. A burst of their laughter echoed from the second floor, and Beth heard Rio walk into the kitchen.
"I'm going out on a walk," Beth said, hopping off her chair and meeting Rio's questioning face. After pushing her leg forward she stopped and raised her face to him. "Wanna come?"
"Yeah," he said, his hands in the pockets of his hoodie.
The two made their way along the path on the lake, the warm night relieved by a cool breeze.
For a while they didn't talk, and she didn't mind that. She wasn't quite sure what to say, only certain she had no intention to talk anything out with him. Just take a walk.
"You got yourself back on schedule for tomorrow?" He asked.
She glanced at him, before understanding he meant the Dairy Queen. She shook her head.
"I know you were itching to get back."
Not that she hadn't thought about home a lot, like anyone would she thought. Get back to Dean too. Had that been what he'd meant? Though he hadn't said it, he'd called him her husband and Beth hadn't corrected him to say they were engaged. And they still were. Still the suggestion snaked itself in his words. Rio shouldn't know about her personal life when she still knew so little about his. Nor, honestly, would he actually care. Last night had to have meant to him what it had meant to her. A release. She saw how women watched him at the bar, was certain he knew he was aware of it. Of course it hadn't meant anything to him. And for her – well, he was the one who'd happened to be there.
"Do you have friends everywhere?" She pushed a branch out of her way.
"Whatchu mean?"
"You were always out. Last few days."
"Did you miss me?" He teased with a big stupid smile, and of course he'd turn it against her.
She just rolled her eyes and shook her head. "No," perplexed her stomach squeezed a little.
"I just know people, that's all."
"People you work with?"
Rio nodded. "Some."
"It's beautiful," Beth stopped at an opening in the trees, distracted by the view, watching the water, the moon illuminated on its surface. They'd been walking but she hadn't taken a pause to appreciate it, as little she was distracted by the company, of hoping of how they'd fall back into the routine before. Just kept working together. Together and apart.
Her eyes on the lake's surface, escaped strands of her hair pushed behind her ear as Rio's fingers went down the length of her face, tucking them away. It surprised her when he did it but she didn't flinch back. Instead she watched him, hypnotized, as he kept his eyes on her. The air smelled of damp earth and leaves, and through it she could still smell him, and despite what she knew better, that hook in her chest was pulling her closer.
It couldn't have just be anyone, she corrected herself. The idea repulsed her, to meet a total stranger and do that. But she wasn't looking to start anything either. That she was absolute certain of. But now, at this moment, when she didn't want to talk about what happened the night before, and she wasn't sure how to say goodbye-
It was another moment.
As the seconds passed and she kept her eyes locked on his, he stood still. Watching her. A bird flapped its wings above them.
He wasn't going to kiss her. That was clear.
Slowly and gently she rose on her tiptoes, brushing her lips against his, giving in to feeding the small flame of want in her chest. She kissed him once, lingering on his lips, inhaling the clean air of the trees surrounding them, before breaking away. The sounds of the forest raised again as she pulled away from him and she returned to him, wanting more, to taste him again, this time his lips moving to meet hers, before she stepped back, slowly opening her eyes.
Nervousness rattled her just a little as he was so slow to respond. She'd just have to flee if he'd laugh at her, she thought in sudden alarm, when Rio's expression changed and she could almost hear it click in place before he met her lips with greater force, both making her take a step back from the momentum and pulling her towards him, their bodies sinking against each other as his kiss grew more urgent.
Sharp exhales of breathe filled her ears, at once by her as by him, and her back was against the wall separating the path from the forest, and she wondered how that had happened. Again.
They broke apart, Beth's eyes still closed, and she lowered her feet to the ground. She opened them, catching Rio licking his lower lip. He watched her for a moment before stepping back and she exhaled, again listening to the forest sounds around them, before nodding and glancing up the path to say, let's keep going.
Neither spoke but on occasion Rio would stop, put his hand protectively over her leg.
"What?"
Rio shook his head. "Thought I heard something."
Beth smiled. "Do you ever walk out here?" She figured he'd have to when he comes and visits but maybe she'd been wrong.
"Not really," he admitted, and she glanced away when he met her eyes, reminded of what they'd just done.
The fact he seemed more of an urban guy made her smile widen for some reason. It would be fun to take him camping, an errant thought made its way to her thoughts. Though it would've be smart to take a flashlight, but with it being a near full moon she reasoned there'd be enough light.
The tension had grown and lapped at her, working its way through her skin, through her veins. It had been present all day, but it intensified, pulling thinner. Asking why not as her body warmed, a string pulled tighter and tighter in her chest. Itching at her fingers. An ember lighting bright orange each time her hand touched his by mistake.
She'd never meant to kiss him, and she wasn't sure she regretted it, but it wasn't enough, and it ached her to admit it, though not as much as it bothered her that was the case in the first place.
"We should head back," he said, and she wondered if he'd had enough, then annoyed she'd even care.
They climbed up to the forest patch. The house wasn't visible beyond the trunks of the trees, not even an indoor light. She hadn't thought they'd walked that long. They started their way back and as they threaded around the trees and bushes their steps slowed, each wordlessly following the other's rhythm until they finally stopped. Urgency and want pulling one way at her, too strong, like a rubber band stretched apart, and when she met his eyes she knew it was there too. She'd wanted goodbye. Don't think, don't think.
Both glanced on the ground and back to each other, and it was clear neither was drawn to that option. Beth smiled, leaning against the tree, before turning her back to him, slowly, peeking at him in anticipation, moving to reach for her dress.
"No," he said firmly and quietly and her body froze as her brain processed the rejection. Confusion relieved it a little as his body pushed her against the tree, and he breathed her in deeply as he sank his face in the crook between her hair and her shoulder. She swallowed and he pulled her by the arm and turned her around to face him.
"I want you to look at me," he said, pushing her hair from her face, and she exhaled sharply before he lifted her up and held her by her waist against the tree. Just like he'd done the night before.
Only this time the scuffing of the tree's bark gnawed against her back, pulling at the top of her dress. Her legs against his the denim of his jeans, grazing against the hard material. Her hands, what does she do with them, while his were everywhere and she closed her eyes. Him panting in her ear, telling her how much he wanted her. Her groaning back that she wanted him too. So much. Biting her lip as she realized she said them aloud and she couldn't take them back, the words circling around them.
Her legs around his waist, trying to keep her balance, and she was definitely going to have marks on her back but she could barely focus on that, think of what they were doing, again, only on the pleasure, only on how he was pushing her heart rate up, up, up.
Through it they'd kiss, the dam crumbled to pieces, like something she couldn't take back, but too often one would reach forward, searching for the other's lips, and the other would pull back distractedly, closing their eyes, taken in by the moment. In the back of her mind, taking in her body's reaction to him, Beth craved it when he'd kiss her, when he'd hold the back of her neck as he did, bringing her closer.
Now that she'd initiated it, given the green light that they could kiss, Rio seemed eager to take advantage, seemed to relish in kissing her. Beth knew she shouldn't feel warmer for it, shouldn't feel flattered, but that wasn't quite the right word, knew it didn't mean anything.
If anyone would've told her a week ago, even yesterday, she'd be doing this, outdoors, risking someone walking in on her, wandering in on them, as remote as the spot was, she'd laugh at their face.
"Wait," She said as she felt his mouth going to the side of her neck. He'd already left a mark the night before that she'd need to cover for days before it'd go away, and now that she'd be getting home the next day... Rio made a displeased sound in his throat, but ventured further into her neck, hidden away, locking his mouth, like he belonged there, sucking at her skin. Beth took a sharp inhale of breathe, couldn't stop a moan from escaping her lips. A minute later his forehead was touching hers as they breathed heavily. Beth licked her lips as she watched Rio's neck, a vein visible. Pulling his neck towards her with her hand while leaning towards him her lips finding his neck. Rio's groan before he pushed her off made its way right to her chest.
"I ain't got long hair," he smiled at her as he pushed her, and she could tell he was trying to do it gently enough.
It was her who let out an annoyed sound this time, hurting to hear him make that sound again. She kissed him, pulling her lips down, dropping to his collarbone, stopping a little lower. This time Rio didn't push her, but stopped, and she imagined him with his eyes closed as he caressed her hair.
Once their heart rates slowed back, he lowered her down, and she gingerly stepped on the ground. While darkness sheltered them she felt exposed as she smoothened down her dress, avoiding meeting his eyes. It had happened again. It was goodbye, she knew, but not quite when she couldn't just leave, not when they'd be heading to the same place. Her eyes locked on his before glancing away.
He wasn't moving either, nor making a move to utter a word, and it was a little longer before finally she looked up again. He motioned with his head towards the house with a small smile and she nodded, moving to side up to him as he started walk. Fixing her hair, the noise of their steps filled her ears again.
It would've been easier if she could just leave as she did the night before, that she didn't have this quiet left in her hands, interspersed by a few words from him, a few from her, casual light words that said nothing of what they'd just done. That same relief was there, just as she'd felt the night before but it had gone just a little deeper. She shook the thought away. They hadn't kissed the night before. It didn't matter that they did. It's the moment after she didn't really think about each time. A heaviness to it, a complicated one, that she had no interest in lingering on. Still, she didn't regret it.
Their steps had slowed down as the house emerged, its lights still on on the first floor.
"You wanna go in?" Rio interrupted the silence, motioning with his head towards the water this time, when they'd stopped just a few steps short of the door. Beth turned her face from the dark horizon and his face, thinking, before she nodded a few times with a smile.
"Race you," she said playfully, eager to shatter that tension that had built up, again, running off before hearing Rio's steps quickly matching hers. He grabbed her by her waist, spinning her before letting her go, Beth's laugh carrying, before her let, briefly looking back to find her take chase after him.
He stopped at the short pier, watching her with a big grin, the two catching their breathe, each waiting for the other to get in. Beth stepped closer to Rio, knocking her hip against him, not even expecting to do more than get a laugh, but Rio must've been standing close to the water, and he fell back, a wave of water hitting her dress. She laughed.
Rio came out and put his hand over his face. "You coming?"
He was certainly going to get her back.
Her dress left on the dry deck beside them shejoined him in the water, her breathe catching in her chest at the coolness of the water enveloping her. It was chillier than she'd expected and she was grateful the air was still warm. Surely enough less than a moment that she'd gotten in the water Rio lifted her up and she shrieked loudly before he dropped her back in the water. Splashing him with water and laughing, she caught herself. She didn't want to be found right now, not by her sister nor by Rio's sister. It wasn't even that she'd thought Annie would tell on her to Dean. It was just better she didn't know.
Because it didn't matter? It was just a moment in time.
They played in the water for a little bit, swimming and circling each other, her wary he'd try to catch her again, less worried about tumbling around with him than forgetting where she was, or who was not too far from them.
"OK, that's – that's great," She said as Rio pulled his boxers and tossed them over to the wooden platform, almost missing it, his boxers hitting heavily with a wet thump.
Slowly they approached each other, Rio grabbing at her and Beth pulling away as he'd try to tickle her. She'd tried to hush him – "we're going to wake them up," but as she couldn't stop laughing at his playfulness as he reached for her.
Interchanging between Beth wrapping her legs around his waist and kissing him and swimming, she was still conscious they were making probably too much noise. Any noise was amplified at night. Occasionally she glimpsed back at the second floor but thankfully no lights came on. Maybe Sylvie and Annie had tired themselves out. It was hard to care about being heard, being caught, but she still tried. She was just having such a good time.
"I'm sure they're asleep by now," he said, as if reading her mind. "They've been staying up every night," he said.
She nodded. It's just us here, she heard him say between his words.
"Look up," he said when they stopped playing around and her legs were wrapped around his. Beth tilted her head up, stretching her neck back.
"Wow."
The sky was blanketed with stars, shining above them. Rio kissed her neck. She turned around so her back was to his chest, leaning against his shoulder.
The water splashed around them quietly. Crickets chirped and if the water stopped splashing around them long enough she could even hear frogs. For a brief minute they watched the black shining sky above them, Beth's arms finding her way around Rio's shoulders, his hands steady on her waist.
She exclaimed when she saw a flash across the sky. "See that?" When she spotted a shooting star.
"Don't get this back home, huh," Rio leaned down to kiss her neck.
Nothing close, Beth thought as she shook her head. It was beautiful. When was the last time that she'd seen a sky like this? When she'd gone camping with her parents? She couldn't remember if Annie had come too. Not since then. When she and De-
"Hey, you here?"
She'd slipped away. Back home. Back to the day after. She blinked, not wanting to go there yet. That was tomorrow. She broke away from Rio's embrace, kissed him, and swam back, letting go of her feet so they rose and she was floating, her entire view taken by the blanket of sky above her.
She imagined other lives on the stars, even if that wasn't real. That someone else was feeling what she was, that someone else was content in that moment.
She squealed as something warm and strong grabbed her foot. Her arms flailed as she tried to regain her balance. It was Rio, who pulled her by her foot towards him. She returned his smile and tried to relax into a floating position as he pulled and pushed her playfully.
As she eased on the surface his fingers started to rub her foot, putting pressure into it, his thumb working into her skin. She closed her eyes, getting lost in the feeling of it. He needed to stop that or she was just going to sink to the bottom, it felt so good. She never realized it could feel so good.
It was hard to concentrate though and before she knew it she lost her balance, then lost it again and started going underwater. She came up as Rio was laughing.
"Come on," He said, coaxing her to get on her back.
"No, I had enough." A water foot rub wasn't worth losing her ground and going under every few minutes. Even if Rio knew exactly what he was doing and her skin still felt the stretch of his fingers once they were gone.
"So what's the first job?" She said, facing him, comfortably falling into a favorite question.
"What job?"
She smiled widely at him, realizing he really didn't know what she was talking about until his eyes cleared.
"Oh, you're on the pay roll now?" He turned the question back on her.
It was never straightforward with him was it, she thought, annoyed. But it was a done deal now that Lucy was involved – done deal enough, anyway. Once things got fixed, she'd be able to work. He'd told her that much.
"You already told me that me and my sister we were," she answered confidently, choosing to exclude Ruby for the moment. Though she hadn't talked to her best friend, she imagined she'd need money just as much.
"I said you. Not your sister."
"It was us who got you back on track, remember? And I didn't do anything with Mona," she added innocently.
"Keep my sister out of it," he non answered her.
"Your sister's a big girl. Didn't she say that?"
"Elizabeth."
"I can't control what your sister does," she shook her head. It wasn't like she could control Annie anymore. And if Rio couldn't control his own sister, how could she?
No more than she could control Rio and by the look on his face, no more than he controlled her.
"It's my sister, OK? My blood."
"I'll try. Maybe you should give her another one of your talks," she rubbed her chin, trying to keep her voice serious.
He grabbed at her in response and Beth yelped, her hand flying to her mouth. Gently he pried her hand away, his annoyance at her teasing gone, and he met her lips with an exhale of breathe. Her hands found their way to his neck. It was easier to touch him.
"Wanna take a shower first?" He asked her when they'd both slowed down, when their kisses got unhurried.
Beth nodded but didn't move away, not wanting to break up the moment, to leave quite yet.
"OK, then go," he snapped at her and Beth laughed and kissed him.
He had offered her to take a shower so he wasn't getting out first. She was laughing when he pulled her back and kissed her neck when she finally started to climb out heavily, being pulled down by gravity. Stepping away she turned her head back to him watching her. Heard him splashing in the water as she got her clothes. As she stepped closer to the house goosebumps appeared on her skin but less bothered by the chill but she was more worried about leaving puddles of water on her way to the bathroom. She dried herself off more carefully before opening the the door to the cabin's back porch.
"You're up," she called out, refreshed from her shower, carrying the towel barefoot down the wooden pier.
"Five more minutes, ma," he told her, back stroking.
Beth shivered as the leaves rustled in the trees above them. "It's only going to get colder. Come on."
"I can see," he teased.
Her lips squeezed together as she resisted the urge to laugh while holding the towel tighter so not to throw it in the water. "OK, I'm setting this towel down now," She leaned over and started putting the towel down.
"I'll come over if you give me a kiss," he said, his voice echoing off the house.
Beth put her hands on her hips. "You have five seconds."
Rio shook his head at her stubbornly.
"Five."
Water kicked up as he smiled and swam away from her.
"Four."
She moved on to three as he continued splashing by the pier and she stepped aside to stop errant waves from making contact with her clothes.
At two he kicked at the lake behind him and in a second he was standing in front of her, water pounding down on the short pier. Beth grabbed the towel and held it up, covering his lower half. He laughed as he took hold of it.
"If you get me wet-" She warned him, and touched his lips with hers quickly to shut him up as his eyes widened. He kissed her back, languidly, water still drizzling down. She moaned into the kiss as he slipped his tongue in her mouth.
His hand wrapped around her neck, holding her in place. She mumbled into the kiss, pulling away and holding her finger up, trying not to smile. "What did I say?"
Rio pouted, taking the towel away from her and she looked away as he started drying off his face and chest, moving down. He had no modest bone in his body.
"Come on, baby, don't be like that," he said.
She still kept her eyes cast away until he tied the towel around his waist.
"You good?"
"Yes," she stepped forward into him and his arms wrapped around her waist.
Beth blinked as the seconds passed quietly passed, leaves brushing and rustling, thinking of everything she wanted to say. What she felt in that moment, the two of them standing on the pier, listening to crickets and water lapping at the bank. What she'd taken from it. What it meant to her. It was just an escape, just a short moment in time, it wasn't that it would change anything. But she'd been in it with him and something pushed her to share that aloud.
But the words stayed in her eyes, unsaid, and finally they broke away, and Rio put his finger under her chin, smiling brightly, before starting to walk off the dock.
"You coming?" He asked when she didn't move.
"I'll be right there."
She hadn't realized she'd missed this so much, she thought, the quiet sky looking down at her. The sparkling bright stars made the night seemed so loud, like silent drums beating. She couldn't believe that the illuminated sky was the same that followed her when she walked from her home at the end of the day or when she sat on a back patio of a restaurant with Ruby, Stan, and Dean.
That would be a lovely place to go to, she thought before she could stop herself, imagining other places to visit where she could see the stars as brilliantly. A lovely place for a honeymoon.
By the time she'd come inside Rio was in the kitchen. She headed into her room and sat on her bed, put her hands on the made up covers. Suddenly the silence was deafening and the room felt too large. Too large just for her.
"Hey," She knocked on the bathroom door when she couldn't find him.
The door swung open. "What's up?" He asked. "Forgot something?"
"Uh," Beth responded blankly, wanting to hit herself at her inability to speak as she lost her nerve.
Rio waited, then looked at her strangely. "What? You need a tampon or something?" When he didn't get an answer he smiled, "I got two sisters-"
"No, no," she said, mortified with how casually he'd brought that up. It took Dean a year before he got comfortable saying the word. Though, she supposed, he didn't have any sisters. "I'm OK. Do you think – can I stay over in your room tonight?"
He paused for a second before answering. "All right."
Having been given permission, she stepped lightly through the doorway to his room, failing to bat away her joy at his agreement. His Cadillac was visible between the blinds. Lying in his bed and closing her eyes, she breathed in his smell. She was going to miss it. Her hand went to the book on the side table and she read the back cover, pictured him imagining the story unfold. OK, she stopped herself, setting the book down.
What was happening to her? She was all right, she reassured herself. All this was just a break from her life. She'd come here because of her sister, but it ended up giving her a chance to be away from Dean and maybe she needed to take some steps back to realize what she wanted was what she was coming home to. It was what she wanted, she told herself.
What she wanted from Rio was just one result – work. Money, that she needed and would continue to need. And even if she weren't with Dean she'd never pursue this. She knew that with certainty. Not only would it get messy mixing business with – this, but Rio was hardly a guy she'd walk into the sunset with. He lived this life. She was just a guest, popping in and back to her life. Do this for a short time until she could get out. Yes, he had a family, like she did, but this was who he was. Not what he did. Big difference.
Finally she got under the blankets, pushing her feet under them. This? This was just saying goodbye. It wasn't a big deal. Throwing the blankets off to the side she walked back to the doorway and turned off the lights. She treaded carefully to the bed, leaving a small light on for Rio. Her feet disappearing under the blankets she was already missing him. No, no she wasn't. This wasn't about that, she reminded herself.
It was something she couldn't tell anyone, she knew. Not the last few days. As far as it was with Dean, this made them even. She didn't want to think of it this way but maybe she'd needed to get it out of her system. It didn't mean she'd felt no guilt, and that was that heaviness was about, she told herself, the lingering weight that pushed on her shoulders twice.
But apart from Dean, regardless of him, she'd tell no one of the rest of it. Not how many times she smiled while she was showering tonight. Not that surprising, hard to ignore, thread between them that became nearly visible, not just once, in the last few days when Rio was around her. How the reaction she'd had at the coffee shop when Rio quickly cast his eyes away, how it was pleasing, she knew now, because it was a crack in his coolness after the night before, and that felt - felt good somehow even if it meant nothing. All those pieces, none of them would she tell anyone. Not even Ruby. It wouldn't be so hard. Not once she got back and into the rhythm of things.
Though she was tired, from the day, from the entire trip, she couldn't fall asleep quickly, thinking about where he was, what he was doing. How he'd step into his room. Trying to fit what happened with where she was going. Don't think about that, she chided herself, finally finding peace.
Her eyes opened the second she felt them get heavier. Something she'd forgotten. Her underwear. She thought back to the walk from the forest, to the lake. Even checking her bedroom quickly before returning to Rio's room. No way she'd left it on the ground had she, she groaned to herself, covering her eyes. No, she'd remembered clearly looking at her feet. They hadn't been there. Strange, she thought as she yawned. He hadn't – no, no way. If she'd be less exhausted she'd maybe think of it a little more, maybe she'd care, but the bed was so comfortable and the lack of shuteye was catching up with her.
Maybe she'd fallen asleep by the time that he came in, she wasn't sure. But she felt the mattress move with his weight as he came in and the light going out. Heard him take a deep breathe, and she wanted to believe he was content like she was in that moment. Felt him caressing her arm. The last she heard was her name as his arm squeezed her waist.