Page 46 of With You

“I’ll go and get him,” I tell her, smoothing out my dress as I stand.

I keep fidgeting with my dress as I walk toward them, my fingers curling around the silk that grazes the tops of my legs. I’ve never been nervous to talk to River before, but there’s something about his father I can’t quite put my finger on that makes me feel uneasy on River’s behalf.

River does a double-take as I get closer, and it only takes him a second to excuse himself from the group. His steps are hurried but still measured as he approaches me, his smile transforming his whole face and making him look brighter, the dark cloud that was hanging over him in that small space gone completely now that he’s out of it.

“Your mother asked me to save you,” I tell him when he’s in front of me.

His fingers fold around my hand for a second before we both remember we’re in public, and he drops it. Some part of me wishes he would hold my hand in front of everyone, that we can go back to those dark streets of Milan where we were just two normal people holding hands under the moonlit sky.

“Of course she did,” he laughs, reaching for my hand again so he can tuck it into the crook of his elbow as he pivots us to walk back to the table.

It reminds me of the night of the welcome dinner, when he escorted me to my room. The smell of his aftershave lingered on me as I got ready for bed that night. It’s been on my skin ever since we started dancing together, and I don’t want it to go away.

“Does that happen every time?” I ask him, knowing this isn’t the first event he’s attended with his parents since we started at d’Étoiles.

“Pretty much. Usually it’s my mom who comes to my rescue, but I’m glad it’s you this time,” he says softly.

I want so badly to kiss him, to tell him to forget everything I said about taking it slow, because I want him in this moment, in every moment. River must be thinking the same as he changes our direction, away from the tables and toward the back of the hall, into one of the hallways where no one else is around.

He takes us deeper into the darkness, his hand clinging to mine, our steps hurried as we try to get away from the room. Once we’re far enough in, he spins me until my back hits the cold wall, but that’s not why goosebumps erupt across my skin.

River lifts his free hand to cradle my cheek, his thumb stroking across it as his eyes dart down to my mouth.

“Can I?” River asks, and as soon as I nod, his lips are on mine.

It’s just like the kiss in Milan, but somehow better. River holds me close to him, his heartbeat picking up as his body presses against mine. We shouldn’t be doing this, but I’m tired of pretending this isn’t what I want.

I want River in whatever way I can have him. Whether it’s as a dance partner, or someone I can kiss whenever I want, or something way more. I want it all with him.

“Wow, this is unexpected.”

River tears away from me, tilting his body to shield me from the owner of that familiar voice.

“Layth, this isn’t what you think,” River tells him.

“I don’t really care,” Layth responds, deadpan. “You’re both adults.”

“You cannot tell Zena,” I rush to say, already knowing that there’s no secrets between the two.

“But I tell her everything,” he replies.

In the year and a few months that I’ve known Layth, I have had zero issues with him but right now he is my worst enemy. I push past River to reach Layth, pointing my finger at his chest as I glare up at him.

“If you tell her, I will actually kill you,” I threaten, though I don’t think he takes me seriously, considering I’m craning my neck to look up at him and he could easily kill me first if he wanted to.

“She’ll get it out of me even if I don’t tell her. She always knows when I’m hiding something…”

“You two are really something,” River comments from behind me. “Just let Amelie tell Zena when the time is right. Keep it a secret for as long as you can.”

Layth shrugs, saying nothing else before he walks away, leaving River and I to sit with the aftermath of what’s just happened.

“I don’t think he’ll tell her,” River says, trying to comfort me, his hand circling my wrist. “He’s not a bad guy, really.”

“I know he’s not,” I sigh, as he steps in front of me, pulling me into his arms as I rest my head against his chest. “I have to tell her tonight.”

“If that’s what you want,” he says. “Are you okay with that?”

“Are you?” I ask. “This is about both of us, not just me.”