Always With You - A Best Friends To Lovers Novel

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

River

"And you are sure she's just your friend?" Aiden asked with a skeptical look on his face. We were sitting on the couch, waiting for the time to pass until we could go pick up Bowie and Whitley and nine pm.

I leaned back and drank the last sip of my beer. "We've been friends since we were kids. She's my everything."

"Right...and what have you two been doing in your room while I sat here with Whitley, talking about college football?" he asked, his dark brow raised.

Aiden was what I called a hidden gentleman. He looked like a total player, with girls staring at him everywhere he went with his perfectly straight teeth and olive complexion. But he never gave in to any of the flirting. He was a good guy and the exact opposite of me when I was sleeping around with every girl that past me on campus.

"We cuddled. Talked. That's what we always do," I explained, and he continued to look at me with an indecisive look.

"Listen, man," I said, leaning forward and putting my elbows on my knees. "What Bowie and I have is complicated. All I need for you to do is make sure that no other guy starts hitting on her while I'm not around, and if someone does, send them away."

I was slowly accepting the fact that I thought of Bowie as more than just my best friend. I had no idea what she was really feeling, and I wasn't going to push her, but in my head, the future I had planned out with her since my freshman year of high school was slowly coming together with the way I wanted it to.

"Have you ever asked her out?" Aiden asked, and I shook my head. "I'm getting there."

He nodded, getting up from the chair and pointing to the clock on the wall. "We better get going."

It was eight-fifty, and we had about ten minutes to get to the girls' apartment. I got up, put the empty can down on the coffee table, and grabbed my keys. "I'll take Bowie home tonight. I don't want her to sleep on the couch."

Aiden didn't mind, and I wouldn't be surprised if he and Whitley would spend the night together as well. Whitley has always been up for fun. When Bowie was still in high school, she often called on a Saturday night and wanted to talk until she fell asleep. When they were in their junior year, Bowie refused to go out with Whitley, because all she would do was make out with some random guy and disappear for a while before coming back only to take a drink and disappear again.

It was almost one year later when I made Bowie attend more parties to have some fun, and she slowly but surely started to enjoy them.

I knew I had no control over her when she was out, but her calls and messages late at night were enough for me to not get too jealous. She reassured me that she was home safe, hadn't had too much to drink, of anything, and that she missed me and wished I were there with her.

But while all that happened, I was sleeping with whatever girl batted her eyelashes at me. I had my first time when I was fifteen, and since then, sex had always been a big part of my life. Every experience made me love it more, and with every girl, I started to become better and better at it each time.

Again, Bowie didn't mind hearing all those girls talk about their nights with me. I was the player, Bowie was the virgin, and every other girl in school was trying her best to get my attention next.

***

As we arrived at the apartment building, we headed up the stairs to knock on their door. Whitley opened a few seconds later, and she waved us inside, not able to speak with her toothbrush in her mouth.

"Jesus, Whit," I chuckled, looking down at the mini skirt she was wearing, barely covering her bottom. "Big plans tonight?" I asked. She wiggled her eyebrows with a witty grin, and winked at Aiden, then walked to what I assumed was the shared bathroom.

"River?" I heard Bowie call out, and I moved toward her voice. "Here, Bow," I said, looking into the first room next to the bathroom. That was Whitley's room. She already had a bed, and her room seemed to be almost fully furnished.

"I'm in here," Bowie said, and I walked past Whitley's room to finally reach Bowie's. She was in front of a large mirror standing in the corner. She was looking at me through the glass, smiling and trying to reach the zipper on her back.

"Can you help me with this?" she asked, letting her hand fall with a frustrated sigh. "I can't get it up."

I walked toward her, my eyes slowly moving down her back. I couldn't help but stare at her bottom, round and almost tightly covered in the fabric of her dark blue floral dress. She had a ton of those dresses in different colors, and each one fit her body perfectly. Hard to believe that before she started high school, all she would wear was a pair of black pants and a large sweater, which most times she stole from me.

I loved her in either clothes, but the one thing I always was attracted to, were those big t-shirts she wore to sleep, with just a pair of panties underneath. Not sure how I managed to keep my hands off her all those years. But me being good didn't mean I didn't fantasize about her often.

I snapped out of my thoughts and reached for the zipper to pull it up. "You were staring at me," Bowie said quietly, and I looked up into her eyes through the mirror. I couldn't help a smirk.

I shrugged. "You look gorgeous," was my response, and her cheeks turned a soft pink. She had mascara on her lashes, and her brows seemed a darker shade of red than they usually were, but she looked amazing.

"You don't look too bad yourself," she said, turning around so she could face me. She had always been a head shorter than me, and I leaned forward to kiss her forehead.

"You staying with me tonight?" I asked, hoping she hadn't changed her mind since this afternoon. She nodded, smiling that sweet smile of hers.

"Whitley basically kicked me out anyway. She's totally into Aiden, and if Aiden doesn't bite, she'll take the next best guy she sees at the party." She kept her voice low, not wanting the others to hear her.

I chuckled, watching her move her hands up to grab onto my shirt with her fists. "Figures," I said, keeping my eyes on her hands. She played with the fabric of it, twisting it around her fingers and keeping her head low.

Bowie was often this quiet, and I knew not to be worried. She liked to take some minutes to wander around in her own thoughts, and I wasn't going to bother her. I wasn't able to keep my hands from her though.

I reached out my hand to grab the back of her head, pulling it to my chest and letting her press against my body. I wrapped my other arm around her back, rubbing it softly.

Her arms came around me, hugging me tightly while she buried her face into my chest. "Can we just skip the party and head straight to your apartment?" she mumbled, and I couldn't help but laugh.

"As much as I wanna hold you and have you all to myself, I wanna show you what you'd miss tonight. College parties are great," I told her, running my fingers through her hair.

She turned her head, her chin on my chest and her eyes looking straight into mine. "Will you dance with me?" she asked.

Another thing we often did when we were kids: dancing. It started out with us jumping around like crazy to Guns n' Roses and Motley Crue. Then, when I was sixteen and she was fourteen, I asked her to slow dance with me for the first time. We were at a school dance, and with Bon Jovi singing Always through the speakers, I knew I had to show her just how much I adored her. From that night on, it was either slow-dancing or going crazy while jumping on her bed. I enjoyed every second of it.

"Always," I whispered.