❝The best things in life are already mine❞
— Zedd, Kehlani, Good Thing.
"Tanner, come on, do you have to?"
"Um, hell yeah. She needs to see the lady she gave birth to," he rolled his eyes.
It was almost five minutes, and Tanner had been taking pictures of me, saying he had to send them to mom.
It was the day of the party and the unveiling of River's work and I was a bit jittery. I was in my royal blue dress, my hair pulled back in a low bun which always looked good at anytime.
"Tanner, Tanner, that's okay — " I started.
"Nope. Come on, give me Rihanna. Give me Blake Lively... unleash your inner Zendaya," he said, trying to act like a professional photographer and I couldn't help but laugh.
He took a final picture before chuckling. He set his phone down and gave me a hug. "You look beautiful."
"Thank you," I smiled at him.
The door opened and Kaleb walked in, yelling, "Let's go— I look so underdressed beside you." He gaped at me.
I chuckled, eyeing his outfit. He looked casual in his ripped black jeans with a white t-shirt and a dark green jacket over it. "You look just fine, Kaleb."
"I agree," Tanner nodded. "Plus, those Adidas sneakers fit right with it."
Kaleb grinned, clearly enjoying the attention, "Thank you, my adorable fans. Rae, we have to leave. It's almost two."
"Relax," I playfully rolled my eyes. "We literally have twenty minutes left."
"Why do teens of today love to not respect time?" He muttered.
"Says the teen who always— like, always goes for doctor appointments twenty minutes late." I sneered.
"Ouch," Tanner chuckled.
*
I looked around, wondering where River was.
"Found ya," I felt him wrap his arm around me from behind and I smiled when he said, "I was looking for you."
"Me too," I turned to face him and my smile widened when I saw that be was putting on the sweatshirt I got for him. "I can't believe you put it on."
"What? The sweatshirt?"
"It looks so good on you," I nodded.
"Thank you," he smirked. "I want to kiss you badly right now, but if I start I don't think I would be able to stop."
I chuckled, "Hey, control your emotions, River Jenson. Last thing we want is giving everyone a free movie to watch."
He planted a kiss on my temple, "Nothing matters when I'm with you. Did you make the cupcakes? They are amazing. And the brownies?"
"Me, Zuri and Nolan worked on the cupcakes, brownies and donuts— Hey, that reminds me, Kaleb is here. You really should meet him." I took his hand and led him to where Kaleb sat with Harper, both of them laughing at something.
Kaleb's smile was full as he got up, stretching his hand forward at River, "Hey, it's nice to finally meet you. I'm Kaleb, Renée never exactly shuts up about you."
River chuckled in response, showing his hand too, "Nice to meet you too, man. I'm River. I think we're going to be good friends." His gaze landed in Harper and he smiled at her, "Hey, it's nice to meet you too."
I smiled to Harper, "Harper, this is my boyfriend, River. River, this is Harper, my friend from school."
Harper flashed a smile at him, "It's a pleasure to meet you, River. Renée mentioned you're an artist. I definitely can't wait to see your work today."
Kaleb swallowed the donut he was chewing, nodding, "Absolutely. Me too."
River smiled warmly, "Thank you, that means a lot. Why don't we all hang out after today?"
"That'll be great, though," Kaleb agreed and beside him, Harper nodded.
Content that River clearly wanted to be friends with my friends, I let he and Kaleb talk while I chatter with Harper.
*
"As you know, this party was something put together by the staff of this place," the manager spoke. I rarely ever saw the manager of the bakery. Twice or three times, maybe? But she was a nice woman who always had a smile on her face. "I'm glad to see that everyone's having fun, and I'd like us to get to the most important part of today so everyone can go back to eating, drinking and havung fun generally. "
Everyone burst into rounds of applause while I squeezed River's hand, earning a smile from him.
"Layers is small bakery... for now," the manager added, a smile on her face, causing people to chuckle. "But my sister, the owner of this place who passed away a year ago, always wanted the bakery to work on a much bigger scale. Apart from the good service, I figured that the next step to achieving this goal was to improve our online presence and create more artistic mediums."
"I asked Skylar Jacobs, who has always been here ever since the beginning of Layers, to handle this and as usual, she didn't disappoint me."
I looked to Sky who looked back at me, and we shared a smile.
Shortly, two other workers came out with a board and a projector. I was getting excited. The smile on the manager's face was a proud one, I knew for a fact that River had created something amazing, and after a countdown from five, the wrapping around the board were taken off and everyone erupted in claps and cheers.
I looked up at River who had a smile on his face. "You didn't do that," I said to him.
He had a smirk on his face and I wanted to kiss it off, to show him how much I appreciated his talent.
The board was a designed billboard. It was a simple design, but complicated in its own way, I wondered how he did it.
"That's not all!" The manager chuckled. "We have a website now! And you can order right from home— " more claps and cheers interrupted her. "If it's your first time ordering, delivery fee is free, plus, you get to have a few dollars off your order," she wiggled her eyebrows.
The websites front page came up on the projector and it was an adorable picture of Sky smiling, cakes and boxes of donuts around her. The next slide were pictures of treats, and the third slide— wait. That was a picture of me. I had a smile on my face as I attended to a customer.
"That's a really pretty staff with the cutest smile," River leaned into me, whispering in my ear.
I looked at him in surprise, "You were working on a website for the bakery? Different from your personal one?"
"Surprise," he nodded, grinning.
"When did you take that picture?" I asked him, referring to mine.
"Definitely at the perfect time when you were unaware and looking all cute," he ran his fingers through his hair. "That's how I knew you liked great in pictured, and that's what boosted by confidence before I asked you to be my model that day. Plus, we need more photo shoots."
"You're unbelievable," I threw my arms around him. Who even was this guy I called my boyfriend?
"It might shock you to know that one person did all of these, and now's the time to appreciate the artist," she paused. "River Jenson, everyone."
*
I was chewing on an extremely delicious glazed donut when I felt River press a kiss to my cheek.
I smiled, "Hey there, celebrity. How does it feel to be the star of the day?"
He chuckled, "I think I'm done with all meet and greets for today. Want to get away?"
*
"Is it me or does the park look even more beautiful today?" I looked up at the Sky, smiling until I felt a flash go off on my face.
I looked at River who had a smile on his face, putting his camera away. He always said that this was one of the perks of being a girlfriend of a part time photographer, and somehow I was getting used to feeling a camera go off on me when I was with him.
"It's because of you," River replied to my question, pulling me closer to him.
"Stop being cheesy," I laughed, and he was quiet for a while before saying in my ear softly, "You're beautiful."
I felt my face light up in a smile and I wrapped my arms around him, "You smell so good. It makes me happy that you put on the sweatshirt today."
"Yeah?" He flashed a boyish grin at me.
I nodded, "Mhm. It looks perfect on you."
We were quiet for a while, but it was a comfortable silence.
"Isn't it amazing?" River spoke up.
"What is?" I looked at him, curious.
"To think that all it took was a little bakery across the street to bring us together."
"I remember fighting Tanner before I actually started working there because I felt like I didn't need the job. He had told me to try working for a week. If after a week, I didn't like it, then I could stop."
"And after a week?" River looked at me.
I kissed his nose, "After a week I didn't want to stop. Because I knew if I stopped, I wouldn't get to see you again, and at the time I was already crushing on you. Super hard."
He intertwined our fingers and kissed the back of my hand, "I'm glad you didnt stop. I could have either still been in that toxic relationship with Chloe or I could have been alone and not as happy as I am right now."
I smiled softly, "A part of me keeps thanking Kendall subconsciously."
River chuckled, "Is she still with Tanner?"
I shook my head, "They broke up."
"So... how about he and..." his voice trailed off.
"Mackenzie?" I shook my head. "They're not together. But I realized, maybe that's okay, you know? At least they're friends. Anything could still happen."
"That's true."
"I'm grateful for you, though. Thank you for everything. You make my bad days good, and my good days even better. Being your girlfriend is one of the best things ever and I absolutely love who I am when I'm with you... makes me want to be yours forever."
I looked into his eyes before leaning into him and pressing my lip to his neck. I pulled away, now pressing my lips against his, moving them softly against his. I could never get tired of this.
I pulled away after a while and rested my head against his chest, listening to his heart beat. It was so fast.
"Your heart is beating so fast," I told him, and I felt him nod and pull away. Now, he looked into my eyes, wrapping his arms around my waist.
I furrowed my eyebrows, "Is something wrong?"
He shook his head, "Renée?" His voice was husky.
"Yeah?" I wondered what he had to say. His grip on my waist tightened and he swallowed, "I- I think I love you."
My eyes widened at his words and I was unable to speak.
"I mean it," he added.
"Does... does that scare you?"
"Not at all," he shook his head. "In fact, I ove the feeling. I never felt this way with Chloe, so I feel like I'm doing something right. Like we're doing something right. And I can't wait to spend the coming days with you. To see where it all leads to... I know that we'll get through whatever obstacles we face. I just want to be with you."
I smiled, "I like that. I want that. And I'm excited."
He looked into my eyes, a smile on his face too. He smashed his lips against mine. I could never complain. I kissed him back just as hard as he did, and I smiled into the kiss when he cupped my face, pushing his tongue past my lips.
After what felt like forever in a kiss we were both enjoying, he slowly detached his lips from mine, his eyes never leaving mine.
"I think I love you too," I said to him.
He rubbed the back of my hand with his thumb, his eyes sparkling as he pressed a kiss to my nose, "Hey, want to go grab some fro-yo?"
I grinned, "You don't have to ask."
*
Authors Note
The End.
I feel so sad ending the book, but thank you so, so much for giving this book a chance. It means the world to me. A bigger thanks for sticking with me even when I went days and weeks without updating.
Be sure to read the next chapter I'll be posting tomorrow!