Follow the River (River of Rain, #1)

by C.E. Ricci

All I have to do is flash my dimples and a heated smolder, and poof…their panties are gone. It’s practically magic. But with dudes, it’s like trying to teach a monkey advanced statistics. In Spanish.

The girl manning the keg, a thin little blonde with a rack most guys would die for, hands River a solo cup filled to the brim with the foamy liquid.

Most guys huh?

“I’d much rather bite. Lick. Suck and fuck. Leave marks on you that a kiss just doesn’t accomplish.” And then I drop my knees. Bringing down the only barrier of decency he had with me.

“Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall,” he murmurs, his hot breath whispering across my hip as he reads the Shakespeare quote, written in a gothic font.

“I love the way you fight me, baby. It makes the taste of your cum that much fucking sweeter.”

Oh great heavens

On his ribs, I see a quote in script. Into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul.

He even quoted Mean Girls the other day. His asinine use of the phrase boo, you whore in a valley girl accent damn near brought me to my knees, I was laughing so hard.

Besides, when it comes to the usage of Mean Girls references, the limit does not exist.

“I’ve found you and I’m here, and I promise I will always be your safe place for as long as you need one.”

But I do know, when I’m with River, I’m who I’m supposed to be.

Staring up at the night sky, it’s the best way to remember we are so much smaller than we make ourselves out to be.

other. I couldn’t tell you when it happened or why, but over the course of the past five weeks, River went from being my enemy to…my everything.

“You have me. You will always have me. Until every star in the night sky burns out. And maybe even then.”

Being in love is a daily battle, not only fighting for the other person, but for yourself. It’s finding the common ground, the parts of your souls that speak to each other, strengthening them in ways no one else’s ever could. It’s knowing your worth and not only telling the other person you won’t accept anything less than what you deserve, but trusting them to provide that for you. It’s giving the darkest parts of yourself to another human, saying this is who I am in all my fucked up glory, and not asking them to fix you, but to give you what you need to mend yourself.

“I didn’t want to fix you, only save you from your nightmares. Too bad I didn’t realize the real nightmare is you.”

He and I… hell, we’re fluid in motion. Moving together in waves, synchronized at the molecular level, rising and falling as a single entity. Just like any body of water does.

After rain falls.

And my soul? Our souls? When they touched, it was nothing short of divine, and for a moment, I thought this is it. This is what it feels like to find your other half.