Page 91 of River & Rue

Dan’s laugh has a manic pitch. “We’re great. Not freaking out at all.”

A wail comes from Larissa, then a stream of French interspersed with sobs. Before I look across the courtyard, I already have a good idea of what I’ll see—and I’m right. She’s plastered herself to River, her arms tight around his waist. He pats her back, his head bent toward hers.

My organs revolt, rearranging themselves at will. Larissa rubs her face on his chest—my uterus trades places with my lungs. River rocks her from side to side—my heart wedges itself beneath my left kidney. No matter how hard I try to look away, my eyes stay glued to them.

Maya links her arm through mine and leans her head on my shoulder, and I still can’t look away.

“Poor guy. He looks miserable, doesn’t he?”

I open my mouth to disagree, but before I can, a new reality slides into place. One where River is clearly trying to extricate himself from Larissa’s arms. He’s not rocking her; he’s maneuvering as he tries to peel her off him. But she only cries harder and suctions herself closer.

“If only someone would rescue him,” Maya continues mildly. “Possibly someone who doesn’t enjoy seeing his hands on another woman.”

My sharp glance is met by a smile so serene it instantly disarms me.

“Is it that obvious?”

She nods and gives me a nudge.

I don’t think about it—I just go, jogging down the steps and across the courtyard.

When River catches sight of me, he gives me a look of such wretched appeal I almost laugh. Or maybe almost cry. I’m not sure which reaction I’m tamping down, only that my relief is extreme and my organs are back in their correct positions.

“Hey, guys,” I chirp. “I’m so glad you’re both okay. Do either of you need to see the nurse?”

Larissa stops crying and peers at me with a dark, teary eye. “No nurse, thank you.” She looks up at River. “Will you take me back to my cabin?”

His eyes flicker to me. “Uhh, I, um…”

I blurt the first thing that comes into my head. “He would if he could, Larissa, but we have a plumbing emergency at our cabin. Both of our toilets overflowed this morning. Can you believe it? Poop water all over the place. I’m surprised you can stand being that close to him, honestly. It was all over both of us when Kirk showed up asking for our help.”

Larissa recoils with a cough that’s mostly a gag. “Oh. Oh my, I’ll just⁠—”

She takes off toward the Lodge.

“Poop water,” River deadpans. “You couldn’t think of anything else?”

“Try this instead: ‘Rue, you clever woman, thank you so much for rescuing me from the octopus.’”

His eyes crinkle with humor. “I’ll thank you properly later. Can we get out of here before anything else gets possessed?”

“Amen to that.”

River grabs the crumpled foil from his burrito, tossing it in the trash as we leave the courtyard. I glance back to see Kirk hugging the hood of the golf cart. Maya and Dan look disturbed. Jae looks intrigued and a little amused.

When I catch Larissa watching me with seething eyes, I turn around fast.

“I think I made an enemy today.”

River hesitates. “So you know, I haven’t spent any time with Larissa. I’ve spoken to her maybe twice.”

“Good,” I say without thinking. My eyes widen. “What I mean is it’s probably a good thing you’ve kept your distance. Is this a regular occurrence for you? Aggressive behavior from women?”

His grimace is answer enough. I’m about to tease him when I catch his haunted expression. My mouth snaps shut.

“I hate this feeling,” he says gruffly. “I can smell her perfume all over me. She touched my ass, tried to rub my dick. My skin is still crawling. I couldn’t find a way to get her off me without hurting her. I hate that women like Penelope and Larissa think I’ll trade my dignity for sex. I hate that they’re conditioned to think their bodies are commodities. And I really hate that women experience shit like this all the time.”

Emotions quake my muscles. Shame for almost teasing him, compassion for the violation he feels, and fury. So much fury. I want to run back to the Lodge and confront Larissa. But I want to stay with him more.