Full of Promise

by Kate Gavin

  “I’ll pick you up at six thirty, okay?”

  “Sounds good,” Riley replied as she drew her closer for a kiss.

  “I’ll see you later.”

  Unable to resist, Riley gave Cam a final quick kiss and headed home to wait for their date.

  As soon as her shift ended, Cam drove over to Riley’s house. Before she got a chance to knock on the door, Riley opened it and pulled Cam inside for a heated kiss. Cam let out a surprised whimper, dropped her backpack to the floor, and wrapped her arms tightly around Riley’s neck before deepening the kiss even further.

  Needing to catch her breath, Cam pulled back with a lopsided grin on her face. “Well, that’s a wonderful welcome.”

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean to attack you like that,” Riley said as she shuffled her feet and averted her gaze.

  “Riley, you can greet me like that anytime to you want. You’ll get no complaints from me. Wait, your parents aren’t home, are they?” Cam asked, panicked.

  “No, they had some charity event to go to. My mom said they won’t be home until midnight.”

  “Oh really?” Cam asked as she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

  “Really,” Riley replied as she leaned in for another lingering kiss.

  Cam hesitantly asked, “Can we go up to your room?”

  Knowing the implication of that question, Riley’s eyes widened slightly. “Are you sure? What about dinner?”

  Cam smiled as she stared at Riley’s lips and replied in a husky voice, “Dinner can wait. I don’t want to anymore.”

  She grabbed her by the hand and led Riley upstairs to her room. Once they got inside, Cam walked toward the end of the bed and Riley locked the door. As Riley turned toward the bed, Cam clenched her fists as her confidence faded.

  Riley seemed to sense Cam’s hesitation. She grabbed Cam’s hands and placed soft kisses on her knuckles. “We don’t have to do anything, Cam. There’s no rush.”

  Squeezing her hands gently, Cam gazed at Riley and whispered, “I want this, Riley. I want you.”

  Cam kissed her softly, hesitantly. But with the first swipe of Riley’s tongue against her lower lip, she responded with a hunger that had been building for months. She buried her hands in Riley’s hair. They were so close that a breath of wind couldn’t pass between them. Cam’s knees hit the end of the bed and she lowered herself to sit. They broke apart as Cam scooted back to lie on the bed and Riley hovered over her.

  Cam pulled Riley down for another kiss. Even those few seconds apart made her miss the warmth and pressure of Riley’s lips. Riley slipped her leg between Cam’s thighs, causing the pulse between Cam’s legs to increase tenfold. She gasped into Riley’s mouth. As Riley ground into Cam, she slowly moved her hand to the bottom of Cam’s T-shirt. Her fingertips lightly brushed Cam’s side and she shivered despite her heat. She sat up once Riley pushed her shirt higher, allowing her to remove it before lowering herself to the bed again and bringing Riley with her.

  She rubbed her hands down Riley’s back, grabbing her shirt and pulling it over her head. Riley sat back on her heels and Cam slowly brushed her hand down Riley’s chest between her breasts and down her stomach until she rested her hand on Riley’s hip, caressing the skin with her thumb. Cam was starting to feel almost dizzy with excitement.

  “Jesus, Riley. You’re just…wow.”

  Riley smiled shyly. “I could say the same about you.”

  Cam tightened her grip, sitting up to pull Riley in for a fiery kiss. Riley cupped Cam’s cheek, holding her tightly as she pushed Cam’s upper body back down to the bed. Riley reached behind Cam and quickly discarded her bra. She trailed kisses down the side of Cam’s neck until her hands rested at the button of Cam’s jeans.

  Riley looked up to meet Cam’s gaze. “You okay? We can stop.”

  “Please, Riley. Keep going.” Cam didn’t know her voice could sound so desperate, but she couldn’t help wanting more of Riley and she wasn’t going to stop until she had all of her.

  Quickly, they stripped off their remaining clothes, and Riley settled back on top of Cam, both groaning at the complete skin-to-skin contact. Riley pressed kisses along the length of Cam’s neck and shoulders as her hands slowly moved lower. She trailed her fingers on the outside of Cam’s thigh, circling her knee and gently pushing her legs open. Riley watched Cam’s reaction as she moved her hand between her legs and slowly entered her. Cam arched into her touch, letting out a sharp gasp. With each stroke, Riley went deeper and faster, and Cam’s breathing quickened until she threw her head back against the pillow as she came, gripping Riley’s forearm so tightly that Riley worried she might leave bruises.

  As Cam controlled her breathing and slowly relaxed, Riley gently brushed soft kisses across her shoulder, neck, and cheek until she finally reached Cam’s lips for a languid, tender kiss.

  “Are you okay?”

  Stroking Riley’s cheek with her thumb, Cam replied softly, “Oh yeah. Much better than okay.”

  Riley let out a relieved breath. Cam kissed her hungrily. She didn’t have the words to describe how wonderful Riley had just made her feel, so she tried to convey her feelings through her actions.

  Grabbing Riley’s hips, she rolled Riley over. Cam pressed between Riley’s legs and leaned down to capture Riley’s lips with hers. Now that Cam had Riley’s beautiful, naked body beneath her, she studied her tattoo, finally seeing the entire art for the first time. Cam lightly traced the feather and birds with her fingers until she brushed delicate kisses along its length. Riley shuddered, let out a groan, and moved her fingers into Cam’s hair.

  Cam lifted her head and looked into Riley’s eyes with passion and a hint of hesitation as she said, “I may need your help.”

  Riley seemed to understand Cam’s request and she placed her hand on top of hers and moved it to where she needed it most. Once Cam had found a rhythm, Riley let her hand fall to the side and she gripped the sheets.

  With renewed confidence, Cam’s hands and mouth seemed to move as if by instinct. Within minutes, Riley grasped the back of Cam’s neck so their foreheads were touching. She looked into Cam’s eyes and let out a strangled whisper. “Right there. Almost…”

  Cam kissed Riley just as she let out a low moan and slowed her strokes to bring Riley down from that incredible high. Cam didn’t know if she had ever seen a more beautiful sight. She collapsed on top of Riley and placed a soft kiss on the underside of Riley’s jaw. Riley still pulsed beneath her hand, lying there, utterly spent. It hadn’t been her intention to sleep with Riley when they made plans for their date. But now that she had, she couldn’t imagine wanting to be anywhere other than in Riley’s arms and feeling the warmth of her skin pressed against hers.

  They rested in comfortable, sated silence. Riley sat up, dislodging Cam to grab the sheet. She wrapped Cam in her arms and pulled the sheet over their bodies. Tightening her arm around Cam, Riley kissed her bare shoulder and whispered into her ear, “God, this feels so good.” Cam settled against Riley and hummed in affirmation. They stayed like that until Cam’s stomach growled.

  “Someone hungry?” Riley asked with amusement.

  “Maybe.”

  “How about we order a pizza?”

  “Sounds good.”

  Riley got out of bed and put on a long-sleeve shirt and pair of shorts, but Cam just sat up and shyly held the sheet against her chest. “Um, can I borrow a T-shirt and shorts?”

  “Sure. But ya know, you can stay like that all night long. Might be a hardship, but I think I can take it,” she said as she tossed the clothes to Cam.

  Cam’s cheeks reddened and she hummed in reply. She got dressed with her back to Riley, still feeling shy despite what they had just done.

  Before they could walk out of the room, Riley stopped Cam with a hand on her hip. “Are you okay…” Riley flicked her eyes to the disheveled bed and back to Cam, “…with everything?”

  A slow smile spread across Cam’s face. “Oh yeah.”

  Ril
ey smiled as she let out a breath. “Good. Me too.”

  After ordering the pizza, they sat on the couch to start a movie while they waited for it to arrive. They spent the rest of the evening munching on the pizza, cuddled together on the couch.

  Riley cleared her throat. “So, I’ve started getting acceptance letters for college.”

  Over the course of the fall semester, Riley, Cam, and Claire had helped each other with applications. They proofread essays, narrowed down schools to limit the amount of application fees they had to pay, and acted as moral support when needed. They had talked in generalities about how awesome it would be for all of them to go the same school, but deep down they knew that was never going to happen, especially when their interests were so vastly different. Once Riley and Cam had sent in all their applications, they had agreed to see which schools they got into before discussing their options. Neither one wanted to think about the possibility of not choosing the same school so they decided to postpone talking about anything related to college until they started getting acceptance letters and their decisions about where to go became unavoidable.

  “Me too,” Cam replied as she gripped Riley’s fingers.

  “What do you think you’re gonna do?”

  “I don’t know. I need to stay in state. I can’t really afford not to.”

  “I know,” Riley replied.

  “I’m still undecided on my major but I think I’m leaning toward English. And Purdue has a really good program. Plus, I’d be close enough to come back whenever I needed or wanted to see my mom or brothers. What do you think?”

  “I think that sounds like a pretty great plan.”

  Cam heard the sincerity in her words, but she also saw the sadness in Riley’s eyes. “You’ve decided where you’re going, haven’t you?”

  Riley nodded. “I’m going back to Champaign, to go to Illinois. Their computer science program is one of the best.”

  “Right,” Cam whispered as she averted her gaze.

  Riley lifted her chin and rubbed her thumb along Cam’s bottom lip. “We’re going to be okay, Cam,” she said, pressing a soft kiss to Cam’s lips.

  “How can you be so sure?” Cam asked as her voice cracked.

  “Because it’s us. My parents will be here, so this is where I’ll always come for breaks. We can text, talk, video chat, write letters, whatever. I want this to work. Sure, it’s gonna suck, but we’re going to be fine. Okay?”

  “Okay.”

  They returned their attention to the movie, holding each other a little tighter than before. Riley had to nudge Cam awake as the credits rolled.

  “Is it over?”

  “Yeah. Let’s head up to bed.”

  Cam sleepily nodded and followed Riley up the stairs. After brushing their teeth, they went into the bedroom and Riley closed her door. They each got into the bed on their typical side and rolled over to face each other.

  “Goodnight, Cam,” Riley said.

  With the first touch of Riley’s goodnight kiss, Cam was no longer tired. She slowly deepened the kiss, gently brushing her tongue against Riley’s bottom lip. Cam slid her fingers under Riley’s shirt and she broke the kiss to help Riley take it off. Cam said, “Oh, I don’t plan on going to sleep just yet.”

  She pressed her hand to Riley’s chest and rolled over until she covered Riley. She placed an open-mouth kiss to the base of Riley’s throat and drew a path down her chest as she let herself get lost in the wonder of Riley’s body.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Finals week flew by and Cam thought she did well considering all the distractions she had recently. She finished her finals by Wednesday and she was happy to have a couple of days to herself while her mom and brothers still had school. She was able to relax and reflect on all the events, good and bad, that had taken place during her last year of high school. It was surreal for her to think about how she would be moving out on her own in a couple months. Fighting with her mom had made her feel slightly isolated at home, and she was looking forward to the day when she would be on her own and able to live her life the way she wanted.

  That Friday, Cam’s dad arrived for graduation weekend—just as pizza was being delivered. As soon as he paid, he took the pizza into the kitchen and everyone filled their plates before sitting down to eat. Conversation throughout the meal was easy, and Cam loved seeing the joy on her brothers’ faces as they talked with their dad, catching them up on the last few days of school and how they were doing on their baseball teams. Her mom also seemed to be in better spirits throughout the meal. Once they had finished, her dad suggested they spend the evening playing a few board games. Cam found herself enjoying the talk and laughter that went on throughout the night.

  While the evening had gone smoothly, Cam just wanted to relax and have some quiet time to herself, so she decided to head up to her room and read. She had been reading for over an hour, reclining on her bed, propped up by a few pillows, when she heard a soft knock on her half-open door. She looked up to see her mom standing in the doorway, looking hesitant.

  “Hey, Cam. Mind if I come in?”

  “Sure, Mom.”

  Cam closed her book and placed it on her nightstand. She pulled her legs up and wrapped her arms around them, hugging them to her chest. Her mom sat on the bed a few inches away, rubbing the back of her neck with her hand, which was a sure sign that she was uncomfortable.

  “What’s up?”

  She met Cam’s gaze and placed her hand on the outside of Cam’s ankle, softly rubbing circles with her thumb. “Cameron, I need to apologize to you. I know I hurt you terribly by saying those things when I found out about you and Riley. I’m not saying I completely understand your sexuality, but I’m willing to learn. I don’t want this to push you away, especially with you moving out soon. I know the past couple of years have been hard on you, with your dad and me fighting and then the divorce. I know I put a lot of responsibility on your shoulders with Josh and Ethan.”

  “It’s okay, Mom.”

  “No, it’s not, sweetie.” She grabbed a tissue off Cam’s desk to dab at her tears. “I can’t believe you’re heading to college in a couple months. I don’t want you to leave with any hesitation about how much I love you. I just want you to know how proud I am of you. You have grown into a beautiful, smart, and caring young woman. I am incredibly proud and grateful to be your mother. All I want is for you to be happy. You shouldn’t have to hide who you are, especially among your family. You’re incredibly brave for figuring out who you are at this age and standing by it. I will always be by your side to support you. I hope you know that.”

  As tears fell down her cheeks, she wrapped her arms around her mom. “I do know that. I love you.”

  “I love you too, Cameron.”

  They sat there hugging until their tears had stopped.

  Cam knew this had been a major turning point for them. Throughout her mother’s apology, she never doubted the sincerity in her voice. While she had been deeply hurt by her mom’s reaction, she wanted to put it all behind her and regain the relationship they had before everything happened, and hopefully improve upon it as well.

  “So, are things going okay with Riley?” her mom asked hesitantly.

  Smiling wide, Cam replied, “Yeah, they are.”

  “I’m sorry I stopped letting you see her. I just didn’t know how to handle it.”

  “Mom, stop. You’ve apologized. We can’t change what happened. Let’s just move on.”

  Her mom nodded as she gently squeezed Cam’s hand. “So, you like her, huh?”

  “I’m in love with her,” Cam replied with a hint of challenge in her voice.

  Her mom’s eyes briefly widened in surprise, before softening as if she knew how true that statement was. “I am happy for you. That’s all we really want as parents—for our kids to be happy. If Riley does that for you, then that’s great. I do like her, Cameron. I hope you know that my anger and fear was never about her. I know she is a good person. I’ve seen how
good of a friend she has been to you and how well she treats your brothers. I haven’t forgotten that throughout all of this.

  “And ever since you’ve been dating Riley, I’ve noticed you’ve become more confident and you stand up for yourself more. I don’t know if it’s because of her or because you’re just more comfortable with yourself, but I couldn’t be prouder of you. You are turning into a remarkable young woman.”

  “Thanks, Mom. Hearing you say that means a lot to me. I think it’s both. Riley is so good for me; we’re good for each other, actually. But, I am so much more comfortable with myself. I’m not confused anymore. I know who I am.”

  Her mom smiled and nodded. “Well, I should let you get some sleep. You have a big day tomorrow.”

  Cam took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Yeah, I do.”

  “Are you nervous?”

  “About the ceremony? No, not really.” Cam averted her gaze and looked at her hands in her lap.

  “But, about what comes next?”

  Cam let out a soft chuckle. “Maybe a little.”

  “That’s totally normal. But, you’re going to be great—in whatever you choose to do. Moving out and going to college will be a big change, but I will always be here for you. Whether you just need to come home for a break or you need a quick chat on the phone—never hesitate to let me know. Okay?”

  “Okay.”

  She gently held Cam’s face in her hands and Cam saw the admiration in her eyes right before her mom placed a soft kiss on her forehead. “Get some sleep, sweetie. I’ll see you in the morning. Goodnight.”

  Her mom walked to the door, but she stopped at the doorway and pressed her hand against the frame as she turned at the sound of Cam’s voice.

  “I love you, Mom.”

  “I love you too.”

  * * *

  They pulled into the school parking lot at the same time as Riley and her family. Riley’s family walked toward the school entrance as Riley walked toward Cam, but she stopped immediately when she saw Cam’s mom right behind her.

  Her mom smiled at Riley and said, “It’s okay.”