Chapter 15
River was so excited for the day that lay out in front of her. Today, she and Brianna would be meeting up with their friends for the first time as an official couple. Everything felt like it was falling into place. She had never been able to convince Tiff to meet up with her friends for a dinner party. They weren’t what Tiff considered important enough. Tiff had conceded to spending time with Brianna, since she was River’s roommate. She’d also agreed to hang out with Willow and Mel once. But getting her to agree to a quiet evening with friends was like pulling teeth. Tiff had been the definition of a mover and a shaker. She was constantly going out so she could rub elbows with the important people of the city. As such, Tiff knew a lot of important people. But it had always hurt River’s feelings that she’d never gotten to know her friends.
Brianna on the other hand was a perfect mix. River could take the woman out for a night on the town. But Brianna was equally happy spending a night in with their friends. Brianna had made her world famous Rotel dip. River had a sneaking suspicion that it was just chunky tomatoes and Velveeta cheese. But she loved how excited Brianna was about the night. Every day it felt like they were more and more solidified as a couple. It dawned on her that even though she and Tiff had been together longer, they’d never felt anywhere near this solid.
“You ready to go?” River asked.
“I’m still putting the finishing touches on the chili con queso and Rotel dip,” Brianna answered.
River laughed and rolled her eyes. There were plenty of stark differences between herself and Brianna. River liked for everything to be neat and orderly. While Brianna lived in a system of organized chaos. There was barely a time when they left the house that Brianna didn’t forget something. Her wallet, her phone, her keys all got lost in the shuffle from time to time. River had never known anyone who left things behind as much as Brianna did. As far as flaws went it was more than manageable. River also had a penchant for being early, while Brianna was more of a five minutes late type of person.
“Okay, I’m ready to go. And look we’re leaving right on time,” Brianna laughed.
River shook her head, she knew Brianna seriously tried her best. As they were walking out to the car Brianna stopped abruptly.
“You forgot something didn’t you?” River laughed. Brianna shrugged apologetically. River took the Rotel dip and walked the rest of the way to the car. She got inside and felt a buzz in her pocket. River could only hope that what Brianna had forgotten wasn’t her keys.
She pulled out her phone and checked the message. River was surprised when she saw Tiff’s name pop up.
“I miss you.”
Tiff’s message spoke volumes without saying much at all. If only Tiff had considered that before she cheated on River. River put her phone back in her pocket. She didn’t feel like she owed Tiff a response. Brianna ran out to the car, her phone in hand. River laughed and rolled her eyes.
They were meeting their friends at Autumn’s house. Everything in Autumn’s home had an order to it. Nothing ever seemed out of place. River had always thought that Autumn was the most put together person in their friend group. Today she wore white slacks with a gold top and her long blonde hair fell loose over her shoulders. She wrapped her arms around River and then hugged Brianna. Autumn had a way of warming up everyone she met. There was something very disarming about her and the way she welcomed people into her space.
All of their other friends were in the kitchen hovering around the food Autumn had prepared. Piper bumped her shoulder against River in greeting. She caught Willow glancing between Brianna and herself, a smile on her face. She was happy for River and hadn’t missed a chance to tell her so.
In true Autumn fashion she’d prepared four separate charcuterie boards. Each board had a theme. According to Autumn each board was themed after a season. River wasn’t too concerned about any of that, she was just here to eat. She grabbed a plate and began to sample the different offerings from each board. She had just stuffed a cheese-covered cracker in her mouth when Piper broke the silence.
“The two of you are just so cute together,” Piper gestured towards River and Brianna.
River saw a blush sweeping across Brianna’s cheeks. She smiled at her friends.
“We are pretty cute. Aren’t we, babe?” Brianna almost choked on a cracker.
“Yep. We’re the cutest,” Briann chuckled.
“Seriously, how’s it going with the two of you?” Autumn asked.
“I’ve never been happier,” Brianna answered without missing a beat.
“I feel the same way,” River added.
There was a collection of smiles and awws from their friends.
“Has it been a strange transition from being friends into being a couple?” Piper asked.
“Not at all. I think this has been the best of both worlds.”
Brianna offered the group a large smile.
“We already know we can live together. My parents already adore Brianna. It’s been amazing,” River answered.
“Enough about us. Tell us about the two of you and your dating lives,” River directed towards Autumn and Piper.
“I hate dating apps,” Piper laughed.
“I’m probably just going to die alone,” Autumn suggested.
The group laughed. They had all been in their shoes. Modern dating was a shitshow. It mostly involved hoping your date wasn’t going to end up ghosting you or being insane.
“Have you at least been on any good dates recently?” Mel asked.
“I thought I was on a good date last week,” Autumn chuckled.
“You thought you were on a good date?” Willow asked.
“I did. Things seemed to be going really well. We met on a dating app, she suggested we meet at this nice restaurant for dinner.”
“Sounds lovely. What happened?” Mel prodded.
“It turned out that her ex-girlfriend was one of the servers there. The woman had asked me out on a date to make this other woman jealous.”
“No way,” Brianna gasped.
“Yeah. I guess it worked, they ended up leaving the restaurant together,” Autumn laughed.
“That’s awful.” Mel shook her head.
“I can top it,” Piper grinned.
“Let’s hear it,” Brianna encouraged.
“I went out with a woman two months ago. She was so rude. Nothing at the place we were eating was good enough. She was complaining to management so much that she and I didn’t have a chance to talk. She finally got so angry that she threw a shrimp at the manager. He told her she was never allowed to come back and escorted her out.”
“Oh my god. What did you do?” Autumn asked.
“Honestly, I stayed behind and had dinner. I thought the food was great. And the atmosphere was much better after she left.”
Everyone laughed. River couldn’t be paid enough money to go back into the dating world.
“I once had a girlfriend that skipped going to the hospital after I got hit by a car because she had a work thing,” River teased.
Everyone gave a collective groan.
“Seriously, though. Tiff was the worst,” Willow laughed. All her friends nodded their heads in agreement.
“I once went on a date with a girl that dropped me,” Brianna stated.
“Like metaphorically dropped you?” Piper asked.
“No, like physically dropped me.”
“Okay, let’s hear the story,” River teased.
“I went out with this girl who was really big into rock climbing. Like rock climbing might have been her personality. And she wanted to take me to her rock-climbing gym for our date. This is not something I’m super into, but I love that she’s trying to include me in something she loves.”
“So, what happened?” Autumn laughed.
“She’s talking this whole date about how much she loves doing this. How good she is. On and on about rock climbing. So, we get there and I’ve never done this before. The woman is helping me get into my gear. It’s time for me to start climbing and it turns out she didn’t all the way secure the rope. We were maybe one carabiner too few or something. I go to jump down, thinking I’m going to glide down on a rope. The rope sort of flies by me, and I fall ten feet. I land straight on my ass and break my tailbone.”
Everyone erupted into laughter.
“I think Brianna wins for worst dating story,” Autumn cackled.
“That definitely wins,” Willow chuckled.
“Oh, my goodness, you poor thing. Did she at least feel bad?” River asked.
“She blamed me for distracting her when she was setting up my gear.”
“What a jerk,” Mel said.
River loved how easily Brianna and her fit together. They were already a part of the same friend group. The entire night felt like magic in a bottle. River had never laughed so hard or felt so at peace.