Always

This is the 4th installment of the story of Raph and Riley. More and more characters are becoming regular players and as always, new characters are introduced into this fictional world that becomes more real with each chapter.

As always, I wouldn't put a story up here without it getting the seal of approval from my editor, RandyD1369.

Disclaimer: All characters are completely fictional. Any characters engaging in any type of sexual activity or situation are 18 years old or older.

*****

The tires of the Cessna CJ3 gently kissed the runway, trailing small puffs of blue smoke as the sleek jet touched down. The reverse thrusters engaged, using the power of the twin Williams FJ44-3A jet engines, along with the spoilers, to assist in slowing the plane's forward momentum and easing the load on the braking system. As the speed bled off, the plane exited onto the taxiway where it received taxi clearance to the Charter Air FBO.

As the engines spooled down, the pilot and co-pilot went through the checklists.

"Congratulations Mr. Savage," the man in the co-pilot's seat said, shaking Raph's hand, "You have successfully passed your final check ride and I'm glad to issue you your jet rating."

"Thank you, Mr. Vasquez, it's been a pleasure," Raph said.

"I must say, you've taken to jet flying better than anyone I've ever worked with. I suspect your time in the TBM has a lot to do with that. You're used to a turbine engine and flying a performance aircraft so you picked this up quickly. You were also a quick study with the systems and avionics."

"I had a good study partner," Raph said simply. Riley had sat with him for hours as he studied the new aircraft's systems and Garmin G1000 avionics suite. She had quizzed him to the point that he was pretty sure she could operate the system effectively.

"Well whoever and whatever method you used, it was effective," Vasquez said. "I'll get the paperwork filled out before I leave and you'll be good to go."

Raph finished closing up the aircraft and prepared to head out. He carried his satchel bag out and put it in his truck. He wasn't really in a hurry to get home. Riley had already told him that she was helping Maria with some project tonight so he was on his own, which had become something rare. He and Riley spent every night that they were both in town, together. They were either at his apartment or her house. They spent nearly all their free time together. They also spent time with Maria and Hunter. They went out together or had game nights, so tonight he wasn't looking forward to coming home to an empty apartment but he would never ask Riley to abandon her friend.

He pulled into the apartment parking lot, looking as always for Riley's truck, but it wasn't there. He parked, grabbed his satchel, and walked to his apartment. He unlocked the door and swung it open. Suddenly the lights came on and people were yelling. He saw balloons and streamers and someone shot confetti at him. He stumbled backward, almost off of the sidewalk before catching himself. His eyes finally focused on Riley's brightly smiling face. She held a poster board sign that read, "Congratulations to my Jet Pilot" with an expertly drawn picture of the Citation CJ3. Maria and Hunter were both there as well as Riley's friend Peyton, the red-headed, large-breasted flirt, and a man Raph didn't recognize.

Riley ran up as he stepped back through the door and threw her arms around his neck, kissing him quickly on the lips.

"Congratulations Raph," she whispered in his ear, "I'm so proud of you."

"Thank you, Babe, but how did you know I passed my check ride?"

"Because I never had a doubt," she said, smiling her beautiful smile at him. Her optimism was infectious. It was impossible to be sad or depressed around her.

Everyone came up and shook his hand or hugged his neck. Even the guy he didn't know gave him a congratulatory handshake.

"I still can't believe Riley beat me to you," Peyton said as she hugged his neck. "I didn't think she had it in her but damned if I've ever seen her happier. Don't screw it up."

"I try every day not to," he said honestly.

There was a cake with a remarkable likeness of the CJ3 and "Congratulations Captain Raph Savage" on it. There were two candles at the ends of the jet engines which Riley lit.

"Make a wish," she said.

"I already have everything I could ever want," he said before leaning down and blowing out the candles to another round of applause.

Everyone got a piece of cake and sat around in Raph's limited seating. The mystery man turned out to be Evan Longacre. He was a golf pro at the Ross Rogers Golf Course. He and Peyton had been going out for a month, which Riley later explained was kind of a record. He seemed like a nice enough guy and he and Peyton seemed to make a pretty good match.

Maria and Hunter had become close as well. Hunter had come out of his shell around Raph and Riley at least. He joked around and he could talk freely with Riley without sweating or stammering. Raph had taken Hunter fishing at Lake Meredith while Riley and Maria were having a girl's day. They'd even made a cowboy out of him, teaching him to ride horses, which he loved once he got over his initial fears.

Riley came, after making sure everyone had cake and sat on the arm of the recliner where Raph was sitting.

"You are such a horrible fibber," Raph said, poking her on the leg.

"Who, me?" she asked, in feigned surprise.

"Yes, you. The girl who had to go rescue her best friend, leaving me all by my lonesome tonight."

"Did you honestly think I'd be gone today, of all days?"

"Aw, it's just another rating," he said humbly.

"Psh, I know how hard you studied for that rating. I've even been thinking about altitudes, barometric pressures, approaches, and departures. Even with all that, I still don't understand how you do what you do."

"Well, now you know how I feel when you talk business. I'm in awe of your knowledge, your out-of-the-box thinking. Things I'd never think of in a million years come from your mind like cards from one of those Vegas dealer machines."

Raph pulled her down into his lap and kissed her softly on the neck.

"Watch it, fella. You'll get your congratulations present, but we have to wait until our company leaves," she protested.

"Yes ma'am," he smiled at the thought of his present to come.

The party continued for another hour or so. Peyton and Evan were the first to leave, but not before Peyton kissed Raph right on the mouth, right in front of Riley.

"Sorry girl, but I just had to know what I was missing," Peyton teased.

"Oh, you don't know the half of it," Riley said mischievously, causing Raph and Peyton both to blush.

Riley and Peyton hugged. Raph and Evan shook hands and Raph promised to come out for a round of golf.

Maria and Hunter stayed for a few minutes more, both helping Raph and Riley to clean up before they too bade them goodnight and left with hugs and handshakes all around.

After everyone had left, Raph took Riley into his arms, kissing her tenderly.

"Thank you for tonight," he said softly. "You're too good to me."

"You deserve it," she said, leaning her head on his shoulder. "You worked hard and you did it, just like I knew you would."

"You helped, a lot," he reminded her.

"That's what you do when you love someone," she said simply.

Raph could only marvel at this beautiful, smart, caring woman who brightened his days and filled him with a love he had never dreamed possible.

When they finally separated, Riley got her purse from the bar and reached inside.

"Would you be a dear and walk through to the other lot and get my truck for me?" Riley asked, holding out her keys.

"Sure thing," he said, taking her keys and giving her another kiss before heading out the front door. He walked through the apartment complex and spotted her Z71 in the back parking lot. He hit the unlock button, got in the truck and wheeled it around to park beside his truck in front of the apartment. He got out, locked the doors, and went back to the apartment.

"Babe?" he called as he shut and locked the front door. There was no answer.

He looked in the kitchen -- nothing. The bathroom door was open and the light was off. The bedroom door was closed. He opened the bedroom door and as light spilled into the room he was graced with the image of Riley, laying on the bed, her arms up, hands behind her head. She was wearing the soft-purple Victoria's Secret bra and panty set Maria had given her for her birthday. She had one leg out straight and the other pulled partway up, leaned over on her other leg. Directly in the center of her pert breasts was a red bow. The sultry smile on her lips was an invitation he couldn't resist.

"Ready for your present?" she asked in a low passionate voice.

"Oh yeah," he said, nearly tearing his clothes off as he closed the door behind him.

*****

Riley and Maria sat in a booth at Bubba's 33. Riley was having the Grilled Chicken Salad while Maria was enjoying the small 10-piece order of Kickin' Teriyaki Boneless Chicken Wings.

"So, was he surprised?" Maria asked, excitedly.

"He was completely surprised," Riley replied, proudly. "He was so sweet when I told him I had to help you with a project and wouldn't be there that night. He never brought up that it was his big day or anything, so when he walked in, he was sure he was by himself."

"You're evil," Maria giggled, "but in a nice way. Did he at least get to 'open his present' after we left?"

"Well, he got to open the present you got me," Riley said, blushing. It took Maria just a second to understand then she too blushed and giggled even louder, "I think he forgives me for the little deception," Riley added with a sly grin.

"Well haven't you become the little mynx," Maria said in a hushed voice.

"For him, yeah, I guess I have," Riley replied honestly.

"Well, at least you're not having to deal with competition for your man's attention," Maria said poutily.

"Is there some other girl trying to move in on Hunter?" Riley asked, surprised.

"No, it's the 'bromance' he has now with Raph," Maria said, rolling her eyes, "He's always wondering when we're going to hang out with you and Raph, have I seen you and Raph, blah, blah, blah. I'll be honest, at first I thought he was smitten with you, but then he starts asking when you and I are going to do something so he and Raph can go fishing or hunting -- he's never shot anything in his life and he's all wanting to go hunting. I think it's just that Raph is so different from the guys he's used to hanging around and he thinks some of Raph's coolness might rub off on him or something."

"Oh, Maria, that is so sweet," Riley said, putting her hand on Maria's. "Raph really does like Hunter and it's sweet that Hunter kind of looks up to him. He could have worse role models."

"I know, and I love Raph too, but good Lord, Hunter could keep some of that stuff to himself," Maria opined.

Riley couldn't help but giggle softly at her friend's frustrations.

"Well, we're about due a girl's day anyway so let's think of something to do and we'll let the boys go play in the dirt and do manly stuff," Riley offered.

"Well, I could use a morning shopping and an afternoon at Indulge," Maria said thoughtfully.

"I'll set up the spa appointments, you decide where you want to go shopping," Riley said brightly.

"Deal," Maria agreed.

*****

The sun was just peaking over the eastern horizon. A low, sparse fog lay over the surface of the water. The morning stillness was interrupted by a soft splash near the bank of the lake, followed by a metallic clacking and gurgling of water as an alien object moved away from the bank, leaving a small wake on the otherwise placid surface of the water. The slow steady chugging stopped suddenly only to be replaced a second later by fierce thrashing at the water's surface. A large-mouth bass jettisoned itself from the water, shaking his head vigorously, mid-flight, before splashing back down into the water.

Raph, standing on the bow of the 20' Ranger bass boat, pulled upward on the rod, noting the bowed arc as the tip of the rod stayed pointing toward the surface of the water. He reeled in the line, moving the fighting fish ever closer, careful not to get too impatient, taking his time, keeping the line taught. He expertly moved the rod side-to-side whenever the cagey fish would try to swim toward a stump or submerged tree, trying to tangle the line enough to get the slack needed to spit the lure from its cavernous mouth.

Turn by turn, foot by foot, Raph finally got the tired fish alongside the boat. Holding the rod tip high, maintaining pressure on the line, he reached into the water with his free hand, feeling his way to the fish's head. He pulled down on the bottom jaw, placed his thumb inside the mouth, careful to stay away from the hook, and lifted the fish clear of the water. He immediately and carefully removed the hook before laying his rod down on the deck of the boat and turning to show his prize to his fishing partner.

"Dude, that's the biggest fish I've ever seen!" Hunter exclaimed.

"I have to admit, it's one of the biggest I've caught since I moved up here," Raph confessed.

One of Raph's fellow pilots lived on Lake Meredith and had told Raph that he was welcome to come up and use his boat anytime he wanted. Raph tried not to abuse the privilege, but it was nice to have such a great boat to fish from, and not to have to tow it on the 50+ mile drive to the lake.

Raph and Hunter continued to fish along the southern shoreline of the lake, hitting the natural points formed by rock outcroppings. Lake Meredith was actually a dammed-up section of the Southern Canadian River, which incidentally begins in Colorado, not Canada. The lake was fed on the western end by the Canadian and the river continued, below the dam spillway, on the eastern end until finally converging with the Arkansas River near Muskogee, Oklahoma, at the western edge of the Boston Mountains.

"Can I ask you a question?" Hunter asked as they fished a sloping gravel bank with floating plastic worms.

"Sure," Raph said, not taking his eyes from the mono-filament line stretching from the end of his rod into the water.

"How do I get Maria to look at me the way Riley looks at you?"

"That's a tough one," Raph said, trying to think his answer through carefully. "People date. The reason for dating is to try to determine your compatibility. Do you like the same things, do you dislike the same things, do you have the same moral compass, same belief system, so on and so forth. I only dated two girls before Riley. Seriously dated that is. One was in high school and the other in college. I had pretty strong feelings for both of them, and they both checked off most of the boxes, but there wasn't that deep, soul-binding connection that I have with Riley. Now, at the time, I didn't know that. I knew, instinctively I guess, that something was missing. In both relationships, we just gradually grew apart, over time. Both ended amicably, with both agreeing there was little need in pursuing the relationship any further, but with no animosity. We had conducted the dating experiment and it just didn't pan out."

"I never really dated. Once, in college, I and another Computer Science major went out for a couple of weeks, and to be honest, I think we were both just tired of being virgins. We went out twice, slept together twice, and decided we were better as friends. With Maria, I feel more for her than I've ever felt for anyone else and I think she feels the same way. I've just never been here before and I'm afraid I'm going to screw it up."

"Let me ask you something; in the quiet times, when we're fishing, what are you thinking about?"

"Well, of course, I'm thinking about fishing," he said, then paused to contemplate the question, "but I'm also thinking about Maria," Hunter said as though he surprised himself with his admission.

"I'd say that's a good start," Raph said, "Fishing is something that I've done so long that it's muscle memory, I do it without really thinking about what I'm doing. That leaves my mind free to think of other things. Before, it was thinking about flying. Doing ground speed corrections in my head, stuff like that, but now, 90% of the time, it's Riley that fills my thoughts. I can still enjoy our fishing trips just like I still enjoy going flying, it just makes seeing her afterward that much sweeter."

"I watch you and Riley and you're always so in sync. It's like you know what each other are thinking. I try to anticipate what Maria is thinking, and I'm usually wrong," he said dejectedly.

"The important part is that it has to just come. You can't force it. Everybody's experience varies. My parents loved each other until they both passed so I know their love was the genuine article, but I don't remember seeing them be like Riley and I are. Maybe things settle down once you have kids but I just believe that each couple is different, but that connection, if it's the real thing, is always there. Don't try to be me and Riley, just be you and Maria and cultivate that relationship and see what grows."

Hunter was quiet for a time, busy with his thoughts. Raph began to fear he had offended him somehow.

"Thanks, man," Hunter said finally. "I never had a brother and my sister is 6 years older than I am so I never really had that close person that I could open up to."

"Well, I never had a brother or a sister, but yeah, it is nice to have another guy that you can just be yourself with, not having to put on the macho mine's-bigger'n-yours crap."

By the end of the afternoon, they had enough fish for a nice fish fry. They returned the boat after filling it back up with gas and also hooked it up to the battery tender when they replaced it in the shop where it was kept. Raph made sure it was as clean when he left it as it was when he picked it up.

They headed south on highway-136, back to Amarillo.

*****

"Oh, I am wiped out," Maria said as they drove toward Raph's apartment. "Those deep tissue massages just take everything out of me."

"Well, hopefully, the boys don't have too much excitement planned for the evening," Riley agreed, also feeling the full-body relaxation from the massage.

The smell of supper cooking hit them as they walked through the door. Both girls kicked off their sandals at the door and made the short walk to the kitchen. The site of Raph and Hunter, both clad in Wrangler jeans, boots, and tee-shirts with red aprons on was a sight to see. The boots and Wranglers were other habits Hunter had picked up from Raph. Raph was taking the basket out of the Fry Daddy as Hunter was battering fillets in a bowl of Raph's secret fish fry batter.

"You girls just sit down and make yourselves comfortable, after we get a kiss that is," Raph said, turning his head to look back at Riley and Maria.

Both girls walked up and kissed their beaus.

"You boys are so talented," Riley said, wrapping her arm around Raph's waist. "This looks and smells so good. I didn't even realize I was hungry until I open the front door and the smell hit me. Now I'm starving."

"Oh, me too," Maria said.

"Well y'all have a seat and I'll fix you a glass of tea," Raph said, gently pushing Riley toward the living room. Both girls collapsed on the love seat, leaning in against one another, their heads touching. Raph knew how Riley was after a massage. She would be wiped out the rest of the evening and would probably be asleep by dark. He got two glasses of tea and sat them on the coffee table in front of the girls before going back to cooking the last of the fish.

*****

"That was so good but I ate too much," Riley said after they'd eaten supper.

Supper had been fried fish, hush puppies, brown pinto beans, and skillet fried potatoes. It was not a meal they had very often as they both tried to eat pretty healthily, but they both had a penchant for fried fish and barbecue.