Riley

Chapter 6

Riley's POV
I go under the cool water and when I come back up I see Peter shirtless. I spit out water and while my eyes to why a clear view.

"Oh my gosh."

He's so hot. His 6 pack abs are so defined and that v line...oh my the v line.

I go back under and swim all the way to the edge and prop myself up and stare at him while he slowly takes off his pants. I wipe my eyes and stare smirking. He grins and does a weird shimmy dance. He kicks his pants off and puts his hands on his hips in a pose. His navy blue boxer briefs fit him perfectly. Then he struts around and poses and flexes his muscles.

I clap and do cat calls. "Woooo" he breaks into a run towards me and does a flip over my head diving into the water.

I pull myself out of the water and run towards the rope swing.

"Hey! Where you going?" He yells at me. I ignore him giggling and press forward.

I rub my hair from my face and feel it curling. I grab the rope swing and pull it back as far as I can, I launch myself into the the air doing a flip. I land in the water and swim towards the center of the lake. I can hear Peter calling my name as I continue to swim towards the center. His calls for me get louder and even though I'm still under the water I can hear the urgency and desperation is his voice. I swim towards him and grab his leg. He laughs and pulls me up from the water.
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Peter POV
We walk back to her house drying in the heat of the sun. We've played in the water, gotten ice cream, and stared at the clouds for most of the day.

"What time is it?" I ask.

"It's 7:00, why do you have to go home?"

"Nah, I have no home really I don't think." I sigh.

She looks at me with a sadness inner eyes. "No home?"

"I can just crash at your place." I nudge her and she grins.

"Why do you can see me undress again?" She nudges me back. Forgetting about me saying that I don't have a home. Or perhaps just letting me change the subject.

"You willingly take your clothes off in front of me, I don't have to ask." We laugh together.

It's fun effortless laughter. We arrive at the end of the empty drive way to her ornate ostentatious house, her mother must not be home. It's all white and has bushes leading up both sides of the drive way. She pulls out her keys but before she can open the door, it swings open and her mother is standing before us, with a puffy eyed and tear stained face.

"Riley..." She starts.

Her eyes dart from her to me and she ushers both of us quickly inside. We sit on the large white sofa in silence as her mother closes the door slowly, leaning against it for support.

"I need to go..." She starts taking a deep breath.

"Grandpa, has been shot..." She finishes.

"How do you know?" Riley asks, hardly above a whisper.

"I received a text message saying that he was in a hospital... The person who sent the text left the hospital number at the bottom. I called the number to make sure it wasn't some kind of sick joke, and they confirmed, what I had feared. " She explains.

"I tried to call the number to see who it was but it kept saying that the caller was unavailable." Riley's mom adds quietly

"I need to go and make sure that he will be okay. I'm leaving you here with a sum of money and you have your own bank account for emergencies only, but I'm flying out to New York to check on him." She explains.

Riley sniffles and I move to comfort her, taking her in my arms.

She turns into me and takes a deep breath and cries harder. I wrap my arms all the way around her and rub her hair. She lifts her face from my shirt and turns towards her mother. I try to move my arms from around her so that she can move better, but she holds them around her. My front to her back.

"Can I go?" Riley sniffles and asks.

Her mom shakes her head and Riley breaks free form my grasp. Standing and moving closer to her mother near the door.

"Why can't I go with you?" She shakes her head and tries to breathe deeply.

"Why didn't you call me as soon as you found out!" She yells.

I stand behind her and wrap my arms tight around her and lean down to kiss her shoulder. She smells of strawberries, and outside. I inhale her again putting my face flush into her neck,I don't care if her mother is right there. Her mother looks me in my eye as I nuzzle her daughters neck. Riley calms down, I can feel her calming down. I can feel her breathing leveling and becoming even again.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner. I would have come home." She sounded broken and raw.

It breaks my heart.

Why do I have strong feelings for her and I met her yesterday? What is wrong with me?