Chapter 1

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I didn't mean to develop feelings for him.

Have you ever felt like everything was going great in your life then all of a sudden something comes and shakes things up either for good or bad? Yeah. Me too. The thing, well more like the person who shook my world up is Ryder Chamberlain.

It all started when one day I went over to my best friend's house and his new step brother happened to be there. He flirted with me and I was flustered to say in the least. A little bit flattered as well, knowing I was found attractive. After getting to know him and his endless but playful flirting, I ended up starting to want to hear the flirtation and it made me feel good. And I have to admit he definitely is a sight for sore eyes, from his raven colored hair, hazel eyes that have a mixture of blue and green and his sharp jawline. He has a lean body like me but a little more muscle to his arms. God and his scent as well that I got used to being around while on our road trip. I don't know how to describe it besides it being like a woodsy and eucalyptus/mint smell. It is heavenly and suits him. It's Ryder.

Yes, I am admitting to finding him attractive as well. Have I ever thought that about a male like that before? No. But there's a first for everything. I even tried to kiss him to see if there was a connection or if it was all in my head from his flirtation, but he rejected me because I have a girlfriend, Amber, who I found out that was pregnant later that very same day.

I guess that is also another thing that shook up my life, I mean I always wanted to have kids but in the future. No doubt am I happy about having mini me's running around but we are young so it's understandable to be a little freaked out about the situation.

My thoughts are interrupted when my phone's alarm goes off notifying me that I have to go pick up Amber in a half hour. After showering, I hop out and wrap a towel around my waist. Today is the first ultrasound, I'm excited that I'll be hearing my baby's heartbeat.

I get dressed quickly before using the banister to slide down the stairs.

"Whoa, where's the fire Matty?" my mom asks as I rush past her.

"I have to go pick up Amber for the first ultrasound" I tell her while putting on my shoes.

"Aw send me pictures Matty" she says, coming over to give me a kiss on the cheek. Luckily she hasn't put on her lipstick yet, so she doesn't mark me.

"I will, love you ma" I say before flying out the door to my car. I send a text to Amber to let her know I was on my way before pulling away from the curb.

Ten minutes later, I pull up to her house and get out of the car to knock on her door. She opens the door with a bright smile.

"Hey babe" she gives me a hug, leaning up for a kiss. My arms wrap around her waist and I give her a quick kiss.

"Let's go so we aren't late" I tell her before pulling away, taking her hand and leading her down the stairs.

"I don't have a giant belly yet, I can walk down the stairs just fine" she laughs.

"Better safe than sorry" I tell her with a smile. I wouldn't risk anything happening to our child. Opening the passenger door for her, she slides in before I shut the door and run over to my side to start the car and head to the clinic. She intertwines our fingers and I couldn't help myself from thinking of my conversation with Charlie and Jace about telling her my feelings about a break. Maybe after the appointment, I don't want to stress her out before we know how the baby is doing.

I park the car once we get to the clinic and we walk through the doors to the receptionist. Amber does all the talking and then we go sit down while we wait to be called back.

"Have you thought of names?" She asks out of the blue while tracing shapes on my hand.

"Uhh, not really. I figured we'd wait until we found out the gender" I told her and she nodded.

"I thought of a couple.." she trailed off and I looked at her biting her lip.

"What are they?"

"Well I have two idea for either boy or girl....boys, Finley and Declan. Girls, Francesca and Hailey" she said with excitement. "What do you think?"

"I like Declan for a boy" I said truthfully with a nod of my head "But maybe a different girl's name" I chuckled

"What's wrong with those?" She asked, no offense in her tone.

"I don't know, they are both good names but I couldn't imagine our daughter named either" I shrugged.

"Smith!" A nurse called. We both got up and made our way toward her.

"How are you today?"

"Great and super excited!" Amber replied chirpy. We were escorted to a room with the ultrasound machine and another lady sitting by the machine.

"Please lay down and pull up your shirt, I'll tuck this in your waistband to keep the gel from getting on your pants" the sonographer said holding a blue paper towel like sheet. Amber followed her directions.

"Can I videotape for my mom?" I asked

"Sure!" She agreed enthusiastically. I started taping as she squirted the gel on to Amber's abdomen. She took the wand and mixed it in the gel before applying a little pressure. The screen was facing away from us but when she found the baby she turned the screen towards us.

"Congratulations, you're having twins" she said with a bright smile.

Oh my God. Twins?!?! Not just one baby but two babies. I was speechless and felt like I couldn't breathe. Black spots started to fill my vision and my knees were wobbly.

"Matt!" Amber's voice called out as I felt my body give out before blackness overtook.

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"Matt.....Maaaaaatttttttt" a voice called out to me. I blinked my eyes open, clearing the fogginess of my mind. Amber was above me, while shaking my shoulder.

"What happened?" I rasped out.

"You fainted" she stated bluntly.

"Ah" I nodded, sitting up. "Sorry" I muttered.

"It's quite alright, I got the images we needed, it'll be just a minute for them to print and I can also send them to your email" the sonographer told us.

"That'd be lovely, Thank you" Amber told her as the machine started printing. "You okay?" She directed the question to me.

"Yeah, was just surprised I guess"

"So was I" she laughed.

"Alright, here you are and you're free to go"

"Wait, were you able to see genders?" I asked curiously

"Oh, no" she said with a sweet smile "That's around 20 weeks when we can tell genders" she notified us.

We nodded then exited the room after Amber took the sonogram prints from her.

"Could you send me the pictures from your email to me so my mom can have them?" I asked her as we made it out to my car.

"Of course! I wouldn't keep them all to ourselves" she said climbing into her seat.

"Okay, wanna grab a bite to eat?" She nodded and we took off to McDonald's since that was what she was craving, a Big mac, large fries and a chocolate shake to dip the fries in.

I dropped Amber back off at her house after we ate our McDonald's and I told her I'd text her later. I couldn't go through with telling her we should take a break after getting that twin bomb. I parked my car in front of Jace's house before going up to the door, I tried knocking and ringing the doorbell but no answer. I figured I'd just sit on the steps until someone came home. I could easily text him, I thought to myself before Jace, Charlie and Tanner came walking down the street.

"Hey Mattsy, how'd the ultrasound go?"Jace asked opening the front door. I didn't answer until him and I were seated on the floor and Charlie and Tanner were on the couch.

"Twins" I stated quietly while grabbing out my phone. They huddled together to watch the video I took while at the ultrasound.

"You fainted?" Tanner asked with a hint of amusement. I grimaced and nodded.

"Wow....Could you see the genders?" Jace asked. I pocketed my phone and shook my head.

"Not usually until 20 weeks" I told them.

"Soooo, not to switch topics but does that mean you didn't talk to her about a break?" Charlie asked me. Tanner glared at him but he just shrugged his shoulders.

"How could I after finding out that I'm having not only one baby but two?!"I exasperated.

"Well like I said, you shouldn't feel obligated to stay with her Matt, you can be in your babies lives while not being with their mother" Charlie said softly.

"I know but then I got to thinking..." I said biting my lip.

"About what?" Jace questioned.

"Ryder and me" I sighed "I like him a lot...but I'm scared of screwing up what we already have, An unexpected and beautiful friendship like the one I have with you..." I said while looking at Jace "Except the difference is there is this undeniable attraction that makes me want to kiss him so bad but at the same time I don't-" The front door suddenly opened cutting me off.

"Hey Kota!" Jace yelled out.

"-want to just kiss him to see if it's worth the risk losing what I had before" I finished. Then we looked up at the person who walked through the door, only to be met with Ryder. He was dressed in his usual riding attire of black jeans, riding jacket and his helmet under his arm but his face flashed with hurt before he masked it with a neutral expression.

"I was in the neighborhood and seen you were here, figured I'd ask how the ultrasound went" he stated.

"Oh... uh we're having twins" I muttered getting up off the floor and walking toward him.

"Congratulations" Ryder replied.

"Thanks" My voice quiet.

"Your mom wanted to get together for dinner tonight" Ryder turned his attention to Jace. The front door opened again and this time it was actually Dakota, whom was carrying two boxes of pizza and wings from Pizza Hut.

"Hey, Ryder. Staying for lunch?" Dakota asked lifting the boxes in his hands.

"No, thank you. I was just leaving" he gave a smile before turning to me once again. In a flash, his lips pressed quickly to mine and pulled away just as fast. I couldn't even feel his lips and that disappointed me greatly. "You don't have to risk anything" he simply said before turning to the door and opening it.

"Ry" I softly called, following him out the door.

He was quick down the front steps, striding toward his bike.

"Ry!" I called again "That wasn't-"

"It's okay Matt" he said. Him using my nickname instead of 'Matthew' panged my chest. "We can still be friends, no need to risk anything" he continued while swinging his leg over his seat and setting his bike upright with ease.

"But-" I started but he cut me off. Frustration coursed through my veins as he put his helmet on.

"Seriously Matt, it's fine being friends is enough for me. I'll talk to you later. Congratulations again" he said before backing his bike up and taking off down the road. I felt tears well up in my eyes as the frustration grew, he misinterpreted what I was saying. Grrrr, It wasn't supposed to happen like that. Our first kiss was supposed to be different, special even.

I turned, creeping my way slowly back into Jace's house. I looked up at the three in the living room.

"Aww" they all quietly said as they looked at me with sympathy.

"Matt" Jace said softly, getting up from his spot on the floor to come to me, wrapping his arms around me.

"He didn't let me get a word in" I muttered, squeezing Jace tightly.

"I mean it did sound kinda bad" Jace admitted with a frown. "Like you were talking about Amber and not your friendship with him"

"I know, I was trying to tell him but he wouldn't listen he just kept saying that it was fine and we were still friends and that's enough for him before he rode away" I sobbed. I noticed Charlie and Tanner walk to the kitchen, leaving Jace and I here in the living room.

"That wasn't how our first kiss was supposed to go" I whispered and Jace sighed.

"Maybe try calling him" Jace offered and I pulled back to wipe the stray tears that fell from my eyes.

"I'll give him a little time, he probably wouldn't answer right now anyway" I sadly said which made Jace scoff.

"He's head over heels for you, I'm sure if you called him, hell even go to my mom's to see him. He will talk/see you" he stated.

"I'll text him to have him call me because he's riding right now" I said taking out my phone with a little sniffle.

"Oh yeah, good idea" he agreed. I sent a quick text to Ryder to let him know I wanted to talk to him before putting my phone back in my pocket.

"Want some pizza?" Jace asked and I shook my head.

"I got McDonald's with Amber before I dropped her off"

"I think you should still talk to Amber..." he commented and I gave him a look. "What? If you're upset about a kiss that was not with her, it's probably a good idea to take a break and figure out what...no, who you want"

"I know" I say defeatedly.

"But now that I think about that too, what if it doesn't last between Ryder and I...what if it's a fluke?" I ramble.

"Life is full of what ifs Matt, it's for you to decide what route you take....if it doesn't work out, oh well you tried...if it does, you could have the best love of your life" he stated waving his arms around animatedly.

"This is why we're best friends" I told him with a grin

"Damn right!" he said with a curt nod. My phone started to buzz in my pocket and I pulled it out to see Ryder's name flash on the screen. I held up my phone for Jace and he made a 'go ahead' gesture before disappearing into the kitchen.

"Hey" I said answering the phone.

"Matthew" he replied and it made me smile that he was calling me Matthew again.

"Listen, what you walked in on...it wasn't what you think it was..." I trailed off and my ears met silence. I guess he is waiting for me to explain. With heat filling my cheeks I explained the conversation from the beginning, including telling him I was going to talk to Amber about a break.

"I like you a lot Matthew, but I'm going to let you do your thing. If we find ourselves more than friends in the future then that's great. However, I am fine with just being friends... if you're happy, I'm happy" he said and it made my heart flutter with his words.

"Ry...I do feel something for you, I hope you know that" I admitted with my heart pounding.

"I know, mon cheri.... I'm meeting up with a buddy of mine, I'll talk to you later?"

"Of course, laters" I said before hanging up the phone.

"Trouble in paradise?" a voice all of a sudden said making me scream. I turned to see Damon with a shit eating grin on his face. He must've just got home from work.

"Uncalled for" I said clutching my chest.

"Sorry Matt" he chuckled ruffling my hair, I groaned and flipped my hair to fix it. "So, what's up with you and lover boy?" he asked

"Too much" I exasperated then explained the situation while we walked into the kitchen then also filling in the whole room as to what the phone conversation was about. I plopped myself in one of the barstools of the breakfast bar while the others stuffed their faces with pizza and wings.

"Make sure we save some for Seb" Dakota said gesturing to the four pieces left in the boxes and couple wings in the bowls.

"I'm done" Jace burped.

"Cuuuuuuute" I said and rolled my eyes

"I know right" he winked at me and I laughed. The rest of the afternoon we spent watching movies until they had to go to their mom's for dinner. Jace asked me to go but I declined because Ryder was for sure going to be there and even though we talked, I feel like we just need a little space right now. 


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A/N

I am so excited to begin this story! I hope you all like it as much as the first two!

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