Unveiling Destiny

Chapter 11: Griffin

I couldn't believe my luck when I saw Aria for the second time this weekend, laughing her cute little ass off after scaring me shitless. But now, I must be dreaming, hearing the neediness in her voice as she begs me to press my lips to hers.

More than happy to oblige her request, I move my face closer to hers, watching her eyes flutter shut and lips part in anticipation. With my hands on either side of her head, still gripping the deck so I don't paw at her like a wild animal, I move to close the now minuscule gap between us. But just as I can feel the ghost of her lips on mine, I hear the back door slam open.

"Hey guys! I brought out some beer if you-" Blake cuts himself off, taking in the scene in front of him.

The moment between Aria and I dissipates, the intrusion of my annoyingly oblivious best friend flushing it away. Aria blushes and pushes herself away from me, breaking out from between my arms and backpedaling towards the steps of the pool.

Her eyes search the patio where Blake stands, alone.

"Where's Katie?" she asks breathlessly, recovering from the moment Blake interrupted.

Blake looks at her, uncomfortable. "She, uh, she ran back to your place to grab swimsuits and dry clothes for you. She should be back any second."

"Gotcha," Aria says shortly.

"Yep. So I, um, I forgot something inside so I'm going to go get that and, um, I'll be right back," Blake word vomits, sprinting back inside.

Aria snorts and looks at me. "Well, that was awkward."

"No doubt about that," I respond, reminding myself to kill Blake later for the intrusion. I wade over to her and lean on the wall next to her, forcing myself to keep some distance. "Well, look, it sounds like he's already told Katie about it, but we've got some friends coming over to hang out by the pool today. Play some yard games. Drink some beer. I'd love it if you'd stay and hang with us. Since you so rudely stalked me to find out where I live and then scared the living daylights out of me with a fake spider, I think it's the least you can do."

Aria blushes but laughs, looking pleased with herself.

"It's not stalking if you practically told me where you live. And you have to admit, that prank was awesome," she says, a smirk on her beautiful face.

"It was okay," I say, crossing my arms and pretending to be unimpressed.

"Shut up." She laughs, pushing my arm playfully.

Before I can respond, I hear the door slide open again. This time, it's Katie who pops her head out and wiggles a few small pieces of fabric at Aria.

"Come on! Let's get changed!"

Aria nods at Katie and then looks at me. "Can I have a towel so I don't get your floors all wet?"

I hoist myself out of the pool, padding my way across the patio. Opening the chest where we keep our towels, I grab one, hand it to her, and watch her towel off the best she can before realizing it's useless. Her clothes are still dripping, and she huffs in frustration. Dropping the towel onto a chair, she grabs the bottom of her shirt and lifts it over her head, revealing a lacy bralette that's very see-through when wet.

My brain malfunctions, barely registering as she tosses her shirt to me, saying, "Hold this for me, will you?"

I catch the shirt wordlessly, and watch her wrap the towel around her body again, before reaching underneath it and quickly sliding her shorts down her legs. She steps out of them and holds her hand out for her shirt. I hand it to her, still mute as I watch her walk back into the sun and lay her clothes on one of the lounge chairs to dry.