The Stepfather

Chapter 19

Our lips are about to touch when I push away from him and splash him. He turns his head so the water gets the side of is head. Suddenly, I hear a splash as someone jumps into the pool. Ryan's head pops up next to me and he pulls me against him. "I leave you alone for ten minutes and you already have another guy wrapped around your finger." He says.

I look at him, worried. I try to see if he's mad but he shows no emotions. "We were just talking." Dylan smirks.

"I'm sure you were." Ryan nods. "Could you give us some space?"

Without another word Dylan swims away. Before I can question their weirdness, Ryan kisses me. He quickly deepens the kiss and I wonder where this is coming from. I open my eyes to see him looking behind me. Of course this is about Dylan. I quickly pull away and splash him too. "You're such a... guy." I say annoyed.

"What?" He says dumbly.

I go under water and swim away from him, avoiding Dylan too. When I get to the deeper end, I pull myself up onto the edge, dangling my feet in the water. Ryan slowly wades over to me. "What's wrong?"

"You should kiss me like that because you want to. Not because you wanna make your brother jealous." I frown.

"I just want to show him that you're mine." He says, pulling himself up to sit next to me.

"But I'm not yours. I'm not anybody's."

"Fine." He sighs. "Are you done being mad at me now?"

"I wasn't mad. Just annoyed. And yes, I am done." I say.

He smiles. "Let's swim then."

He leans forward to dive in but I grab his arm, holding him back. "Let's jump in together." I say.

"Okay." He says, standing up.

He helps me stand up and we back away from the pool. Grabbing my hand, he looks at me with a smirk. "Ready. Set. Go!"

We run and jump into the pool, splashing Dylan in the process. When we come up, I wrap my arms and legs around him, smiling. My lips press against his and I get lost in the moment.

********************************

I walk through the house with a smile on my face. "Aria?" I hear Steven, Ryan's father, say.

I fix my towel then go into the door his voice came from. "Yeah?"

"Have a seat." He nods to the chair in front of him.

I have to say, he looks pretty intimidating sitting in his big leather chair behind his large wooden desk. "Should I change first?" I ask.

He waves his hand and I sit down. He takes out a small booklet and pen, setting it in front of him. "How much is it gonna cost for you to leave my son alone?" He asks, looking me straight in the eye.

Now realizing he has a checkbook in front of him, I get offended. "Excuse me?"

"You're young. Go find someone your own age. I get it, the money sounds nice but you won't be getting any of it. This is my one and only offer."

I stare at him in disbelief. He thinks I'm with Ryan because of his family's money? "I love Ryan." I say.

"How much do you want?" He demands.

"If you want me gone. I'm gone." I say, standing up. "But you're not gonna pay me to do it."

He quickly writes down a number then pulls it out, holding it out for me to take. "Just take it. Don't say anything to Ryan about this."

I take the check away, only to ball it up and throw it at him. He frowns as the paper hits his chest and falls onto his desk. I go upstairs to Ryan's bedroom and begin throwing my stuff into my bag. After I get everything, I change into a pair of jeans and a plain black t-shirt. Grabbing up a piece of paper and a pen, I quickly scribble a note.