THE THIRD P3RSON

•Chapter 31•

My cheeks were burning. The only thing on my mind was Ryan's name. Everything froze and sped up at the same time. I felt hot because of Ryan. I shivered in the cold of the nighttime. I felt dizzy and happy. He pressed forward again and I lost my mind like I would lose a bracelet in the sand of Jewel Beach.

I pulled back. I cleared my throat wondering where that came from. "Oh my-" I blushed realizing I was out of breath. Ryan looked dazed and I couldn't help but kiss the prince back to reality. "Wake up."

"From this dream? Hell no." Ryan kissed me on the cheek.

Gathering my thoughts, I tugged on his arm. "Nice to see you're back to your old self. Get up."

"I'm never going back to the way I was." He teases.

"Please, Ryan-"

"Kiss you again? You don't even have to ask." Ryan remarks while leaning forward again. He pulls back when I tug on his hair and kisses my shoulder instead. He pleaded, "Please, don't do that again."

"What?" I mock. "This?" I tug on his hair again while smiling.

I look down and realize that I shouldn't have been able to do that because of the height difference. Imagine my surprise when I realize Ryan was supporting me from falling backward because I was kneeling on top of him. He tried to take my hands in his in order to pull it away from his hair but failed. His hands moved from my hips up to my arms and I shivered.

"That tickles." I let a laugh slip and squirmed.

"Oops." Ryan moves his hands to my sides and I cried out in his hold.

"Stop. Haha-Stop! Stop it or I'll pull." I threatened and tugged on the nape of his hair again in warning.

Ryan nudges his face next to mine as I'm still laughing when we hear the screen door open. I hear a sigh and only Grey could make a breath of air sound so disappointing. Nice going, Julianna.

"It's either she's tripping on flowerpots,  sitting on my desk and playing with my cube, or she's with Ryan." I hear a female laugh at Grey's joke. "It's been mostly Ryan recently but I blame my squished roses on her."

"Uncle." Ryan groans.

Ryan gets up and helps me do the same. I take my hair out of its bun, comb the stray hairs back and redo the bun. I look up to see Grey and Stacy. I blink.

"Hello, sweetie." Stacy laughs.

"Hey. I didn't see you come in." I tell her.

I hear Dean crack up inside. They must be able to hear me. My cheeks turned red. I hear a smack and Dean's laughter is cut off by a woman who was scolding him. I tried to laugh it off. It didn't help.

"Well," she leans against the frame of the entrance and Grey leans on the opposite side. "I parked my car and came through the back entrance. I thought that's where everyone was."

"Get roasted!" Dean yells and I hear muffled voices telling him to shut up.

Ryan mutters under his breath. "Dean needs to learn to keep his mouth closed. I thought dealing with Maxwell was enough."

I tap his shoulder awkwardly. "There, there."

"So is it safe to assume you two are together?" Stacy asks.

Grey gives her a look. "Haven't they been together since this whole thing started?"

Stacy shakes her head.

"They haven't been going out on dates?" He pushes.

"People can hang out with other people without them dating. It could feel like more to the both of them but I wouldn't say it's official unless they consider themselves boyfriend and girlfriend." I pipe up.

Grey gives a confused look to Ryan. "I thought you said you figured things out. Waiting this long until it's 'official' is bull. If you like someone you tell them the moment things feel different. If not, you can expect problems."

Ryan nods while taking my hand. "If it's alright with you, I'd like to have Julianna be in a relationship with me. Outside of the school project and one hundred percent official."

Grey couldn't fight back the smile no matter how hard he tried. "It's nice to know that you finally see that I'm a father figure to Julianna as well. Dr. Jones may be a top professor but when it comes to his child. Tsk." He nods my way. "What do you think, Julianna?"

"What took him so long." I laugh when Ryan's arms snake around my hips again and pulled me into a hug. "But," I speak up before Ryan celebrates too much, "I have some things to say to you."

Grey laughs again, looking at Stacy in front of him. "I've watched these two grow since they were kids. Seeing this is just too weird. It's like being the third wheel all the time."

It struck me that Grey really was always there. He is Ryan's guardian. Ryan and I had school together since I moved here. Grey knew about me before I went to high school and before I stepped into his office. He watched everything happen between Christina and Ryan too. Then, he added me into the mix. I never thought Grey would be the speculator in my life. Now, I don't know what would have happened if he wasn't.

I gave Grey a hug. He chuckled and gave me the second warmest hug in my life. I felt reassured that Grey would always be there.

"Don't hug me as if you're leaving. Knowing you, you'd probably crash here for the night because you'd just feel like it." Grey's chest rumbles as he muttered, "The worst part is I won't say no but the water bill will go up."

I did the most lady-like thing I could think of. I snorted what was supposed to be a laugh. I twisted back to see Ryan looking at me expectantly. I really needed to talk to him. Looking up at Grey I pat his shoulder and step towards Ryan.

Grey gives me the look he does when he knows something is up. I smile innocently while saying, "I'm kidnaping your son for the time being. I'll return by curfew. No need to bring out the shotgun. And tell Jade I'll be keeping in touch."

Grey looks at the two of us like he wants to object but doesn't know how to form the words to do so.

Stacy laughs at Grey's reaction. "Will do, Missy. Just go talk to your boy."

I smiled like one of the girls my dad used to date: stupidly. My boy? Oh wow. 

As soon as I turned around, I pulled Ryan towards the gate and made my way towards the sidewalk. "We have to talk about where you're going to college because don't think I've forgotten. If you want long distance, we're going to have to settle some things first."

If I'm going to do this relationship thing, I'm going to make sure that's what Ryan wants too.