The Quiet

Chapter 42

Chapter 42

*Nathan's Point of View*

           I waited a day to speak to Athena after what happened with Kyle and me. I didn't text her or call her, so she could have time to herself like she usually wants. Today Grayson was invited to their house to spend the sunny day in their pool. He didn't know what happened with Kyle, so he asked me to go with him. I took him up on his offer and went over to their place around noon. He opened the front door and waltzed into their home like it was his, they were family to him. We ran into Athena's mother, she smiled and told us that they were already outside.

           Grayson knows their house like the back of his hand, he led up to their back porch where the pool was. I stopped in my tracks when I saw Jason sitting next to my girlfriend while another guy was sitting on the same lounge chair as her. "Be nice," my brother said and move towards his friends. There was a little girl sitting on Athena's lap while she was reading a book, I wasn't surprised since it was her favorite thing to do. I make my way over to her and stood in her line of sight, hoping to get her attention. She was concentrated on her book and didn't look up to see me. I assumed she didn't know I was coming.

           Jason smirked at me while his eyes traced my outline. "Oh, look who it is." Athena heard his voice and looked up to see who he was talking about. Her eyes met mine and I felt at ease, she still had the look in her eyes. The look of excitement and love that she almost always had for me.

           She marked her book and closed it, placing it on the glass table next to her. "Sunshine, I would like you to meet my little cousin, Sophia." Athena points to the little girl on her lap who smiled at me. The girl appeared to be quiet young, around 4 or 5 years old. Brown curls ran down her scalp to a little past her shoulders which was accompanied by dark brown eyes.

           My princess points to the boy next to her. "This is my other cousin, Santiago." He had short brown hair that was lighter towards the surface with dark brown eyes like the little girl. I felt better about who he was and why he was so close to my girlfriend, they were family. "Sophia, this my boyfriend, Nathan." Santiago snorted under his breath and mumbled in Spanish to Athena. She frowned and slapped his arm hard, replying to his remark most likely towards me. I stood there, not understanding a word they said.

           "Hi!" Sophia giggled, waving her small hand at me. I smiled at her, giving her a small wave back. I sat down at the edge of her lounge chair, resting my hand on Athena's tan leg.

           The bookworm poked the little girl's back, "Sophia, go play in the pool. Santiago, go with her. You need to let loose a little." Sophia didn't hesitate to stand up, clapping her hands in excitement. I looked over at Santiago and saw that his eyes were trained on me. "I'm serious," she growled at him and pointed towards the water. His eyes never left me while he walked away with Sophia. I had a feeling that he didn't like me too much. He was the same height as me, but he has more bulk to his body. I was assuming that he was in the military, there were metal dog tags hanging around his neck. I made a mental note in my head to not piss him off unless I wanted to be 6 feet underground in a coffin.

           "You too!" She snapped at Jason who was sitting comfortably in his chair, hoping to listen in on our conversation. He grumbled something under his breath and ran to jump into the pool.

           I pulled Athena's leg to pull her towards me. Her fingers began to run across the exposed skin on my arm. "I'm sorry about yesterday, I got out of hand and it was completely my fault. I thought there was something going on between you and Kyle while I was away."

           She stopped touching my skin and snapped her head to look in my forest colored eyes. "Do you trust me, Nathan?" I stared at her confused, I trusted Athena more than myself.