Chapter 1 1: The Meet Cute

Word count: 7853 | Released on 28/01/2021

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

NEW YORK CITY

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

KARA's POV:
"I can't believe you're getting married to a man you barely even know,
you've only known him for 3 months!" I said, stomping off to the
kitchen with my dirty plates.

"But I've never felt this way before, honey. This time it's for real, I just
know it," mom followed right behind me.

"That's what you said about the last-- I don't know how many men,
Lacey."

"You're walking on thin ice right now Kara. And I am not Lacey, I'm your
mother," She said rather sternly.

Yeah maybe I'll call you that when you start acting like one, I thought to
myself, but I wouldn't say it out loud of course. No matter how much I
disagreed with my mom's decision to get married— I would not hurt her
feelings like that.

Mom was only 16 when she had me. She had to drop out of high school
to become a single mother. My father was never around from the
beginning. He'd sent checks from time to time, but he had never
appeared in my life.

Since then, she struggled to raise me on her own in New York City. Mom
managed to get her GED and attended college, and eventually she
became a flight attendant. I learned many things from watching my
mother's life story. Number One: I must be a strong and independent
woman who could stand on her own two feet. And Two: men cannot be
trusted. Period.

My mom had many, many boyfriends. She had dated doctors, lawyers,
bankers, waiters, personal trainers, married doctors, married lawyers—
you name it. I couldn't keep track. But none of these men ended up
staying around. And watching so many men broke my mother's heart so
many times, I had made a decision; I focused myself in my schooling and
vowed to practice abstinence until marriage.

I believed I made the right choice. I graduated as valedictorian from the

prestigious Stuyvesant high school, earned a full ride to Columbia
University, and I never got my heart broken— not even once.

Funnily enough, I thought that I would be able to spend my last summer

before college peacefully with my mom. I thought of getting a part time
job to make some extra cash, I thought of visiting the library, or maybe
the museums or watching some Broadway play. But all that plan went
down the toilet when Lacey suddenly announced that she was getting
hitched to a man named Peter, whom she met while on a layover in
Hawaii.

I only knew three things about this Peter guy. One: he's a widowed man
in his mid 40s. Two: he owns a business down in Hawaii— something
related to boats. And three: he has a son.

"Mom, are you sure about this? I mean, I get that you date a lot. But
this is a marriage, not just some Sunday picnic at Central Park."

"Kara, baby," she said, taking my hand. "I know my track record hasn't
been very clean. And I know you're worried about me. But honey, I have
been waiting for sooo long for a man like Peter to come into my life. He
makes me very, very happy."

I looked at the sincerity in my mother's face. My heart gave up. Like it or

not, my mother was the only family I ever had. I knew I had to support
my mom's decision, no matter what.

"So you're really gonna get married, in August?" I said finally with a
defeated sigh.

"Yup. It's gonna be a sweet little wedding in Hawaii, just some family
and friends."

"And you're moving to live with him there?"

"Yes."

"Which means, when I go back to New York for college in September, I'll
be living on my own?"

"Baby, you're 18, you're in college, and you're the greatest daughter I
know— you'll be fine," she smiled brightly as she cupped my cheeks.

"It's not me I'm worried about" I scoffed as I started doing the dishes.

"I'm gonna miss living with you, you know." I added, in almost a
whisper.

"Me too," she replied. "That's why you need to come with me to Hawaii
and help me plan my wedding. Come on baby. It'll be fun. You've never
been to Hawaii, it's so nice there, full of sunshine, and the beach, and
the boys—"

"Mom," I cut her off.

"Okay, not the boys. But Hawaii: the beach, the sun, the ocean, you'll
love it. And it will be our last summer together before you move on to
college,"
"And you move on to your new life,"

"Ah come on, baby. Come to Hawaii with me," she threw her arms
around me and spoke as if she was a five-year-old kid. Sometimes I
wondered that maybe I was the mother and Lacey's my child.

"Fine," I sighed. "But I'm not gonna be enjoying this."

Mom screamed in happiness and hugged me tighter. I simply rolled her

eyes in annoyance.

"Oh, the things I do for my family."

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

HAWAII

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

Throughout the whole plane ride to Hawaii, my mom would not stop
blabbing about how great things are in Hawaii, how great of a man
Peter is, and how excited she is for the next chapter of their lives. I gave
my mom the occasional nod, but I was mostly quiet, unimpressed.

To be honest, I was a bit hurt that my mom made it look so easy to just
leave thousands of miles away, leaving me on my own. First my dad left,
and then my mom... I'm gonna end up forever alone in this world, aren't
I?

Darn you abandonment issues.

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

My soon-to-be stepdad, Peter, picked us up at the airport and Lacey

could not stop ogling him. I didn't get her fascination with him. He was
just your typical 40-something year old man who wore polo shirts and
khakis. But, he seemed nice enough.

I let my head rest by the car window as we drove off. I saw a glimpse of
the ocean, the rows of coconut trees, and how the sun was radiating
this orange hue. It was beautiful, and it wasn't even time for the sunset
yet.

Okay, I have to admit it, Hawaii was beautiful and warm. But I had
promised myself that I wasn't gonna be enjoying this. So yeah. I would
just be quiet and stay out of everyone's way. I couldn't wait for this
summer to be over.

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

"We're here!" Peter's voice woke me up from my daydreaming. We

arrived in front of a homey-looking two-story house, with all kinds of
trees and flowers growing in the front lawn. My eyes scanned the whole
house and they stopped in front of a small garage on the side.

The garage door flew open, and there emerged a guy, about my age, or
maybe a bit older. He was shirtless, only wearing some board shorts
that hung lowly on his hips. His body was lean but muscular, with
tattoos everywhere. He had that perfect tan, and his hair was dirty
blonde and messy. He looked up to see Peter, then Lacey, and then his
eyes stopped at me.

He caught me looking at him, and I automatically froze awkwardly, not

knowing what to do.

"And this is Ryder, my son," Peter exclaimed.

The air suddenly felt dry and I just realized that I had been holding my
breath for some time now. Breathe woman, exhale!
"...Or you can call him Ry for short," Peter added.

"Hey," Ryder said, still not breaking his gaze from me.

"Hi Ryder! I've heard so much about you, nice to finally meet you, this is
my daughter, Kara," Lacey walked over and shook Ryder's hands.

It seemed that my body had forgotten its entire motor skills. Say
something dummy! Say hi back! I yelled to myself, but there were no
words.

"Ry, come help the girls with their bags," Peter yelled from the back of
the car as he busily started moving our bags.

"Sure thing," Ryder replied shortly.

I couldn't bring myself to say anything, yet my eyes followed his every
move.

He raised an eyebrow at me and let out a small laugh. As he walked out

towards the back of the car, Ryder gave me a wild smile. That boyish
smile. I knew that smile. That smile meant trouble.
Chapter 2 2: The Purity Ring

Word count: 11078 | Released on 28/01/2021

Kara's POV:

"This is your first time in Hawaii, right Kara?" Peter made small talk as
the four of us sat together for lunch.

"Yes." I replied shortly.

"Well you're gonna have so much fun, what do you like to do?"

"I don't know, read books, watch films, maybe write.."

"Oh Kara is a fantastic writer, she got a full ride to study writing in
Columbia," Lacey exclaimed proudly.

"That's fantastic, good for you." Peter said again, I smiled politely back
at him.

Ryder was sitting in front of me, not giving much thought into this
conversation. He was busy typing on his phone.
"What about you Ryder? Are you going to college in the state or..?"
Lacey turned to Ryder but he did not respond, still busy on his phone.

Peter kicked Ryder's feet under the table. He looked up in shock. I found
it amusing.

"Ry has decided that he will not be going to college. He graduated last
year and for the past year he's been training professionally to be a pro
surfer. He actually just got a contract with Quiksilver and Volcom, he's
going pro now." Peter explained.

"Oh that sounds exciting," Lacey responded.

"Yeah he'd be going on a world tour for surfing, starting this September.
He'd be gone for at least three years,"

"Well congratulations Ryder, you're gonna go out there and see the
world, I am excited for you," Lacey beamed at Ryder. Ryder smiled and
gave her a polite nod.

"But I still think that a man needs an education, you know, especially in
this era—I mean, surfing's not gonna last forever—" Peter rambled on
and Ryder cut him off.
"Dad. I'mma go outside for a bit okay. Maybe go to the beach and meet
some friends," he said as he stood up abruptly. I sensed that he did not
like where this conversation was going.

"Oh ok... well... oh, Ry! Take Kara with you!" Peter said suddenly. I
almost choked on my asparagus.

"Oh that'd be nice won't it, Kar? Ryder can show you around the island,"
Lacey added.

Ryder looked at me, who again had lost my ability to speak.

"Sure, let's go," he gave me a quick nod.

For some unknown reason, I felt a knot in my stomach.

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

I followed Ryder out of the kitchen as he grabbed a T-shirt from the sofa
and quickly slipped it on. I never knew that watching someone put a
shirt on can look this sexy.
Outside the house, Ryder jumped into his truck with one swift move. He
grabbed a pair of Ray-Ban from the dashboard before putting it on.
Dang, How can a guy be this cool?

I followed him into the truck, struggling to get on. Yes, I'm not the most
graceful of creatures. I sighed to myself.

Ryder started the engine and the truck pulled out of the driveway.
Ryder's right hand was on the wheel and his left one was hanging by the
car window. I wondered what the tattoos on his arms meant, maybe
someday I'll ask him. Ryder then caught me staring at him for a second
too long.

"Wanna tell me why you're staring at my face?" he said coolly. I lit up in

embarrassment and quickly turned away.

"Uh sorry. I wasn't..." that was all that I could muster out.

What is wrong with you? Darn girl, be cool!

Normally I'm not like this around guys. In fact, I never paid attention to
any of them. Why was this one different? Why was I so nervous around
him and I couldn't speak-- like English wasn't my first language
anymore?

I decided to turn my head to face the side window, to avoid looking at

Ryder. But after a few moments, I noticed that he was looking at me.

"What are you looking at?" I tried to stay cool.

"You. You're beautiful," He said it as if he was just commenting on the

weather.

Okay, I was not prepared for such an answer. I struggled to hide my

cheeks from blushing.

"Hey--Ry--uh, do you have music or something?" I quickly changed the

topic.

"Of course," he replied as he turned on the audio.

"Wow, I haven't seen a person used a CD player in so long," I noted how

his truck still had one of those old CD players attached to it.
"I preferred them over digital. I like their quality better," he answered.

Gee, I didn't know he was such an old soul.

I soon recognized the music that was playing, it was "Yellow" by

Coldplay. My head slowly nodded into rhythm of the music.

"Look at the stars, look how they shine for you, and everything you do,
they were all yellow." Ryder started singing to the song. A small smile
escaped my lips.

I braced myself.

"Your skin~ oh yeah your skin and bones, turning to something

beautiful," I joined him at the chorus. He turned to me with that smile
again. We started to sing louder as we finished the chorus in harmony.

"Not bad, you a Coldplay fan?" Ryder said.

"Are you kidding, who would not like Coldplay?" I responded.

We continued on singing until the song ended. And then we found

ourselves laughing as we ended the last note in perfect harmony.

"Nice!" he gave me a high five. I tapped his hand awkwardly.

"So what other music do you listen to, other than Coldplay?" Ryder
asked.

"Umm, I like a lot of indie bands.. like The Temper Trap, The Boxer
Rebellion, Of Monsters and Men, The Lumineers..." I found myself
trailing off. "Do you know any of them?"

"Honestly, no." he let out a short laugh.

"Well you should, they're great." I replied.

"I believe you," he said again.

Okay, what do I say now? Uh... Make small talk! It's not that hard! Come
on, say something, or he'll think that you're some kind of antisocial
weirdo. Talk about the weather!

"So the weather's nice here.." I stumbled with my words.

He raised an eyebrow and said, "the weat

her?" in a mocking tone.

Okay, that was annoying. I was just trying to be friendly.

"Hey, what's with that ring you keep playing with?" Ryder said,
motioning to the small ring on my finger. I had this bad habit of playing
with my ring when I'm nervous. I guess he must've noticed it.

"Oh, it's my purity ring." I said.

"What?"

"Purity ring. You know? People wear them as a sign of abstinence until
marriage,"

"No, I know what it means, but why are you wearing it?" he paused for
a second to think. "Oh wait, are you saying you're actually doing that?"
he waited for me to answer.
I nodded slowly.

"Are you serious? Wait-- you're a virgin?" I sensed the condescending

tone in his words.

I chose not to respond to that remark. But I saw Ryder's eyes lit up as he
found this topic super interesting.

"Are you one of those crazy Christian freaks?" he teased.

"No." I said, feeling slightly offended. "I didn't do it because of religion. I

chose to do it because I wanted to. I just happen to think that it's a wise
decision," I tried to stay calm and not to sound like I was angry.

"Well I'll be damned!" he chuckled in disbelief. "Look honey, you have

to have sex before you get married to a guy, ok? Otherwise how'd you
know if you're compatible with each other? What happens if you got
married and then you realize the sex is bad?" he spoke to me as if I'm a
child.

"Well first of all, I believe there's more to marriage than just sex, heck,
there's more to a relationship than just sex. Second, if I never had sex in
the first place, how would I know if the sex is bad? And third... don't call
me honey," I was fuming, my inner NYC diva had made its entrance.
Ryder couldn't help but to smile. I hated that he found my decision to
stay chaste to be so amusing.

"Okay, so if it's not because of religion, why'd you choose to do it?"

I wondered if I should tell him. I knew he was going to make fun of me

of either way. I knew his type, he'd probably label me as a prude.

"Because... I'd like to believe... that love really exists, you know?" I
finally answered.

"What do you mean?" he pressed on.

"I don't know, I'd like to believe, that there's a guy out there who's
willing to wait for me, and love me no matter what-- no matter how
good or bad the sex is between us, no matter how rich or broke, how
pretty or ugly I may get..." I trailed off.

Ryder couldn't help but to stare at me. His jaw fell to the floor. Then he
broke into laughter. I rolled my eyes at him, clearly offended.

"Good luck finding that unicorn, honey," he said.

"My name is not honey. Stop calling me that," I hissed.

"Ah sorry, force of habit." He responded. I look at him quizzically. " It's
just that I hang out with so many girls, I can't possibly remember all
their names, you know? So I just call everyone honey," he explained.
And he seemed to be proud about it.

"Holy shit, you're a virgin," he repeated to himself. I wished I could

smack that annoying smile off his face. Why was the fact I'm a virgin so
amusing to him?

I'm a virgin, sure, big whoop. Surely a lot of other people in the world
were too. But probably not him though. Yeah, definitely not him.

"So Ry, I suppose you go out on a lot of dates, huh?" I said, making sure
I sound like I don't really care.

"Eh, not really, I don't do dates, it's too much work. Dates are just
appetizers, I like to go straight for the main course, you know what I
mean," he replied teasingly.

"Ew, gross. That's enough information," I cut him off. "Man-whore" I

muttered under my breath, almost in a whisper, I thought he wouldn't
hear me.

"You calling me a whore? Yeah okay, prude," he spat.

"Oh, better that than a manwhore," I snapped back.

"Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night. But as for me? I sleep really
good at night, especially after one or two rounds of--"

"La la la la!" I cut him off as I put my hand over my ears and sing-song
loudly, drowning his voice.

He laughed at me with a wild grin. Sure, make fun of me, the good ole'
prude, whatever. I rolled my eyes at him and scooted towards the edge
of my seat, throwing my gaze to the window, not wanting to talk
anymore.

Ryder took the hint. He knew that I was mad at him now.

"Hey, don't be mad," he nudged my shoulder but I quickly brushed him

off.
He sighed. He looked out his window and spotted this homey-looking
diner.

The car pulled up to the drive-thru window and Ryder ordered two large
milkshakes. He gave one of them to me and sipped the other cup.

"Mhhmm, damn this is so good, maybe even as good as sex" he said

teasingly.

Why are we still talking about that.

"What's this?" I motioned to the large cup that he gave me.

"Why it's only the best milkshake in the whole world! Consider it a
treat, to welcome my new little sister to Hawaii," he said proudly.

"I don't want it,"

"The milkshake or the sex?" he teased me again.

I rolled my eyes and turn my face away, ignoring the milkshake being
offered in front of my face.
"Oh come on, I promise, it's worth your while," he moved the cup
around in front of my face, the straw poking at my lips. "Come on, just
take a sip, try it, try it, try it."

"Agh! Ryder! You're so annoying!" I grabbed the cup angrily.

"Ha-ha. Look at us, barely a day and already fighting. We'd make a great
sibling, don't you think?" he grinned.

Psh. Bribing me with milkshake? What am I, a five year old?

Still, I took a slurp of that darn milkshake.

And dang it. He was right, it was the best milkshake in the whole world.

Chapter 3 3: The Pastel Sky

Word count: 7492 | Released on 28/01/2021

Kara's POV:

Through the rest of the car ride, Ryder and I were mostly silent. He'd
hummed to the music in his car, but that was about it.
After a while of driving, the car finally stopped at a cliff, with the whole
ocean standing gloriously below us.

The sun was barely setting. The sky was pastel pink and orange and
purple. I had never seen a sunset this beautiful in the city.

"Well little sis, I present to you, Hawaii." Ryder said proudly. "Not too
bad, huh?"

"Wow. This is even better than my desktop wallpaper," I said in awe as I

took my phone out to snap a couple pics.

"This here is one of my favorite spots on the island. Sometimes I come

here when I want to be alone and think..." somehow Ryder found
himself staring at me, and not at the view.

But when I turn to him and caught him looking at me, he quickly turned
away and opened his car door. "Come on," he said.

He went out and leaned against the front part of his truck. I decided to
follow him out, taking the spot next to him.
I could smell the ocean from up here. Warm summer breeze was
blowing softly through my hair. Below us, I saw the waves came
colliding towards the shore, again and again. And that sound was like
music to my ears.

I couldn't help but to smile.

"Can't get this view in New York City, huh?" Ryder said, taking off his
sunglasses.

"Yeah, you really can't" I said with a bright smile. Somehow I found
myself looking at Ryder again. This was the first time I got to see his
eyes in close proximity. It was a deep shade of blue and it seemed to
hold many stories, many mysteries.

Ryder's eyes were fixed towards the ocean with a longing gaze. A
somewhat melancholy gaze. And suddenly, he turned to me and caught
me looking at him, again. Dang. I quickly flipped my brain, trying to find
something to say to distract him.

"Err... hey Ry, what's that tattoo about? What's it say there?" I pointed
to a tattoo on Ryder's arm. He pulled out his arm to give me a better
look. The tattoo spelled "Layla".
"This one is a special one," Ryder said.

"Layla... is that your girlfriend?" I laughed teasingly. "What is that 05 09

09? Is that like when you guys started dating?"

His face suddenly became serious. "Layla was my mother's name. And
that was the date she died."

I felt my heart dropped to my stomach. My smile fell to the ground. I

couldn't believe how insensitive I was.

"Oh I'm sorry.." I said slowly.

"I would never tattoo a girl's name on my body," he said with a scoff.
"It's only for my mom," he said again, and I knew he meant it.

The atmosphere became somewhat gloomy as the topic of Ryder's dead

mother came up.

"I'm really sorry, Ry, I didn't mean to.. uh.." I mumbled my words out.

"It's fine. It's been a long time. She's in a better place now."
Both of us were looking to the front now, towards the sky, and not at
each other.

"It's funny that you call me Ry. All my friends call me RJ, only my family
calls me Ry. My mom gave me that nickname,"

"Oh.. well, should I just start calling you RJ, then?"

"No. You can call me Ry," he smiled, and it was one of those really
genuine smiles that you don't often see on his face.

Ryder narrowed his eyes, looking intently at the churning waves below
us.

"What are you thinking about?" I asked.

"Nothing." he said shortly. But I knew it wasn't nothing. I could tell that
his mind was filled with something; some thoughts, maybe even some
painful thoughts.

"If there's something on your mind, you can tell me, you know." I said
nonchalantly. One of the perks of being an introvert like me, is that I am
very sensitive towards people in pain.

He was quiet, probably debating whether or not he should say anything.

"When my mom died, we spread her ashes there in the ocean. I think
that's why I like surfing so much... I

n a weird way it makes me feel like I'm near her again." he paused for a
moment. "She is one of the reasons why I wanted to be a pro surfer."

My heart broke a little.

"I think your mom would be really proud of you," I said softly.

"And another reason is..." he said again as he turned to me, "surfers get
laid."

I smacked his arm almost instantly. He just laughed away.

"Is that all that you can think about? Girls and sex?" I said.
"And surf," he added while laughing.

Oh my days. I swore, he was just like one of those Jersey Shore

man-whores I saw on TV. Except it wasn't Gym-Tanning-Laundry for
Ryder, it was Girls-Surf-And More Girls. I smacked his arm again as he
wouldn't stop laughing.

"It's what they call 'the good life' little sis, you should try it sometime."

"Thanks. But I'll pass," I rolled my eyes at him.

As his laughter winded down, suddenly he turned to me and said,

"You're surprisingly fun to talk to."

I didn't understand what he meant by that. So I just mumbled

"whatever," under my breath.

"You've got character. You're... intriguing." he said again.

My breath hitched. Is he... flirting with me?

"Well it's only because your character lacks depth," I spat back.
Don't let that smooth mudderfudder get to you.

His mouth fell open. But he was still smirking, and his eyes grew wider.

Well, at least that shut him up.

I turned my gaze back towards the sky. It was a beautiful day and it was
a beautiful place. Let's just take a moment to appreciate this and ignore
the blabbing manslut next to me.

So I closed my eyes. I took a deep breath and I felt the warm air gently
brushing over my face. I focused my ears to the sound of the waves.

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

For the longest time, there was silence between us.

My eyes were open slightly, and on the corner of my eye, I noticed

Ryder looking at me. My long brown hair was blowing in the air. His
eyes darted from my lips to my cheeks, then to my eyelashes, the tip of
my nose, and back again on my lips.
There was something about the way he was looking at me. I didn't know
what had gotten into him, but all of a sudden, he reached his hand out
to touch my face. His hand landed on my cheek, and his fingers tilted
my chin to bring my lips closer to him.

My eyes were open wide in shock. His dark blue eyes were fixed unto
mine, like he was searching for something.

For a moment we just looked at each other. I wasn't sure of what he

was thinking. I wasn't sure of what I myself was thinking of. With his
hand resting on the side of my face, I stood frozen still.

Ryder's hand slowly caressed my check and then the side of my lips. His
hand moved so slowly, so gently, as if I was a fragile thing and he could
break me if he moved too much too fast.

I could feel the knot in my stomach coming back now, and it was
stronger than ever before.

Ryder slowly moved closer towards me and his hand gently pulled my
face closer towards him.
It felt like an eternity. He held his gaze unto mine. I looked up at him,
waiting for the uncertainty. Our noses were now touching and I felt the
butterflies in my stomach fluttering. My heart was beating so fast, I was
afraid that he might have heard it.

A subtle smile appeared on Ryder's face, so small that you would miss it
if you didn't pay attention. But I noticed.

I could feel Ryder's warm breath on my cheeks, and he smelled like

Vanilla milkshake. It made me wonder if he'd taste like it too.

The anticipation was killing me.

Both of our lips were parted as they were a mere inch away from one
another, getting ready for what's to come. And as they barely touched...

Chapter 4 4: The Almost Nothing

Word count: 10365 | Released on 28/01/2021

Kara's POV:

And right at that moment when our lips barely touched...

"RJ! My man!" we heard a loud yell coming from behind us. We

instantly pulled apart.
A few guys and girls were coming towards us. Thankfully we were
somewhat hidden behind Ryder's car, so they couldn't possibly saw
what was happening.

"We saw your car when we passed by, thought we'd see you here," said
a guy in white t-shirt and jeans. His smile was kind of cute, especially
with them dimples.

"Oh hey, you guys, how's it going?" Ryder nodded at the group of
people. These people looked like they came out straight from The O.C.

"Who's this?" The dimple guy turned to me, totally checking me out. I
blushed immediately.

"This is Kara, my uh, step-sister. Kara, these are my friends." before

Ryder could say their names, dimple guy moved up and gave his hand
out to me.

"Cameron, nice to meet you," he smiled that mega-watt smile again.

"Nice to meet you too," I replied politely and took his hand. I could feel
that his hand was holding onto mine just a second too long. I pulled
away awkwardly.

"Kara's new in town so I'm just here showing her around," Ryder
coughed.

"Oh cool. Will I see you guys at Blake's party tonight? It's gonna be lit,"
Cameron finally took his gaze off of me, talking to Ryder.

"Yeah man, totally," Ryder said to him.

"You're coming too, right Kara?" Cameron turned to me again.

"What party?"

"It's kind of a tradition we have around here, on every night with a full
moon, we throw a party at our friend's beach house. It'll be fun, you
should come," he said again, and Ryder shuffled uncomfortably.

"Ok, sure," I replied. I had nothing to do anyway.

"Sweet. I'll see you guys tonight!" Cameron beamed. He ran back
towards his friends and their cars, and they drove away.
Being left alone again, Ryder and I shuffled awkwardly.

"Um, maybe we should start heading back?" I finally said.

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

The car ride back home was filled with an awkward silence between us.
There was a fat elephant in that car riding with us, and its name is
sexual tension.

What the hell was that back there? Something almost happened. Was
he pulling me in for a kiss? And I let him? Holy mackerel. That could've
gone real bad real fast.

Ryder tried to ease the awkward silence between us as he shuffled a

random CD into his car audio. Soon a familiar music began playing; it
was an Ed Sheeran song, 'Thinking Out Loud'. But it wasn't Ed's voice
singing it, it was a cover, and a girl was singing it. Just as my hand
reached out to turn the volume up, Ryder was doing the same thing.
Our fingers touched and I thought there was an electrical static just
then. I pulled my hand away quickly and Ryder turned the volume up.
"So, are we just not gonna talk about it?" he suddenly said.

"What it?" I played dumb.

"You know, what happened back there,"

"Nothing happened back there." I said defensively.

"Right," he said sarcastically.

"Seriously nothing happened, right?" I said again, somewhat nervously.

"Sure, if you say so,"

"Fine. It was just a momentary lapse of judgement on my part, and you

were being... well, you. So it was nothing," I argued.

Ryder smiled. I couldn't believe he find this funny. Guess everything was
a joke to him, huh?

Meanwhile, the song came to an end and suddenly, we heard the girl's
voice talking...

"Hey RJ, I hope you like my Ed Sheeran cover, I made it just for you! I
miss you—" Ryder quickly stumbled to change the song.

I couldn't help but to laugh, out loud.

"What can I say? Girls love me." He shrugged.

"Cocky sunnofavitch! Who was that anyway, your girlfriend?"

"No, no, no. I don't do girlfriends. No thank you. It was just some girl.
We fucked a couple times, no big deal. And to be honest I don't even
remember her name," he replied.

"Wow." I responded sarcastically. "I don't get it. You're a narcissistic

manslut. Why do girls still throw themselves at you?"

"I don't know what to tell you Kara. I mean, just look at me." he
motioned to his face and body.

"Just be careful when you're trying to get out of the car. Your head
might not fit the door." I rolled my eyes at him.

His face lit up in amusement as he said, "haters gonna hate, players

gotta play."

"Whatevs." I say curtly.

"OK, Ms.Judgmental, let's talk about this. I think your whole purity ring
thing is an admirable cause. Really, that's good for you. But it's a lost
cause. You don't know what you're missing out there," he replied.

"Well if that means I'm missing out on assballs like you, I don't think I'm
missing out on much," I spat, while I held onto my ring tightly.

"Assballs?" Ryder found it amusing and laughed away.

"Well hey, if you ever change your mind, I don't mind helping a girl out,"
he winked at me.

"R-Ryder! That is wildly inappropriate!" I gaped.

"I'm just kidding, don't get your panties all in a bunch,"

That smug bastard.

"Or am I?" he added, giving me that stupid smirk.

"Just shut up and drive," I smacked his head a little.

"Ow, New York girls are so violent," he commented.

s='p_sj'>The situation was not as tense anymore as we continued

making jokes at each other. We arrived home later that evening and
enjoyed a nice dinner with our parents altogether. Despite him always
poking fun at me for being a virgin, I felt somewhat more comfortable
with Ryder now. I could see us actually being friends, or even brother
and sister.

"We need to leave at around 8. Let me know when you're ready, I'll be
in my room," Ryder said to me as he excused himself from the dinner
table.

"Where are you kids going to?" Lacey turned to me.

"Oh it's just a party at Ryder's friends' house, or something like that," I
answered, trying to sound as uninterested as possible.

"Oooh sounds fun! I'm glad you're making friends," Lacey patted my
back in excitement.

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

It was just a few minutes before 8 o'clock and I was all ready. I wore my
tight skinny jeans and an off-shoulder white top. My long wavy hair was
being tied neatly into a ponytail. I had also applied some light make up,
just a little. I was never really the type that put a lot of effort into how I
look. Feeling satisfied with myself, I headed out of my room and
climbed the stairs towards the attic-- to Ryder's room.

I got to the door and started knocking, but there was no answer. I
pushed the door open and heard the sound of running water from the
bathroom. Ryder must still be in the shower. So I made my way inside,
taking note of all the little knick-knacks and toys.

Ryder's bed was just a queen-sized mattress with white sheets and
blankets on the floor. On the bedside table next to the mattress, I saw a
photograph of a woman, she looked so much like Ryder, so that must
be Layla. Then I saw a couple of surfboards hanging on the wall and one
lying on the floor. There were lots of surfing trophies, medals, pictures
of Ryder surfing, and a newspaper article that said: Ryder Jake
Williams... Best new player in town.

I walked over to his desk and saw several books. I didn't know he liked
literature? He had some of Fitzgerald's books, my favorite author. Hm,
not bad.

The drawer on the desk was slightly opened and I noticed the pile of
condoms inside. I rolled my eyes at it.

"Of course," I mumbled to myself.

Then I moved to the shelves where I saw his DVD collection.

"What are you doing?" suddenly I heard Ryder's voice.

I turned around and saw Ryder was half naked – only wearing a pair of
low hanging jeans. He just came out of the shower, so his body was still
a little wet. He used the towel on his hand to dry his messy hair. I
couldn't help but to take note of his perfect abs, the way his muscles
flexed when he moved, and how his lower abdomen had that V-shape
leading towards---

"Are you done eye-raping me?" he said coolly. Unfazed.

I gasped in terror and quickly looked away.

"Wow, you have Game of Thrones!" I quickly pulled out the DVD I was
holding on the shelf. "It's my favorite show of all time," I rambled on.
The tone of my voice was slightly too high pitched for my liking.

Not cool Kara, that was a really bad cover!

Ryder let out a chuckle. He went to his dresser and picked out a white
shirt and slipped it onto his toned body.

"I thought you told me to come find you here at 8..." I rambled on
again.

He let out a sigh.

"You know at this rate, you'd be begging for me to take your virginity
before the summer's over," he said as he combed his hair with his hand,
not even looking at me.

My face was burning up.

"Oh..hell no! Only in your dreams, honey," I tried to sound as stern as
possible.

"Hey, I was just joking." Ryder then strode over towards me. I should be
moving out of his way, but I found myself frozen, unable to move.

His hand reached over my waist, lightly grazing my hips, and rummaged
the desk drawer behind me. And I swear, he purposely stood there, just
a second too long, so that I could smell his fresh masculine aftershave.
Dang... My breath hitched as soon as I caught the scent. Meanwhile
Ryder grabbed a couple pack of condoms from the drawer and slipped
them in his back pocket.

"Or was I?" he was looking down at me, his face only inches away. My
cheeks turned hot red in response. He broke into laughter at my
reaction.

"Come on, let's go," he pulled away, grabbing a black hoodie from the
chair, and walked out of the room. I let out a relieved sigh and
awkwardly put the DVD back on the shelves.

"That was very inappropriate, you... creep!" I called out to him, trying to
hold my ground.
Shoot. I can feel myself being a little wet down there. Shoot, shoot,
shoot.

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

I know it was wrong to find my stepbrother so attractive. Especially if he

came in the shape of Ryder Jake Williams. It was probably just my
hormones or whatever. This will probably wear out in a day or two. I
will be fine.

I saw Ryder sitting there, on the driver seat, radiating with confidence.
He turned to me suddenly, eyeing me from head to toe, with his head
cocked to the side.

"Damn, you look good," he nodded in approval.

"Eyes on the road." I replied as soon I can.

He grinned, unashamed. My cheeks were burning again.

I have a feeling tonight's gonna be a bumpy ride.

Chapter 5 5: The Bonfire Sparks

Word count: 9346 | Released on 28/01/2021

Ryder's POV:

Okay, I know I shouldn't be messing around with my stepsister's head

like that, but come on, she is too cute for her own good. I don't
understand how she's still a virgin. Guys must throw themselves at her, I
mean look at her. I can only wonder how she survived 18 years of living,
without having once tasted the best feeling in the world.

When I know she wasn't looking, I turn my gaze at her and admired the
view. She's wearing these super skinny jeans that hugged her ass
perfectly. And that off-shoulder blouse, her collarbone is practically
screaming "eat me" at me.

Whoa, pull it together!

Yeah, I know, she's off limits. She's gonna be my fucking stepsister in

two months. Damnit, she's biting her lips now. Her skin is like porcelain,
with the slightest touch of pink, and I have to keep putting my hands in
pocket or else it's gonna wanna—shit, she's looking at me, look away!
******************************

Kara's POV:

Finally we arrived at this big mansion-looking beach house and there

were cars parked everywhere. Seemed like the party had started.

I followed Ryder into the house, where he was greeted by everyone he

came into contact with. He called every girls "honey" or "babe" and
called every guys "man" or "bro". I guessed when you have that many
friends, it gets hard to keep track.

Me on the other hand is just your average wallflower. I know I'm an

introvert and I'm okay with that. I usually work best when I'm in a
smaller group of people, but in situations like these, I am lost.

Ryder was busy talking to this dark haired girl with plump lips and ass
like the Kardashian sisters, her name was Vanessa. He's got that stupid
grin on his face and the both of them couldn't keep their hands off of
each other.

It seemed like Ryder was gonna be busy for a while. I saw the way
Vanessa took his hand and they walked off somewhere. Great. Ryder
ditched me and I was officially alone in a group of sweaty strangers.
I decided the living room wasn't my scene and headed out towards the
beach instead.

Ahh, the open air, that's better.

I was just standing around, minding my own business, when some drunk
guy walked by me and gave me a weird dirty look.

"Heya pretty, wanna dance?" he slurred.

Ew. No. I quickly walked away.

I guess it wasn't safe to be standing alone at a party. I wasn't in the

mood to attract any weirdoes or drunkards. So I scanned the area and I
spotted some people who were huddled over a bonfire. They seemed
like a friendly bunch.

I walked over to the bonfire and sat amongst a few girls. I wasn't trying
to be a social butterfly or anything, I was just trying to blend in.

"Hey," the girl next to me said.

"Hi," I greeted her back.

"I don't think we've met, I'm Anna," she held out her hand.

"I'm Kara, nice to meet you," I shook her hand.

"This is Esther," Anna pointed to the girl next to her.

I could tell Esther's a bit drunk. "Want some beer?" she held out a can
of beer at me.

"Sure, thanks," I grabbed the can.

"You know anyone at this party?" Anna asked.

"Well I'm Ryder's stepsister, you guys know him?"

Esther and Anna broke out in laughter almost immediately.

"Girl, everyone on the island knows Ryder Jake Williams. That's who
you're talking about right? RJ?" Esther said.

"Yeah that's him."

"Well, your stepbrother is a fucking legend."

The girls then caught me up with stories about the famous RJ and his
numerous sexcapades, and also a little bit about him being a promising
young pro-surfer. But his latter achievement was greatly overshadowed
by his first one.

"Everyone knows he's a total player. Still, girls are lining up to be with
him." Anna stated.

"Why do you think that is?" I asked.

The girls gave each other a knowing look.

"Well, I must say he plays the game well. And between us girls, rumor
has it that he's really big..." Anna started.

"And really good in the sack. Knows exactly what's he's doing." Esther
continued.

"But I have a theory. I think girls are so obsessed with him because girls
are obsessed with bad boys, right? They think they can change him."
Anna added.

"And you guys don't think that's possible?"I asked.

"Taming the beast?" Esther laughed mockingly. "Honey if that could be

done, I just haven't seen it yet."

"But hey, what about that Vanessa? I heard they're maybe going out."
Anna replied.

"Vanessa Taylor? Hell no. They're just fuckbuddies. I mean, Ryder's

crazy, but he's not that shallow." Esther laughed away.

As the girls chatted on, I realized that the beer can in my hand was now
empty. Woops. Mind you, I was never the drinking and partying type, so
one can of beer was enough to get me a little tipsy.

"Hey," I heard a voice coming towards me.

"Dimple guy!" I said

in an instant. I didn't know where this sudden surge of confidence came

from – but it was probably the beer.

"Dimple guy? My name's Cameron, we've met earlier," he said sweetly

as he took the spot next to me.

"Right. It's just that you have the cutest dimples, it's hard to forget," I
said as Cameron grinned at me.

"You're Kara right? RJ's stepsister? Want me to get you another drink?"

"That would be lovely, thank you," I said as I threw out the empty can.

A few moments later, Cameron returned with two cocktail glasses.

"Don't drink the beer, it's all warm. Drink this instead," he said.

"What this?" I asked, and before he even answered, I gulped the drink
down to the bottom.
"It's Vodka and some-- whoa, slow down," he said as I coughed. My
throat was burning, but I felt good!

"That was really good," I said.

I didn't remember how the rest of our conversation went; he was

talking to me about some uninteresting topic on Hawaii liquors and
whatnot.

Still, I must admit; Cameron could have chosen to talk to any other girl
but me, and yet he chose to sit here and talk to me. It felt kind of nice to
be wanted, I guess. And maybe it was the alcohol, or maybe the bonfire,
or I don't know my hormones-- but I was starting to think that Cameron
was kinda cute.

After some time, suddenly the happy-bubbly feeling went away, and I
started to feel sick and dizzy.

"Are you okay? You don't look so good," Cameron said.

"Uh.. I don't feel good." Was all that I could say.

"Do you need to go home?" he asked.

"Yeah, but I have to wait for Ryder, he's my ride, ha" I slurred.

"Well, I can take you home," he offered.

"Really? Is that okay?"

"Of course, don't worry about it, come on," he gave me his hand and I
took it. He helped me up and we walked towards the house.

"Wait, I should tell Ryder so he won't be looking for me," I said to him. I
scanned the room to see if Ryder's somewhere in there, but he wasn't.

"You can just give him a call," Cameron said.

"I don't have his number,"

"I have RJ's number, here," Cameron took out his phone.

I took mine out too and started dialing Ryder's phone. Meanwhile
Cameron led me out of the house. The phone rang and rang, but Ryder
wasn't picking up.
I decided to leave Ryder a text instead as I followed Cameron into his
SUV.

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

Ryder's POV:

I know I'm always gonna have fun when I run into Vanessa at a party.
But somehow, today I'm just not feeling it.

I took my eyes off of Kara for one second and she disappeared. Vanessa
said that she was probably somewhere having a good time, making new
friends. But still, I don't feel right.

"Baby why are you so tense, relax," Vanessa said as she kissed my neck.

"I think I should go look for—"

"Shush," she me cut off, putting her index finger on my lips. I kissed her
finger and sucked on it lightly. She moaned.
"Relax now baby, I'm gonna take care of you, okay," she slipped her
finger out of my mouth and started sucking it with her own. Then she
put her hand inside my jeans and started massaging me slowly.

I let out a groan, and she seemed mighty pleased about it.

Then I noticed my phone vibrating on the bedside table next to me. I

took a glimpse; an unknown number was calling me.

I don't have to answer that.

Vanessa started unbuttoning my jeans and pulled the zipper down. She
smiled as she saw that I was getting hard. I grabbed a fistful of her hair,
knowing what's next to come.

Vanessa pulled my boxers down and started to shower my cock with

kisses. She lightly kissed the tip and then began sucking at it hungrily.

"Yes, baby," I said through my teeth.

My phone vibrated again, this time it was a text.

Why do I feel like I should check it out?

"Hold on, gimme a sec," I said to Vanessa as I sit up and grabbed my

phone. She looked taken aback.

Unknown Number: Hey Ry its Karaa, I can't find u but just let u know
Cameron is taking my home. C u at housew.

Fuck! Kara's going home with Cameron?! Shit, I have to warn her! And
what's with all the typos? Don't tell me she's drunk too?!

"What's going on?" Vanessa asked, trying to push me back towards the
bed.

"I have to go," I quickly pushed her away and adjusted myself back in
my pants.

"Are you for real?" she said, fuming.

"Sorry babe, I'll make it up to you," I gave her a quick peck and I
stormed out.
"Call me!" I could hear Vanessa's voice calling out to me.

I made my way through the sea of people, frantically looking for her.

Shit, shit, shit. Where the hell is Kara!?

Chapter 6 6: The Dark Knight

Word count: 7205 | Released on 01/02/2021

Kara's POV:

Cameron and I were on our way home when I saw Ryder's number
calling me.

"Hey Ry," I picked up, somewhat slurring.

"Where the hell are you!?" he shouted at me furiously.

"I'm on my way home, I left you a text,"

"I'll take you home, don't get in the car with Cameron! Do you hear me?
I said—"
"Psssh, why you yelling so loud-eh? My ears are hurtin'! I'm almost
home ok, I'll see you later," Without giving him a chance to say anything
else, I turned off the call.

He tried to call again, and I simply rejected it. What is wrong with him,
first he ditched me and now he wants to find me?

"Everything ok?" Cameron asked.

"Yeah, it was just Ryder being a weirdo, whatever," I shrugged and

leaned my head against the window.

That's when I realize we were not on our way home. I had never seen
these streets before.

"Uhh, where are we going? This is not where I live?"

"You're really drunk Kara, I don't think I should drop you off at your
parent's house just like that. I'm just taking you somewhere where you
can get some air and maybe once you feel better, we'll drive you
home," he said sweetly.

His face looked like an angel. He seemed trustworthy enough.

Plus he's Ryder's friend, so it should be okay, right?

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

Ryder's POV:

I was never the emotional kind of guy. Surfing had taught me to stay
cool, calm, and collected, even under pressure. But this is bad, this is
fucking bad.

I couldn't reach Kara's phone anymore. I tried calling Cameron, but the
bastard wouldn't pick up either. That fucking bastard. I knew his drill.
Hell, I invented the drill. I'm gonna fucking kill him if he dares lay a
finger on her.

I speeded away as fast as I could. At least I know where they're going, I

know where Cameron takes his preys. Let's just hope I'm not too late.

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

Kara's POV:
My eyes were heavy so I slept a little. I woke up when the car reached
to a stop. We were somewhere surrounded by tall trees. The woods?

"Where are we?"

"My dad's cabin, it's right over there," he pointed to a wooden lodge,
deeper inside the woods.

Cameron got out of the car and went over to my side. He opened the
door for me and gave his hand out, saying "come on." I took his hand as
he led me out of the car.

But something didn't sit right with me.

"Hold on, I think I should tell Ryder that I'll be home late, he might be
looking—"

"Ssh, there's no need. Plus you can't get cell service here," he said
again, somewhat commanding. I began to dislike his tone.

"Wait, let me just try," I said again as I pushed his hands away, but he
grabbed me instead and pushed me back until I hit a tree behind me.
"Ouh!" I yelped.

"Ok, we can drop the act now princess, there's no one around," his face
expression changed all of a sudden.

He had me pinned against a big tree. No matter how hard I squirmed or

tried to move, his hold on me was too strong.

"What are you talking about? Let me go!"

"Oh come on, I know you want me, I see the way you look at me," he
said under hot heavy breaths.

He forced his chest forward, pinning his body on top of me and I

couldn't breath.

"N...o.." I tried my best to say.

Cameron had his one hand pinning my two hands over my head. His
other hand now went to my hips, putting me in place.
"I bet you're already wet for me, I bet you're ready for me, right? Don't
worry, I'm gonna fuck you so good," he said as he nibbled on my right
ear.

I felt utterly d

isgusted and I wished to God I could break free, but I couldn't.

His mouth began invading mine ever so viciously. When I refused to

open my lips, he used his hand to force my cheeks open. It was awful.
Tears trickled down my face involuntarily.

His tongue was invading my mouth ferociously. His other hand now
massaging my breasts forcefully over my shirt. He was so rough that I
could hear my blouse fabric tearing apart.

I felt him getting hard in front of my stomach. My whole body was

shaking in terror as he started to hump his hardening member towards
my lower down.

"Stop..." I cried out, but that just drove him rougher.

I was all out of energy, I couldn't even hold myself up anymore. I heard
his hot moans over and over and it was the worse sound I had ever
heard in my life.

He groaned aloud and his hand quickly moved towards my pants,

gripping my butts tightly until it hurt.

"Mmhm, I wonder if you're as tight as these jeans," he grunted.

"No... please..." I tried to beg, but he simply laughed at me.

"Don't worry, I promise you'll like it," and just as he said it, his one hand
cupped me through my jeans. His grip was too rough. I screamed in
response.

"You like it huh? You like it?" it felt like he was trying to push his fingers
into me through my jeans.

His hand now moved to my waistband, and speedily started

unbuttoning my jeans.

I guess this is the end...

"Get the fuck off her!" I heard a loud voice calling out and suddenly
Cameron was shoved away from me and he fell to the ground with a
loud thump. I fell to my feet against the tree.

Through my blurry eyes, I saw Ryder in his black hoodies, pinning

Cameron down on the ground as he punched him over and over again.

"The fuck, man?" Cameron spat, but Ryder ignored him. Ryder was
mad. He was growling like a wild animal.

Cameron tried to fight back, pushing Ryder off and threw a punch back.
But Ryder quickly shoved him off again and ended up on top.

"Mother- fucker- I'll- fucking- kill- you!!" Ryder roared out in anger and
punches.

I could see blood splattering everywhere and Cameron was no longer

moving. I tried my hardest to stand up.

"Ry, stop..." I said weakly.

Ignoring me, Ryder kept on throwing punches at him.

"Ry... help me," I said again, a little bit louder.

Ryder stopped. His breathing was ragged. He turned around and he

looked at me with fiery eyes. I could barely stand up. My one hand was
holding onto the tree and the other hand was holding onto my torn
blouse.

"Stay the fuck away from her!" Ryder spat out as he took one last look
at Cameron.

Leaving Cameron on the ground, Ryder stood up and ran straight

towards me. The next thing I knew, I was wrapped tightly in his arms.
His grip was strong, but tender. I inhaled his familiar scent again and I
never felt more safe.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" he said to my ears.

I couldn't muster up any words. So I just cried. Ryder held me tightly in

his arms as I cried unto his chest.

"Ry... I..." I croaked.

"Ssh, it's okay. You're okay. I'm here. I got you." he said gently as he
stroked the back of my head.

I couldn't stop shaking and shivering. Ryder pulled away for a second
and took off his jacket in one swift move. Then he wrapped his jacket
around me, making sure I was all covered and warm.

He lifted my face up to him, his eyes were searching me. The frown on
his face told me that he was worried. He stroked my chin gently with his
thumb. He then pulled me in for another hug. I buried my face in his
hard body and my arms linked over his waist, holding him tight. His
breathing was slowing down.

In my ear, he then whispered, "let's go home."

Chapter 7 7: The Dream Catcher

Word count: 8301 | Released on 01/02/2021

Kara's POV:

On our way back home, Ryder and I didn't say one word to each other.
But he gave me the occasional glance, as if to check if I was okay. I felt
warm and snug under his jacket, and being able to inhale his scent over
and over again felt amazing.

When we finally got to the house, he parked the car and took a deep
breath before killing the engine.

"Thank you for... coming for me," I said lowly.

He sighed in exasperation. "I told you not to get in the car with him,
why didn't you listen to me?" he said sternly.

"I was feeling sick, he offered to take me home. And you ditched me, I
couldn't find you.."

"Shit Kara! He almost--! Fuck!" he's pissed. Why was he so pissed at

me?

"I'm sorry..."

"You don't just go into strangers' cars! Did no one ever tell you that?"

"He was nice to me at first. And I thought he was your friend..." I

reasoned.

"Yeah, he's my friend-- but I'm a jackass! All my friends are jackasses!"
he growled.
"I'm sorry, I should've been more careful..."

"And you shouldn't be drinking if you can't handle your liquor—"

"I know, I know, it's all my fault. I'm sorry..." whimpering, I was about to
cry again.

He took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. His hand curled up into a fist
and it was pressed roughly against his car seat.

"No, it wasn't your fault," he said suddenly.

He stayed quiet for a while. "I should have never left you. I'm sorry," he
said in almost a whisper.

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

Ryder's POV:

We took our shoes off before we went upstairs to our rooms, making
sure we made no sound so our parents wouldn't wake up. The last thing
we need would be an interrogation. When we reached Kara's door, she
stopped and suddenly turned to me.

"Thanks... again," she whispered weakly.

She looked so fragile. I had to use every bit of strength I had left to
restrain myself from wrapping her into my arms again.

Instead, I put my hand on the top of her head and stroked her hair
gently. She looked up at me with those wide eyes. Damn, I wish I could
kiss her.

Then I noticed the marks on her neck and collarbone. My whole body
was tensed and burned up all over again. I'm gonna fucking kill
Cameron.

She noticed that I was staring at her bruises, so she pulled my jacket
closer to her neck.

"Can I keep this for now?" she said, referring to the jacket.

All that anger and tension suddenly went away.

"It's yours." I replied.

"Goodnight," she said again before quickly disappearing into her room
and closing the door on me.

I wanted so much to open this door and follow her into the room. But I
knew it was a line I could not cross. So I took a deep breath and walked
away. Time for a cold shower.

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

Kara's POV:

I took a hot shower, maybe two or three times. I rubbed and scrubbed,
making sure I cleaned every inch of my body. When I thought about
what happened there at the woods, I cringed so bad I wanted to peel
my skin out.

I'm exhausted. My skin is red and burning from the hot shower
scrubbing session. I also decided to sleep with the lights on tonight. And
as I was lying there on my bed, I couldn't help but wonder, what would
have happened if Ryder hadn't come for me?
I was drifting in and out of sleep. Horrible images kept flashing back at
me. The words that Cameron said were stuck on replay: "drop the act
princess", "I know you want me", "I bet you're already wet for me", "I'm
gonna fuck you so good".

I saw it again: his rough hands slapping and grabbing my breasts, his
erection being pressed against my lower down, his hot and heavy
breaths all over my neck, and how his tongue forced itself into my
mouth, causing me to almost gag.

"Ah!!" I woke up in terror. It was just a dream. It was just a dream.

I was panting and sweating. I was scared. I couldn't close my eyes...

Ryder... I want Ryder next to me. I want Ryder to hold me.

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

Ryder's POV:

I ran cold water over my torn knuckles. I felt the burn as water touched
my bare flesh and the blood was bei

ng washed out. It was painful, but I imagined she must be in a lot more
pain. God, she looked so scared. I just wanted to hold her.

I laid on my bed, trying to force myself to sleep. But every time I closed
my eyes, I saw her face again. She was frightened to death.

I just wanna bury her face into mine so that she knows she's alright.

I quickly rolled over my bed and started walking to the door, but then I
stopped. What am I gonna do? Go over to her room? Ask her if she
could sleep? Hold her when she says she's scared? Kiss her forehead
and caress her cheeks? Lay next to her? Lay with her?

Fuck.

I knew it was just gonna make things more complicated. So I stopped,

turned around, and went back to bed.

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

Kara's POV:

I was already standing in front of the door, with my hand on the

doorknob. What was I thinking? Was I really going to go to Ryder's
room?

I know you've just been through a lot; you're in a fragile state, but this is
not the answer, I said to myself. It would feel nice to have Ryder stay
with me for a while, but what happens next? On top of the already
confusing sexual tension that's going on between us, this is not gonna
end well.

I sighed and let go of the doorknob.

In my peripheral vision, I saw Ryder's black jacket hanging on the chair. I

took the jacket and slowly put it over me. I could almost feel like it was
him-- hugging me.

So I walked back to bed. Ryder's scent was all over me. It made me feel
like he was here with me. I closed my eyes and I let my mind think that
he was actually here. That his face was right in front of mine. That my
fingers could run through his skin if I reached out my hand.

Oh this is not right—but it's not wrong either. And at least for now, it's
enough.

And with that, I drifted into a peaceful sleep.

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

The next morning, I woke up to the sound of my mom yelling for me to

eat breakfast. A smile escaped my lips as soon as I saw the black jacket
around me. It made me feel all warm inside, as if I was actually waking
up with him next to me. Stupid girl, you're so pathetic.

I remembered he said I could keep it, and my heart fluttered at the

thought. I got up from the bed and made my way to the en-suite
bathroom. For a second I wondered if I should put the jacket in the
laundry bin, but if I washed it then it wouldn't smell like him anymore.
So I decided to just fold the jacket neatly and put it inside my closet.

When I got down to the kitchen; I saw my mom was busy making eggs,
Peter sipped his coffee while reading the papers, and Ryder was eating
a bowl of cereal. His eyes lit up as soon as he saw me.

"Kara, finally you're up. Come, we have eggs," mom said cheerfully.

"Thanks," I said as I grabbed a plate.

"How was the party last night? You kids were home pretty late," she
said and my breath hitched. Ryder shot me a worried look.

"It was okay. Nothing much happened," I said with my mouth full of
eggs.

"Did you make any friends?" mom said again.

"Eh, yeah, sure," I replied.

"Why are you wearing a scarf? It's like 80 degrees outside," mom
chuckled at me.

Yeah, I have to use this scarf to cover up the bruises.

"Really? I feel kinda cold though, weird, ha-ha. Hey, your eggs are
great," I said nervously.

Ryder looked at me and while no one was looking, and he mouthed,

"you okay?". I gave him a reassuring nod. He looked relieved.

"So, you ready for the big match tomorrow? It's the first leg of the
qualifying series, right?" Peter said to Ryder as he folded his newspaper.
"Yeah, I feel good," Ryder turned to his dad.

"Good. What happened to your hand?" Peter suddenly said and that
was when I noticed the bruises on his knuckles.

"Ah... training. I must've bruised myself," Ryder replied. Lies. I knew

where that's from.

"You must be training really hard, huh? We're really excited to see you
compete tomorrow," Mom said to Ryder.

Ryder gave mom a nod and a polite smile. I looked over to him when no
one was watching and mouthed, "you okay?".

His lips twitched into a knowing smile as he winked at me.

Chapter 8 8: The Pushing Pull

Word count: 7585 | Released on 01/02/2021

Kara's POV:

A couple days had passed since the whole bonfire fiasco and I was
feeling much better. A few days ago, I got to see Ryder's surfing match
for the first time with mom and Peter. Ryder did very well, he scored
enough points to compete in the next round.

Now I got why girls would wanna date surfers. I mean look at how cool
and passionate he was when he was competing. And that moment
when he returned to the shore; he got up from the waters below, his
board shorts hanging low, his toned body all wet and tan.... Holy
cabbage! Stop thinking about that—you're not helping yourself,
woman!

Anyways, things were great. Mom and Peter seemed really happy
together, all the wedding preparation was going smoothly, meanwhile
Ryder and I were getting along just fine.

Early in the morning, Ryder usually went out to run and train at the
beach. In the afternoons he would hang around the house, but he spent
his time mostly in his garage, working on his surfboards and whatnot. I
also realized that he didn't wear shirts a lot. In fact, I had never seen
him with a shirt on for the past three days. Thank God for Hawaii.

I tried my best not to stare, but he caught me every time I was gawking
at him. I really have to work on that.

And as always, he used every opportunity available to make dirty jokes

or poke fun out of my virginity. Like this one time, we were just chilling
on the sofa, watching TV. He was eating dried cherries – healthy snacks,
of course for the athlete—when he suddenly turned to me and said,
"You know what I was thinking? Someone really need to pop that cherry
of yours before it's all dried up," while holding onto a dried cherry and
popping it in his mouth. I smacked his face with a throw pillow.

Yeah, I guess this whole brother-sister thing isn't so bad after all.

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

Ryder's POV:

There must be something wrong with me. Ever since that night, I just
couldn't stop thinking about her. Sure, I've thought about chicks before.
But I thought about their boobs, or their ass, or how we'd get down.
That was not the case with Kara.

I thought about her smile. She had one of those rare smiles that that's
so genuine-- you can't help but to smile back when you see her smile. I
thought about the things that made her smile, or the things that made
her laugh. I started listening to songs that she liked. I started to notice
little quirky things about her; like how she can't swear properly and say
made up words instead, like "sunnovafitch" or "mudderfudder" or my
personal favorite, "fudgesickles".
Though I'd be lying if I say I didn't think about the other things too. Like
this one time; she was trying to reach the top shelf of the kitchen
cabinet, and when she was reaching up, I saw the exposed skin on her
hips and lower back, and her little pink underwear was creeping up. I
made a comment about how she was wearing pink today. She turned
hot red; I had never seen anything that cute in my life. Then she
smacked my face—of course, because that's what she does when she's
embarrassed.

If only she was not about to be my stepsister-- I'd take her in a

heartbeat.

I sighed to myself. I had a big match tomorrow morning, I should just

call it a night. I threw myself on my bed and tried my hardest to fall
asleep.

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

Yet somehow, I woke up in the middle of night, suddenly feeling

parched. So I made my way down to the kitchen, grabbed an empty
glass, and filled it with water. I was just sitting against the counter when
I heard a sound.
Kara came downstairs, her hand scratching her head. I didn't think she
saw me as it was dark and her eyes were barely opened. She walked
right by me and turned to the fridge. Sh

e opened the fridge and she bent down to look for something. As she
was doing that, her ass was literally inches away from me. I gulped.

She didn't seem to notice me, as she was busy raking the fridge. Seeing
her so close to me, my body immediately tensed. She grabbed a milk
carton, closed the fridge door, and stood up. I immediately felt the need
to close the distance between us.

So I stood up and took a step towards her, wrapping her from the back
with my arms. She flinched.

"Sssh," I said lowly to her ears.

"Ryder?" she whispered back.

I didn't need to answer that. She knew it was me. I buried my face on
the nape of her neck and lightly grazed my lips on her skin. I took a deep
breath in, taking in her scent. I could feel her shivered.
"Ryder?" she said again.

This time I lifted my head up and I saw her looking at me. Her breathing
was ragged. I could see it in her eyes; she wanted me just as much as I
wanted her. She was about to say something else when I put my index
finger on her lips to shut her up. This was my chance-- I'm going for it.

I leaned in and planted a slow deep kiss on her soft lips. I thought of all
the scenarios; she could push me away and slap me on the face, she
could smack my head with pan, or she could even kick me in the nuts.
But she didn't do any of these things. Instead, she kissed me back.

I pulled her tighter to me as I deepen the kiss. She moved her head to
the side and let out a small shy moan. My one hand was holding her in
place, and the other was holding onto her soft face. She let her free
hand to travel to the back of my head and started stroking my hair. As
the kiss became deeper, she started gripping my hair and pulling it
gently. She let out another moan. That's when I lost it.

I turned her around quickly and pressed her against the fridge behind
her. She let out a small gasp and I used that moment to slip my tongue
in her. She dropped the milk carton from her hand and I could hear the
milk pouring out on the floor.

Our tongues met and they danced. I explored her mouth, trying to taste
every inch of her. She moaned again, which made me smile. Then I
moved on to start kissing her neck. I saw some faint bruises there and
my jaw clenched. I kissed all her bruises away, I'm gonna replace those
marks with mine. She let out another moan and I had to put my hand
over her mouth so she wouldn't get too loud.

My free hand started traveling underneath her shirt and massaging her
breasts. I slowly pulled on her nipple and she began to squirm. Her
moans were becoming too loud and I had to press my hand on her
mouth harder. Then she looked at me with pleading eyes.

With one swift maneuver, I brought her around and put her on the
kitchen counter. We kissed, hot and passionate, full of wants and needs.
My two hands were now holding her back, pulling her close and closer
to me, even though there was no more distance between us. I felt
myself hardening, hard. She felt it too as she flinched at the contact. But
we didn't stop. She put her hand on my lower back, pulling me closer to
her too. I arched her thighs so that I'm positioned right in front of her
opening. We were both still in full clothing, but I could sense that she
was wet there, wet for me.

I started grinding onto her, slow at first, and I started to pick up my

pace. She moaned and groaned and her nails dug into my shoulders. I
had one hand behind her back to keep her in place and the other hand
covering her mouth. She felt so good... This felt so good... Shit---
* RING! RING! RING! *

I heard my alarm clock ringing and I realized it was all a dream. I was
panting and flustered. I could see my erection underneath the sheets.
Shit. Fuck Shit.

I slapped myself in the head. Fuck I really need to get laid.

Chapter 9 9: The Crashing Tide

Word count: 8988 | Released on 01/02/2021

KARA's POV:

I had never had an interest in extreme sports before—but I must admit,

watching Ryder surf is really sexy. Ryder had another surf match today;
so Peter, my mom, and I went down to the beach to support him. He
did great out there, and everyone was really excited for him, including
me. Did I just become a Ryder groupie? Oh God no.

When Ryder returned ashore and found us, all three of us jumped and
waved excitedly at him. He came over and I ran towards him in
excitement, wanting to give him a hug.

"Congratulations..." I said with open arms, but he just dodged me, as if

he didn't want to be touched. I moved my hand around into a high five
and gave him an awkward high five instead. What was that all about?

"Let's go celebrate, the four of us, as a family. How 'bout we go take the
boat out and have a nice meal together?" Peter said, grinning from ear
to ear.

Peter was obsessed with boats and yachts; basically they were his life.
He operated several boats and yachts charter businesses. His pride and
joy was the Kona; his super-yacht that could fit up to 30 people.

"Uh, I promised my friends I'd hang out with them after the match,"
Ryder said uncomfortably.

"Oh come on, you can hang with your friends later. It's family time!
Come on!" Peter clapped his hands in excitement. Ryder didn't look too
happy about it.

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

So, that afternoon, the four of us hung out as a family. It felt somewhat
nice. Peter enthusiastically lectured me about boats and sailing, and
even taught me how to steer the wheel. I have to admit; having a family
felt kinda great.
Still, something weird was going on. Ever since this morning, Ryder had
been avoiding me. Normally he would not stop humoring me with his
dirty jokes, but not today. He was awfully quiet, and when I tried to
make small talk, he just walked away.

I decided to join my mom and sunbathed instead. I was wearing this

really cute blue bikini my mom got me from the mall the other day, oh
bless her heart.

"It's a real nice weather we have today," Peter said casually, talking to
Ryder who was standing at the front of the sail alone – probably sulking
about something.

"Yeah, it is," Ryder answered shortly. I noticed he and his dad don't talk
that much.

"Tell you what, when we get to the shore, you can invite some of your
friends and have a little party on the boat tonight. To celebrate the
win." Peter said again.

"You sure?" Ryder looked slightly excited.

"Yeah, why not. We already filled her tank anyway. Just make sure you
take good care of her," Peter answered.

Ryder's eyes lit up like wildfire. "Thanks dad," he said as he speedily

took his phone out and started calling people up.

"Make sure you invite Kara too," Peter said as he walked off towards
the back.

Ryder looked at me with a blank expression. I shot him a weak smile. He

then turned his head back down to his phone. Whoa, rude much?

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

Ryder's POV:

After the dream I had about Kara last night, I had to stay away from her.
I tried to get away from family time so I could avoid her, but my dad
was not taking no for an answer. It was getting more and more difficult
to be around her; and she wasn't making it any easier. Walking around
with that tiny blue bikini-- damn woman, are you trying to kill me?

Earlier today, when I saw my dad, Lacey, and Kara were talking and
laughing together, I felt a pang in my stomach. This is what it's gotta be
like; we're a family now. I couldn't mess that up just because of my
raging hormones.

So when my dad told me that I could invite some friends over for a
party, I was ecstatic. Hallelujah, this was just what I need; a party full of
hot chicks and maybe score some. I quickly called up all the hot girls in
my contact list, and also some guys for diversity.

When we landed ashore, dad and Lacey left the boat. I made sure my
friends were here early, so that I didn't have to be alone with Kara.
Before we knew it; music was blasting, drinks were pouring, girls
dancing in their bikinis, and the party was on.

I was just casually sitting on the couch, scanning the room for my next
target. And there she walked in; a pretty little blonde with short hair.
Her eyes lit up as soon as she saw me. Oh that was just too easy.

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

Kara's POV:

Somehow I found myself stuck at another party. I knew better now not
to drink alcohol or talk to any of Ryder's guy friends. So I mostly stayed
on my own, at the corner of the boat, away from the cr

owd. Though I wondered where Ryder went...

"Not enjoying the party are we?" said a dark haired guy who was
standing a few feet away from me.

"I'm not really the party type," I said.

"Yeah, me either... I only came here because I heard the girl that I liked
was coming,"

"Did you find her?"

"Yeah, but she was talking to some guy, so..." he said with a sigh.

This guy seemed different to Ryder's other guy friends. He was

somewhat scrawny, not all buffed up like those other surfers. And I
wasn't getting the playboy vibe from him.

"Are you a friend of Ryder's? Or RJ?" I asked.

"Ah no. Not really," he said.

"Good." I replied. "In that case, we can be friends. I'm Kara,"

"Gabriel, you can call me Gabe," he shook my hand.

"So what happened with the girl? Are you just gonna stand here all
night and let some random guy hit on her?"

"I don't think I got a shot anyway. She doesn't even know I exist," he
looked like a lost puppy.

I felt bad for him. Dangit, I always have a thing for the underdogs.

"Tell me about her," I said.

"Well, her name's Maddie. I've been in love with her since freshman
year. We just graduated and I thought I wanted to tell her how I feel
about her, before I leave for college, you know? I thought what the
hell—I got nothing to lose," he explained.

"So do it!" I say. "Life is short. Put on your big boy pants and just do it!
Four years is a long time to keep your feelings hidden from somebody.
And hey, you never know, maybe she'll like you back?"

"Yeah? You think she'd go for a guy like me?"

"Sure, you got that Shawn Mendes vibe going on," I said to him. It was
true; he looked a little bit like Shawn Mendes. I managed to make him
smile. "Come on, let's go find her."

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

We looked everywhere for this Maddie girl, but we couldn't find her.
This yacht must bigger than I thought. There were a couple of bedrooms
downstairs too, so we decided to just go and have a look.

"What does Maddie look like?" I said, scanning the rooms that we
passed by.

"Uh she's got short blonde hair, about 5 foot 3, lovely blue eyes..."

"Gabe, is that her?" I stopped my tracks. Through the window of one of

the bedrooms, we saw a shorthair blonde girl, half-naked, straddling
some guy. Gabe didn't say a word, and when I looked at his horrified
expression, I knew it was Maddie.

I turned to the window again—and that was when I saw the guy she
was making out with. And as soon as I saw him, I felt like I was punched
in the gut.

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

Ryder's POV:

This girl Maddie and I got right into it. I took her to one of the bedrooms
downstairs, and I could tell she was all too excited. Taking a seat on the
edge of the bed, I held my hand out to her.

"C'mere," I said and she took my hand.

I pulled her in for a kiss as she sat on my lap. Her bare thighs were
rubbing against me, man I love skirts. I slid my hands under her shirt
and in one swift move; her shirt was flying off to the floor. We resumed
kissing and I started massaging her breasts. She let out a soft moan.
With one hand, I unhooked her bra, and she let it fall to the ground. I
moved to bury my face between her breasts, she arched closer to me,
still a moaning mess. I kissed, nipped, and tugged on her right nipple as
they hardened.
I could feel she was getting wet, if not already. I slipped my finger right
through her lace panty and started rubbing her clit.

"Oh RJ!" she moaned loudly.

I thrusted my finger into her and felt her tightened around me. Fuck
yes. That's it. I slid another finger in and she groaned in pleasure.

"Oh please, please," she started begging as she rode my fingers with her
hips.

But suddenly, right at that moment, I saw something-- or someone,

staring right at us from the window. It was Kara.

What was she doing here? Shit, she saw me. But so what? What does it
matter if she saw me?

"RJ, why'd you stop?" Maddie said, panting.

"Hold that thought," I said as I eased out of her and laid her on the bed.
I stalked towards the window and we saw each other, eye to eye, Kara
and I. Without saying anything, I closed the blinds on her.
Taking a deep breath, I turned back towards the bed. Maddie's eyes
were pleading with want. Too damn easy.

"Get on your knees." I said curtly.

Chapter 10 10: The Grand Gesture

Word count: 9630 | Released on 01/02/2021

Ryder's POV:

I never thought I'd say this, but meaningless sex isn't as fun as it used to
be anymore.

Yeah, but that didn't mean I was gonna stop doing it. I still did it
whenever I could. It was just that they used to be fun, and now it just
felt like work.

Every night, there were girls coming in and out of my room. Sometimes
I saw that Kara noticed it too. Well, she must be so grossed out by me.

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

Kara's POV:
Ever since that night at the yacht, Ryder and I stopped talking. I saw him
around the house a lot though, parading around his latest conquests.
Pssh. Why am I so upset about it? What does it matter which bimbo he
feels like screwing tonight?

After Ryder's party, I ended up going home with my new friend Gabe.
He was heartbroken over Maddie, so I took him to the diner and we got
some milkshake. We became good friends, and I started spending more
time with Gabe since then.

Gabe was nothing like Ryder and his friends. He didn't talk about girls
and sex all day. In fact, he was very artistic and musical. He played the
guitar and did small gigs in coffee shops or bars. I came to watch him
play several times, including tonight.

"So this next song is for my friend, Kara, sitting at the back there," he
said to the mic and I started laughing. People started cheering. He
played the chords and started singing "Say You Won't Let Go" by James
Arthur.

I never had somebody sing a song just for me. It felt kinda nice. No
wonder why girls would swoon over guys in bands. Gabe smiled at me,
while he was still singing. I felt myself blushing a little.
******************************

As always, Gabe would drive me home. Normally we said our goodbyes

and he drove away. But tonight, he asked if he could walk me to my
door.

"Thanks for coming today," he said, looking a little bit more nervous
than usual.

"Sure, anytime. I had fun," I replied.

"So um, they're doing this old-movies night down at the theatre next
week. I remember you like old movies... so do you wanna go, with me?"
he said again.

"Like as a... date?" I asked.

"Yeah... no... yeah... yes," he said, stumbling with his words.

I found it really adorable. "Okay, I'll think about it. I'll let you know," I
said again. He looked relieved.
"Great. Have a good a night then," he said again and he stopped for a
second, looking right at me. Oh no, I think he's going to kiss me?

"Ehem," we suddenly heard a voice. It was Ryder, coming out from the
garage and towards the front door. Gabe quickly pulled away.

"Kara," Ryder acknowledged me.

"Ryder," I reply. All three of us were standing awkwardly by the door.

"Gabe, this is my stepbrother Ryder. Ryder, Gabe," I introduced them to
each other.

Gabe let out his hand and Ryder took it half-heartedly.

"So I'll see you again," Gabe said to me.

"Yeah, I'll text you," I replied and Gabe turned towards his car.

Ryder narrowed his eyes at me, but I ignored him and went inside the
house. He followed me up as I walked towards my room.

"Kara, wait," he said before I reached for my bedroom door.

"What?"

"Are you gonna go out with him?" he suddenly said.

"What's it to you?" I replied curtly.

"Answer the damn question," his eyes were dark and serious.

"Um, I don't know. Maybe," I shrugged.

"Don't go out with him."

"With Gabe? Why not?"

"Just don't."

"Don't worry about Gabe, he's a nice guy. He's nothing like you or your
friends," I narrowed my eyes at him.

He was quiet for a while. "Touché," he said.

"So what's the problem then?"

"I don't know, I just don't like the way he looks at you... " he started
mumbling.

I let out a sigh. "Look, I don't tell you which bimbo you can and can't
date. Gabe and I are none of your business, so just butt out, okay?" I
said and he looked taken aback, maybe even hurt. I guess he didn't
expect me to react that way.

I turned around and made my way into the bedroom—but that was
when Ryder put one hand on the door so I couldn't close them—and in
one swift move, he broke into my room, grabbed me by the arm, and
pulled me closer until his lips crushed onto mine.

He kissed me hungrily, as if he had been holding back. He pushed me

against the wall and deepened the kiss. Our hands were tangled in each
other. This feels good, this feels right... I let go and I kissed him
back---but no! This isn't right! When I finally realized what I just did, I
quickly pushed him away.

"I..." I started mumbling. My mind was racing like crazy, trying to

process what just happened.
"Kara, I'm—" he wanted to say something, but he stopped. His jaw
clenched. Finally he took a deep breath and said, "Do you wanna know
why I don't want you to go out with him? It's because I like you."

My heart stopped. For a second there, I swore it did.

"What?" wa

s all that came out of me.

"And call me crazy, but I think you like me too," he said again.

I didn't know what had gotten into me, but my hand seemed to have a
mind of its own. I had slapped Ryder across the face.

"Oh my... I'm sorry. I don't know what's gotten into me." I quickly
regretted it.

He turned his gaze back to me. His dark blue eyes were piercing into
mine.
"Don't try to deny it. You kissed me back." he said matter-of-factly.

"Stop," I shook my head.

"It's true. I know you know it's true," he narrowed his eyes at me.

"But... it... was just a slip up. It didn't mean anything." I stuttered. "I
mean, I'm sure people just kiss each other. I'm sure that sometimes
you're talking and somehow two people move closer and closer to each
other and then, they just kiss. I'm sure it happens all the time."

Ryder shook his head in disbelief.

"It meant something," he stated. "At least to me it did."

"Ryder... you... you're not supposed to go around saying things like

that--" I almost yelled, but I restrained myself.

"I know I'm not supposed to like you and I'm not supposed to say it out
loud. But I don't know! I don't know what the fuck is wrong with me."

"Ryder, listen to me... we can't have feelings like these for each other.
At all."

"I know, I know," he said.

"I don't think you do."

"Believe me, I know. And I tried making it go away. But it just... god, I
can't deny that I have feelings for you. I don't plan this, alright? I don't
choose this. You think I like being tormented like this?" he was gritting
his teeth.

I looked at his frustration. I wanted to see his eyes, I wanted to see if he

was serious or honest at all-- but he put his head down. And I didn't
know what to make of this.

"I wish I could say I'm sorry that I kissed you, but I'm not sorry. I'm not
gonna feel sorry for the way I feel about you," he said again.

Was he really being serious?

"Ok, stop. I think I know what you're doing here." I finally said. He
looked at me, confused.
"You... don't like me, Ryder. You may think you do, but you don't." I
said, gauging his reaction. "You just like the idea of me, or the chase, or
the thrill or whatever. And you're just saying all these things because,
well let's face it, you wanna get in my pants. But I am not a freaking
conquest, you understand?"

"Of course that's what you'd think of me," he muttered, shuffling his
hair in frustration.

Then he looked at me with that look.

"Is that what you think of me?" he huffed.

"Look... attractions happen all the time. And I won't deny that I'm
somewhat slightly attracted to you too. But it's just that-- it's just a
feeling; it's just a phase at best. Trust me, just give it some time and it'll
all go away."

He looked at me with an expression that I could not read. Maybe it was

anger and hurt.

"You got me all figured out, huh?" he scoffed.

"Listen... I'm just saying that what you think you're feeling right now... it
might not actually be what you really feel,"

His eyes widened and he let out an irritated laugh.

"So this is how you deal with your feelings?" he said, catching me off
guard. "You shove them off and pretend like they don't mean a thing?
That's fucking messed up Kar--"

"Ryder, that's enough. I think you should go now," I cut him off before
he could say anything else. That hit a nerve.

I swung the door open for him. He sighed. And without looking back, he
walked out of the room.

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

That night I tossed and turned, I couldn't sleep.

As much as I hate to admit it... Ryder was right. I was bad with my
feelings. I pretended like they don't even exist. That was how I
functioned my whole life and it had served me well. Until now.
I thought about that kiss again. I wondered if it did meant something for
Ryder. Was it true; did he really have feelings for me? But ah, who am I
kidding? It's Ryder we're talking about. He'd say anything just to score.

It was just a stupid meaningless kiss.

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

Ryder's POV:

I had never said the words "I like you" to a girl before, and the one time
that I finally did, I got slapped across the face for it. Then again I
probably deserved it.

I saw it in her eyes; she didn't believe me even for a second. She said
this was just a phase. I wanted to laugh. I knew what I felt was real.

For the longest time I turned off the switch so that I won't feel anything,
for anyone. I never wanted to fall in love with a girl; that was weak. I
spat at her ideals of love and purity and all that. So of course, why
would she believe me now? I couldn't even believe myself right now.

Damn, I shouldn't have kissed her. I shouldn't have said anything.

But I did.

Chapter 11 11: The Hidden Treasure

Word count: 8714 | Released on 01/02/2021

Kara's POV:

I was hoping I wouldn't run into Ryder this morning, spare me the
awkwardness, please and thank you. So I was real glad to see that he
wasn't in the kitchen when I walked in; it was just Peter and my mom.

"Morning honey, we missed you at dinner last night," mom said.

"Yeah, sorry, I went out with a friend,"

"You've been spending a lot of time with this friend of yours. When are
we gonna meet him?"

"Mom. It's not like that. We're just friends,"

"Sure, they all started that way," she says again with a wink.
"Lacey!" I hissed.

"Fine, fine. So what's your plan for the day? If you're free, you should
come with us and watch Ryder compete,"

"Oh I can't," I quickly said. "I have plans," I lied, I didn't have any plans. I
just don't want to see Ryder right now.

"Oh plans. With that friend?" Lacey smirked naughtily.

"Mom!"

"Just kidding~ don't be home too late," she called out as I rolled my
eyes at her and left the room.

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

I had to figure out something to do so that I don't have to go see Ryder

with my mom and Peter. I decided to call Gabe up.

"Hey, what are you doing today?" I said as soon as he picked up.
"Hanging out with you, I hope?" he replied.

"Okay, text me your address, I'll come over," I said with a smile.

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

Gabe's house was only a fifteen-minute walk away from our house.
When I arrived there, his parents weren't home.

"Where are your folks?" I said, casually.

"My mom and dad are in real estate. They're always out somewhere.
My big brother's in college, he's in L.A." he said as we make our way to
his room.

He had a the typical guy bedroom; but he had so many books, CDs,
vinyl, posters, and a couple of guitars.

"Cool room," I commented. "Wait, you like Little Miss Sunshine?" I said,
referring to one of the posters in his room.

"Yeah, it's one of my favorite movies of all time,"

"No way! Mine too!" I laughed and gave him a high five. "You have good
taste. I'm glad we're friends," I said again.

We ended up spending the entire day in Gabe's room. He was teaching

me how to play the guitar, in which I gave up after ten minutes.

Then we ordered pizza and started binge-watching Breaking Bad on

Netflix. Before I knew it, the sun was already setting.

I looked at the way the sun light hit his face, so warm and glimmering.
He caught me looking at him for a second too long. He was about to
dive in for a kiss when I quickly pulled away.

"Wow, it's already seven! I promised my mom I'd be back for dinner," I
said, stumbling to get up.

"Oh okay, I'll walk you home," Gabe said.

"You don't have to,"

"But I want to," he insisted.

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

Gabe and I arrived in front of my house. I was laughing at some funny

joke he made when I noticed the light from Ryder's garage. And Ryder
was there, standing by the garage door—looking at me.

"Uh Gabe, thanks again for today," I stopped him, midway.

"Anytime. Can I walk you to your door?" he said.

"Um, I think I should just go. My mom's waiting," I lied, and he looked a
little disappointed.

"Ok, no problem. I'll see you later then," he smiled graciously still.

I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "bye," I whispered and made my
way to the house.

I could feel Ryder was eyeing me like a hawk.

******************************
"Kara, you're home, just in time for dinner," Lacey squealed happily.

"I already ate, I'm not hungry," I said.

"But I've been cooking all day, come on, just eat a little salad," she
pleaded. I gave in and took the seat in front of her and Peter.

And then in walked Ryder.

"Ryder. Come let's have dinner together," Lacey said and I shuffled
awkwardly in my seat.

Ryder took the seat next to me, purposely moving his chair so he was
closer to me. I coughed a little and scooted my chair further away from
him.

"This is nice isn't it? Let's uh, say grace," Peter said as he held out his
hand. Ryder took his father's hand and held out his hand to me. I
reluctantly took it. And as soon as Peter finished praying, I pulled my
hand back out.

"So, how was your date?" Lacey playfully asked me. She really didn't
know when

to stop.

"It wasn't a date, mom. For the millionth time, he's just a friend."

"Alright. Does this friend have a name?"

"Gabriel." I said quietly.

"Well I'd really like to meet Gabriel. Maybe you should invite him over
for barbecue this weekend?" Lacey grinned.

This weekend was the 4th of July and the family was doing a barbecue
party or something in the backyard. We were inviting neighbors and
several family friends.

"No, no, he probably has other plans," I shrugged it off.

"Oh that's too bad. What about you Ryder, are you inviting a girl over
for the party?" Lacey turned to Ryder. Geez mom.
"I don't know, probably not," he replied.

"Aw come on, you kids are no fun," Lacey teased playfully.

Just then, I felt something touching me under the table. I took a peek; it
was Ryder's feet playfully teasing me. I rolled my eyes at him but he
pretended to ignore me. I kicked him off, but he came back again.

"You okay honey?" mom asked, looking at my irritated face. Ryder just
smirked.

"Um mom, you know what, I think I'll invite Gabriel after all,"

"Honey that's great! I'm looking forward to meeting him." Lacey smiled
happily. Not Ryder though, his smirk dropped to the floor.

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

After dinner, Ryder went back to the garage and I stayed in the house,
helping my mom with the dishes.

"So um, honey, I just have to ask. How serious are things between you
and this Gabriel?" she quietly said.

"Mom, I told you, we're just friends,"

"Yeah, but you've been spending the whole entire week with this friend.
Look I know you're a big girl and you can take care of yourself, so I'm
not worried about you. Just make sure you're being safe, ok?"

"Mom!"

"I know, I know, you hate this talk. But I just have to warn you; I had you
when I was 16. I don't ever regret it; you're the best thing that's ever
happened to me. But please, be safe, ok?" she said again. I could tell
she was being really honest.

"Ok." I breathed.

"Do you have protection? Do you need me to help you get---"

"Mom!" I cut her off. "Don't worry, I got this." I shushed her, not
wanting Peter to hear any of this embarrassing conversation we were
done having.
******************************

The talk I had with my mom made me think. And maybe she was right. I
didn't plan on having sex with Gabriel—nor with anyone, at the
moment. But it was never a mistake to be safe, right?

So I devised a plan. I knew Ryder was still in the garage, so I was

thinking I could sneak into his room and steal a pack of condom from
that drawer of his.

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

The plan was working; the room was empty. He won't even know I was
here. But as I snatched a pack of condom from the drawer, I noticed
something else. There was a stack of CDs on the desk; The Temper Trap,
The Boxer Rebellion, The Lumineers... these were all my favorite bands!
I thought he didn't listen to any of them? Underneath the stack of CDs, I
saw a notepad with writings on them. I began to read... "Letters that I'll
never send"

"What are you doing here?" suddenly I heard Ryder's voice and I forgot
how to breathe.

"Ry! Oh—hey--- didn't see you there," I quickly turned around.

He was quiet. He eyed me with suspicion. Then he noticed the pack of
condom in my hand.

"Sorry I didn't mean to... uh break in here. But my mom was grilling me
about being safe, so I thought I could just borrow one from you, if that's
okay?" I said awkwardly.

"So you're gonna do it? With him?" was his response.

I was at lost for words.

"You won't even kiss me and you're gonna do that with him?" he
pressed on.

"So what?" I responded. "You were the one that kept telling me I should
ditch the purity ring fan club..." I said, referring to an old joke he once
made.

But he wasn't amused. In fact, he looked hurt.

"But the answer's no." I said, putting him out of his misery. He looked
up at me, there was a glint of relief in his eyes.
"I don't plan on doing it with him. Or with anyone else for now, for that
matter. I still believe in... what I believe in. Anyway this is just for safety
precautions. So thanks for the uh... this and I'll just, leave. Goodnight," I
rambled on and made my way to the door before he could say anything
else.

Little did he know, I've snatched the notepad from his desk and hid it
behind my back.

Chapter 12 BONUS: Letters That I'll Never Send

Word count: 4546 | Released on 01/02/2021

These are poems taken from Ryder's secret notebook, entitled "letters
that I'll never send".

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

"Dear K,

Should I call you a stranger?

Or maybe a friend, or an acquaintance.

A housemate. A playmate. A play date.

You are you, and I am me.

And these are the only things that we'll ever get to be."

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

"Dear K,

It was just a day. Maybe a Thursday. Maybe Friday.

It was just a girl. Brunette and sweet.

It was just talking. She said she wants to believe in love.

It was just a kiss. Except it was never anything at all"

******************************
"Dear K,

I wrote these words down for you.

Just these words, nothing less, nothing more.

Just these words on these papers,

Never said out loud, never to reach your ears.

I wrote them down because I need you to understand something.

Everyone else can read it and they won't know a single thing.

Because I only meant these words for you.

Just these words. Just here. Just you."

******************************
"Dear K,

I saw you today, wearing a summer dress,

Wearing that smile that could go for miles,

And wearing that laugh that I put on you.

I wonder if I'll see you again soon.

You make me nostalgic for something that hasn't even happened yet."

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

"Dear K,

You can't possibly understand how I feel about you.

Because I don't even see how these words could translate them."
******************************

"Dear K,

To say that I think about you all the time,

Would be the understatement of the century"

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

"Dear K,

When I hear you call my name;

Maybe it was just a simple moment for you;

But it changed every single one that followed for me."

******************************
"Dear K,

This world is full of garbage.

You are an angel, stuck amongst us trash.

But I would never let their dirty fingers touch you.

And I could never, let my own do the same."

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

"Dear K,

p>

When I sit next to you,

my hands suddenly become alien things

and I don't know what to do with them,

or where to put them down the right way.

It's like it's the first time I've ever had hands before,

and maybe they go in my pockets,

and maybe they don't."

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

"Dear K,

I listened to the music that you listened to.

It made me move.

I wonder if you moved the same way I do."

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

"Dear K,

Simple question. Answer honestly.

Do you ever think of me, the way I think of you?"

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

"Dear K,

It's not because you are a nice and genuine person.

It's not because you have great taste in movies.

It's not because of the way you smile when you look at the rain.

It's not because of the way you sing to the songs in my car.
It's not because of the way you fight me for the last slice of pizza.

It's not because you're so smart, you beat me at scrabble, every time.

And it's definitely not because the room feels somewhat empty when
you're not around.

I promise you, it's not."

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

"Dear K,

We talked for hours earlier;

I'm not even sure what about.

I learned something new today;

I never knew talking was so much fun."

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

"Dear K,

I tried to let go of you. I tried to forget.

But how could I let go of something I never even have?"

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

"Dear K,

I wanted to call a foul on my feelings;

disqualify it; because it's cheating.

Because it's not meant to be there, but it is.

But is it really though?

Tell me, what's right, what's wrong?

Because you can say it's right when you're standing there,

but when you're standing on the other side, it's left."

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

"Dear K,

Maybe one day I'll tell you all my secrets.

Maybe one day you'll leave knowing something new.

Maybe one day I'll show you my fears and regrets.

Maybe one day this will all be true.

Maybe one day, but not today. Not to you"

Chapter 13 The Fire Works

Word count: 9398 | Released on 01/02/2021

Kara's POV:

I read and reread Ryder's notes over and over again. He wrote so
beautifully. I never would have imagined the same mouth that said all
those dirty jokes could write such romantic things.

And okay, I don't wanna sound weird, but are these poems written
about me?

Well, let's not jump into conclusions just yet.

I hadn't seen Ryder for the next couple of days. He must be avoiding
me. I had been dying to see him though. I wanted to ask him about
these letters.

But am I ready to find out the answers? What if he really does have
feelings for me? How do I feel about him? Oh come on Kara, it's no
secret that you like the guy! Admit it; you never felt more free and alive
when you're around him—even though he's a narcissistic manslut.

******************************
Before I know it, the July Fourth weekend came along. Mom and Peter
were super excited about it. They had set up chairs and decorations in
the backyard. Peter was grilling burgers and hot dogs all day.

As per promised, I invited Gabe over for the barbecue. Mom instantly
loved him. She even made him play a song on his guitar and sing for
everyone. Any girl watching Gabe sing on his guitar next to the bonfire
would swoon—but I was too busy being distracted. Yup, you know it, I
was looking for Ryder.

And just then Ryder walked in, with Vanessa walking right behind him.
He's with her again? I felt my heart dropped to my stomach. Ryder saw
me and he looked away, pretending like he didn't even see me at all.

Ryder and Vanessa sat on one of the chairs at the back, away from
everyone. Meanwhile Gabe and I were sitting in the middle, by the fire.
I tried my best to listen to Gabe's singing, but I found my eyes
wandering towards Ryder again and again.

I saw Vanessa got up and she sat on Ryder's lap. They started talking
and suddenly she started kissing him. Ugh. Get a room.

"Kara? Kara?" Gabe's voice called me back to reality.

"Oh? Sorry, what?"

"I asked if you want anymore soda?"

"Oh, no thanks. I'm good,"

"You know, I still can't believe the dude that hooked up with Maddie is
actually your brother," Gabe gave out a wry laugh.

"Step...brother, haha, I know. Talk about small world," I said as we

glanced over towards Ryder-- who was still very busy with Vanessa.

"Ugh," was my response.

"I know right. What do girls see in guys like him, seriously," Gabe added.

"Yeah," I said bitterly, tasting the irony in my mouth. "Um, by the way
Gabe, are you doing okay? I mean about Maddie and all," I tried
switching the subject.

"Well I have to say, watching the girl I had a crush on for the past 4
years hooking with up with your stepbrother really sucked, ha-ha. But
surprisingly I think I'm okay." He said, giving me a reassuring smile, "You
helped a lot," he added.

I smiled back. Gabe was about to say something else, but my mind was
getting distracted again.

I want to talk to Ryder. I was going to wait until the party's over, but I
don't think I can wait much longer.

"You okay? You look distracted." He asked.

"Yeah, no, totally... um, actually I do need a drink. Can you grab me
one?"

"Sure thing," he said as he put down his guitar and walked towards the
kitchen.

Taking a deep breath, I let out a sigh and started walking towards Ryder
and Vanessa.

"Ry, can I talk to you for a moment?" I tried to sound as confident as

possible. Vanessa looked at me from head to toe, eyeing me like a
hawk, and then she went back to kissing Ryder's neck.

"Right now?" Ryder replied.

"Yes."

"I'm kind of busy at the moment."

"Please." I said again. "It's important."

He sighed and pulled himself from Vanessa. He told her that he would
be right back.

There were too many people in the backyard and all around the house,
so I asked Ryder to go with me down to the beach instead. Our
backyard had these small steps that could lead us to the beach.

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

I was glad to find that the beach was somewhat deserted tonight.
"Do you know how many times you've been cock-blocking me ever
since you got here?" he laughed. But I couldn't, my face was serious.
"So what's this all about?" he said again.

"What is this?" I finally said, taking his notepad out of my jacket pocket.

"Where'd you get that?" his eyes widened in shock.

"I asked you first, Ry, what is this?" I pressed again.

He raked his hair with his hand and sighed. "You're not supposed to see
that."

"Did you write this?"

He didn't say anything, but he didn't have to. His eyes gave it away.

"Who would have thought that Ryder Jake Williams is a closet poet?" I
tried to tease him, but he wasn't amused. His face was still serious.
"Who are these for?" I asked again.

He bit his lip, cocked his head to the side, and said, "it's not exact
ly rocket science isn't it? Come on, you know who they're for," he
paused for a second and then he said, "K."

My breath hitched. I didn't expect him to be so blunt right away.

"Well... you write beautifully..." I mumbled out.

"Thanks. I have a beautiful muse," he smiled.

I didn't know how to respond to that. I swallowed hard.

"Ry... why didn't you tell me?" I sighed.

"I tried. I got slapped across the face for it. And then you told me to just
ignore it because it's just a phase, remember?" he shrugged with a
half-smile.

"Well you should have tried harder," the words just escaped my lips.

"Would you want me to?" he looked at me intently.

"Y-No. I don't know. Anyway it doesn't matter Ry. It's still wrong," I said.

He looked at me as if he was trying to decipher something. Then he

took a step towards me and said, "So wrong."

"In just a month, you'll be my stepbrother," I stated the obvious.

"And you're my stepsister," he took another step.

"My mom will hate me,"

"My dad will kill me,"

"Plus, I don't do hookups,"

"And I don't do relationships,"

"And I'm leaving in two months,"

"So am I," he was standing at only an arm's length away from me now.
We looked at each other with fire burning in our eyes. And suddenly, as
if on cue, he grabbed my face and I reached for his head—and we
kissed. All hell broke loose.

I had never felt this kind of wanting before in my life. I wanted him
closer and more. I raked my hand through his hair and he tightened his
grip on my face. Our bodies swayed back and forth against each other.
My heart was beating so fast-- at this rate it might as well jump right out
of my body.

We finally pulled away because we were all out of breath. I was panting
and Ryder was smirking at me. He laid his forehead onto mine. Oh
fudgesickles, I'm a goner aren't I?

And right at that moment, we heard a loud boom. The fireworks were
starting. Boom boom boom! It was beautiful, and my heart was still
pounding, but all I could think about was Ryder's taste on my lips.

We smiled at each other, with bright red, purple, and yellow lights
flashing right by us. Ryder turned his face towards me again, slightly
tilting my chin up as he leaned closer. How do people breathe again?

"Uh.. wait..." my stupid brain had to ruin the moment, of course.

But Ryder didn't stop.

"Sshh, just enjoy the moment," he whispered instead. And so I closed

my eyes. And I let it happen.

There goes the fireworks, there goes my heart, there goes my sanity.

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

When the fireworks were over and the sky turned back to black, I knew
it was time to step back into reality.

"Okay..." I started off.

"Okay.." he trailed off.

"Ry, this isn't right..."

"But it's also not wrong. Technically you're not my sister yet," he
smirked.
"Not funny. I'm serious, I mean, what does this mean...?" I said, inviting
him to answer.

"I don't know," he replied.

"And we are..."

"I don't know,"

"And our parents.."

"Will never know! About any of this." he insisted.

Then he started laughing. How can he still think that is funny?

"How are you laughing? This is not funny." I smacked his arm.

"I'm not laughing because it's funny. I'm laughing because I'm happy,"
he said as he cupped my cheeks with his hands.
"We'll figure this out. Later. Let's go back to the house, for now," he
then said, reassuringly.

As I was about to start walking, Ryder held his hand out to me. I
debated against myself, and against all my better judgment, I took his
hand.

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

We made it back to the house, with our hands laced onto one another.
But as soon as I saw the crowd, I instinctively pulled my hand away.

I saw Gabriel and I walked over to him. The poor thing was looking for
me.

"Aw, you just missed the fireworks," he said. "Here, I got your drink,"

"Thanks, sorry, I had to uh, help Ryder with something,"

Ryder went back to Vanessa and Lacey came out of the house with a
tray of dessert.
"Where were you guys? You missed the fireworks!" Lacey said with a
frown, referring to Ryder and me.

"Oh just-- nowhere, the road—the garage was—broken," I rambled and

mumbled out words.

Ryder had the audacity to laugh at my nervous rambling.

I sucked. I needed to get better at lying. Good thing no one noticed

though. Everyone was too excited for dessert. I shot a glance over at
Ryder and he looked right back at me. He winked and I stuck my tongue
out at him.

No one knew, but we both knew we didn't miss the fireworks.

Chapter 14 The Ground Rule

Word count: 8263 | Released on 01/02/2021

Kara's POV:

By midnight that night, our Fourth of July party had came to a close.
Peter and mom were downstairs somewhere, and I think Ryder went
out to send Vanessa home. I told Gabe that I wasn't feeling well and I
sent him home as well. But I lied. I just wanted to be alone right now so
I could think. I need to figure this thing out with Ryder.
I've never felt this way about anyone before. I wanted to see this
through. I knew this was wrong and people might get hurt... but I
wondered, is there a way where this doesn't have to be wrong and
people don't have to get hurt?

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

I laid on my bed and stared at the ceiling-- thinking, wishing, waiting...

for Ryder. And I was just about to go to sleep when I heard my phone
vibrated.

Ryder: Hey

I didn't know how a simple text on a screen could make my heart do the
jumping jacks like this. So I texted back "Hey" and waited anxiously for
the response.

Ryder: Meet me in the garage

"Meet me in the garage"—just those five words. It wasn't even a

question; it was a statement, almost like an order. What do I say to
this? It was past midnight already. What could he possibly want to do
with me at this hour... oh wait, don't answer that. Before I could say
anything else, my phone vibrated again.

Ryder: Can you stop torturing me and just come over now?

A smile creeped up to my face. I speedily pulled myself off the bed and
made my way out of my room. I noticed that Lacey and Peter were still
in the living room, talking. Shoot, they're not asleep yet. So I tiptoed
quietly pass by and out of the house as I soon as I could.

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

The garage door was open when I got there. Ryder was standing,
shirtless, with his back to me. He was working on something— a
motorcycle. Of course, the bad boy has to have a motorcycle, I
muttered to myself.

"I can feel it," he said with his back still turned to me.

"What?"

"You eye-raping me," he chuckled and turned around.

"Don't you own a shirt?" I rolled my eyes at him, trying to keep my cool.
"So why'd you call me out here for?"

He smirked. He cleaned his hands with a towel and tossed it off

somewhere. "To pick up where we left off," he said as he stalked
towards me.

I didn't move away—I was too entranced. He grabbed my face with

both hands and he kissed me fiercely. Just the contact was enough to
send shivers up and down my spine. I kissed him back, feverishly. He
smiled and I smiled—and he used this opportunity to slip his tongue
inside.

I could feel his tongue all over me. He moved slowly, making me squirm
with tension and anticipation. He tagged my tongue lightly with his and
pulled back, inviting me to some sort of game. My tongue went out to
find his again. I could feel him smiling through the kiss. And suddenly his
tongue invaded my mouth again, and my body was up against the wall
with Ryder standing tall, hovering over me.

I felt him in my mouth. I felt his hands all over my body. His bare chest
was right on me. This was so hot. My hands traveled to his neck, to his
back, and lower back. He shivered at the touch and let out a small
groan. He started to kiss my neck and I felt like I have trouble breathing.
I let out a muffled moan-- not wanting to make too much noise.
He took it as a good sign. Steadily, he picked me up and put me down
on the work table. Sitting on the table, I swung my legs to his waist,
locking him there to keep him close. He was grinning. We kept on
kissing and I felt like I was getting high on his kisses. I started kissing his
neck and he let out a groan. Oh I love that effect I have on him.

Ryder's hand slipped under my shirt and it made its way slowly up
north—and that was when I stopped him.

"Wait, Ry, hold on," I said, panting, trying to catch my breath. He looked
at me, confused. "I think we need to establish some ground rules here,"
I said again.

"...Okay," he said with a chuckle. Then he proceeded to kissing my neck

again.

"Stop doing that, pay attention," I said as I pushed him off lightly.

He took a step back and bit his lip. "Okay what?" he said, still grinning.

I saw some scrap

of papers and a pencil next to me, so I grabbed them and I started
writing.

"I have spent the last hour thinking and thinking, and I've finally come
to a conclusion. If we're gonna do this, we're gonna do it right; which
means we need ground rules," I said as I wrote. His fingers were
drawing circles playfully around my thigh, distracting me. I smacked his
hand off.

"Pay attention!" I said again and he lifted his hands up in the air.

"Okay, what is it? I'm all ears," he said with his eyebrows raised.

"Rule no.1; no sex. We can fool around, or whatever, but no sex," I said
sternly. He crossed his arms and nodded slightly.

"Rule no.1, we do not talk about fight club. Got it," he said, trying to
hold back his laugh.

I glared at him, but a small smile escaped my lips.

"Rule no.2; we're just having fun, nothing serious. So our parents do not
need to know about this. And we will end things as soon as they get
serious," I said and he nodded again.

"Lastly; when the summer's over, so is whatever this is that we're doing.
And we shall never speak of it again, ever," I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Are you done now?" he said to me with that smug smirk.

"Sign here," I gave the paper out to him. He looked at me with that
'are-you-serious' look, but my face remained stern. He laughed and
picked up the paper and signed it.

Once he was done, he put the paper and pencil away. He moved closer
towards me and put his hand on my cheeks.

"You're sure about this?" he whispered.

"I don't know. Are you?" I whispered back.

He shrugged. "I'll take my chances," he leaned in, smiling as he closed in

on my lips.

He kissed me, just a little taste. Small kisses. On my lips. Around my lips.
On my cheeks. I couldn't help but to smile. He liked to tease. And I have
to admit it; Ryder's got style.

And just then, we heard noises coming from the house. We stopped
moving immediately, holding our breaths, trying to hear what was going
on. From the garage window, we saw Peter walking around the house,
looking to our direction. Holy Crapola! Ryder quickly pulled me down as
we ducked under the window.

Ryder put his index finger on his mouth, telling me to not make a sound.
We could still hear their voices. Ryder held me tightly against his body.
Being this close to him, I could even hear his heartbeat. Thump. Thump.
Thump. I think mine was beating to the same beat.

After some time, we heard Peter and Lacey went into their room and
the lights in the house went out. We let out a relieved sigh.

Okay, I know what you must be thinking; I've gone mad. Kara Livingston
has officially lost her sanity. How could I make such an irresponsible and
reckless decision?

Here I was, at 1 AM in the morning, making a deal with a shirtless devil

in his garage-- how could I let myself be in this position?
"Hey, what's on your mind?" he said, lifting my face up to meet his.

"I just can't believe we're actually doing this; sneaking behind our
parent's backs, like a bunch horny teenagers." I snapped.

I heard him trying to hold his laughter back.

"It's not funny," I said, and that made him laugh some more. "I'm
serious," I said, and he burst out laughing, but quickly pulled his
composure.

We couldn't help it, both of us ended up laughing like maniacs – except

of course, soundless. Do you know how hard it was to laugh without
sound?

Ryder cupped my cheeks with his hands and he gave me a tender smile.

"Stop overthinking things." He said, his fingers caressing my cheeks.

"But what if things go wrong? What if our parents find out?"

"They won't. We'll be careful. It'll be our little secret."

"But..." I tried again, but he put his index finger on my lips to shush me.

"No one has to know," he whispered against my lips. Our noses were
touching, and we stayed there, with hot heavy breaths.

I gave up. I closed my eyes and let his lips came down on mine. I could
feel him smiling through the kiss.

He knew he'd won.

"Well I have a feeling this is going to be one hell of a summer." He

whispered through the kiss.

Chapter 15 The Chasing Cars

Word count: 10696 | Released on 01/02/2021

Kara's POV:

To say that the past few weeks were fun... was a wild understatement.
After our mutual understanding that Fourth of July, Ryder and I spent all
our days together. It was just Ryder and me—us against the world.

We spent the whole day out; exploring the island, jumping off of
waterfalls, swimming in the ocean, Ryder even taught me how to
surf—in which I gave up after a good 20 minutes.

We spent the whole night together too; sneaking out through the back
door and to the hills, getting milkshakes at the drive-thru, watching
Godfather and Fight Club (Ryder's favorite movies) in his room, and
making out in mine. I didn't know how we weren't sick of each other
yet; we literally spent every waking moment together. After all, we lived
in the same house.

That being said, we made sure that we were very careful – especially
around our parents. Still, that didn't stop Ryder from putting his hand
on my thigh behind the table at dinner. Or kissing the back of my neck
quickly and seductively while our parents had their backs turned away.

I wish he'd stop being such a tease, but no, I don't. I like him, tease and
all.

Tonight at dinner was no exception. We sat across from each other so

he couldn't put his hands on me, so instead, he sent me texts.

Ryder: Stop it

Kara: What?
Ryder: Stop looking at me like that

I looked up from my phone to face him. I bit my lips thinking, what kind
of look was I giving him?

Ryder: Damnit I told you to stop.

Ryder: You make me want to flip this table over and take you here and
now.

And with that, I blushed. Ryder seemed amused; I could hear him
chuckling lowly under his breath.

"Those cell phones must be awfully interesting," Lacey suddenly said

and we were both pulled back into the reality that is our family dinner.

"Cat videos," Ryder said, without even looking slightly fazed.

"Oh speaking of phones, I almost forgot. Your friend Gabe came by

earlier, said he's been having trouble reaching you on your cell. He was
looking for you. And I thought you were out with him all day?" Lacey
trailed off. I quickly gulped my water.
"Ah, well I was just spending some alone time, over at the beach... I'll
give him a call," I said, trying my best not to look over at Ryder.

Of course I couldn't tell Lacey I've been hanging out with Ryder all the
time now, doing rated-R things unsuitable for any soon-to-be siblings.

"He seems like a really nice guy, that Gabe. I can tell he really likes ya,"
Lacey added, and this time Ryder shot me a look.

"Geez mom, I told you, we're just friends,"

"I don't know hon, I think he really likes ya, and maybe you should give
him a chance?" really mom, now is the time you choose to impart some
motherly dating advice?

"I'm going out for a bit, thank you for dinner," Ryder coughed and
quickly got up from the dinner table. Before any of us can say anything
else, he headed out to the door, not even giving me any eye contact.

"Hon, I know you're a strong and independent girl. But it's okay to let
your guards down, once in a while. If there's anything I've learned from
being with Peter, it's this: don't keep running away from love," she said
again, this time giving Peter a tender smile and he smiled goofily back.

Okay, hand me the puke bucket.

And just then, my phone vibrated again.

Ryder: Let's go somewhere. Meet me at the garage.

Kara: Right now?

Ryder: Yes.

Ryder: I need to have my tongue explain how bad I crave you.

Oh dear god. I could feel a twist inside my stomach.

"I'm gonna go give Gabe a call. I'll see you later," I awkwardly shuffled
out of my seat.

"That's good honey, I'm rooting for you guys," Lacey shot me a wink.
******************************

Ryder's POV:

After a few minutes, I heard knocking on the garage door and I saw her
standing there. Without saying anything, I made my way over to her
and grabbed her face until it meet mine. I kissed her, long and deep,
heavy and hungry. I needed her to know I mean business.

Kara struggled to breath and I finally let her go.

"Ryder, what's going on?" she panted.

"Sorry. It's just that, thinking of you and another guy, it drives me mad,"

Kara let out a sigh.

"But there is no other guy. I'm here aren't I? With you," she whispered
the last part.

How this woman makes me feel all warm inside, it's beyond me.
I made my way over to my bike and I felt her eyes following my every
movement.

"Let's go," I said, reaching for the spare helmet.

"Where are we going?" she asked. I could sense the tiny spark of fear,
covered with excitement in her eyes.

"Anywhere," I said as I fixed the helmet on her head.

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

Kara linked her arms around my waist as my motorcycle roared through

the town.

"Ry, slow down, we'll wake the whole neighborhood," she said over the
rushing wind.

We're gonna wake the whole neighborhood, we'll set fire on the whole
town for all I care. I don't care.

I ignored her plea and picked up the speed some more. I could hear her
muffled screaming.

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

Finally we arrived at this secluded beach, which the locals called it the
Virgin Beach, but I called it My Beach.

_sj'>I took her hand, leading her down through the narrow path
towards the beach.

"Why do you call it Your Beach?" she said, taking each step carefully.

"Because it feels like it. People don't really go here because it's too
much work. You have to climb down a steep row of rocks and narrow
stairs for a good twenty minutes before your feet can even touch the
sand."

"And you don't think that's too much work?" she said, struggling to find
the right rocks to step onto.

"No. I like the challenge. I figure the harder the road is, the greater is
the reward on the other side."
No one talked about the Virgin Beach. We didn't want tourists to know
and turn it into one of their hang-out spots. We liked the Virgin Beach
to stay a virgin, if you know what I mean. And really, it was the island's
best-kept secret.

When we finally reached the ground, I saw wild excitement in her eyes.

"The sand is so soft! And oh my gosh, the ocean!" she exclaimed.

"Yep. And they're all ours," I lifted my hands up in the air.

She let out a howl and started running towards the water. I laughed. It
was cute. It was like watching a five year old went into Disneyland for
the first time.

She was about to take a picture with her phone when I quickly snatched
the phone away from her.

"Uh oh, no picture, sorry. We can't have you instagramming this place
out for the world to see," I said, putting the phone behind my back. She
shuffled around me, trying to get her phone back.

"Give it back! I promise I won't post the picture!" she squealed but I ran
circles around her.

"Ry, give it!" she said again, somewhat pushing me back in frustration. I
let her push me again and this time I fell onto the soft sands, and I
grabbed her with me, so she fell on top of me.

We laid there for a good second, until she blushed and started
squirming to get off. But I put my hands on her arms, keeping her in
place.

"Wait. Look up," I said as she struggled futilely.

She turned her head around to see what I was seeing—the whole night
sky above us, glittering with a thousand stars.

"I've never seen so many stars before," she gasped.

She rolled off and laid down next to me. Her mouth was open in awe.

I shifted to my side, breathing in her scent. I put my hand to her chin

and tilted her face up to meet mine.
"I never told anyone about this place. You're the first person that I
brought here." I said.

"Wow. That's really cheesy," she laughed. "Do you actually expect me to
believe that?"

I noted her sarcasm. If only she knew.

"You don't have to believe me. But I only ever brought one girl over
here and she is not my freaking conquest." I said, referring to her words
before.

She looked at me and I swore, her eyes were twinkling.

I told her I want her to know how much I crave her. I'll make good on
my promise.

My lips crashed into hers as the waves roared. Her soft moaning drove
me wild. She laced her fingers through my hair-- I let out a groan. I
moved on to kiss her neck, sucking on it gently, leaving marks that I
know will cause trouble if her mom ever saw it.

I went back to kissing her soft lips, biting and tugging at her lower lip.
And suddenly she slipped her tongue through my mouth in a bold
move. She never ceased to amaze me. Our tongues met as they danced,
and I let mine went deeper and harder. She moaned again. The sound
of her moans was affecting me.

My hardening erection was getting too much to bear. I pushed myself

against her thighs, slowly grinding on the inside of her legs. Oh god,
how I want her. I didn't say it out loud, but I figured she knew as her
eyes shot open.

"Ry..." she said weakly, slightly pulling away.

I know. I know. That's my cue to stop.

I took a deep breath and pulled away. We were both panting. I groaned
in frustration.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"Nah. Don't be." I said, and I could hear the slight resentment in my
own voice.

"Are you angry?"

"No. Yes. Only at myself though. For having shit for self-control when
I'm with you,"

She turned to her side to face me and put her hand on my cheek. I
grabbed her hand right back. But suddenly she pulled her hand away
from me and started to sit up. I looked over to her and I saw worry in
her eyes.

"What's on your mind?" I said, following her to sit up.

"Ry... what are we doing? Aren't we being stupid?" she said, and that
look of fear in her eyes came back.

I cupped the side of her face with my hands. "Hey, listen to me... stop
worrying. You worry too damn much. Just forget about the whole damn
world right now and just... lie here with me." I said, putting our
foreheads together.

I never saw it coming. I thought she would have protested some more.
But she just smiled. A real genuine smile. I took a mental picture in my
head, because in fifty years when I'm old and gray, all I want to
remember was this moment.
I pulled us back down so that we were lying on the sand again. And so
we laid there, just staring at each other in knowing secrecy. Surrounded
by the sound of the waves and the thousands of stars as our witness.

"I wish I'd done everything on earth with you," I said quoting Fitzgerald,
which I knew was her favorite author—and luckily mine too.

And as soon as she heard it, she looked at me with twinkling eyes. A
wild grin escaped her lips. Then she grabbed my face and kissed me,
hard. This was the first time she ever made the first move and I hoped
to God the beginning of many more.

Chapter 16 The Infatuation Phase

Word count: 12399 | Released on 01/02/2021

Kara's POV:

It was the week before the wedding. Lacey and I had been busy, running
around all over town, trying to get all the details for her wedding to the
tea. Today we were picking up our dresses from the tailor. My maid of
honor dress was a soft and flowy ivory maxi dress. It was gorgeous and
it fitted me perfectly.

"Honey, you look beautiful," Lacey exclaimed as she watched me spun

around in the dress.
"Your wedding dress is also beautiful," I replied. She did look amazing in
it.

"You think so? Because I'm not too sure about this plunging neckline.
And I think they cut the length of the dress too short. I asked for 2
inches but I'm sure this is at least 2.5 inches!"

"Mom, breathe. You look amazing. Stop stressing yourself out," I said,
calming her down. I could tell my mom was a bit on edge with this
whole wedding stuff.

"Ok, yeah, you're right. I'm just really nervous, you know? It's my
second try at this—I really want everything to be perfect."

"Mom, I promise you, it will be perfect."

"Thank you honey, I'm so glad you've been so supportive. You're the
best maid-of-honor ever." Lacey took some deep breaths. "But I don't
know, I have this weird feeling that something's gonna go wrong at the
wedding."

"Mom, don't worry about a thing. I promise nothing's gonna ruin your
wedding."
Lacey pulled me in for a hug. I hugged her back. Meanwhile my mind
wandered off, thinking about the wedding. In just a few short days, I'm
going to officially have a new brother. My chest tightened at the
thought.

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

Ryder's POV:

I never waited around for a girl—that had never happened in my life

before. But this Tuesday afternoon, I found myself sitting at the couch,
watching my stupid phone, waiting around for Kara and her mom to
come home.

I'm fucking whipped for this girl, I told myself. Fucking Weak. I mean I
got hard just t

up again, I wanted to shove that stupid smile off his face. But he swiftly
caught my hand in mid-air. His grip was strong and firm, and no matter
how I much I struggled and shoved, he wouldn't let me go.

"Let me go!"
"Never," his grip only got tighter and eventually he put both arms
around me to stop me from squirming away.

Ryder picked me up and put me down on his lap. He got me wrapped

around his strong body and masculine smell.

At this point, I had stopped fighting since I knew his hold on me was too
strong anyway. So for a while there we just stayed quiet, listening to
each other's breathing.

"Vanessa and I— that will never happen again. What happened back
there, it was a mistake, and it didn't mean anything," he breathed.

He leaned his forehead against mine as he kept his gaze on me.

"I'm sorry, I'm a jackass. You deserved to be mad at me and I deserved a

thousand of those slaps," he paused for a beat before saying, "I'll even
teach you how to throw a mean punch and you can do that to me a
thousand times more,"

I didn't want to smile, so I bit my lip really hard to suppress it.

"This thing that we have going on... is really hard for me. But I promise
I'll do better," he took a deep breath as he said it, and his eyes told me
that he meant it.

"There's only one girl that I want to do that to. And even though you
don't want to do it with me yet, I'll be patient and I'll wait. Because
you're it, you're the one that I want," he said again and he gave me a
long tender kiss on my forehead.

Darn you Ryder Jake Williams.

I couldn't stay mad at you, and I couldn't stay away. How could I
possibly say no to him? And it was at that moment, when I realized; I
think I've fallen for him.

But holy fish-- no! I couldn't let that happen. I needed to get my feelings
in check. This was supposed to be just fun and games...

Chapter 17 The Special Guest

Word count: 11135 | Released on 01/02/2021

Kara's POV:

Confession time. I'm gonna be honest: I know I told everyone that I was
waiting until marriage because I wanted to find a guy who was willing to
wait for me—but that was a lie. It was just an excuse I made up. It was
just a wall that I built because I was afraid--- of love.

My own dad ran out on me and I saw my mom got her heart broken
time and time again. I was scared. I didn't want to fall in love-- I had
always thought that love was for suckers and people can't be trusted.
So I made up all these rules and lived strictly by them, thinking I could
live my life hurt-free, unscathed.

You wanna know another confession? Meeting Ryder had changed me

and challenged my beliefs. For the first time in my life, I wanted to feel
things. And even if I got hurt in the end, I might be okay with that.

Never thought I'd say this, but I wanted to take a chance on love. But I
was conflicted. Taking a chance on love with Ryder Jake Williams would
be stupidest thing a girl could do. He was never the kind of guy you
would trust with your heart. He would chew 'em up and spit it out in a
matter of seconds. Yet somehow, I felt like I could trust him.

But then again... we have a wedding coming up.

Am I only fooling myself?

The answer was clear as day.

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

Today was the day before the wedding – the night of the rehearsal
dinner.

Tomorrow my mom would be walking down the aisle and marrying the
love of her life. Tomorrow I would be walking down the aisle with her,
as her maid-of-honor. Tomorrow Ryder would stand at the altar as his
dad's best man. And tomorrow, we are all officially a family. Talk about
complicated.

Tomo

to him, his lips crashing onto mine. He kissed me hard, like he was trying
to prove a point. It took everything in me to push him away, and when I
failed, I pulled away.

"Ry, stop! I... can't do this anymore..." I said, and I felt my eyes tearing
up.

"What are you talking about?"

"I think this is going too far. We should end it before... it's too late,"

"What do you mean, too late?"

"Before one of us starts having real feelings for each other, you know? A
few days ago, I hated seeing you and Vanessa. And today you're mad
because Gabe kissed me. It shouldn't be like that. It got complicated,
you know?" I sighed in frustration.

Ryder didn't say anything. He knew I was right. And I had to do what
was best for everyone.

"Come on Ry, we both know this is a lost cause. Let's just stop, okay?
Before somebody gets hurt," I said, and by somebody, I meant me.

He probably wouldn't lose too much sleep over it.

Ryder didn't say anything for the longest time. His eyes were lost in
thoughts.

I waited for a while, but I knew I should head back to the party. Lacey
must be looking for me. And Gabe too, I still owed him an explanation.
So I turned to my heel and started walking away.

"But what if it's already too late?" he suddenly said and I stopped my
tracks.

I turned around to face him again. Ryder's jaw was clenched, his eyes
were dark and boring into mine.

"What do you mean?" I said.

"I'm saying it's too late. I've already fallen for you..."

"No..." I breathed.

"Yes. I love you. I fucking love you."

Chapter 18 The Stolen Dance

Word count: 9752 | Released on 01/02/2021

Kara's POV:

"I love you." His words were ringing in my ears.

And everything else around me fell silent, like it was on mute. I couldn't
hear anything, except the sound of his heavy breaths and the three
words that was on repeat in my head. And I didn't know what to say, or
how to react to this. I was a deer caught in headlights.

"I've known it for a long time now. I just don't think I'd ever say it out
loud," he continued saying.

Words. Words. Words.

I thought of all the vocabulary that I know, but nothing would come out.

"Kara... say something, please," Ryder's eyes were searching mine.

I panicked. "Run!" I told myself.

And that was exactly what I did, I ran. I heard him calling out after me,
but I dared not look back. Run Kara, run!

Back at the dinner, I made a lame excuse—something along the line of 'I
don't feel well, bad shrimp', and I told my mom I'll be in my room. I also
told Gabe that we'd talk tomorrow.
I know I was a coward. Guilty as charged. But at least I would be safe for
one more day.

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

I turned my phone off and locked myself in my hotel room that night.
We were all staying at the hotel by the beach, where the wedding will
take place tomorrow.

But tonight, I planned to just shut myself down, like a computer. This
thing with Ryder was a complete mistake, it never should have
happened in the first place. Where's the CTRL ALT DEL button in life
when you need one? Force

went away, I shot Ryder a 'you're-dead-to-me' look.

"I hate you. Stay away from us," I hissed.

"Kara, wait," he started.

"I told you to stay away." I said, fuming.

I could tell he wasn't going to give up. So I turned to Vanessa, fished out
my hotel room key from my purse, and pressed it against her hand.

"Take it. It's for you and my brother. Consider it a gift," I said. Vanessa
took the card without hesitation. Ryder stood in shock. I took this
opportunity to turn to my heel and walk away with Gabe.

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

Ryder's POV:

I could see it in her eyes; she despised me. She really hated me.

I was so desperate trying to hang onto whatever was left of what we

have... had. I guess I really lost her this time.

I felt like my heart was being sliced into a million tiny pieces.

"Baby, come on," Vanessa said, nagging for me to come up to Kara's

hotel room with her. "Even your sister gave us her blessings, come on,"
she said, pouting her lips.
"Whatever it is that's making you so tense, I promise I'll make you feel
better," she added.

I sighed. This girl didn't know when to stop. That line had zero power
over me anymore.

"You go ahead. I'll catch up with you later. Just need to get something
to drink," I said, releasing my arms from her grip and making my way to
the open bar.

Chapter 19 The Purple Rain

Word count: 9600 | Released on 01/02/2021

Kara's POV:

Gabe and I were walking along the beach, away from the crowd and the
drama. Thankfully his nosebleed had stopped. We were quiet though,
we didn't say much as we kept on walking.

"Please don't tell anyone... about the whole Ryder and I thing," I said
finally.

Gabe mimed zipping up his mouth, "my lips are sealed," he said.
"And I'm so sorry that he hit you. He's such a barbarian," I rolled my
eyes.

"What do girls see in him, really?" he laughed sarcastically.

"I know he's bad. But he's really not all that bad," I said meekly.

Then we were quiet again. We had been walking for a while now. The
lights and party were far away in the distance.

"Should we start walking back?" Gabe asked.

"No... I think I wanna stay here for a while." I replied.

Gabe let out a chuckle.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"Your mom was right. When you like someone, you run away from
them."
"It's not like that. Ryder and I—we can't be together. If you haven't
noticed, that is my mom's and his dad's wedding. We're brother and
sister now," I made my point.

"Well let's try this: say this wedding isn't your mom's wedding or his
dad's wedding. There's no brother and sister and all that. Will you go
back and find him?"

I had never thought of this before. What if we weren't brother and

sister? Would I give us a real chance?

I didn't say anything, but probably the word 'yes' was written all over
my face.

"I see," Gabe said, read

"Ry..." I started.

"It's alright." he said reassuringly.

I looked over to the site of the party. "Do you wanna go back?"
"Not really." he said.

"Me neither." I muttered.

And a suddenly a smile creeped up his face. "Wanna dance?" he said.

"Here? Now?"

Ryder didn't answer, instead he grabbed my entire body and swung me

around. We couldn't stop laughing. Somehow, someway we ended up
slow dancing. The waves and the rain were the music.

In his arms, this was where I'm meant to be.

My arms flew across his neck and I pulled him closer. I buried my face in
his broad chest, inhaling his scent. I could hear his heartbeat and it was
beating fast. Beating for me.

"Ry..." I said to his chest.

"Mmhm?"
"I want to have sex with you," I said and BOOM – the thunder above us
roared again.

Ryder pulled away in an instant. Perhaps it was my words that had

shocked him, or maybe it was the thunder. I wouldn't know.

He looked at me, trying to decipher the look on my face.

"Wh—Are you sure?" he said, looking somewhat worried.

"Yes," I said simply, looking down at my feet and then back up to meet
his piercing blue eyes again.

"Kara, it's not that I don't want to. Believe me, I do. But I don't wanna
do something that you'll regret—"

"Ryder Jake Williams," I said, shutting him up. "Make love to me."

Chapter 20 The Young Blood

Word count: 9680 | Released on 01/02/2021

Kara's POV:
Ryder took me up to his room—as mine was currently being occupied
by a Kardashian wannabe.

My dress was soaked from the rain. Ryder grabbed two towels from the
bathroom and wrapped me in one of them. He dried his hair and face
with the other one.

Then he slipped out of his wet dress-shirt and let it fall to the ground.
His naked body was slightly wet and glistening from the rain. I
swallowed hard as he strode over towards me.

"Are you sure about this?" he said, while he helped me dry my hair with
the towel.

"For the longest time I told myself I was waiting for true love. But that
was just an excuse. I wasn't waiting, I was putting it off. I guess I was
afraid... I'd get hurt."

"So what changed your mind?"

"You. You make me want to be brave." I said and his lips twitched into a
smile.
He tossed the towel off to a chair, without taking his gaze away from
me. His finger trailed up my back, finding the dress zipper. Slowly, he
unzipped the dress and it peeled it off of me. I stepped outside the
dress and let it sit there on the floor.

I was wearing my white strapless lace bra and matching underwear. It

wasn't usually what I would wear, but it was a gift—from the bride.
Thank you Lacey! Ryder took in the sight and a smile curved up his lips.
His eyes were clouded with lust and want. I felt myself blushing and my
hands went up to cover my chest. Ryder quickly pulled them away.

"Hey. You're beautiful," he said, as if he knew what I was thinking in my

head.

throom and drenched some towels in hot water. He came back and he
wiped me clean, and then he wiped himself clean as well. I was too tired
and too sore to even move. But he took care of me.

When he glanced over at the sheets and saw the blood stain on it, he
grinned and said, "Well, that oughtta give housekeeping something to
think about."

I just rolled my eyes at him.

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

Ryder was still sleeping when he noticed me squirming underneath him.

I glanced over to see the clock—it was 5:45 AM.

"Mmm. Go back to sleep." He mumbled out.

I looked up to see his face; his eyes were closed. His jawline was sharp.
His skin was glowing. He was so beautiful to look at— I could stare at
him all day. My hand involuntarily made its way to touch the side of his
face. He shuddered at the touch.

And that was when I noticed the purity ring that was around my little
finger.

Well, well, well. Hello there ring. Yes, I'm not a virgin anymore. You can
take me off the mailing list.

I wondered if I should take the ring off. But it was still a nice ring and I
didn't feel like taking it off. I decided I'd just leave it there for aesthetic
purposes.
"Sleep," Ryder commanded lazily as he pulled me in closer.

I found myself smiling as I snuggled into his chest. I hoped I'll dream of
him.

Chapter 21 The Moon Honey

Word count: 9762 | Released on 01/02/2021

Kara's POV:

Sunlight was spilling in through the large window, causing my eyes to

flinch. The sun was out. I looked over lazily to the clock on the wall— it
was 9.15 AM.

"Holy shoes! Ryder, wake up!" I released myself away from his grip but
he pulled me back down to the bed instantly.

"No," he groaned.

"But it's 9.15, we have to send Peter and Lacey to the airport!" I said as
his eyes jerked open.

I rolled to my side and tried to get up, but my body was too sore, I
ended up falling back to the bed. Ryder let out a laugh.
"Ugh... I needa take a shower," I said, mainly to myself.

But Ryder quickly got up and in one fell swoop, he took me in his arms
and carried me off to the bathroom.

"What are you doing?" I protested.

He put me down inside the shower box.

"You said you needa shower?" he said as he closed the glass door
behind us.

"Yeah, I didn't mean that as an invitation."

"Good. I don't need one," he said, smirking.

And then he turned the shower on and I squealed as water came

sprouting out to my face. I could hear his evil laughter in the
background.

We ended up taking a shower together. We took turn to rub each

other's backs with body wash. He stole every chance he got to plant a
kiss on my lips in between. He loved to tease-- tugging and pulling on
my lower lip.

And then suddenly, I found myself being pinned against the

glass—Ryder's body hovering in front of me. He

through gritted teeth.

This time Ryder let out a loud growl and we both came climaxing
together.

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

Ryder was in the shower, and I was just lying on his bed, wearing
nothing but his T-shirt on. I looked up to the ceiling, trying to process
everything that just happened in the past 24 hours. Just yesterday
morning I was determined to end things with Ryder. Yet today I found
myself lying on his bed, staring at his ceiling, thinking when's the next
time we'll do it again?

I was floating on cloud nine. Nothing can bring me down, I thought. And
then my stupid brain decided to make an entrance and I had to ask
myself the worse question in the world: what happens next?
I was always an over-thinker, I know that. I overthink things. Far before
they need to be thought of. But I couldn't help it; I mean think about
what kind of future is available for Ryder and I? And then it hit me:
there was none. There was still an expiration date on us.

All that happiness and bliss—was now poof, gone.

I sit up on the edge of the bed and started raking my brain for an
answer.

We can't be an actual couple, not unless we want to be disowned by

our parents. But we can't stop seeing each other either; we're in too
deep. So how the hell are we gonna do this?

Getting an idea, I got up to my feet and snatched a piece of paper and

pen from Ryder's desk.

Chapter 22 The Contingency Plan

Word count: 11972 | Released on 01/02/2021

Kara's POV:

"What you got there?" Ryder's voice broke the silence.

I was sitting on his desk, with the paper and pen in hand.

"New rules," I mumbled out as I kept on writing.

"You and your rules." Ryder chuckled. "We both know we're just gonna
end up breaking them anyway."

I rolled my eyes at him.

"No, we're not. We're gonna do this thing properly; like two responsible
adults." I said.

Ryder made his way over to me. He was wearing nothing but a towel
wrapped around his waist. I had to look away before he noticed me
gawking at him.

"Can't we just skip to the part where we fuck?" he said lowly.

"Ehem," I coughed. "Rule no.1, we will be responsible and mature about

this. Meaning we can't be reckless. We can't be doing anything that will
jeopardize the wellbeing of our family. Hence we can't hurt the people
around us, because if we do, we'd have to stop."
"Mmhm," he said as if he was paying attention, but really he had buried
his face in the nape of my neck, showering me with light kisses.

"Don't distract me," I hissed. "And Rule no.2: if there's even the
slightest chance that we can be happy with somebody else, we have to
take it. And we have to let the other one go." I continued on.

"You're bad at dirty talk," was his response. His hands were on my thigh
now, making its way up to my hips. I had to hold myself from writhing
underneath his touch.

"R...rule no.3: no matter what happens, we don't look back in regret." I

said finally.

This time he stopped and pulled away. His eyes were looking down at
the ground, like he was thinking of something.

"Those are very depressing rules," he said as he looked up.

"I think that's how we oughtta do it. We need a good contingency plan,
you know?"

"Fuck that," he scoffed.

"Sign it," I said. "Please," I ad

'p_sj'>Her eyes lit up as soon as she saw me.

"You got pizza!" she screamed. Kara and her junk food. Of course.

"Yes. But wait, do you wanna see something cool?" I stopped her.

"Is it better than pizza?"

I raised my eyebrow at her. Putting the pizza box down, I took off my
jacket and showed her my left arm.

"You got a new tattoo?"

Nodding, I peeled the bandage off slowly, and there it was:

KARA

Those four letters were forever inked on me now. The size wasn't too
big and it was surrounded by a bunch of other tattoos I already had, so
people won't really notice them unless they were looking for it.

"What do you think?" I said.

"I thought you said you don't tattoo girls' names on you?"

"Meh," I shrugged.

"Why I'm honored," she said sarcastically, but then she quickly gathered
herself. "You do know this is permanent, right?" she added.

I gave her a bored stare. "I'm well aware of that," I gestured to my fully
inked arms to prove my point.

She bit her lip and gave me a look that I couldn't decipher.

"Oh and I ran into Cameron at the tattoo parlor," I said as the thought
came to mind.

"What?" her jaw dropped.

"I wanted to kill him so bad,"

"But you didn't, right?"

"No. I didn't... Something held me back."

"Good," she said, relieved. "I'm glad you're being the bigger man."

She linked her arms over my neck. Her body was pressed up against me.
Her smell was intoxicating.

"What held you back?" she asked.

"Fucking Lilo and Stitch." I said, and she narrowed her eyes at me,
waiting for an explanation.

Oh the things she does to me.

Chapter 23 The Emergency Landing

Word count: 10868 | Released on 01/02/2021

Kara's POV:
"We're coming back a day early!" Lacey screamed over the phone.

"What?!" my body shot up in response.

"We missed you guys. You're gonna be off to college in September and
Ryder will be off competing all around the world. Peter and I, we wanna
spend some more time with you guys, while we still can." she chatted
on.

"So you're coming in, when?"

"We just got off the plane actually, we're at the airport. Don't worry
about picking us up, we'll grab a taxi. See you at the house in an hour,"
she said again before hanging up.

Holy beans! We're so screwed!

As soon as I got off the phone, I raced over to Ryder's room. I swung the
door open, making a dramatic loud noise as I went. Ryder was still in
bed.

"Ryder, get up!" I yelled.

He turned his head lazily over to me. "Good morning to you too,
sunshine."

"The parents. Are here. In an hour," I said, panting.

Ryder's body jolted up in response. "You're joking, right?"

"I wish I was," I said as I calmed my breathing.

"Shit." He swore as he rolled off the bed.

I scrambled to get my clothes on the floor. Then I went to check the

bathroom and see if there was anything of mine in there.

Let's just say we got busy that day, but it's not what you think. We had
the scour the entire house, from top to bottom, to clean up any and all
of the evidence.

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

About an hour later, the front door flew open as Lacey and Peter
walked in.

"We're back~!" Lacey squealed.

Ryder was sitting on the couch, watching TV, while I was sitting on the
armchair, reading a

>"Hey mom... how's things with Peter?" I said, breaking the silence.

"Things are great... really great. Actually, back in Maui we were thinking
about trying to have a baby..."

"A baby? Wow... that sounds... wonderful, mom." I said. But then the
thought came to mind—Ryder and I will have a little sibling together...

A baby is a big deal. No wonder she's acting so weird.

Lacey was quiet again. I could tell that she wanted to say something to
me, but she was holding it back.

"Mom, are you okay? Is something bothering you?" I said again.

She took a deep breath, and finally she said, "Honey, I know."

"You know what?"

"About you and Ryder. I know."

I paused for a second. She can't possibly know. We've been very
careful!

"...What... are you talking about, mom?" My throat suddenly felt dry.

Lacey ran her finger across her head, rubbing her temple. Her face was
serious.

"I didn't believe it at first... But a few days ago when I was doing the
laundry, I went to your room to get your clothes and I found Ryder's
jacket in your closet. I didn't think much of it. But then last night, at
dinner, I noticed something on Ryder's arm. He has a tattoo of your
name... Now I didn't want to jump into conclusions. I thought I must be
crazy, I must be imagining things. So later that night, I went up to check
on Ryder in his room, but he wasn't there. Instead, I found this." Lacey
pulled out a piece of paper from her purse.
I knew that piece of paper like the back of my hand. My handwriting
was there, and Ryder's too.

It was the rules that we both drew up.

Chapter 24 The Sweet Disposition

Word count: 10256 | Released on 01/02/2021

Kara's POV:

I couldn't look my mother in the eye. My body was frozen in shock. I

was afraid to even move a single inch. My worst fear had come to life:
mom had found out about Ryder and me.

I felt like the Titanic. We had hit an iceberg and we were going down. So
far down.

"How could you do this to us, Kara?" she croaked.

"Mom... I'm... really.... sorry," I managed to say under my breath.

"I don't know how serious things are between the two of you... but I
hope you realize what's at stake here. All our lives, all we ever wanted
was to have a family." she paused, taking a deep breath. "Peter and I
have decided that we're going to have a baby. We really want to make
this family work, Kara." She said again.

Tears started to roll down my cheeks. I felt so guilty. Ryder and I had
been so selfish. We couldn't just forget about the whole world and do
whatever the hell we want. That wasn't real, that was just a fantasy.

"Me too, I want this family to work too. I'm so sorry," I apologized, again
and again, until the words lost its meaning.

"Oh Kara..." mom said as she took my hand, tears trickled down her
cheeks.

"I promise we'll stop." I said, gripping her hand right back. "I'm so sorry,
we were being stupid. I didn't know what I was thinking... I never
wanted to hurt you..."

Mom pulled me in for a hug and I cried my heart out unto her
shoulders.

"I know you didn't mean to..." she said, stroking my hair.
"Does Peter know too?"

"No. I haven't told him yet."

"Please don't tell him, mom." I pleaded. "It's only a week left b

sn't right.

"There's something about you today. I can't quite put my finger on it," I
said.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said, as she slurped away
her drink.

I narrowed my eyes at her. "You're way too giggly and carefree. Who
are you and what have you done to my Kara?"

She laughed and smacked my arm playfully.

"I'm just really happy to be with you, Ry. You make me very happy," she
said as she cocked her head to the side.
I took her hand and I let our hands rest on her thigh. She took out her
phone and snapped a picture of our hands together.

"What are you doing?" I said.

"Nothing. I just realized we don't have many pictures together," she

said, now snapping her camera away towards my face. I pulled her in
and we started taking pictures together. We were giggling, making silly
faces, and playfully kissing each other.

I didn't know what was going on with her today. But she made me feel
like the happiest man on the planet.

Now I wasn't kidding myself, I knew that she was leaving in a week. And
it would be months, or even years before we could see each other
again. Maybe that was why she was acting like this. Maybe she was
worried about our future together?

She always worries too much. But I'll let her know, no matter what
happens, I'm not letting her go. We'll make this work, like we always do.

And if the world tried to stop us—well the world be damned.

Give us your best shot world, whatever it is, we'll take it.

Chapter 25 The Closing Time

Word count: 9402 | Released on 01/02/2021

Ryder's POV:

It was the last day before Kara had to leave for New York. I didn't know
how to feel about that. A part of me wanted to throw away everything
and go be with her there. Another part of me wanted to take her, stuff
her in my bag, and take her with me as I go on my surf world tour.

Earlier, we had lunch together as a family— our parents and us. Kara
was surprisingly very calm about everything. How was she not freaking
out? Weren't girls supposed to be one being all whiny and clingy? Why
am I the one being whiny and clingy?

Anyway since it was her last night in Hawaii, I have decided to do

something special for her.

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

Kara's POV:
Ryder Jake Williams was taking me out on a date. 'A proper date' was
what he called it. When Ryder did things like that, how can I not melt
into a puddle of mess?

Ryder and I still haven't had the talk. I could tell he was trying to avoid
talking about it, putting it off as far away as we could. But tonight was
my last night in Hawaii. This was as far as it could be.

And I hadn't told him about my mom knowing about us too. I had a plan
though. Ryder's not gonna like it. And quite frankly, so do I.

"Ryder, where are you taking me?"

"Sshh, just walk," he said as his strong arms were holding onto mine,
leading me down the narrow path.

He got me blin

inch of her skin to be marked by me.

She's mine and I'm hers. And I know we don't have much time. But
tonight, we'll make this last forever.
******************************

Kara's POV:

The sun was barely rising. The sky was glowing in pastel orange and
purple.

I rolled over to my side without making too much noise. Slowly, I

reached over Ryder's body to check on his phone. The time read 5:24
AM. I turned off the alarm that he had set last night and put his phone
back to its original place.

Ryder was asleep. His breathing was deep. He must be exhausted. Last
night was probably the greatest night of my life. It was an amazing first
date... and the last.

I watched as his chest rise and fall with every breath he took. I looked at
his gorgeous face—noting his long and thick eyelashes, his high
cheekbones, his nose, his sharp jaw, and those lips...

I'm never gonna taste those lips again.

I knew I would break if I let myself stay in this tent a minute longer. So I
gathered up my things as quietly and as quickly as I could. I took one
last look over at him.

He will always have a piece of me.

And I walked out. I walked, and walked, and walked. Tears were
streaming down my face. And then I ran, and ran and ran.

Run.

More Chapters Download www.ebookscat.com