RYAN POV
It's been two months since Natalie lost her mom and started staying with us. She doesn't talk much, and she never smiles. Mom and I are extremely worried about her, but dad says to give her space.Every day she comes home, does her homework, eats dinner with us, showers, and goes to her room for the night. She is overly polite and formal with all of us. Even the girls can't get a laugh or genuine smile from her.
I miss my best friend. Football season is over, so I have nothing to distract myself with. We didn't win state this year. The loss hit me hard. My last high school game ended with a loss. Natalie quit soccer as soon as she returned to school.
When I asked her about it, she only shrugged.We still eat lunch together, but a couple of my buddies now sit at the table too. I can tell Natalie dislikes them. She never engages into the conversations, but sometimes I catch her rolling her eyes.
Today is the same as usual. Nat is
Natalie POVI can't believe how sweet he is. I watch him as we gather the soccer balls that I have been kicking for over an hour.He helps me unhook the school's net and fold it. He does it all with a small smile in the freezing wind and it amazes me. His whole family amazes me. They aren't afraid to show every emotion they feel. Whether they need to cry or laugh. They share it with each other.His sisters are complete angels. They are glued at the hip and I've only seen them get upset with each other once. The disagreement lasted for about 5 minutes.Lacy spent longer apologizing then they had actually spent mad at each other. It was beautiful.I dont deserve their kindness. My anger boils so close to the edge all the time. I feel like a complete misfit in their perfect home. I just yelled and cussed at the best person in my life.Why am I like this?When we finally finish putting away my stress reliever, I grab Ryan's hand and
THIRD-PERSON POVTerri and Rick get ready for bed in silence. Each thinking about Ryan and Natalie. Terri brushes her hair, washes her face, and pulls on her favorite silk nightie.Rick washes the remaining gel out of his hair and pulls on a pair of old basketball shorts. He rubs his neck with both hands, trying to ease the knots."Rick, honey, come sit in front of me. I will do that," Terri says while patting the bed in front of herself.Rick loves his wife's massages. No matter what, they always seem to ease the tension in his neck and shoulders."Today was a tough day for Natalie," Terri states."Do you think she will regret Ryan kissing her," Rick asks his wife?When it comes to emotions and understanding, Terri is the master. She pulled him from a deep depression after his parents' death. And when he felt like the world was crumbling in on them when the girls needed so many surgeries as newborns, it was his wife that
NATALIE POV Ryan opens the car door for me like a true gentleman, and I slide into the seat while blushing. I began to panic as he rounds the back of the car. What if I do something embarrassing? How do you even act on a date? Once Ryan gets in the car, I am relieved to see that he is just as nervous as me. He keeps having to wipe his palms on his pants, which is definitely one of his habits when he is nervous. I smile while looking at my lap. Okay, say something, Natalie, be brave. "I am excited about Mexican Food," I say quickly before smiling at him. "This isn't true Mexican food," Ryan says with a smirk. There's my best friend. "Okay, okay, I'm excited for this chain restaurant food that passes for Mexican food. Because it is delicious," I state dramatically, and Ryan laughs. I love that we could slip into an easy conversation. I know if I were going on my first date with someone that wasn't my best
RYAN POV I open Nat's door and hold her hand as we walk up the porch steps. Since we live together, I don't know if I should try for the good night kiss now or walk her to her room. I must have frozen at the front door while I was weighing my options because Nat pulls and squeezes my hand a little. "Ryan, are you okay," Nat asks with concern in her voice. I feel my ears flame up for the hundredth time tonight as I try to look calm. I keep repeating to myself that I've already kissed her before, but that does nothing for my nerves. "Umm, yeah, I'm fine. I was just going to ask if I could kissyouugoodnight," I ask with the last part coming out fast and high-pitched. I clear my throat to repeat my question slowly and clearly, "I was wondering if I could kiss you goodnight?" "Sure," Nat says, blushing a little bit. I place both my hands on the sides of her face and lean down while staring into he
RYAN POV She kissed me. She kissed ME!! I slowly unfreeze as a smile consumes my face. I immediately start doing a happy dance. Giggles interrupt my glee, and I freeze all over again. "What are you doing, Ryan," Stacy asks from behind me. "Celebrating my date with Nat," I say while my ears go red, and I turn to look at my little sister. "You are so funny, Ryan. Lacy and I are waiting for you to tell us goodnight. Hurry. Hurry," Stacy says, grabbing my hand and dragging me to their room. After telling the girls goodnight and giving them their "special big brother hugs," I head to my room. Stacy has called my bedtime hugs that since we were super little. It has become a family tradition, and to be honest, I don't think I could sleep without hugging my sisters. I launch myself onto my bed and smile into my pillow. I can't believe how perfect today went. I have kissed my dream girl three times. I am dating my dream girl. And my parents
RYAN POV "Natalie saw me naked" keeps repeatedly replaying in my head. I feel like mom and dad secretly know, maybe even the girls. I'm frozen sitting next to Nat while the girls are behind us. Mom and dad are talking to each other happy, but I can't hear anything over the blood rushing in my ears. Natalie just glanced at me as we pulled into the parking lot. I feel my ears getting redder. She looks stunning. She looks like spring in the middle of winter. A little drop of sunshine in a yellow dress with her hair up showing off her gorgeous neck. All the sudden I feel Nat grab my hand. I look at her with my eyes wide. She smiles a little. "I'm embarrassed too. But I'm really nervous so pull it together tough guy," Nat whispers with her eyes pleading. I realize her face screams nervous. She has the hand I'm not holding clinched and her forehead has sweat even though the car isnt warm at all. I feel like a bad boyfriend. I know big bu
4 MONTHS LATER DAY OF PROM NATALIE POV Ryan and I just celebrated our four-month anniversary. I feel so much better about everything. I am back to playing soccer even though it is the off-season. The grieving group has helped me so much. Cynthia is now one of my best friends. Even my grades are excellent. Ryan and I accepted scholarships to Texas Christian University. Which is close to home, so we won't have to travel or stay on campus. Ryan wants to work in ministry while I am going to pursue my nursing plan. He will play on their football team, but he says it's for fun, not his dream career. I plan on trying out for the soccer team, but I won't be upset if I don't make it. I'm scared of the amount of homework I will be receiving. And soccer could stress me out and ruin my 3.5 GPA plan. Tonight the love of my life is taking me to prom. Ryan has been my rock. He has led me through my worst and best days. I couldn't imagine my life without him by my si
We pick back up twenty years down the road. Enjoy Awesome Readers.DYLAN POV Pg 13"SHIT," I mumble as mom softly knocks on my door.I shove my hard dick under the covers along with my phone, that's playing a super hot video of girl on girl."Yeah mom. I'm up," I say so she doesn't open the door."Okay baby. Remember Curt's car is in the shop so you are driving him and Colt," she calls as she heads away from my door."Fuck," I mumble. My hard on is long gone. I have to drive my geek ass brothers today.For some reason my parents thought it was a great idea to have kids back to back. So although I am the oldest, there is only 11 months between Curt and I. Curt and Colt are the closest at 10 months apart and then the baby is Ian. Who is 18 months younger then Colt.I hate it. They surround me all the time, making me feel claustrophobic. Curt learned long ago to stay out of my