Living With Boys

Chapter Nine

The next morning, I am greeted by a soft kiss on my cheek from Ryan. I smile to myself, getting the warm feeling he gives me whenever he's near me. I've tried to subside the warm feelings, but it hasn't necessarily been working.

"Ryan?"

"Yeah, Tess?"

"What are we?" I ask, feeling brave.

"Well I am a human, I don't know what you are, though," He jokes and I laugh along with him.

"No, but seriously. What are we?" I gesture my hands between us.

"What do you want to be?" He asks, looking at me. To be perfectly honest, I just want to be friends, and I hope he gets that. Which I think he does.

"A unicorn," I tease and he shows off his dimples. Suddenly he gets up from the bed, and throws me over his shoulders. "You know, your parents are going to get suspicious if we keep sleeping in the same bed," I point out. I'm surprised they haven't caught us already.

"They'd be okay with it," He goes downstairs into the kitchen with me still thrown over his shoulders.

"Well good morning, sleepyheads," Sally says, taking a sip of her coffee. "What's going on here?" She gestures to me and him.

"I don't know how this happened," I defend. All I can see right now is Ryan's butt, not that I'm complaining.

"She requested a view this lovely day, so, I gave her one," Ryan teases, giving my butt a small pat.

"Hey! Hands to yourself, and put me down!" I yell. He obliges and puts me down on my own two feet.

"Come on short stack, let's go outside," Ryan takes my hand and pulls me out the back door.

'Did you just call me short stack?"

"Yes, how tall are you? I mean, no offense, but you are short," He says, standing in front of me. Okay, yes, I am short.

"I'm five foot, four inches." He laughs in front of me and I roll my eyes.

'That is precisely why your new name is short stack," He informs me. He strides over to the side of the house while I stand there, looking out into the woods area behind the pool. Suddenly I'm being sprayed with water, and I almost fall from the sudden attack. I scream and try to run away from Ryan and the hose. He laughs like a maniac behind me, chasing me with the hose.

"Stop! Ryan!" I scream, but this just gives me a spray in the eye. I huff in defeat and stand there while he gives me my own personal shower. I walk over to the side of the pool while he follows me with the hose. Having a plan in mind, I let him follow me until we're at the edge of the pool. At just the right moment, I push him into the pool, grabbing the hose from him. When he comes back up, he spits water out of his mouth, and smirks at me.

"You got me," He says, getting out of the water. I take this as an opportunity to spray the heck out of him. He stands there and lets me spray him until I am pleased with myself. Finally, I put the hose back and ask Sally for some towels.

"She's going to be pissed if we go in there soaking," He says, taking the towels from Sally while she gives us an eye roll and shakes her head. I giggle and dry myself off until we're almost dry. When we walk in, Eric is sitting on the couch in the living room. He takes one look at us and laughs, knowing exactky what happened. I shrug my shoulders as if to say 'I don't even know' and Eric flashes a smile.

I go into my bedroom and inform Ryan that I'm going to take a shower. My cheek looks a lot better today, just a little swollen, but nothing serious. The same goes for my wrist. I run the razor over the stubble on my lega that formed over the past few days. Once I'm dry and in some new clothes, I go into the kitchen to grab something to eat.

Just as I'm biting into my apple, Ashton comes down and takes a seat next to me. "How's your cheek, princess?" He asks as if he actually gives a damn about me.

"Like you care," I scoff and get up from my seat.

"What are you talking about? I care about your safety," He says, but even from where I'm standing, I can see the smirk clear on his face. As he says this, Ryan comes in with his hair wet from his shower.

"Come on short stack, we're going out," He somewhat demands. Well, that's better than fighting with Ashton. When am I not fighting with Ashton?

"Where are we going?" I ask once we get in the car.

"It's a surprise."

I sigh and look out the window. After about five more minutes of driving, he pulls up in the middle of the woods.

"Are you planning on taking me out here to kill me?" I joke, going up next to him.

"You catch on fast." His dimples are very prominent and I can't help it when I poke it with my finger. He smiles fown at me and wraps his arm around my shoulder. Suddenly, there's a wooden miniature house standing in front of us.

"What is this?" I ask as he opens the door and closes it behind us. It's a big room with a couch and a small tv, with a mini fridge in the corner. He pulls out two cokes from the fridge and hands me one.

"It's my hideout, my dad helped me build it when i was ten. I come here whenever I need a break, it's like my safe spot," He plops down on the couch, patting the spot next to him for me to sit down. He wraps his arm around me for the second time today and pulls me closer to him. He places a kiss on my forehead and I melt under his touch. I don't know what he's doing to me, but I like the feeling. I don't know why, but I feel safe in Ryan's arms. I guess the saying "A guys' chest is a girls' comfort zone" is true. It is my comfort zone.

"What are you doing to me, short stack?" He whispers next to me.

A/N
Shoutout to @jasmine17220 for her support. Go read her story!