Chapter 22 Chapter Twenty-Two
“I’m going to go change.” I say turning to leave the dining room.
“You don’t have to change if you don’t want to. You look good just like that.” Reece says winking at me, and I feel my cheeks heat.
Ryder smiles at me. “You can take a shower first. I will shower after you.”
I nod my head, turning and leaving the dining room as quickly as I can. Why didn’t anyone warn me that my step brothers would be coming for Christmas break. I have never even met them before and now I have to spend the entire Christmas break with them. What the hell am I supposed to do now?
I take the quickest shower of my life, throwing on a pair of skinny jeans and a band T-shirt. I don’t even want to go back down stairs, maybe I can stay in my room the entire break and Ryder can just bring meals to my door like a prisoner three times a day.
Opening the door to my room I scream, throwing my hand over my chest. “What the hell are you doing in my room?” I practically yell at Raikin who is sitting on my bed looking around the room like he’s committing the place to memory for some sick archive. What the hell is with these brothers and coming in my room uninvited?
Ryder comes running down the hall to my room. “I heard you scream are you okay?”
I turn to him and smile. “Yeah, I’m okay your brother just about gave me a heart attack though.”
Ryder smirks, turning to look at Raikin who is just watching us with an irritatingly calm smile. “Bro? What are you doing in here?”
Raikin shrugs. “Just waiting to talk to Lilly, she ran up here so fast earlier we didn’t get a chance to know each other.”
I turn to Ryder wide-eyed. Pleading with him for help, he grabs my hand giving it a quick gentle squeeze. Raikin watches us closely. “How about we all go down stairs and watch a movie or something?” Ryder asks, turning to me with a smile.
A movie? That might be a good idea, if we are watching a movie maybe they won’t bombard me with questions, at least for an hour or so. I nod to Ryder. “Yeah a movie sounds good.”
Ryder turns to Raikin waiting for his response. Raikin stares at me for a minute then smiles. “Sure, a movie sounds fun. Reece is probably still in the kitchen, let’s go get him.”
I turn and head down stairs, Ryder right behind me and Raikin following us. “Reece come on we are going to watch a movie.” Ryder yells when we come into the living room.
Ryder flops down on the couch, patting the cushion next to him. I sit next to him, close enough our thighs are touching and he smiles at me leaning in to whisper. “Sorry about my brothers, I had no clue they were coming home for break.”
I turn to look him in the eyes, there is an apologetic look, a genuine sincerity in his eyes that makes me want to pull him in for a kiss. “It’s okay.” I whisper. “I just hope it doesn’t ruin this.” I say, rubbing the side of his thigh with my hand.
Raikin flops down on the couch on the other cushion beside me and I take a deep breath, steadying my nerves. Ryder gives my thigh a gentle squeeze and I wish he could leave his hand there. “You guys telling secrets over?” Raikin asks, watching us.
“Who’s telling secrets?” Reece asks coming into the living room and sitting on the chair beside the couch.
Raikin looks at us. “These two love birds over here.”
Reece laughs, looking at us. I try my hardest to keep my expression neutral, but are we that obvious? They have been here for a couple of hours, and they already think me and Ryder are love birds? “Maybe we can make some secrets of our own when we are here.” Reece winks at me and I feel my cheeks heat up.
“What kind of movie should we watch?” Ryder asks.
Raikin smiles. “How about something scary? You like scary movies sis?”
I nod my head. “I love scary movies.”
Raikin and Reece look at each other. “Good.”
After a couple of minutes of arguing between the guys of which movie is the scariest they finally pick one, turning it on and settling in. “Hey Ryder, will you turn the lights off?” Raikin asks, scooting a little closer to me on the couch the second Ryder stands up.
I take a deep breath, trying to ignore the closeness of Raikin’s body to mine. I can feel his body heat radiating off of him. Ryder sits back down on the couch, sitting a little closer to me and I desperately want to lean into him.
The movie starts and it only takes about three minutes for me to jump, making the guys laugh. “I thought you loved scary movies sis?” Raikin asks leaning in, his breath hot on my face.
I turn to glare at him. “I do love scary movies; I am just a really jumpy person.”
“I will protect you baby sis.” Raikin says and I try to force the shiver I feel away.
Someone walking through the woods in the movie gets attacked unexpectedly and I scream. Covering my eyes with my hands. They all laugh at me, and I feel Ryder’s hand slide onto my thigh, helping me relax a little.
The longer the movie goes on the scarier it gets and the more I jump. Ryder pulls my face into his chest rubbing the back of my head absentmindedly. There’s a loud bang on the movie and I jump again gasping loudly.
Reece laughs. “Wow you really are jumpy little sis.”
Raikin slides his hand onto my thigh just above my knee and I tense up. Ryder must feel the change in my body language. He stops rubbing the back of my head and I sit up looking at him. Ryder looks at my leg, and I look at him wide eyed. He just smiles at me and leans back leaving his arm around my shoulder.
I glance over at Reece, expecting him to be watching the movie but he isn’t. Nope, instead we make eye contact, and I feel my heart skip a beat. I should look away, I know I should, but I don’t. We just keep staring at each other, I bite my bottom lip nervously and he follows the movement with his eyes.
Leaning into Ryder’s chest I watch Reece. He’s beautiful. Reece has dark brown eyes, the same ones as Ryder, a sharp jaw line and black shaggy hair just a little shorter than Ryders. He’s muscular maybe even more muscular than Ryder. He has a broad chest, large biceps, and thick muscular thighs.