Loving My Best Friend's Dad Ch. 11

"I hope for your sake that it doesn't happen,"

"Me too," I whispered. Zachary leaned over and wrapped me into a hug, knowing I needed it.

"Hey, Erin," Ashley walked into the room, I broke apart from Zachary and lifted my eyebrows in question, "I know it isn't tradition. But how do you feel about taking a dip in the pool? I warmed it up and thought it would be a great way to take a break from the movies."

"Sounds fine by me," I told her.

"Uh...I don't think any of us brought swimming trunks," Zachary cut in before Ashley could leave.

"You need swimming trunks?" She checked.

"I guess not if you girls are okay with us in boxers," he shyly looked away.

"I promise, neither Erin and I will look at you too closely. Although I can't make that promise for Josh," she winked before heading back through the kitchen to the backyard.

Zachary turned back to me when she left the room, "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to go change and meet everyone outside," I told him as I turned towards the stairwell and made my way up.

Once I reached the landing, I checked back down the stairs to see if anyone was around and quietly walked down the hall to Kyle's room. From the hall, I could see there were no lights appearing from under the door and knew the chances of him being home, were slim. After debating if I really wanted to knock or not, I knocked and waited. A moment passed and nothing happened, I frowned and felt something squeeze at my heart. He wasn't home yet. Where or what could possibly be doing after a date, at midnight even?

I went to my room and quickly changed before heading to the backyard where everyone was standing outside waiting for Ashley to switch on the pool lights. Cole and Miles were huddled around one of the tables, talking. Miles noticed me and gave me an awkward wave before turning back to listen to Cole. Zachary and Josh were standing together near the shallow end of the pool, dipping their toes into the water, seemingly ready to jump right in. I sat down on the end of one of the lounge chairs, waiting like the rest.

Suddenly, multicolor lights flicked on all at once, illuminating the pool in a rainbow assortment of colors. Ashley jogged over to me after a few minutes and sat on the lounge next to me, admiring the pool with it rave of colors, I turned my head to give her my attention, "Tonight has been fun so far huh?"

"Yeah, it has. I swear hearing Josh scream and jump during some of these movies was hilarious. Zachary's ear is probably still ringing. Poor guy," I laughed and looked over at the couple, who must have decided the wait was enough as they slowly descended into the pool.

"It's much more fun with more people. I noticed Miles is trying to get close to you. He seems really nice and from what I'm told is very interested in you. Why don't you give him a chance? What's stopping you? And don't say you're not interested because I'm not buying it. You guys text and talk all the time and have a lot in common. You should really try and give it a shot."

I wanted to tell her at the moment, about Kyle and me, about how my heart felt like someone was choking it because he wasn't the one with me tonight but with someone else. That he was on a date that should have never happened, that he should be here with me right now and not with his date, where ever they were. I wanted to tell her how I felt about him and how special he made me feel. Instead I told her, "I don't think I'm ready to be more then friends."

Ashley nodded but I could tell she was not happy with my answer, thankfully instead of pushing me about it, she dropped the subject and left me to grab Cole before jumping into the pool. Soon, all of us were in the pool, splashing each other and playing games such as Marco Polo and Chicken Fight.

I was on Zachary's shoulders when it was my turn during the game of Chicken Fight. I was facing off against Ashley as she sat atop of Cole's shoulders. Josh was in the background counting down -- three, two, one. At one, Ashley surged forward to grab my hands, almost knocking me over immediately but Zachary reached up to my sides to try and keep me stable. With his help, I shoved my body forward to knock Ashley back. We battled for a few minutes until Ashley and I both lost our balance and fell into the pool. I broke the surface of the water, laughing when Miles tackled me.

"You won!" he cried out as he arms wrapped around me and lifted me up.

"I won!" Ashley cried behind me.

"No, you both lost," Josh called out from the side of the pool, replaying the battle out loud to us.

"That was so much fun," I smiled at Ashley and she wiggled her eyebrows at me. It was at that moment, I realized Miles still had his arms wrapped around me. I gently broke out of his embrace and swam to a near by floating ring to settle into.

I strategically placed my body into the center of the ring in order to lay back and relax without being tipped over. After I was settled, I felt the float bobbing, meaning someone was near me. I turned to my right and saw Miles, swimming lazily next to me. I looked around and realized it was just us in the pool. Josh and Zachary sat wrapped in towels at one of the tables, eating left over pizza. Cole and Ashley were no where to be seen but the pool house light was on and I think we can all guess they wanted to be alone. I turned back to look at Miles, he smiled held onto the ring to float with me in a sense.

"Tonight has been a lot of fun," he started.

I nodded, "Yeah, it's a little better than our normal tradition since there is no way we would be in a pool in the middle of October in Omaha. It would be cold."

"Maybe you could add it to your tradition now that you're living in L.A."

"Maybe, we still have years of college left. Mr. Anderson said we could stay as long as we are in college or have a job, so...I don't plan on moving anywhere," I told him, thinking that maybe I'd never have to move if my relationship with Kyle continued.

"I hope you don't move. It wouldn't be any fun here if you did,"

"Aw, thanks,"

His eyes looked over me at the house, I glanced over to see what he was looking at and saw Zachary and Josh making their way into the house. "I guess they got cold," Miles said.

"Maybe. We should probably join them. It's getting late,"

Miles looked at his watch, which must have been waterproof, "It's almost three in the morning actually,"

"What?! We've been out here that long?"

"We didn't get in until close to one,"

"Oh." I was surprised so much time had passed. I glanced at the pool house and wondered if we should alert Ashley and Cole to the time or not. Had Kyle come home yet? I didn't want Ashley getting into trouble to prevent us from having nights like this in the future. Wait...was Kyle home? He should be home if its almost three, right? I glanced at Miles, patiently waiting for me to say more or do something, "We should go in."

I flipped myself over into the water to escape the floating ring I was in and emerged, face to chest with Miles, "Oh! Sorry. I didn't mean to almost run into you,"

"You're fine," he smiled warmly, looking at me in a way that made my skin warm but also made me want to back up. Before I could step back, Miles gently leaned over and wrapped his arms around me. Uh, I thought wondering what he was doing. Without time to comprehend what he was doing, his lips found mine and lingered. He was kissing me...oh my god...he was kissing me. I could feel my mind racing a hundred miles an hour trying to figure out what to do. Miles must have thought he was doing okay because he pulled me closer and tried to deepen the kiss. Was I responding to him?

I didn't get a chance to figure out if I was or not when someone loudly cleared their throat, causing Miles to step back from me as if caught doing something illegal. His head whipped toward the person who cleared their throat and seemed confused before his eyes went wide.

I turned to see who he was looking at and my heart dropped into my stomach. Kyle stood next to the pool, looking down at us. Oh no. No...no...no...this was not happening. There was no emotion on Kyle's face as he stared down at us. I checked him over, he must have just gotten home. He was wearing casual dress shoes, slacks and a nice white button shirt, open at the collar that showed a little bit of his chest hair. I bit my lip trying to keep from crying as my heart broke into a million pieces.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt," Kyle said, his voice steady, to us before focusing on me, "Erin, have you seen Ashley?"

"Uh...oh...um...Ashley. I think she is inside somewhere," I lied through my teeth, silently begging him not to look toward to lit up pool house.

"I see. Thank you," with that, Kyle turned and walked into the house as Josh and Zachary came outside. Zachary's eyes were wide as he looked at me, obviously having seen what happened. I didn't react to him as I quickly swam to the ladder to get out and raced to the pool house.

I thanked my lucky stars when I opened the pool house door and Ashley and Cole were not fully naked but making out on the couch, "You need to get out of here," I told them, shoving towels that Josh handed me, at each of them, "Your dad is home and looking for you. Come on!"

They both jumped up and we all raced out of the pool house and headed into the house covered in towels, attempting not to drip water all over the kitchen floor. Kyle walked into the room and looked at all of us, looking past me and over to Ashley. I saw her raise her eyebrows, innocently in question, "Erin said you were looking for me?"

"Yes, I didn't see you or Cole outside and wondered where you were," he answered her. I could tell he was trying to keep calm, he seemed upset. I looked down at the floor, knowing it had to at least be partially my fault.

"I was trying to find everyone towels," she explained, "We didn't plan to go swimming and I forgot to make sure we had towels before we went out. So, I had to search for enough towels for everyone. Good thing you did laundry and I found a whole basket full in the laundry room."

Everyone smiled and nodded to make it seem like she was telling the truth. Kyle looked each of us over, including me this time and nodded as well.

"It's late. Are you going to watch more movies or sleep?" Kyle asked.

"We'll probably put another movie in and watch until we fall asleep," I answered, "It's part of the tradition."

"Okay, just keep it down. I'm going to bed. Good night everyone," Kyle waved, walking out of the room.

No one said a thing as we all dried off and were eager to warm up before changing into our pjs and settled once again on the heap of blankets and pillows in front of another movie. It wasn't long before everyone fell asleep, leaving Zachary and I the only ones awake.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I don't know," I answered honestly. I wanted to go upstairs and talk to Kyle but was unsure if he even wanted to see me, let alone talk to me.

"What happened? Well, I know what happened, but you know what I mean right?"

"Zachary, I haven't even comprehended what happened. One minute I am about to get out of the pool, the next Miles is kissing me, and I didn't know what to do? It all happened so fast," I wanted to cry.

"It's okay. It'll be okay," he pulled me into a side hug, letting me rest my head on his shoulder to cry.

I must have fallen asleep crying because I woke up curled next to Zachary, his arm still around my shoulders. I quietly removed myself from his embrace and sat up. Everyone was still sleeping. Ashley and Cole were cuddled together with her head on his chest. Josh was on the other side of Zachary, but his back was to us. I glanced around trying to find Miles and discovered him under a pile of blankets to the point all you could see was the top of his head. I searched the room for a clock, surprised that it read ten o'clock in the morning.

I got up and tip toed to the kitchen, it was a mess of fake bloody prints that Ashley made the day before and food and trash everywhere. No doubt Kyle would leave us to clean it. I glanced around and saw that there was a fresh pot of coffee made, meaning Kyle had to be up and around here somewhere. I grabbed a cup and poured some for myself before setting out to search for him.

I checked the backyard since he sometimes likes to enjoy his coffee outside in the fresh air, but he was no where to be found. There were only a few other places he could be if he was home, his room or office. I peeked into the living room and found everyone as I left them. I tip toed my way passed them and up the stairs. I reached Kyle's office first and gave it a gentle knock, loud enough for him to hear if he was inside but not loud enough that it could be heard down stairs. I was about to walk away when the door cracked open, a tired looking Kyle peering around it.

"Hey," I whispered, clutching my coffee cup to my chest. I stood silently as he stared down at me. He made no move to let me in, "Sorry, never mind."

I turned to leave when a hand wrapped around my arm and tugged me back. Kyle didn't say anything as he gestured for me to come into his office. I gave him a small smile before biting my lip and walked into the room. It was a mess as always, his desk and bookshelves piled with papers, books, and miscellanies. He cleared off a chair in front of his desk for me to sit down and began to move things around on his desk for a place to put my coffee down. When he was satisfied that I had enough room, he sat behind his desk, silent.

I looked him over, his tired eyes hidden behind glasses, bed head, and a loose cotton t-shirt hung from his frame. I waited for him to say something, but he remained silent, simply staring at me. It was at this moment that I would give anything for the power to read minds, his mind more specifically.

I began to wonder if he was waiting for me to say something first, given the fact that he came home to Miles kissing me. He probably felt I owed him an apology and maybe I did, but I also felt like I didn't since I didn't want the kiss in the first place. I wanted an explanation as to why he didn't come home until three in the morning, maybe he had some talking to do too. I finally decided I wasn't breaking first, I was going to be as stubborn as he was and keep my mouth shut. So, I sat back in the chair, crossed my legs, and enjoyed my coffee.

I don't know how long we sat quietly together, drinking coffee, and staring at one another. I finally finished my cup and stood to leave the room, tired of the game we were playing. Maybe I shouldn't be the stubborn one and simply talk but I didn't want to. I had my hand on the door knob about to leave when Kyle spoke first.

"What happened last night?"

"I could ask you the same thing," I replied, turning back towards him.

"What do you mean you could ask me the same thing?" he questioned, eye brows furrowing.

"You were out until three o'clock in the morning. You don't think I wondered where you were or what was happening that would cause you to stay out so late?"

"Ah, got it. You think I did something, so you kissed Miles to get back at me?"

"What?! NO! Miles kissed me. I had no part in that other than being surprised by a random kiss. A kiss that I, by the way, did not want or instigate." Did he seriously think I wanted that? I gave him a look of disgust, hurt that he would think such a thing.

"Then explain to me what happened. I came home and wondered where everyone was and found you in the pool kissing Miles,"

"How do you even know his name?" I wondered out loud, then continued, "He surprised me. I was about to get out of the pool when he suddenly hugged me and kissed me. It was unwanted, I did not kiss him back."

"Ashley told me he was interested in you the other night and," Kyle shrugged, "I thought maybe you returned the feelings."

"No. I have no feelings other than friendship for him,"

"Okay."

"Okay? That's it. You're not going to tell me why you were out so late and had me worried for a good chunk of that time? You went out on a date with an ex-girlfriend late into the night and didn't think for one second that maybe that would send me the wrong picture after assuring me that everything would be okay?"

"I didn't think. Obviously. Nothing you may be thinking happened. We went to dinner at some fancy upscale place of her choosing. We ate, chatted, caught up, and enjoyed each other's company. None of it was romantic other than the setting we were in. Least not on my part. When dinner was coming to an end, she got an urgent call that she was needed at the hospital.

She didn't have time to go home and get her car, so I offered to drive her there and drive her home when she was ready. As far as I know, she helped someone give birth and there were complications and then other stuff happened and she did not get out until around two. Then I took her to grab another small bite to eat since she looked exhausted and took her home. There I explained that I had no interest in dating and obviously her schedule is very random and erratic and would not work with me."

"Really?" I frowned, feeling awful about not trusting him.

"Really. I sat in the waiting room on the L&D floor. I actually fell asleep too,"

I laughed softly, "Wow. Sorry,"

"Me too. I have to admit I was pretty hurt when I saw you and Miles. I thought maybe you had some interest in him. I wouldn't be surprised,"

"Why wouldn't you be surprised? I'm with you, there should be no one else," I asked confused, where was he going with this.

"Erin, you are 21 years younger than me. You are young, beautiful, and amazing. You could have your pick of any guy out there. I'm your first of pretty much everything. I'm all you know. I wouldn't blame you one bit if you decided to be with someone your age. In fact, I have been waiting since school began for someone to show interest in you or vice versa."

"But I have no interest in anyone else, just you," I sat down and looked at him over his desk, meeting his eyes, hoping he could see that all I wanted was him.

"I know, Erin. But I have thought, maybe you should be with someone your own age. Get a taste of what's out there. Have fun and enjoy life without some old man holding you back,"

It felt like someone was gripping my heart a little too tight and I couldn't breathe. I knew I wanted no one else. I only wanted Kyle. I didn't care that he was the only man I had been with. That didn't matter to me. Why did this bother him so much? Did he really believe he was holding me back from experiencing things? I recalled our time together so far and everything we did was an experience for me. He was an experience. I don't think I would have gotten that from any college boy my age or close to it.

Did he want to break up with me? I thought suddenly. The thought felt like bomb went off in my body and there was hole where my heart once was. I looked up at Kyle, meeting his sad eyes as he seemed to look right into my mind.

"Do you want to break up with me?" I asked, voice cracking with every word.

"No...no, Erin. I don't want to. I just want the best for you. I want you to be sure that this is what you want and that you are not settling for me because I'm the first guy to really give you any romantic attention. After seeing you with Miles last night, it really made me wonder if I am holding you back from something or someone who could be better for you.

Ashley told me all about Miles, yesterday. She was hoping you would give him a shot because according to her, you're the only one he has connected with and opened to. She said he was working up a nerve to ask you out. At the time, I felt bad for this kid, knowing you were with me and he would never get the chance to have you the way I have. Then I came home and saw what I saw. It was then that I realized, you deserve someone your age. You should be with someone who can show you off, brag about how beautiful and amazing you are, that can take you out in public without worrying who you might run into. You could be with someone who Ashley can know about and go on double dates and have fun. You shouldn't have to suffer through secrets and lies just to be with me. You do not deserve to be hidden away like a bad secret from friends and family. Maybe you should take some time, think about what I'm saying, think about if this is truly what you want."