My Step Father's Son

Chapter 4 - Most Wanted Bachelor

Ava Summer

"Hei besties! How is your date?" Emily asks me over the phone when I'm having breakfast with Mom and Edward.

"Mmm... It's great," I answer her, acting casually in front of my parents.

"Oh, come on, there must be more than just great?!" Emily exclaims, not satisfied with my answer.

"Mm, yeah, sort of." I reply shortly. "Can I call you later? I'm having breakfast with my parents." I ask, half whispering.

She chuckles. "That's why you answered me so carefully."

I roll my eyes in response.

"Okay, don't forget to call me later, sexy! Bye now. Love you!" She says, about to end our conversation.

"Bye Emily, love you too," I reply before we hang up.

"Is everything okay?" Mom asks me.

"Yes, it's fine," I answer, giving a comforting smile.

"Maria said Rhys was looking for you last night. Has he called you?" Mom asks again.

"Mmm... Yes, we have already talked. He just wanted to make sure I was home. That's all." I tell her.

"Did he know you went outside last night?" Mom looks surprised that Rhys knows I wasn't at home last night.

I nod and answer, "We met at the restaurant."

"I see," she responds, understanding the situation.

"Do you have any plans today?" Edward suddenly asks.

"Not really. Just go to my college as usual," I answer before taking a bite of toast in front of me.

Edward nods in understanding, "How about work? Is everything good?" he asks me again. Even though Edward is not my biological father, he's been attentive to me. And I'm very grateful for that.

"Work is fine. I have another job tomorrow. Joe asked me to take a picture for a company profile."

"It's good that you love your job." Edward replied, giving me a warm smile. He knows how much I love photography and how I enjoy doing my work.

"Thank you; I try to." I return the smile and finish the meal.

I take a glance at my wrist watch and realize it's time for me to go. "I have to go now. Bye Mom, bye Edward," I say as I stand up and then give them a quick peck on the cheek.

"Bye honey. Take care," Mom replies, following me with her eyes until I'm out of the dining room.

I bring my camera bag and drive to the college. I have some lectures to attend today. Usually, after our lecturer's done, me and some of my college friends will go out to hunt for some photos. It could be anywhere in Seatle, depending on our mood, the event, or the situation. Every place will always have something interesting to shoot. Or, we would go to my studio and hire some models.

But today, I decided to go to Emily's house after my lectures were all finished.

"I can't wait to hear what happened last night!" Emily says it with enthusiasm.

"Well, it's... it's great!" I finally say. Otherwise, Emily will keep asking.

"See? Keep on doing it, babe, and it will get greater every time!" she says happily. Her face lit up, and she smiled wide.

"So what happened?" How many times were you guys doing it last night? " No one can stop Emily when she is enthusiastic.

"Em!" I'm not going to answer it.

She laughs and asks, "Are you staying in his place?"

"No. You know how Mom and Edward feel. Plus, now I have Rhys." I reason.

"Wait, Rhys A.K.A., your stepbrother? Is he back?" she asks in surprise.

"Yup. 2 days ago. And he's in the restaurant last night."

"Wait. He's in the restaurant? How? Was he following you?"

Following me?

"No, Em! Of course not. He happened to have a business meeting with his client there." I explain.

"Okay, that's good. So how is your relationship with him? I mean, he's not being an asshole, right?" Emily asks me again. I know she's worried that Rhys might act as he used to. Being indifferent and ignoring me.

"I guess not. It was awkward in the beginning, but we are good now." I say this as I take a deep breath. I keep to myself what happened last night when thinking of Rhys while having s*x with Joe. It's not appropriate, and I feel embarrassed.

Furthermore, Rhys only thinks of me as his little sister. If that's the case, I should do the same and keep my wild imagination to myself. No one else needs to know.

"How about you and Will? Is everything fine?" I changed the topic. Besides, I want to know about their relationship too. I really hope Emily is happy with him.

"We are great! I think I'm in love with him," she says in a low, meaningful voice. Her eyes shine brightly, as does her smile.

"Babe, I'm happy for you!" I reply and hug her. "He makes you really happy, Em!"

"I know, right?" Emily smiles wide. I'm glad she's happy.

That afternoon, I took Emily's picture candidly while she was in a daze. I guess she's thinking about Will.

"Did you just shoot me?" She's asking me, raising one of her brows.

I smile while looking at my camera's screen, checking her portraits.

"Yup! And you look beautiful as usual."

Emily moved closer, taking a look at them. "Not bad. Send me those," she says happily.

"Of course, bestie." I still check on the images in my camera when my phone's ringing.

"Pick it up!" Emily emphasizes when she sees Rhys name on my phone screen.

"Yes Rhys?" I answer his phone call.

"Hey Ava! Do you have any plans this afternoon?" Rhys asks me right away.

"Not really. Why?"

"I have something I want to talk to you."

"About what?" I'm curious: What does he want to talk about?

"I'll tell you when we meet," he answers in a casual tone. "Where are you? I'll pick you up!"

"I'm at Emily's. You don't need to pick me up. I bring my own car. Just tell me where we're going." We can just meet up; there is no need to bother him.

"I'll send George to take your car back home." Rhys says it in an assertive tone, rejecting my idea.

"But Rhys, I can dri--."

"Get ready, baby girl. I'll see you in 10 minutes." Rhys cuts my words, insisting on picking me up and sending George, one of our drivers at home.

"Rhys? Hello?" I call him, but he already hangs up.

"What did he say?" Emily asks.

"He said he had something to talk about," I tell her as I tidy up my things.

I plug the data cable from my camera into my phone and transfer Emily's pictures, and then I send them to her. "There you go."

"Thanks babe. I'm so lucky to have my own personal photographer," she says, winking jokingly.

"Sure things!" I reply and wink back at her.

"Anyway, can you give this to George? He'll take my car later." I give Emily my car key.

"Okay. So, Rhys, he'd pick you up?" She asks, and I nod.

"Good. I'm curious what he looks like in real life," she says excitedly.

"In real life? What do you mean? You'd met him before." I don't understand. Emily has already met Rhys thousands of times before.

"Yeaaa. It's like 4 years ago, before he became one of the most wanted bachelors in the universe!" She says it as if it's something remarkable.

"He is what?" I ask her loudly, not sure if I hear her right. The most wanted bachelor in the universe?

"You don't know?" She asks me back in surprise, like I'm the most weird person in the universe.

And I shake my head. I really don't know what she's talking about.

I know Rhys is handsome, good-looking, and not to mention his hot, sexy body, but most wanted bachelor?

"This. Does he look like this?" She asks me as she shows me an article in a magazine.

I read it. Top 10 most wanted bachelor, and he is number 1. Holly s**t!

"Yes, it's him." I answer in disbelief as I stare at his picture in his neat suit. He really looks like a model. He's perfect.

"I can't believe he is your brother. Can you take my picture with him?" Emily suddenly asks.

"What? No!" I reject her right away. Is she becoming his fan all of a sudden?

"Please... It's proof that I really know him, Ava. I'm going to show it to my friends." Emily pleads, showing me her puppy eyes.

"Fine." I finally agree. She knows I can't say no to her.

Suddenly, my phone is beeping, showing a text message on the screen.

'I'm here, baby girl,' Rhys texts.

'Okay, I'll be there,' I reply.

"He is here," I tell Emily.

"Let's go then," she says excitedly. She stands up in no time and walks to the door.

We walk to a sports car park outside Emily's house.

Rhys waits in the car. He opens the front passenger window when he sees us.

"Hi Rhys!" Emily greets him first and gives him the sweetest smile of hers. I smile in amusement at how exciting she is.

"Hi Emily!" Rhys greets her and smiles back at her.

Emily silently gives me signals. She wants me to ask Rhys to take pictures with her. I roll my eyes, at a loss for words, at her request.

"Rhys, will you take pictures with Emily?" I ask him directly as I bend down to his car window.

"Take a picture?" he asks, perplexed by my request.

"Ya, Em wants to take pictures with you," I answer him.

He looks behind my shoulder to see where Emily is standing. He tries to figure out the reason, so I say in a less witty tone, "With the most wanted bachelor in the universe."

Rhys chuckles. "Right," he says, smiling in amusement at the title he got from the magazine.

He steps out of the car and approaches Emily. "How are you, Emily?" He asks as he gives her a hug.

What? Rhys has never been this warm to Emily or any of my friends before. He changes a lot.

I was afraid that Rhys would reject Emily's request, but he didn't.

"I'm fine, Rhys. It's nice to see you again," Emily replies with a wide smile on her face. She is happy.

"Nice to meet you too," he says, and then continues, "So, where are we going to take pictures?" he asks both Emily and me.

"Right here is fine." I answer for her, pointing to a spot besides his car.

Both of them walk to the spot I pointed to and stand close to each other. They both start to pose, smiling wide.

I capture their photos and smile at how happy Emily is. Gosh, even my best friend adores Rhys!

After a few shoots, I show them the result.

"That's good." Both of them are satisfied with the result and give me a thumbs up.

Emily mutely told me, 'Send me the pictures' before I got into Rhys's car. I reply with a thumbs up.

Rhys and I finally drive away after saying good-bye to Emily.