My Step Father's Son

Chapter 12 - You are The Reason

Rhys River.

It has been a week since what happened in the pool. Ronald and I have already sorted things out, and we're fine right now. We agreed that it was just some missed understanding.

I haven't seen Ava since then, but somehow I kept thinking about her.

The truth is, what happened in my apartment back then affected me. Even though we pretended it never happened, I couldn't erase it from my head. Everything that happened that morning is still vivid in my mind.

I still don't get it. How can I be sexually attracted to her? All this time, I considered her my sister, so how could I have this kind of desire for her?

And to make it worse, this desire hasn't dissipated; it's getting even stronger. It's confusing me.

"Rhys, are you okay?" Mike pats on my shoulder. We're at a pub, hanging out after office hours.

"Not bad," I say, hiding a faint sigh before sipping my beer.

"Come on, what's bothering you? You've been zoned out lately." He insists that I tell him. "Is this about work?"

"There's nothing wrong with work." I answer, taking a deep breath.

"Alicia?" he guesses again.

"No." I answer shortly. I didn't even meet Alicia these few days. She had been busy with her photo shoots.

"Okay, if you said so." He finally says: He probably gives up.

"Is this about--Ava?" After a few moments of silence, he asks again. But this time his intonation seems different, like he's in surprise.

When I look at him, he's been staring in one direction. I follow his gaze and find a woman wearing a nude minidress dancing with a man.

She is Ava. And the man is none other than her boyfriend, Joe.

Anger flares up in me when I see her smiling happily while she dances with him. Every move she made or every time Joe's hand touched her made me want to punch him.

"Come on, man, don't look at her." Mike suddenly takes the glass I've been holding and puts it aside.

I'm back to my senses, and I glare at him. Why did he take my beer?

Mike raises his hands in surrender. "I pity the glass, you might break it."

What the f**k?

"Give me vodka. Double." I order a waiter when he passes by our table.

Mike stares at me. "I think we better go home. We have a lot of work tomorrow. Let's go!" He tidies up our stuff about to leave.

"It's still too early," I say as I turn my gaze towards Ava and her so-called boyfriend.

My eye's following Joe's hands roaming over her figure as they dance closely, and my chest heaves in anger. I don't like it. I don't like it at all!

Ava didn't see me in the first place. Not until she turns her gaze towards me and our eyes meet.

She widens her eyes for a split second before averting her gaze back to Joe.

"Come on, just leave already." Mike urges me to go with him, but I ignore him.

The waiter comes with my vodka, and I take the shot. I need it badly.

"Get me another one!" I order the waiter again while staring at Ava from where I sit.

She sways her hips, following the beat in a sexy way. I swallow hard as my imagination turns wild at the sight.

My gaze moves to Joe. He doesn't realize that I'm here. He's too occupied with her. Whatever it is, I don't like him being with her.

She shouldn't date him in the first place. He's her boss, after all. What if he takes advantage of her and forces her to do something?

I'm her big brother. I'm supposed to look out for her from this kind of man, am I?

Wait, why don't I like the idea of being her big brother right now? What am I to her, if not her brother? The questions annoyed me.

I massage my temple, trying to keep my mind in place.

Mike pats my back. "Come on, man. Let's just go home. She's with him. You shouldn't..."

My eyes find their way to her again, and Mike's voice is no longer in my senses.

She's dancing seductively, swaying her hips in an erotic way, pressing her buttocks against Joe's fore pants while he holds her hands upward.

I see red! The thought of him touching and f*****g her is burning me.

When the waiter comes with my vodka, I gulp it down and smash the glass against the table. The burning sensation in my throat is nothing compared to the impulse to murder him and take her home with me.

I can't stand it anymore. I can't let him touch her. I have to stop her from going with him.

I stand up, about to go to her.

"What are you doing?" Mike blocks me and holds my shoulder. I ignore him and move him to the side.

All I see is her. I walk towards her and grab her hand. "I want to talk to you." I pull her off the dance floor.

"What are you doing?" She snaps as she tries to let go of her hand.

"There is something I want to tell you." I say this as I keep taking her with me.

"Just say it here." She stops her steps and withholds her hands to stop me.

"Let go of her!" Joe appears in front of me and takes her hand off of me.

I clench my fist and step forward. I want to punch him with all I might.

"Rhys!" Mike charges in front of me and holds my arms. "You don't want to do this," he warns me, giving me a meaningful look.

I get to my senses and take a deep breath.

"I just want to talk to her." I finally say, restraining myself from hitting him.

"Then say it." Joe folds his arms in front of his chest. He still doesn't allow me to take her.

"It's private!" I grit my teeth and stare at him, telling him that it's my private matter with her and that it's none of his business.

He doesn't seem to like it as he takes a deep breath. But before he has a chance to say a word, I turn my gaze to Ava. "It's private, Ava. Are you sure you want me to say it here?" I ask her as I give her a meaningful look.

She stares back at me with a slightly shocked expression. She knows very well that there is something between us that we don't want anyone else to know, especially Joe.

I'm sorry, Ava, but this is the only way I can talk to you.

"Fine. 5 minutes, not more!" She finally agrees and walks, passing me to the stairs not far from us.

Joe and I stare at each other before I follow her upstairs.

The second floor is not as noisy as the first one. And it plays slower music.

A singer is singing a song. I think its title is "You are the reason".

"There goes my heart beating, cause you are the reason..."

I find Ava stands not far away from the entrance door.

She glances around to find a place for us, but there isn't a table available for us.

The song is still playing, and I have the urge to take her to dance to the song.

I pull her to the side and hold her waist before moving, following the slow music.

"You said you wanted to talk." She reminds me.

"Let's dance for awhile, then we'll talk." I don't want to miss the chance to be able to hold her like this after avoiding each other for the last few weeks.

She's about to say something, but I pull her closer and close our distance. She doesn't say anything and doesn't refuse to dance with me. She follows my lead.

We move in silence, as if we are absorbing the moment. She lays her head on my shoulder, and I hold her closer as I feel the song get into us. I feel as if our hearts share the same beat.

"And I'd climb every mountain. And swim every ocean, just to be with you and fix what I've broken. Oh, 'cause I need you to see. That you are the reason."

"Don't go with him," I say lowly.

"What?" She stops moving and raises her head to look at me.

"Just go home with me," I reply as I look at her.

"Why?" She demands an explanation.

"I don't like you hanging around with him." I tell her honestly.

"What? Are you out of your mind? Joe is my boyfriend!" She lets go of me and looks at me angrily.

"Listen to me, Ava. He's not good for you. He's too old," I reason. I don't care if that doesn't make any sense. I just don't want her to go with him and let him touch her!

I can't bear to imagine him touching her and getting all over her. It's making me crazy!

"You know what? Your 5 minutes are over!" After that, she walks to the exit.

"Ava!" I call her, grab her, and pin her to the wall. And then I kissed her. I devour her like she's an oasis in the desert.

She kissed me back for a few seconds before pushing me away and running down the stairs.

I'm taken aback. It was a short kiss, but she kissed me back! Somehow, it makes me happy and makes me feel butterflies in my stomach.

Soon, I follow her down the stairs and see her holding Joe's hand with her head down. "It's late. She has to go home." I say to the later. No f*****g way, I'll let him touch her!

"She is an adult. She can take care of herself." Joe replies," She doesn't need you to tell her what to do."

"What did you say?" I ask him, clenching my fist.

"She is my girlfriend, not yours! Let her be!" he says, challenging me and getting on my nerves.

"She's going home with me!" I insist. I don't care how ridiculous it is, but all I want is for her to go with me.

"Come on, Rhys, hei, let her be." Mike, who's been there all this time, intercepted us, persuading me to let them be.

"No, Mike," I refuse. "Ava is going home with me! With me!"

"Rhys, you scare her!" Mike put his hands on both my shoulders and pointed at Ava with his gaze.

I look at her, and I realize she's frightened.

"Ava, I'm sorry. I just want you to go home." I lower my voice to her. I don't want to frighten her.

"Just go, Rhys!" She drives me away instead. I feel disappointed.

"She's going to be okay. Come on, Rhys," Mike persuades me before pulling me away to leave them. I look at her once again before stepping out of the pub.

Mike drives me back to my apartment. I realize how messed up I am. I just don't know why I did what I did.

I'm confused and dejected at the same time. I kissed her, had s*x with her, and acted like a jealous boyfriend. Yet, she didn't even want to be with me!

"Drink this." Mike says as he gives me water. We're already back at my apartment.

"You wanna tell me what happened?" He takes a seat in front of me.

"I don't know," I reply. I really don't know what has possessed me.

"Well, I know." He suddenly says.

He knew? How did he possibly know? Did Ava tell him we had s*x?

"Do you think Ronald is the one who has the biggest crush on your sister?" he suddenly asks about Ronald. What does he mean by that? Why is he suddenly talking about him? This has nothing to do with Ronald!

"Is that what you think? That's why you fought with him in the pool last week, isn't it?" he asks me again.

"Come on, Mike, we all knew Ronald liked Ava. What's your point? Besides, it has nothing to do with him. Why did you suddenly talk about him?" I confront him.

"No, seriously, Rhys. Answer me. Do you really think it's Ronald who has the biggest crush on your sister?" He repeats the question.

"Yes!" I answer without a doubt. So what? What is his point?

"No, he is not. It's you!" He points his finger at me.

What? Me? I startle, unable to process.

"It's you who have the biggest crush on your sister all the time! We all know! Even Ronald knows." His words are like a thunderbolt, shocking me.

What? It can't be! He can't be serious, right? What a joke!

I laughed heartily until my stomach hurt. but Mike just looks at me.

He then held my shoulder when my laughter dissipated. "You always like her. We knew, since we saw you and her," he says carefully.

"No, Mike, you are wrong. You all are wrong. I have Alicia, and Ava is my sister. Don't you twist it?" I deny. But somehow, my heart feels heavy.

I've known Ava since 9 years ago. I would have known if I had a crush on her.

"Stepsister," he corrects me. "And Alicia," he pauses, "do you think you really love her?"

"Of course I love her. I proposed to her, didn't I?" Somehow, I feel my words are wrong. How could it be?

"Give me your phone!" he orders me.

I don't know what he's going to do with my phone, but I give it to him. What is he trying to prove?

He scrolls something before showing me Alicia's picture. I looked at it. I remember taking the picture when I first met her. I like it over her other pictures, and I mark it as a favorite.

"What?" I still don't understand. Why is he showing this?

"Take a look at her. Come on, take a look carefully," he says, forcing me to take the phone. Is he insane?

Anyway, I do what he wants, and I take a look at it carefully. I still can't find anything related to what we've been talking about.

And then he shows me another picture from his phone. It's Ava's.

It was an old picture of her when she was eighteen. I remember it was when we were playing in the pool back then.

Wait, he kept Ava's picture on his phone? I glare at him, feeling annoyed and agitated.

He clucks and rolls his eyes. "It's not only her. I kept all of our pictures!" he explains as he scrolls to the side and shows me our pictures from the past. "Just look at it carefully!" he says, scrolling back to Ava's picture.

I calm down a little bit and take his phone. I look carefully at Ava's picture. She's so beautiful, smiling innocently at the camera.

I hold both phones and look alternately at those pictures, side by side, not sure what I'm looking for.

And then I gasp and look at Mike in disbelief. Mike raises his brows in response.

How can their faces look similar to each other? Ava and Alicia?

"It must be a coincidence." I reason. There can't be other reasons, right?

"Oh, come on, Rhys!" He yells at me, pissed at my words. "It's always been Ava for you! You're dating Alicia, because she looks like Ava!"

"No, no," I deny as I stand up and walk back and forth. "You are wrong!" I don't believe it.

Mike stands up and grasps my shoulders. "Wake up! I try to tell you, Rhys!"

I look at him, trying to find something in his eyes. He's probably joking or playing a prank. But his face is damn serious.

"You always talked about her. How you picked her up after school, took her to her favorite ice cream store, or when you beat her boyfriend in high school. We're all listening to you and have realized you're in love with her."

"We wanted to tell you back then, but you had problems with your dad, and your mom also needed you. So we didn't. We're hoping that you would realize this eventually. But you..." He sighs heavily. "You give me a heartbreak, man. I can't see you like this."

I drop myself on the couch as my legs give away.

Mike squats down in front of me. "You are jealous of her boyfriend. That's why you've been acting like this." He points to my heart. "Because deep down, you're in love with her."

I'm processing his words, and my mind is going back to every moment I had with her.

From the first time I saw her in the restaurant nine years ago, when she was just thirteen, wearing a pink dress with a headband on her head.

And then, when she made excuses just to get close to me, she did everything she could to gain my attention, even though I kept ignoring her at that moment. But she never gave up. I always remembered her smile and the way she looked at me as if she admired me.

Or the time when I picked her up from school and we spent the afternoon in the ice cream store or driving her wherever she wanted to go. I could never forget all those moments. It felt like yesterday.

Ava, has it really been you? Is that why I always think of you and even have you in my dreams?

Am I really falling in love with her? But when did it start? I didn't even realize it until Mike told me. How foolish I am!

"I slept with her a few weeks ago," I confess in a low voice.

Vaguely, I hear him sigh. "I knew there must be something that happened between you two. If not, you won't be like this."

"It's just happened. I can't help myself." I admit that I lost control of myself. I shouldn't let that happen.

"What about her? How did she deal with it?"

"It wasn't like I forced her. She's willingly doing it, and both of us enjoyed it. But she misunderstood me afterward. She thought I'd been using her." I tell him what happened at that time.

I didn't realize my true feelings towards her at that moment. And I think that's why, subconsciously, I said that I've always wanted it to happen. And she misunderstood me.

"I think she had something for you too, Rhys. She probably didn't realize it yet, just like you." Mike says.

"Do you think so?"

"Maybe. I'm not sure. Why don't you find out yourself?" He gives me a meaningful look.

"Just do what your heart tells you to. It's not too late," he adds.

"But she is my sister." I still hesitate because of our 'Kinship relationship'.

"Stepsister," he corrects me. "Look, Rhys, I know it's not going to be easy, but as far as I know, it's not illegal. You are not blood related." Mike says as he looks me in the eyes. "Whether you want to be together, it's all up to you both."