The next morning, Aria woke up to the bright sunlight streaming through the curtains. By the brightness of the sunlight alone, she could tell that she slept later than usual.
The 13 hours drive from her hometown in Texas to Green bay exhausted her.
She got up and looked at the waves through her balcony door.
In a matter of weeks, she became homeless, her only living relative abandoned her, she lost her virginity to none other than her stepbrother and she is currently in said step brothers house.
'When did my life became a tangled mess?' She thought.
'I need to have a bath and get ready to leave soon. Aiden might want me to leave' she thought.
Aria picked up a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. She quickly finished her usual morning routine and came out freshly showered. She packed up her belongings before going down in search of her stepbrother.
She slowly walked downstairs and found the house quiet. Last night's party left the floor on the deck dirty, with empty bottles, and whatnot.
She slowly walked towards the deck and watched the early morning sun rising from the ocean. The salty sea breeze and the crashing of the waves are so refreshing.
Her mom always wanted to move to a place like this, when she gets better. She was born and bought up on that ranch where she passed away.
When she was diagnosed with heart disease, Martin took off, without turning back. Mom loved him with everything she got. She couldn't recover from the loss along with her heart operation.
Her health was always declining, without leaving hope for her to recover. The doctor declared that, if she gets another stroke, she will not survive, as her body is still a week from her open heart surgery.
She called Martin so many times, in hopes that if she sees him, she might get better. But he never came back. If she had a place to stay after selling that ranch, she never would have asked for his help.
Either this or sleeping on the streets.
'I guess I have to sleep in my truck for a while after I go from here' Aria thought bitterly.
"The view never gets old," a familiar voice said from behind her.
Aria turned to face Aiden, her stepbrother, who is standing near the threshold of the deck and the living area, with his hip propped onto the door frame, and a steaming coffee cup in hand and shirtless.
The vivid images of that night popped in her head, but she squashed them mercilessly.
'He is your stepbrother for God's sake' Aria reminded herself.
Aiden looked at her fresh make up free face. She looks like an angel just standing there.
If she is anyone but his stepsister, and Martins's daughter, he wouldn't have any problem in repeating that night.
But in the broad daylight, she looks younger than he remembers and completely forbidden.
"How old are you?" he asked her, keeping his face blank.
"I am 19 years old" Aria replied.
Aiden raised his eyebrows.
"Really? You look younger than 19" he commented.
With a quick swipe down her body, he amended his statement.
"No, your body looks 19, but it's your face. It's younger than 19" he commented.
Aria looked away from his gaze, which feels like, he is touching her with his eyes.
"Baby" a female voice interrupted them.
Aria looked at the woman, who is older than her and is only wearing, what looks like one of Aiden's shirts.
Aiden looked behind him and smiled at the woman.
"Good morning gorgeous," he said kissing her on her lips.
"Hmm," the woman moaned audibly.
An unwanted pang hit Aria's heart.
'He is my stepbrother, that night is a mistake. It's better like this' she assured herself and turned away from them.
Aiden is kissing Natasha so that he wouldn't attack Aria. Last night he was not planning to spend the night with anyone in his bed. But after seeing Aria, he changed his mind.
Natasha is his on and off girlfriend for the past couple of years. She was his college mate and now his fuck buddy.
It's either this or takes Aria to his bed and takes her like a possessive savage. But the latter is not possible. So he is using Natasha as his shield.
"Come back to bed baby" Natasha purred like a cat.
But he preferred Aria's Moans of pleasure than this. Too bad, she is who she is.
"I am talking Aria, you should go now. I have work today" he subtly told her to get out.
By the look of disappointment flashed in her eyes, she understood his meaning.
Natasha is completely different than Aria.
Aria is sexy with her curves, exactly in the right places, and tall with long tanned legs.
Her face is a vision of innocence and fierceness. Round almond-shaped light brown eyes, reddish-brown hair which reach her waist in soft waves, kissable lips, shapely chin and she looks like his wet dreams come true.
But Natasha is not as tall as Aria. She has stick-straight hair, which he hates, not as tall as Aria as well. Natasha is thin like a run-way model. The version, which he does not like in his women.
But she is not the clinging type, so he calls her, when he needs her, like last night.
"Oh, but I thought we could spend some time in bed" Natasha tried to coax him, with her whining.
He hates Whining in females.
"No, I have some important business to take care of. You need to go" he told her firmly in his no-nonsense tone.
Natasha immediately clamped her mouth shut and left without another word.
She knows the score. It's always like this. He is not settling with one girl type. He likes flavors in life. The prospect of settling with one girl scares him.
"So, tell me. What brings you here in search of your father?" Aiden asked Aria, who is facing away from him.He already knows a little from her nervous rambling the previous night. But he didn't know for sure what exactly happened and why she ended up here.Aria turned to face Aiden, who is slowly sipping his coffee."My mother died a couple of months ago. Heart attack. Martin too off the moment he found out that her heart condition is not stable. She had to undergo open-heart surgery. But she never could recover from the loss of Martin. For the past 3 years, I have had to take care of my mother, who cannot do works that involve tiring her. So I had to take over and become an adult. But she passed away two years ago and Martin didn't even show up at her funeral. I had to sell my grandfather's ranch to pay off the debts. Only a hundred dollars and my mom's pickup truck is the only thing left for me. So I came in search of my only living relative" Aria explained.
Aria feared it would be awkward to stay with her stepbrother after that night a month ago. But if he is as rude to her as he is just now, I should most definitely concentrate on not killing him.Aria looked at the disappearing figure of her stepbrother.She went inside and to her room. She opened her phone and downloaded that day's newspaper in Chrome.After that, she looked at the vacancy column and noted down a couple of openings in that town.She took her small money purse along with her phone before going for job hunting.First, she decided to go and check the local supermarket, where they need a sales assistant.She asked the guy near the billing counter about the vacancy."No, sorry. Boss hired a girl just this morning" the guy said apologetically."Oh, ok thank you" she turned away with disappointment.Next, she saw an opening in the nearby gym as a front desk assistant.When she entered through the glass doors, she
Aria liked Lily and Bethy. Her first friends after she came to Green Bay. They don't seem catty or gossipy.She was feeling good spending time with them."Merlin is nice. She gets scared if we mess up with the restaurant patrons. She is strict and fair. We were glad you came along. For the past two days, we are struggling to serve the patrons. They are too many and we are only two. We used to be four girls working here. But the other two left a week ago, leaving the workload on me and Bethy." Lily supplied helpfully.Her work starts from 11 in the morning to 10 in the night, as the staff is low. Merlin asked if I have any problem with the timings. Obviously, I said no.I need money to find an apartment and move away from my stepbrother's place. Any extra money is always welcome. They are planning to hire more staff until then Merlin told the three of us to work overtime."At least, we don't have to wear ridiculously high heels and tight clothes. Th
Aria's heartbeat began to slow down a little. She was stunned to see the man, to whom she has given her innocence, with another woman.She doesn't know how to name the feeling in her heart. Sadness, jealousy, or possessiveness.There is no reason for me to be sad. I don't know the guy at all, apart from that night, where she doubts they talked at all. And last night and this morning.In both the instance, he didn't leave a very good impression on her.'Yes, he gave a roof over her head and she is really grateful for that'If I don't know that guy at all, there is no reason for me to be jealous at all.Aria shook her head to clear her thoughts.She shouldn't be thinking about his love life. He is her stepbrother and thinking about him like this is wrong on so many levels.Soon her exhaustion caught up to her and she slept with the dreams of her stepbrother plaguing her mind.The next morning,
Aiden stood there in a daze.'What just happened?' he thought with confusion.'Did I just kissed her without her permission?' he thought with shock.Aiden stood there in confusion.'What happened to you Aiden? Why did you just do that?' he cursed himself.But the lingering taste of her lips stirred a hunger inside him, which he thought he forgot after a month after that night."This is bad" he muttered.Aria ran out of the house and drove off from Aiden's house in a hurry."Damn him" she muttered out loud with irritation.She is sure she shouldn't get wet from just a kiss. That too from that asshole Aiden. But she is. Surely, this cannot be normal right? Who would become this turned on with just a kiss?That damn man. What possessed him to kiss her like this? Aria cursed him.It's still not time to report for work. So she drove aimlessly around the town, wasting her fuel. She finally settled to go and sit on a n
After the beach incident with Ryan, Aria couldn't forget the fear in Ryan's eyes, when he was talking about her father."Aria" Marlin called me when I was arranging cutlery on a table before the lunch hour rush.Aria looked behind her and found Merlin holding something for her. Aria walked the little distance between them and smiled at Merlin."Hey Merlin," she said with a smile.Marlin smiled back."Here, this is your name tag and employee Id card. In this cover, you will find your locker keys and other formalities" Merlin handed over them to Aria.Aria looked inside the cover and nodded her head."If you need anything, come to me, alright?" Merlin said."Ok" Aria agrees.She put away the cover inside her locker before putting on her name tag on her shirt. She doesn't have to carry her id card always, so she put that away in a locker before locking it. She pocketed the key in her skirt pocket."Hey, you" Ryan greeted her w
Aiden parked his black Suv behind his, black Ashton Martin. He cursed when he saw Natasha's car parked in front of one of the closed garage doors."Shit" he cursed.He regrets ever giving the house keys to her. Recently she is acting like his girlfriend, which is not the case.He is using her as a distraction from Aria. And now he understands it as a very bad idea.He got down the car and walked inside the house. He saw Aria walking towards the stairs and a furious Natasha pulling her back before slapping her hard, across her face."Natasha" Aiden roared before rushing to help Aria up.Natasha is stunned to look at Aiden. She didn't think he would come so soon and see all this. But she is not about to give him up for this girl, whoever she is.Aria's cheek is throbbing with pain and she is sure that it must be swollen.When Aiden helped her up, she let him without fussing. She is still in shock about the entire thing."Aiden baby
Aiden and Aria sat there in silence. Aria is applying ice to her cheek. Aiden is looking at her quietly."I am sorry" Aiden confessed suddenly.Aria looked at him with surprise.She thought he is apologizing for Natasha. But it's not he who hurt her. So it's not his mistake."You didn't hurt me. You don't have to apologize to her" Aria said truthfully.Aiden looked at her strangely. He is not apologizing for only that. But he should have elaborated a little. She wouldn't understand what he is thinking in his mind."No, not just for this, for everything" he elaborated.Aria still didn't understand."For everything?" She looked puzzled.Aiden truly looked ashamed of himself."We started on a wrong footing. After you came here searching for Martin, and when I found out you are his daughter, I thought you would be like him. Greedy, mooch, and a scum. But you proved me wrong. You are nothing like him. You are hard-wo