A/N: Thanks to those who reviewed the last chapter. Next update on Saturday! Also, I apologize for this chapter being so short. The others I longer, I promise you that.


Chapter 4


Amber was still in her bathing suit when she got home, and also dripping wet, since Jon literally dragged her out of the water after realizing that her mother was almost done working. She enjoyed being in the water, especially since Jon's friends didn't bother trying to interact with her after they got the food. It's not that she didn't like them; she just wasn't too outgoing, and friendships had to be develop naturally in order for her to be comfortable.

"Amber!" Jon yelled from the bathroom. "Grab my towel; it's on the couch."

She grabbed the towel and knocked on the bathroom door. When she opened it, she had no idea if he noticed how quickly her jaw dropped, but it did. Surrounded by steam, dripping wet, and his area was only covered by his swim trunks that he had crumpled up in his and put there to compensate for his towel. "I-I, um… h-here's your towel," she stuttered, shoving it in his hand and speed walking away from him

Jon smirked as she walked away. It wasn't his intention to make her a nervous, horny mess that but he'd be lying if he said he didn't enjoy seeing her reaction. He knew that she wasn't actually interested in him though; she made that completely obvious. He just thought that she was so closed off that she had no idea how to react properly to those situations. And it was cute, somewhat, considering that they were the same age.

Amber heard the front door open, along with her mother's heels against the wooden floor. She silently cheered, knowing that Jon would be gone, and if she was up by the time they got back, Jon would probably be too tired to talk to her. "Amber? Jon?" her mother called out. Amber figured the house sounded too empty.

"We're home!" Jon called from the bedroom. He came out and looked around before kissing her on the lips. He agreed to wait a while before kissing her in front of Amber. Apparently, she wasn't sure that Amber would be comfortable with it. "Amber went in the water, but she didn't talk to any of my friends. She was like, really distant from all of us."

"Aww, I'm sorry. I just wanted her to break out of her shell a little bit, you know?" She shook her head and sighed, placing her purse on the dining table. "Where is she?"

"She's in her room. She told me she enjoyed the time out, but she also said she's not gonna accept me if it's forced. So I guess your bonding techniques aren't so effective. Sorry," he said with a shrug. "But at least she opened up enough to tell me that. That's good, right?"

She shrugged and walked past him. "I suppose it is. Anyway…." She sat down on the couch and smiled at him. "You might get lucky tonight," she said with a smirk.

He smiled at her and attempted to wiggle his eyebrows, though it looked more like he had a facial tick. "I like the sound of that, babe." He sat next to her and traced his finger along her thigh. "Wanna give me a preview?" he asked, putting his face so close to hers that their noses were almost touching.

Just as they were about to kiss, Amber came out of her room, causing them to quickly put distance between them. Amber saw what was about to happen, however, and her mood instantly dropped. She sighed and went back to her room, not bothering to speak to any of them.

"I'll talk to her," he breathed, not bothering to wait for Mara's respond. He didn't bother to knock on her door either, because he had a strong feeling that she'd just tell him to go away. However, she had already locked the door, so he had no other choice but to knock. "Amber, I—" she opened to door and gave him the most intense death glare he had ever seen. "Can I come in?" he asked.

She sighed and stepped aside for him to come in, then shut the door. She didn't know why she was so hurt; she never felt that bad when she saw the past men kiss her mother. Granted, she never liked it, but this one hurt her to the point where she started crying a little bit. "What do you want?" she asked, sounding monotone.

"You know, you're like really… attractive." He didn't know why he said it; it was just something that slipped out. But she didn't seem angry or upset. Just neutral. He figured that he was doing something right, so he continued. "Your lips are pouty and soft looking; delectable. And your big gray eyes are so easy to get lost in." He sat next to her placed a hand on her chin. "Don't look down. I wanna look into them." He stared into her eyes for a while, then he noticed how nervous she looked. He didn't want to risk her blowing up at him, so he placed a kiss on her forehead and left.

Amber was left confused. She had no idea what happened or why it happened, but all she knew was that she had a lump in her throat and it hurt to swallow. She sighed and ran her hands through her hair. She didn't know what to do, or even what to think. She just wanted to go to sleep and hope that things went back to normal.