I had taken Christian up into my room after we made up, and we just continued to get to know each other. We hadn't even had sex with each other yet. I didn't know what was even stopping us from it, but we just hadn't. I was completely fine with it. He was still satisfying my needs, and I was satisfying his.

I had checked my phone earlier and noticed a text message from my dad that stood out to me.

He is welcome to stay.

How did he even know? I will have to ask him when I decide to get out of bed.

It was now morning, nearing lunchtime. I wanted to spend as much time with my dad as I could, but I was just so exhausted due to the lack of sleep I had gotten last night. I just had so much on my mind.

I lay on my side and stared out of the window at the beautiful city my dad lived in. Why hadn't I moved with him? I could be waking up to this view every morning instead of a neighborhood of houses.

Well, I wouldn't have met Christian.

I could feel Christian's body flesh against mine start to tense, alarming me that he was waking up. "Rea?" His husky morning voice calls out.

I didn't turn over; I didn't want him to smell my morning breath. "Morning."

He moved my hair to the side, exposing my neck, and leaving a lingering kiss against it. "So, I'm fixing to meet your dad, huh?"

"I guess so, yeah." I wasn't at all nervous for Christian to meet my father. He was a caring man.

I had a feeling they would hit it off with each other due to the fact they were into business. I wasn't worried at all, I was just upset that I came here to be alone with my father, and now that won't be possible.

I slowly climbed out of bed and went into the connecting bathroom and turned the shower on. I cleaned myself, got out, and began to get ready for the day. Christian did the same, taking a shower right after I did. He had begged for us to take one together, but I wasn't comfortable doing that with my father just a few doors down from us.

He probably was already up and checking on the hotel anyway. I would honestly be surprised if he was even in the apartment when we went downstairs.

I finished getting ready, settling on a natural look today. I wore something appropriate yet casual since I didn't want to make my dad look like he raised a homeless kid around his hotel. I wore a green knitted sweater, a pair of white flare jeans that I tucked my shirt into, brown booties, and a brown beanie. I wore minimal makeup, just concealer to cover up my baggy eyes and mascara to make my lashes look longer.

Once I was finished, I didn't find Christian anywhere in sight. Which was weird. Did he leave me to go meet my dad? Oh goodness.

I make my way into the kitchen where I hear booms of laughter and people talking. My mouth hangs open as I see my dad and Christian sharing stories about their businesses. I lean against the door frame and smile, watching the two most important men in my life, bonding.

I wish I didn't have to lie when I had to introduce him as my boyfriend to my parents. I wish he had already been my boyfriend in the first place. That would make this shit a whole lot easier.

I couldn't help but start thinking about him and Sam again. I know he was trying to protect himself and me, but God it hurts.

Seeing someone you grew up with and start to hate them and someone you recently met, and care for them. It still hurts. But you don't get to choose if you get hurt in this world. But all I can say is, you can choose who hurts you.

The men eventually notice my presence a few minutes later and Christian smiles at me, "Hey, Rea. Finally, decide to come down?" I roll my eyes with a small smile forming on my lips as I walk towards him, and he wraps his arms around me as I lean into him.

"I see you two made up." My dad walks over to the coffee pot and pours me a cup and hands it to me.

I nod as I take a sip of the scorching hot substance. "What are we doing today?"

"Christian told me he has never been here so I thought we could take a trip to the space needle and then get lunch before I have to go into the office for a little."

I smile and nod, "That sounds fun. Are you ready to go now?" They both nodded and we headed out to the space needle just a few blocks away from us. Christian holds my hand as we walk down the street to our destination. I blocked out whatever fun facts my dad was telling Christian about the city, seeing that I had already heard them. I just couldn't stop looking at our entwined hands.

We arrive at the Space Needle and take a short ride on the elevator to the top. When we get to the top, we are greeted with a three-hundred-sixty-degree view of Emerald City. The view was even better than Dad's apartment. It was incredible.

"This view is almost as breathtaking as you are," Christian told me. I giggle at his flirting, not bothering to answer him. I walked around the deck looking around at the city as I could feel his presence behind me.

"Christian," I told him.

"Yes?"

"Why are you looking at me? There is so much to look at outside." I could feel him looking at me, not even having to look at him.

He took a step closer to me, and put a strand of hair behind my ear, "Because you're beautiful."

I turned to look him in the eye and closed in the space between us, "Thank you."

He kissed me gently on the lips for a few seconds before resting our foreheads together, "I would much rather look at you any day than some skyline."

I kissed his cheek, "You're such a flirt." I backed away and he flashed his signature smirk before walking over to my dad who began to tell him about the history behind the building and its importance.

After we ate lunch, we all headed back to Dad's place where he left to go take care of some business, leaving Christian and me, home alone. "So..." I drawled out as I lay on the couch with my head rested in his lap.

His hands ran through my hair leaving me in a peaceful bliss, "So?" I immediately got the courage and sat up, looking him in the eye. He stared back at me as I started to get lost in his eyes, not remembering the conversation I needed to have with him.

Once I gathered myself up again, I spoke, "Why can't we be official, Christian?"

"I don't know. I'm just- I don't know," he truthfully spoke with a sigh.

I raised my eyebrow at him, "You know, maybe you're just scared that someone might want to be with you."

"And why would that scare me?" He asked confused.

I shook my head, "Because you wouldn't be able to hide behind the drugs, the drinking, or your freaking bad-boy attitude. You know the real reason why you're scared? Because you wanna be with me too, but you just can't man the fuck up."

He looked down at his hands knowing I had hurt him. He didn't speak for a moment as he twiddled with the bracelet that was on my wrist. His voice cracked as he spoke, "I was fifteen when I fell in love for the first time..."