Never Stop

5. Ander

Chapter five

Ander

I 'm already parked in Izzy's driveway, waiting for Via, when I see her car cut around the corner and head this way. My heart starts to pick up its pace just at the sight of her, and I can't ignore the way my cock twitches, just knowing I'm about to be near her again after damn near a year without physically seeing her. Jett and Abbie are getting their stuff out of the truck and hauling it inside Izzy's house when Via's car stops next to my truck.

Her door swings open, and she flashes a lighthearted smile my way as our eyes meet. I can see she's containing her excitement about seeing me. There's also a tinge of sadness in her face. I hate that Liam showed up today, of all days. I know how much he drains her soul with his presence. I lean against my truck, propping a foot up on the tire, and cross my arms as I take in the sight of her as she gets out. Damn, I've fucking missed this girl. She's effortlessly beautiful, and it just does something to me.

I smile back at her and push off the truck to walk her way. Before I can make it two steps in her direction, Jett, Izzy, and Abbie beat me to her as they all come running up to her, drowning her in hugs and screaming Happy Birthday as loud as they can. I can't help but let out a laugh at the foolish ass sight. Jett is the worst one. For the guy who prides himself on being the oldest out of all of us, he sometimes acts like a grade school little girl.

"Alright, that's enough," I say after a beat as I push through them to get to my girl .

As they finally take the hint and get out of the way, Via is laughing, and damn if that smile on her face doesn't capture my heart.

"Hi," she says on an exhale of a breath and a gut laugh as I swoop her up into my arms and spin her around once. Once standing still, I place her feet back on the ground and run my hand under her chin, tilting her head to mine.

Unable to wait another second, we reach in simultaneously, our mouths colliding. Not deepening the kiss in front of everyone, I pull back with a smile and plant a kiss on her cheek, directly next to her mouth. She lets out a huff, and her eyes grow wide. I pull my face away from hers slowly and pull her back into a hug. "Hey, Rosie," I whisper into her ear, my voice more raspy than usual, as I soak in the moment and let her sweet scent fill my nostrils. Damn, I've missed her. My tall frame towers over hers. She's nowhere near short. I stand at six foot four, and she's about five foot five. I instantly appreciate our height difference as I notice that her head rests perfectly on my chest when I hold her to me like this. Placing one more kiss on the apple of her cheek, I back away slowly but keep a hand on the small of her back.

"Oh, would you two just fuck already!" Izzy mouths off from the porch in front of us with a laugh.

Via begins to choke literally, and I can feel the heat radiating off her blushing cheeks.

"Eww, that's a mental image I could live without. It's bad enough that I always get stuck watching you two weirdos suck each other's faces." My sister Abbie says from next to Izzy as she makes gagging noises and gestures. This only pulls a screaming laugh out of Jett, who finds all this utterly hilarious.

Izzy comes up behind her and shoves her playfully. "Hey! We're not weird," Izzy says, laughing, not denying the part about her and Jett sucking faces. Abbie rolls her eyes in return. Abbie is twelve and thinks it's weird that Izzy and Jett like to make out "for fun." They don't care who sees. She's not alone in that thought.

Jett likes Izzy; they became good friends when she came to the island with Via over the summers, but Izzy never seems interested. Not as interested as he is, at least. She was down for making out with him and maybe occasionally banging him because she mentioned to Via that he was "decent." Still, she never showed any interest in anything further. That shit drives Jett even more crazy for her.

"Speaking of which, can I come with you guys? I don't want to stay with the spit swappers!" Abbie groans.

"No, Abs, not tonight." There are few people I have a soft spot for in this world other than Via, Abbie, and Natty. Seeing the annoyance on Abigail's face when I tell her no pulls at my heart a little, but tonight is about Via and me , for once .

"Wait, go with us where?" Via cocks an eyebrow my way as a slight smile pulls at the corners of her mouth, obviously confused. I pull her into my side, lean to her ear, and whisper, "I told you, it's a surprise," I flash her a slight smirk.

"You know I hate surprises," Via says under her breath as she throws me a look, trying to appear displeased, but she can't cover how excited she looks. She's trying damn hard, though. The apples of her cheeks are redder than they usually are, which tells me she's blushing.

"You'll like this one, I promise." I return with another quick smirk, and she rolls her eyes.