Love Me Harder +18

ESMERALDA'S POV There's this man who I have been in love with for the past 7years. He's also my dad's best friend. Ironic I know. He was out of bounds, but I couldn't help falling for him ever since that day I met him three years ago. I still remember that day three years ago when my dad introduced him to our family. I was twenty back then, a young adult who had a crush on her dad's best friend. It was hard not to fall for him when he was constantly in my life every single day. He became a person who I often saw around. His presence was intense in a soothing way, but I liked it because I got to be around the him who I had a crush on that developed way bigger than something I could control. But why do I have a crush on him? He always seemed to care about me. He checked in on me, not the usual how are you, he was grounding. He eyes always seemed to follow me. He never made me feel left out because I always felt left out since my older siblings were the apple of my parents' eye, they were always better than me. I had three older siblings, an older brother, Zane and and 2 older sisters, Daniella and Bethany, who I always avoided I didn't want unnecessary drama, yet I was extremely envious of them because our parents worshiped them,literally. It was just something about my dad's best friend that made him stand out among all the people in my life. He was special to me, kind of like a safe place. He's somebody who taught me how to drive as I succeeded in getting my driver's license. Even when he taught me how to make Tzatziki and Souvlaki his favorite Greek food. Yeah his from Greece. He's somebody who took care of me when I twisted my ankle while tripping on shoe Daniella 'mistakenly left at the last foot of the stairs. He's a person who took care of me when I fought with my boyfriend from high school and I cried about it for days, but he brought me Chicken Nuggets and Mc Flurry from Mc Donald hoping that it would help. It did. He made me feel seen, heard, and accepted, I did not feel forgotten like I had felt by my family most of my life. I could check off hundreds of things he has done for me,but the best thing about him? The way he looks intimidating to others, but inside, he's compassionate and gentle to those people he cares about, which is very rare. Nonetheless, over the years, I have seen him with numerous women as he didn't seem to want a committed relationship or any plan to settle down. Did my heart ache those times. It did, it fell apart millions of times because I was aside character, an extra, watching him from the sides. But each time he showed an ounce of care for me, I forgot about my broken heart and enjoyed my time with him he was rare. That's why the butterflies in my stomach sprung to life in my lower abdomen, when I got the courage to open the front door to the two-story house my parents lived in, my childhood home. Trust me I wasn't happy to be here but I was called. I stepped inside the hall as the scent of lasagna lingered in the air, which meant that my mom had made dinner,and if it was lasagna meant that it was a very special occasion. I could hear laughter coming from the kitchen as thegroup of people seemed to have a pleasant time, whichmeant that I had arrived last. By them, I meant my older sisters, Bethany and Daniella my older brother, Zane, along with a few friends of theirs, last but not least, the man who I have been dreaming all night about. Nobody had heard me yet because they were preoccupied, but it was nothing out of the ordinary. It was always like that, I was easily invisible to them, the black sheep. I took off my thick leather jacket because it was cold outside since it was the end of March. I also took off my Air Jordans, and rolled my suitcase gently to the side. I spared myself a glance in the mirror hanging in the hallway as my blonde hair was in a messy-bun I reached my hand out and took the clip out letting my long and thick hair loose as it reached my hips. My green eyes illuminated due to the sunset peaking through the windows of the hallway. For the most part,my emerald eyes resembled mostly my fathers. I had slight freckles graced my cheeks that were compatible with my sun-kissed skin because I was back from working abroad on a cruise ship. I put on my favorite shade of nude lip oil and then I ran a hand through my thick hair because I was nervous as hell. I had not seen him for the past three years because I was busy working as a air hostess. I only saw him on his social media account, but he posted rarely, probably once in a blue moon and it was mostly work related, he was a private man