"Where are we going?" I ask, my heart pounding because I think I would go anywhere with him.
"Shower," he says, putting his hands on the sides of my neck. "It’s not good without you." He kisses me and then grabs my hand, pulling me with him to the shower. We spend way too much time in there, and when I get out, I have to rush to get dressed.
"Okay," I say, coming out of the walk-in closet to see him making the bed. "I’m ready." I look over at him, and he has black jeans on with a white shirt. It’s an outfit I’ve seen more than once, yet today, he looks extra hot in it.
"Take that look off your face." He points at me, and I just look at him. "You had that same look in your eyes on Thursday night when we closed the bar."
I put my hands on my hips and roll my eyes. "I didn’t see you objecting when I got down on my knees." I walk to him and kiss his neck. "Nor did you object when I bent over." I tap his stomach. "Now, let’s go before I get back on my knees."
I go to walk out of the room but then look over my shoulder at him. He adjusts his cock that is starting to show exactly what he wants me to do. "Are we going?"
"Oh, we’re going," he says, walking to me. "But just so you know, when we get home later, I’m going to fuck that sass out of you." He slaps my ass, walking to the door. How did I go from having the upper hand to begging him to fuck the sass out of me? He waits for me at the front door, only turning the handle when I get close to him.
I walk out, and he joins me, his hand sliding into mine as we walk to the truck. I get in, ignoring the flip that my stomach just did. He kisses me right before he closes the door, and the whole way to my grandparents’, he sits with my hand in his on his leg.
We get there with everyone else, so I can’t give him one more kiss before getting out of the truck. He turns off the truck and looks over at me. "Ready?"
I nod my head and get out of the truck to see Gabriel running over to me. "Auntie Amelia, I lost a tooth, and the tooth fairy came." He shows me his bottom teeth, the middle one missing.
"How much did he bring?" I ask, putting my hands around his shoulders as I walk to my brother and Emily.
"Fifty dollars," he says, jumping up and down. I look over at my brother, shocked.
"Fifty dollars," I repeat. "I need to speak to the tooth fairy that used to come to my house." I look at Ethan. "Once I got an IOU paper."
"Go and tell Grandma and Grandpa," I tell Gabriel. "The tooth fairy might have stopped here also." He looks at me, shocked, and then all you can see is his hair flying in the wind as he runs into the back, calling my grandparents.
"Seriously?" I look over at Ethan.
"He lost his tooth at nine o’clock," he says. "It was that or the hundred."
I try to roll my lips. "The struggle must have been real."
He pushes my shoulder as everyone laughs. The minute we get to the barbecue, I go one way and Asher goes the other. I walk over to my mother who sits by herself and see Gabriel collecting money from my father. "Hi," I say when I get close enough, and she looks at me, and she smiles big.
"Hey, baby girl," she says. "He’s going to walk out of this backyard a very rich boy," she says, pointing at Gabriel, who is getting money from my uncle Casey. I pull out the empty chair right beside her and sit down. "Do you want some lemonade?” my mother asks, and I just shake my head. "Are you okay?"
"I’m fine, why?" I ask, and she smiles and then looks down at the table, then up at me again.
"You’re just …" she says. "You’re just different."
My eyebrows pinch together in confusion. "How so?" I ask.
"One, you look happier," she says. "And two, your eyes shine all the time."
"My eyes are the same they have always been."
"No, they aren’t," she says, and I can see her eyes filling with tears. "There was a sadness in them." She blinks away the tears.
"There was no sadness there." My stomach sinks.
"There was," she tells me. "And you can deny it and ignore it, but it was there and now ..." Her hand comes up to cup my cheek. "But now there is a light in them that I’ve never seen." Her eyes leave mine and go into the direction of Asher, who stands there talking and laughing with my father and Ethan. "He’s good for you," she says.
I swallow the lump in my throat. "It’s nothing," I finally say, the words coming out in a whisper.
"It’s not nothing." She puts her hand on mine. "It’s everything." She is about to say something else when my aunt Olivia calls her inside. She gets up, rubbing my head. "Don’t push it away."
I sit in the chair for what feels like an eternity. Only moving to get food and then when Asher comes to get me to leave.
I get into the truck, the whole time not saying anything. He reaches out and grabs my hand once he gets into the car and kisses the top of my hand once we drive away from my grandparents' house. "Are you okay?" he asks when he pulls into the driveway of my house.
My hand reaches to open the door. "Yeah, I’m just tired, I guess." I get out of the truck, and for the first time, I don’t attack him when we get into the door. Instead, I walk over to the kitchen and open the fridge to get a water bottle out.
"What’s wrong?" He stands there in the middle of the living room, looking at me. "You can’t tell me you’re just tired. I’ve seen your tired face before." His hand goes up and points at me. "Something happened today at the barbecue, and I’m not going to drop it until you tell me."
I look down, gathering all the courage I need for this next part. Knowing that in one small move, he can shatter me. "My mother said I looked different." His eyebrows pinch together in the same confused face I must have given my mother. "I fell in love without even knowing it." The lump starts to grow bigger in my throat. Heat rushes up my back to my neck, and I think I’m going to be physically sick. "I fell in love, and I didn’t even know it was happening until it did." I blink away the tears. "I’m in love with you," I say the words while my heart soars in my chest. "And I know without a shadow of a doubt that I won’t survive without you." I wipe the lone tear that comes out of the corner of my eye.
"I don’t know what love is," he finally says. "Never knew love growing up, never knew love when I became a man." He walks to me and turns me to look at him. "What I do know is that being with you makes breathing easier. I know that when you walk into a room, all I can do is smile. I know that kissing you is the single best thing I’ll ever do in my life. I know that the thought of being without you makes my chest hurt. A pain that feels like something is pressing or stomping on my body and crushing my bones.” He pushes the hair away from my face, his big hands coming up to cup my face, and right before his lips meet mine, he says the words that I’ve never heard from anyone but my family. "I love you, Amelia."
Chapter 27
Asher
"What time are you going to be done?" I ask Amelia when I walk into her office at the barn. She looks up at me, and again, for the I don’t know how many times, I stop and smile at her. Leaning back in her chair, she folds her hands on her stomach.
"I’m done at three," she says. "Like I am every single day. So in three hours." I walk over to her desk and sit on the side of it. It’s the closest I can get to her without touching her. It’s something I often do, and if someone came in, it wouldn’t look out of sorts.
"Did you eat lunch?" she asks, and I smirk at her, looking around to make sure no one is lingering or can hear me. My voice goes low anyway.
"I can tell you what I want to eat for lunch." I wink at her, and she shakes her head.
"You had that for breakfast." She laughs.
"Well, I’ll be having that for dinner also." I get up, standing by her chair. "Just so you know."
I want to bend down and kiss her lips, but I know it’s not the time.
It’s been over a month since I told her I loved her. A month that I’ve had to hide it, and if I’m honest, I am about done with it. But before I tell everyone about us, I have to come clean to Ethan and Jacob. "I’ll se
e you later." I smile at her, and she tilts her head back, and I glare at her. "Why do you tempt me like this?"
"Because I want a kiss," she says, and I walk to her door and close it.
Standing in front of it, I call her over. "Come here."
She walks to me and her arms go around my shoulders. "We need to think about what we should tell people." I look into her eyes as my nose rubs hers. "I think it’s time."
"Me, too." She smiles and kisses my lips.
"I have to talk to your father and Ethan first." I push away the hair from her face, knowing that after I talk to them, I have to come clean to her. "Then we can do that." My heart picks up, wondering how she will take the truth. I kiss her one last time. “Okay, I have to head over to help your grandfather." Her hands fall from my neck. "He has someone coming to pick up something." I sneak in one more kiss before I open the door and walk out to my truck.
I take my phone out before I chicken out and send Jacob and Ethan a group text.
Me: Was wondering if I could talk to you two tonight.
I put the phone in my pocket as I make my way over to Billy’s barn. When I pull in, there is already a brand-new pickup parked in the lane. I get out and walk toward the barn, seeing Billy with his hands on his hips. He listens to what the guy in front of him is saying, and even though he’s smiling, I know that it’s not a real smile. I walk to them, and the man turns to look at me. "If there is anyone who knows, it’s this guy," Billy says. The man turns and holds out his hand.
"Nice to meet you," the man says. "I’m Tex."
"Asher," I say my name, taking his hand and then looking at Billy to see how he responds to this guy. His eyes never leave the man. "What can I do for you?"
"My hay shipment is running late," he says. "Was wondering if I could maybe borrow some to hold off."
"I think we should be okay," I say, then turn to look at Billy, who just nods his head. "I can get you a couple, and you can send over some guys after to get more."
"Sounds good," he says, and I turn to walk into the barn going to where he keeps his hay.
"Thank you," Tex says from beside me when we walk into the barn. "I wasn’t sure Billy was going to go for it," he says, and my whole body becomes tight. "I used to work here," he says. "And I left him without notice." He continues talking when he stops right in front of the hay. "I actually had your job," he says, smirking.
"Really?" I ask. "I’ve never heard your name before." I grab the gloves out of my pocket.
"Doesn’t surprise me," he says, standing in front of me. "I broke his granddaughter’s heart," he says, smiling slyly while my whole body becomes a block of ice.
"I’ll grab one, and you grab the other." I ignore him and walk over, grabbing the ties of the hay and walking out to his truck. He follows me, and I wait for him to walk ahead of me, opening the bed of his truck. I slide my bale of hay into his truck and then stand back while he does his. Taking off my gloves, I put them back in my back pocket. He closes the back hatch and then looks at me.
“Thanks for your help,” he says, reaching in his back pocket and taking something out. He holds out his hand with a white business card between two fingers. “If you’re ever looking for work.”
My hand comes out and grabs the card and I look down at it. His name is in bold black letters, and I want to laugh. "I believe I owe you a thank-you." I flip the card. "Oh," I say, putting the card in my pocket and then coming back, swinging a punch. I hit him square in the jaw, and he stumbles back. "That’s for Amelia." His eyes go big. "Get the fuck out of here before I tell Billy why you really left."
He stands, the corner of his lip bleeding. "And just so we’re clear. Don’t come back here because we aren’t into helping assholes." I turn back and walk back to the barn, stopping midway when I see Billy leaning against the door of the barn.
The sound of a truck door slamming and then the sound of the crushing of rocks makes my body relax. "Um," I say, and I don’t even know what I’m going to say or how I can explain this. "He’s not coming back." I look down at my hand, squeezing it into a fist. "I’ll cover the cost of those two."
Billy looks at me and laughs. "I believe I owe you," Billy says. "One for that scene." He points to the place where I decked Tex. "And two for what you’ve done for Amelia."
"I haven’t done anything," I say, the guilt working its way through me. I can’t even look at him in the eye.
"I’m glad." He walks to me and slaps my shoulder. "I don’t know what happened between her and Tex," he says. "And from the way she was after he left, I don’t want to know or else that punch that he just got will be the least of his injuries. Now go get some ice on that hand." He walks away laughing and shaking his head.
I go back to the barn to see Amelia, first stopping by the freezer to get some ice in a bag and wrap it around my knuckles. I walk into her office, and she is on the phone, her head coming up as she sees me. Her eyes go from mine to my hand, then back up again to look at my face. "I’m going to get back to you." She hangs up the phone and gets up. Her face fills with worry. "What happened?"
"I met Tex," I say, and her face goes white. "Yeah, so …"
"Where?" she asks, walking around the desk.
"The barn. He was there to borrow some hay, and well, I put two and two together,” I say. “When he left, he handed me his business card, and I decked him."
"You hit him?" she asks, shocked.
"I did thank him first," I say, and she picks up my hand. "Then I hit him."
She drops my hand and walks out of her office, calling Willow. "Can you take my place in the office for the rest of the day?" she asks, and Willow comes out of a stall.
"Of course," Willow says. Looking at her and then me, she drops her eyes to my hand. "Is everything okay?"
"Yup," Amelia says. "Just going to go home and make sure his hand is okay, and then I’m going to eat lunch." Willow nods at her and tries to hide a smile. "I’ll drive,” Amelia says, walking out to the truck, and I just nod awkwardly at Willow.
"Have a good lunch," she says, laughing and turning to walk into the office.
I get into the truck and look over at Amelia. "What did I miss?" I ask, and she smiles at me.
"I’m going to thank you." She puts the truck in drive. "One for hitting the asshole and two for being you," she says, making her way over to her house, and thank me she does.
When I drop her off at the bar, it’s almost four o’clock, and I make my way over to Jacob’s house. I park the car, seeing Ethan sitting outside with him as the two of them talk. I get out of the truck, and my whole body starts to shake. Shakes with news, shakes with anticipation, shakes with the fear that they might not accept me. "Hey," I say, walking up the driveway toward them.
"There he is," Ethan says. "Rocky." I look at him. "Word on the street is you laced good old Tex."
"Yeah." I put my hands in my back pockets. "Guy rubbed me the wrong way."
"Is that so?" Jacob says, looking at me.
"I was wondering if I could speak to the two of you," I say, my mouth getting so dry I don’t even attempt to swallow.
"I think we know what you want to tell us," Ethan says, laughing, and I look at him. "You have a thing for Amelia."
"What?" I ask, shocked.
"We know," Jacob says. "I know she is my daughter, and I love her with everything that I have, but that woman can push anyone to their limits." He shakes his head. "So if you’re still living with her after all this time"—he holds out his hand—"you have to like her at the very least."
"Does that mean you’re staying?" Ethan asks. "We both thought you were coming here to tell us that you’re staying."
"Um," I say, shocked with so many things going through my head. "There is also something you guys need to know."
Ethan looks at me, and he can sense from my tone that it has nothing to do with Amelia. "I should have told you when I first came to town," I say and then stop talking when Jacob’s phone rings. He takes it out of his
pocket and answers it.
"Hey, baby girl," he says, and then his face drops. "Truck," he says to us, and I’m already running to my truck. My heart’s in my chest, thinking that Tex went to pay her a visit. Jacob gets into the truck passenger seat, and I watch for Ethan to close the door in the back before I take off. "Lock the door," he tells her. "Don’t let anyone in until I get there."
Chapter 28
Amelia
Thirty minutes earlier
"I’ll see you soon." I lean over the truck and kiss his lips. "Try not to get into any more fights."
He rolls his eyes, shaking his head. "It was one fight," he says, "and I’d do it all over again." My heart speeds up when he says that. When he showed up at the barn, I could tell from the look on his face that something just happened. Then I saw the ice around his hand, and my heart sank. The minute he said Tex’s name, I knew this was going downhill. What I didn’t know is that instead, it soared higher than I’ve ever been. I have never felt so loved in my life than I was at that moment. For someone to fight for me was everything.
I get out of the truck and walk in, turning off the alarm as the phone in my purse rings. I grab it as I walk to the back office. Chelsea’s name flashes on the screen with a picture of the two of us taken three weeks ago. "Hello," I say, pressing my shoulder up to hold it to my ear.
"Hello," she says. "Is that all you have to say to me is hello?" I can hear that she is in her car on Bluetooth.
"What else does one say when answering their phone?" I laugh, walking into the office. I dump my purse into the chair and pick up the mail on the floor. The mail that fell on the floor yesterday after he bent me over this desk. I smile, thinking about him.
"So I heard a rumor today," Chelsea says.
"Really?" I say, putting the mail on the desk, then turning and walking out of the office. "And what is this rumor that you heard?"
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