His hands fall from my cheeks, gliding down my body where they push my shirt up my stomach. The tips of his fingers graze my skin, setting it on fire. I don’t know how, but every time he touches me, it’s like the first time. The fire in my belly that ignited the first time I rode in his car is still burning inside me, never smoldering or burning out. Over time, there have been instances when I thought it was gone, but then it would just blaze hotter the next time. This fire inside me is my love for him. It’s the passion between us—it’s need and ownership. It’s him. A part of him worked its way into my system long ago, and it never left. It never will.
When he pushes into me, claiming me as his own, it feels like the first time. I want to explode around him the moment we’re joined. Before, I worried that this feeling would fade away. Now I know it never will.
Nineteen
Wyatt
I roll us over so I can watch her move on top of me. Seeing the love and passion burning bright in her eyes is enough to push me over the edge, but I can’t get enough of watching her. I don’t want things to end. I want to spend the rest of my life right here, where we’re happy, engaged, in love. When we leave this room, the real world will kick back in. We’re no longer safe out there. Like last time, I’m preparing for the world to take us down, just like prom night. It feels like the universe isn’t happy unless it’s ripping us apart. I’ve fought too long and too hard to give in now. I will make her mine. I won’t let anything come between us again.
Watching as she comes undone on top of me makes every muscle in my body harden. I know that flipping her over will only end the moment between us, but I’m wound too tight. I need a release now before I explode. I flip her over and pound into her so hard and fast that she screams my name as she holds herself to the bed by the sheet in her fist. My release rises as high as it’s ever been before, shattering and raining down over me. Every muscle tenses. It even feels like my lungs seize and my heart stops. When my high fades away, I suck in a large gulp of air as I collapse on top of her. She wraps her arms around me, holding me close as I catch my breath. My heart is pounding so hard, I wouldn’t be surprised if it popped out of my chest the way it does in those old cartoons.
“God, I love you,” I whisper, pressing soft kisses along the swell of her breasts and collarbone.
She gives me a sleepy smile with her hooded eyes. “I love you too, you know?” She runs her soft fingers through my hair, combing it over to the side.
Even though we’ve been together many times since I came back to town, this is the first time I’ve ever thought about birth control. I’ve never used a condom with her. Is she on the pill? I want to ask, but a part of me doesn’t want to know. I want to get her pregnant. I want to start our lives right now. I want to marry her. I want her to have my children. I want us to be together every day for the rest of my life and never have to worry about losing her again.
I brush a strand of hair behind her ear. “I probably should’ve asked sooner, but are you on any kind of birth control?”
“I’m on the pill and have been since I was 16.”
I nod, feeling a little saddened.
“What’s wrong?” she asks, furrowing her brows but smiling at my expression, which I didn’t realize was so transparent.
“I was just thinking . . .” I mumble, shaking the idea from my head.
“About what?” she asks, cupping my jaw and not allowing me to turn away.
“About starting a family. I don’t want to waste any more time. I want you. I want us. I want our family that’s been waiting long enough.”
She smiles and happiness lights up her eyes. “I do too.”
“You do?”
She nods. “I’m tired of running and wasting time. I mean, we are engaged now.”
“You want to make a baby?” I ask, growing hard against her once again.
She laughs. “Well, not right now. I’ll have to stop my pill and give it time to wear off, but if you’re serious, I’ll stop it tomorrow.”
“Of course I’m serious. I want this, with you.” I press my mouth to hers once again and she kisses me softly.
I roll to her side and pull her against my chest. “What should we name this little creature?” I smile just saying the words.
She giggles. “Creature?”
I shrug one shoulder. “Well, it will be a product of both of us.”
“How about Albert?”
I laugh. “Albert? We’re not raising an old man,” I laugh out.
“Norman?”
I laugh even harder and shake my head. “Okay, I’ll pick the name. You just worry about birthing it.”
We laugh, joke, touch, kiss, and tickle. Before I know it, it’s going on midnight and both of us are fighting to keep our eyes open. She finally gives in first, resting her head on my chest. Her warmth sinks into me, and sleep is no longer optional. It takes me and I don’t even bother fighting it.
When we wake in the morning, we get in the car and head back to her house. I go in with her, because I want to see how happy her mom is when she learns we’re engaged. I told her dad last night and he was beyond ecstatic. Destiny could see the secret he was trying to keep the moment he walked in. I’m glad she didn’t pick up on it before I actually asked.
When we walk in the house, her mom and dad are both sitting in the living room. Her dad is reading the paper and her mom is on the couch, watching TV and knitting.
“Hey, you two. Did you have fun last night?” her mom asks when we walk in the front door.
Destiny grins. “We had a lot of fun last night, didn’t we?” she asks, looking over at me.
I nod and she turns back to face them. With a wide smile, she doesn’t say anything as she holds up her left hand, showing her mom the ring.
Her mom lets out a loud squeal and tosses her knitting supplies into the air as she jumps up and races over to us, pulling us both in for a long hug.
“Oh, I’m so happy!” her mom says, hugging us both.
Destiny and I laugh as we have the life squeezed out of us.
“Congratulations, son,” her dad says, coming up to us and pulling his wife away.
I wrap my arm around Destiny and smile at him. I hold out my hand to shake. “Looks like we both overcame our rough patch.”
He nods and motions toward the kitchen. “Come on. Let’s celebrate.”
“Danny, no drinking with your blood thinners, remember?” Mrs. Parker shouts in our direction.
Mr. Parker pulls out two glasses. In one, he pours a shot of whiskey. In the other, he pours a glass of tea. We sit down at the kitchen table and he slides the glass of whiskey over to me.
“I know I don’t have to tell you this, but I’m going to. That woman in there,” he points toward the living room, “that’s my little girl. She’s my baby and always will be. You better treat her with love and respect or I’ll come after you with a shotgun. Got it?”
I laugh and nod. “Yes, sir.”
“As long as you always remember that your wife is my little girl, we won’t have a problem.” He picks up his tea and holds it out. I grab the whiskey and tap it against his glass.
I toss back the drink and a laugh takes over.
“What’s so funny?” Destiny asks, walking into the kitchen.
I show her my glass. “I found the watered-down bottle.” She joins in my laughter as her dad looks between the two of us with questions burning on his face.
He shakes his head. “I don’t even want to know what the two of you have done now.” He stands up to head back into the living room. “I learned to stop asking questions the day I found you naked in her room with all of your pubic hair pulled out,” he says, causing the two of us to laugh even harder.
Destiny comes over and sits in my lap. She wraps her arms around my neck. “I think we’ve finally broken my dad,” she jokes.
I nod. “I think so.” I press my lips to hers.
My phone rings from my pocket and I quickly answer it. “Hello
?”
“Wyatt?” Drake asks.
“Yeah, what’s up?”
“I need to talk to you. Can you swing by my house real quick?”
“Yeah, but it’ll take me a few minutes to get there. I’m over at Destiny’s parents’ home.”
“Okay, no rush. Just . . . whenever you can make it. Clay and Colton are here with me and there’s some family business we need to discuss with you.”
“All right. I’m on my way.” I hang up the phone and look up at Destiny. “I have to go. My brother has some kind of family news to talk about. Can you come by my place later?”
She nods. “Sure, after I help Mama with dinner and get everything cleaned up.” She stands and allows me to get up. “I’ll walk you out.”
I slide my phone back into my pocket and tell her parents goodbye. Des walks me across the driveway to my car. She wraps her arms around my neck and pulls my mouth to hers. I kiss her softly with a smile. “I can’t believe we get to do this for the rest of our lives,” I say against her lips.
“It’s about time,” she says, pulling away and giving me her breathtaking smile.
“I’ll see you tonight,” I say, climbing behind the wheel.
As I set off for Drake’s place, I feel happy—like everything is finally how it’s supposed to be. I have Destiny back, and we’re together, happy, in love, and engaged. We’re going to get married, start our family, and finally live happily ever after. Nothing can bring me down today. Over the past month, Dad has continued to get better and healthier. Her dad has improved a ton. It feels like someone pushed the reset button on the world and we’re all getting our lives back.
I drive slowly through the countryside, just wanting to extend this happiness a little longer. I want to appreciate the beauty of the bright blue cloudless sky, the colorful wild flowers that are growing up in the ditches, the smell of the damp earth, and the fresh air blowing through the windows. When I see Drake’s house off in the distance, I slow a little more just to have a few more moments alone. But finally, I pull into his drive and find three of my brothers huddled around the hood of an old Chevy pickup truck.
I park and get out. “Where’d you get this pile of junk?” I ask with a laugh.
Drake rolls his eyes. “Oh, you know, Colton here thought this would be a good truck for Celeste this winter. I always worry about her driving that car on the ice. But this thing doesn’t seem any better since we can’t get it to run.”
“I’ll fix it,” Colton says with his head under the hood.
“So, what’s this big family emergency?” I ask, leaning against the truck.
“Come on, guys. Let’s take a break,” Drake says, leading us toward the barn.
When I walk in, I find that there’s a table in the front center of the barn. We all take a seat and Drake grabs me a glass before he brings out the bottle of whiskey. He pours four glasses and passes them around. Then he looks at me.
“A little while ago, I received a letter that claimed to be from our half-brother no one knew about.”
I laugh. “Yeah, right. Why am I really here?” I ask, thinking he’s joking.
“No, seriously,” Drake says, face devoid of amusement. “I did some digging and even talked to Dad. He did have an affair.”
“He cheated on Mom? When?”
Clay pipes up. “Mom was sick for a long time, Wyatt. You probably don’t remember as much of it as we do, but Dad was really torn up over it all. It makes sense that he would find someone else to take his mind off of the thought of the love of his life dying.”
I shake my head. “Okay. So Dad had an affair and we have a half-brother?” I ask, just making sure I’m caught up.
Drake nods. “This guy hasn’t showed his face yet, but we’ve all gotten letters saying he wants his portion of the estate—brewery included.”
This makes me laugh. “No way!”
“Thank you,” Colton says, motioning toward me.
Drake rolls his eyes. “I’m just saying that if we have a brother out there, then I want to meet him. I want to get to know him. If he is who he says he is, he deserves it just as much as we do. I mean, we each got our own piece of land. We all have a share in the brewery. Why shouldn’t he get his birthright?”
“We got what we got because we had to grow up and live that life. And what do you mean, if he is who he says he is? You don’t know for sure?” I feel caught off guard.
Drake lets out a long breath and shakes his head. “Celeste has been working on it. She found his birth records, but she’s still trying to track him down. It appears he’s off the grid. He doesn’t have a bank account, no credit cards, no last known address. Since his mom passed away, he’s just vanished. I’m only telling you now because I wanted to beat him to the punch this time. He’s been bringing us all in, one by one. I just wanted to know what you thought of it all. Should we give him his share? Should we make him sue us for it? Or should we buy him out? I’m pretty sure all he’s looking for is some instant cash.”
I decide to answer first. “All I know is I ain’t giving up my share without a fight. I mean, I’m getting married and we’re going to be starting a family soon. Not only that, but when I pass, my share will have to be split up among my own kids. The less I have, the less I have to pass down. And I’m sure you guys feel the same way, right?”
Colton nods.
“Yeah, I hadn’t thought of that,” Clay agrees.
Drake finishes off the whiskey in his glass. “Okay. That’s settled then. As settled as it can be without Hudson, anyway. Our half-brother won’t take possession of any piece of the estate.”
I nod my head once then toss back the rest of the whiskey in my glass. “Glad that’s taken care of.”
“Let me know if he sends you anything. You never know what might be a clue in this whole mystery.” Drake gives me a pointed look. It’s clear he’s invested in this. I wonder why he’s so concerned. I mean, he already has four brothers. Why is he so excited about there possibly being another?
“Well, if we’re done here . . .” I say, standing.
“Whoa, so you got engaged?” Colton says, out of the blue.
I laugh. “Yeah, I asked her last night. At this point, we haven’t told anyone but her parents.”
Colton smiles wide as he stands up and pulls me in for a hug. “Congrats, man. When do we get to meet her?”
“You’ve already met her. She and I were together in high school.”
He waves his hand through the air. “I had already moved out by then. Bring her by sometime. I think it’s only fair I get to tease you the way you tease me with Brennan.” There’s an evil gleam in his dark eyes.
“Yeah, the cookout. Bring her this weekend,” Drake adds on.
“We’ll see,” I say, stepping out of the barn and heading for the car. I’ve already talked to Destiny about the cookout this weekend, but I don’t want them to think I’m bringing her for them. Especially Colton.
Twenty
Destiny
The rest of the week passes by quickly, and before I know it, I’m getting dressed to go with Wyatt to his family cookout. I know it’s an outdoor event that’s totally chill, but I’m still wanting to make a good impression—especially now that these people are going to be my family too. I pull on a jean skirt that’s frayed around the bottom—it hits a couple inches above my knee—and a blue tank top that has ruffles and flows when the wind blows. I slide my feet into a pair of flip-flops and pull my hair into a high ponytail. It’s only spring, but the weather is already much warmer than it usually is, which can only mean this summer is going to be excruciating.
I grab my purse and head downstairs to find Wyatt and my dad sitting in the living room watching an old black-and-white western.
I smile when I walk around the corner and see them. “Hey, I didn’t know you were here already.” I bend down and give Wyatt a quick kiss.
“Oh yeah. I’ve already eaten six of the dozen cookies your mom baked for me.”
/>
I laugh. “Hey, where are my cookies?” I shout toward the kitchen.
“Maybe if you’re real nice to Wyatt, he’ll share some with you,” Mama says, not bothering to stick her head out. In the tone of her voice, I can hear the smile she’s wearing.
I roll my eyes. “Not fair. You’re not even technically in the family yet and you’re already the favorite.”
I hear her laugh from the kitchen. “He has been for a while!” she teases.
My mouth drops open. “Let’s go before they decide to sell me and make my bedroom yours.”
Wyatt laughs but stands up, shaking my dad’s hand. “See ya later, Pop.”
I turn to study him. “When’d you start calling him Pop?” I ask when we’re on the porch.
He laughs. “He sat down and his bones popped like 12 times. I was teasing him.”
He opens the passenger-side door and I slide in. When he takes his place behind the wheel, I look over at him and ask, “Do I look okay?”
He offers up a smile then wags his brows. “You’re beautiful. In fact, can you go back in and dull it down some? I really don’t want my stupid brother hitting on you.”
I laugh. “Why would your brother hit on me?”
He shifts into drive and starts toward town. “A while back, he introduced me to his fiancée, now wife. I was drunk and missed the asshole, so I wanted to tease him and piss him off a little.”
“So you hit on her,” I finish for him.
He nods. “Yep. He’s promised to get me back. So, just to let you know, you’re going to be teased relentlessly tonight.”
I wave him off. “If I can handle you, then I’m sure I can handle them.”
“I know you can,” Wyatt says, reaching over and rubbing my leg. He leaves it there, making me want to blush.
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