“When are you wanting to go?” she asks me.
“Where?” I look at her confused.
“To the garden center in Fairbault,” (a town about thirty minutes north of us).
“Oh…” I completely forgot. And judging by the look on her face, she is realizing this. I smile sheepishly, “Anytime?”
“Okay, I want to get an early start so we can plant some trees in the front yard,” she tells me. “I’ll just go get a cup of coffee and then we’ll head out, okay?”
“Sounds good,” I nod.
She gets up and walks back into the house.
“So much for salvaging the morning,” Grayson mumbles, watching her walk back in the house.
I break out in laughter.
He looks back to me and quirks his lip up at me.
“Later, baby,” he promises, leaning forward to give me a soft kiss. “I’m gonna go shower and get ready for work.”
“Okay,” I smile at him.
“Have fun with your mom and be safe.”
“Will do,” I promise.
He gives me another soft kiss, gets up and goes into the house.
He’s got such a great ass, I think, watching him walk away.
“You too, babe,” he stops at the door and smirks at me.
“Oh, shit…” I breathe. “I said that out loud?”
“Yeah,” his eyes go lazy, “and it’s good to know where your head is at,” he winks before walking into the house.
I groan in frustration.
I am such a dork!
***
I spent the rest of the day helping Mom plant trees and flowers.
Wyatt and Abbey came over and had lunch with us, leading to a discussion of the weekend plans…
“So I hear we have a barbeque to go to tomorrow?” my dad asks while taking a bite of turkey sandwich.
I put some barbeque chips on my sandwich and mush it together, “That’s the word around town,” I say and take a bite of it.
“The only word around town,” my brother puts in with a smile.
“Yeah, the way everyone is talking, it’s going to be bigger than the Fourth of July,” Abbey adds with a giggle.
“Oh my…” Mom freezes, her eyes looking off in the distance.
I know just what she is thinking about.
“Mom,” she looks at me, “you have enough stuff for food,” I tell her.
“Maybe I should…” she trails off.
“Mom, you bought things to make seven side dishes and fifteen desserts, not to mention you enlisted the help of the rotary club. There will be enough food,” I need to stop her before she gets even more carried away.
“I’ve got to make some calls,” she says it gets up from the table.
“Mom!” I whine.
“May as well give it up, sis,” my dad tells me. “You know this is the most exciting thing to happen to her since Abbey and Wyatt announced they were pregnant.”
“That was just a few months ago,” I rationalize.
“Don’t fight it,” he pats my hand, grinning at me.
“It’s not like we’re putting on a wedding reception!” I whine again.
“Yeah, but from what I hear,” Abbey says, “that’s probably in your future.”
My face pales, “No…”
“Suck it up, sister,” she smirks at me.
“We’re just hanging out. Just…” I look out of the corner of my eye to Dad, “friends.”
Wyatt bursts out laughing.
So does Dad.
And Abbey.
“Pia, a man does not act like that over a ‘friend’,” Wyatt explains.
“He’s just friendly,” I argue.
“Sis,” Dad says, “I’ve heard enough around town and with what we walked in on the other day,” oh god, “that man is not just a friend.”
“Shit,” I place my elbow on the table and rest my head in my hand.
“Ree, language!” Mom scolds from the living room.
I stick my tongue out in her direction.
The rest of the day went much the same, everyone in town stopping me to talk about tomorrow’s event and how they can’t wait to see Grayson and I together. On and on and on and on…
It was a long day.
Made even worse by the fact that Grayson had to work late so he wasn’t coming by. He asked me to come by his house early in the morning because he thought it would be a late night and he didn’t want to disturb me.
I don’t know why I needed to see him so badly. I should want distance from him after the day I had. But, I knew the only thing that would make me feel better was him.
He was an addiction now…
His affection…
His voice…
His presence…
His devil penis magic.
So I did what any girl does when faced with a crisis of the heart and mind, I turned up the music and had a private dance party while making brownies.
***
This morning I got up and put my supplies into the Edge before motoring off to Grayson’s.
He called earlier and said he was leaving the garage open for me, so there would be more room to park for the guests.
I pull in between his truck and a large boat. Judging by the way the cover lays over it, I’d say it’s about a twenty foot pontoon boat.
I get out of my car and walk around to the boat to pull the cover up and take a look at it, when I’m grabbed from behind and pushed into my car, the wind completely knocked out of me in surprise.
I look up just as Grayson’s mouth descends on mine. I immediately open to him as he presses me harder into the car. My hands travel up and latch onto his hair. His hands travel down and lift me up, wrapping my legs around his waist.
“Chief,” I gasp when he breaks the kiss to lavish attention to my neck.
“Shut up,” he growls.
“Excuse me?” I ask astonished.
“Shut up,” he says again.
Well!
“It’s been three fucking days since I’ve had the taste of your pussy in my mouth,” Uh… what?!?! My ‘gina goes straight to seizure mode. “Three fucking days since I’ve had you laid out under me,” his hands travel up my shirt, pulling my bra cups down, giving him access to my nipples. I arch my back into his hands and let out a low moan. “Three fucking days since I’ve heard you whisper my name as you come undone around me.”
“Chief…” I breathe out.
“So, like I said, shut up,” his mouth devours mine again and he grinds his erection into me. Oh, god. So good. “First,” he moves back to my neck, “I’m going to bend you over my counter and feast on you from behind.”
“Yes…” I hiss out, my hands tightening in his hair. My ‘gina has completely spasmed out of control.
“Then,” he twists my nipple and nips at my neck, “I’m going to lay you out on my table and fuck you until you are incoherent for the rest of the day.”
I’d say I’m pretty incoherent right now.
“Understand?” he looks at me.
“Y… yes,” I sputter out.
“Good,” he pulls us away from the Edge and walks toward the door into the house.
“Ree! Chief!” I look behind Grayson and see my mom jogging up the driveway into the garage.
I look at Grayson and I actually fear for my mother a bit.
His face is sca-ry.
His jaw is clenched tight and a muscle in his cheek is ticking; his eyes are unfocused at some point behind me.
“Uh… Hey Mom,” I say, because Grayson obviously isn’t in a greeting mood.
“Er…” Mom stares at Grayson and the stiff way he’s holding his shoulders. “Grayson…?” she calls. He doesn’t respond. “Is there… uh… any way that you could help me carry things in?” she asks tentatively.
Grayson doesn’t say a word. He sets me down on my feet and turns and stalks out of the garage.
“Oh no…” Mom says watching him go. She looks back at me, “I’m so
sorry, Ree.”
I smile at her, trying desperately to hold back a laugh at his actions, “It’s okay Mom,” I tell her. “It’s just been a long week. We haven’t seen each other much.”
“Maybe I should leave…?” she looks as he carries an armful of desserts and bags into the house, then she looks back at me, “Go to the supermarket for… say… an hour?”
A giggle bursts out of me, “Let’s just get things set up, Mom.”
“Are you sure…?”
“Yeah. Help me get my things,” I walk her over to my car.
“He seemed really mad…”
“He’ll be fine,” I assure her. “Just… maybe stay away from him for a while.”
She bites her lip and watches as he comes back out to the garage. I reach in the backseat of my car and hand the pan of brownies to her.
“Oooo, Ree, you made your s’mores brownies,” her eyes light up. “He’s sure to be putty in your hands now,” she smiles.
I roll my eyes at her, “Thanks, Mom.”
We take my things inside.
Grayson comes in and sets some more things on the counter.
“That should be the last of it, Sandra,” he says then walks to the fridge, pulls out a beer, twists the cap off and walks to me. He places a hand on my waist and gives me a light kiss before walking out the back door.
“Oh no…” Mom whispers. “I’ll make sure everyone leaves early to give you two sometime tonight,” she promises me.
I smile at her, “Can you also keep the station from calling him?”
She tilts her head to the side, “I’ll work on it,” she tells me before digging into her supplies and unpacking everything.
***
“Kota, that is a horrible thing to say,” my mother scolds her.
“Maybe so,” she shrugs, “but I’m a hair dresser. Not a damn maid.”
Malia and I grin at each other.
Mom huffs and wipes down the counters.
The doorbell rings and my eyes go wide as Doomsday begins.
“I’ll get it,” Mom chirps and scurries off to the door.
“Hold on tight,” Kota looks at me with an evil grin. “It’s gonna be a hell of day.”
“Great. Thanks. Very helpful,” I tell her.
Her and Malia giggle.
ChapterEleven
Challenge: Accepted
The barbeque is in full swing and just as I predicted, everyone came to see The Exhibit.
Jimmy Philips was one of the first to arrive and has watched everything with rapt attention.
I’ve tried to avoid Grayson for this reason.
Key word: tried.
He apparently doesn’t like to be avoided.
Evidenced by the fact that he always found me and was constantly touching me in some subtly intimate way.
While I loved this, I also hated it, because everyone stared at us and would get a goofy looking smile on their faces.
This made me want to vomit.
Eventually¸ I got over it. I figured they would get used to it sooner or later and I didn’t need anyone ruining a beautiful afternoon.
I met almost everyone on the force, except for the few who were working today, but as they were all locals, I know most of them.
All of the guys from Grayson’s unit are similar in the fact that they’re all fairly tall, have strong square jaws and take very good care of their bodies.
Every girl’s wet dream is just lounging around Grayson’s back yard…
Colt Evans is very sweet and has a ‘down home’ and ‘boy next door’ vibe to him. He’s got brown eyes and brown hair that curls up at the ends.
Chance Hayes is the epitome of a player. He openly flirted with me, but Grayson didn’t seem to mind (too much) so I think this is just how he is with every woman. It was also a little obvious that he was just trying to jerk Grayson’s chain and get him riled up.
He has perfectly styled blonde hair that stands up in a faux hawk with perfect precision (clearly he spends some time making sure he looks good ‘for the ladies’) and he has bright blue eyes that shine with mischief and good times. (I’m about ninety nine point nine percent sure this is how he works his magic.)
Koby Lewis has a quiet demeanor. Like he prefers to sit back and take everything in and chooses his words carefully. He has tousled dirty blonde hair and a very magnetic pair of hazel eyes.
Declan Reid is one of the funniest and most friendly people I think I’ve ever met. He has a very positive attitude and seems to get along well with everyone. He has short blonde hair (that I’m pretty sure he styles, but in a haphazard type of way; like putting some hair paste or something in his hands and rubbing it through his hair) and green eyes.
Blaine Owens… I’m not quite sure what to make of Blaine. He scares me a bit, but not in a creepy ‘Holy shit he’s going to go psycho and kill everybody’ kind of way. More like he knows danger is everywhere and he’s prepared for it. Constantly assessing every move anyone makes and what that may give away of their intentions. He’s pretty intense, so I just kind of avoided him a bit. He has jet black shaggy hair that curls around his ears and neck and dark eyes (maybe chocolate brown, it was hard to look at his eyes for very long without cowering in fear).
Mom had Dad bring a few six foot tables to set all the food on outside. Everyone brought their own chairs to sit in and other than feeling like those cute little monkeys at the zoo being watched by tourists, I was having a great time.
“So are you settling into town okay?” Declan asks me.
We’re standing in a group by the grill, drinking our beers and getting to know each other.
“Yep,” I nod. “It’s not hard to do when you grew up here, though.”
“Even with all the rumors surrounding you?” he grins into his beer.
“Ah, hell,” Jer puts in, “most of those are just shit people made up. Ree isn’t that famous,” he winks at me, causing me to laugh.
“I heard you were arrested for indecent exposure,” Chance runs his eyes lazily up and down my body.
I should be creeped out by someone openly leering me, but with guys this hot, it’s hard not to feel anything but flattered, honestly.
“Hayes,” Grayson warns, making him grin in return.
“That was total bullshit,” I answer Chance.
“Yeah, you had a coat on,” Jer defends me.
“And underwear!” I exclaim.
“Really, babe?” Grayson asks me, with a raised brow and laughter in his eyes causing a nice little tingle to race through my body.
“Whatever,” I huff. “Besides, I was never actually arrested. I was ‘questioned’.” I make the air quotes with my fingers.
“Yeah, in Uncle Sal’s, three sheets to the wind,” Jer laughs.
“It was the vodka!” I defend myself. “You all knew what that shit did to me!”
“How old were you when this happened?” Colt Evans asks, holding back his laughter.
“I was eighteen,” I answer.
“What are we talking about?” Kota asks as her and Tess come into our group.
My eyes dart to Ryder and I momentarily see pain flash through his eyes.
What’s that all about?
“When Ree was ‘questioned’ for indecent exposure,” Ryder answers her, making air quotes like I did.
“Oh that was a fun night!” she smiles wistfully. She looks at me, “That was your eighteenth birthday right? At Sal’s?”
“You’d just turned eighteen?” quiet, sweet Koby asks after spitting his beer all over poor Jer.
“Dude!” Jer complains.
“It was the vodka!” I maintain my position of defense. “You guys know what that does to me and you kept giving them to me.”
“And you kept drinking them like it was water and you’d just done a month long trek through the middle east,” Ryder grins.
“Hold on,” Koby interrupts, “did you go to the bar dressed like that? Or change when you got there?”
“Ugh,” I groan, leaning heavily into Grayson, who slides his arm around me.
“We’d made her get drunk before we went out,” Kota answers. “Then Malia and I gave her the idea that it would be fun if she spent her birthday in her Birthday Suit. She compromised with a coat and underwear,” she finishes on a laugh.
“Sweet Malia was in on it?” Declan asks with a smile.
“Oh, puh-lease!” I exclaim. “That girl got me into more trouble than anyone with her dares.”
“You were such a sucker for those triple dog dares, too,” Ryder laughs.
“Hello…?” I drag the word out. “A Christmas Story? You can’t back down from that,” I shake my head for emphasis.
“Christ, Chief,” Blaine shakes his head (is that… ohmigod! I think he’s about to crack a smile!), “You’re right. She really is a nut.”
“Pfft,” I roll my eyes.
“I… ohmigod!” Tess is bent over in a fit of laughter, fighting for air, “I… You really did that?!” she manages to choke out.
“Whatever,” I roll my eyes and take a drink of my beer.
“Babe,” Grayson laughs in my ear.
“Screw you,” I look up at his gorgeously smiling face, “Screw all of you.” I look at the rest of the group.
“Holy shit! Did you just stomp your foot?” Chance laughs.
I cross my arms and slip into Ree’s Adult Pouting Session.
“How did you get out of being arrested?” Declan asks.
“How she always got out of everything,” Jer says making me grin.
“Gert came and told the cops that her brother poured ketchup, mustard and powder all over the clothes in her closet and Sandra and her were trying to get the stains out, so the only clothes Ree had was her underwear and one of Gert’s coats,” Kota explains.
“Didn’t they ask why you didn’t borrow a friend’s clothes?” Colt asks. “Or just stay home until you had something clean to wear?”
“Gert talked them around and then threatened them with harassment,” Ryder laughs. “When that woman gets on a tangent she can talk anyone around.”
“This is true,” I smile at them.
“When are we taking the boat out?” Ryder asks Grayson, (thankfully) changing the subject.
“I was thinking in a couple of weeks, if everyone is up for it,” he says.
My Coyote Ugly Life Page 16
