Page 90 of Strung Along
I belt out a laugh as she stalks toward me, so short she hardly reaches my shoulders but tough as iron. Her hands come flying at me before fingers dip into my sides and stomach. I slap them away, jerking backward as she scrunches her brows in concentration.
“I’m not a child anymore, Grams. You can’t just tickle me whenever you want to in order to get your way.”
“If it keeps you from being such a stubborn mule, then so be it!”
“I’m a stubborn mule now?”
She drops her hands to her hips, giving my stomach muscles a break. “Were you really not going to invite your woman to Christmas?”
I blink slowly. “I figured she had plans of her own.”
“If you’d have asked her, you’d know she didn’t. It seems her family is otherwise occupied this holiday season.”
The quick bite of judgment in her tone has me jumping to her family’s defense. “They’re good people, Grams. They just live far away from one another.”
“It doesn’t matter either way. I invited her, and she’ll be here for Christmas. With us.” She pushes her shoulders back, chin high. “We’ll make her feel like family.”
The sentiment warms my belly like a long swig of hot chocolate. I want Anna to feel at home with my family, want her here over the holidays. I’m a fool not to have asked her myself the way I want to.
“If you’re doing this just to play matchmaker, I don’t need the help. I’m doing pretty well on my own.”
She sets a hand on my forearm, staring up at me softly. “I’ve done my part. The rest is up to you. Don’t play it safe and risk missing out on important moments, Brody. Figure out what it is you want, and do everything in your power to make it happen.”
She left me in the dining room a beat later, claiming she needed to change before getting started on dinner. As if she didn’t just want to leave me to sit in my thoughts. The days since have been much the same.
She’ll ask me the same few questions about how Anna’s doing, if she’s excited for Christmas and what she’s been up to. I spent a lot of time searching for Anna’s Christmas gift, and Grams was extremely giddy about that. It took nearly the two weeks since the idea sparked to not only locate what I needed but to complete my vision. Now that I’m done, I’m left with a bucket load of nerves and the hope that she loves what I’ve done.
Trees and bush separate the main house from the guest house, wrapping around the front and providing a necessary sense of privacy in such an open space. Long gravel roads connect the two houses, now covered in thick snow. The ranch is a sight to behold in the summertime, and there’s an ache in mychest when I think about not being here to witness it again. It’s been so long since I’ve been home in the summer, to feel the sun baking my shoulders and watch the breeze dancing through the fields. Fuck me, I’ve gone soft.
The guest house is big. Big and spacious and fitted with upgrades that the main house lacks. I had it built a few years ago, spent my first big paycheque from the label on it, knowing I needed a place of my own for when I came back home.
My first apartment in Nashville was the shits. I found a place that was rough and outdated and, most importantly, dirt cheap so I could focus on finishing up my place in Cherry Peak first. I never told anyone back home that little fact. They thought I was living it large in Music City. I was living well but not large.
Grandpa hated that I was the one to get the house built. He’s old-fashioned that way, but if me adding a piece of property to the ranch meant I’d be coming back home to them, he kept his mouth shut. I’m surprised he didn’t burn it to the ground when I decided to stay away.
I shove those thoughts aside as I walk inside and flip the lights on. My boots come off before I head for my bedroom, triple-checking along the way that I haven’t left a mess for Anna to see anywhere.
Today’ll be the first time she’s been inside this place. Unlike the main house, these walls are mine. Everything inside of them is mine. Memories and keepsakes. Mementos from my career as of late and back when I was a teenager playing no-good covers at the diner on Saturdays. Pieces of me are everywhere. Everything I had in my grandparents’ house growing up is here now.
Inviting Anna here feels a lot like slicing open my chest and baring my soul to her. But I don’t want to keep her out any longer. She’s already pried me halfway open and taken what she can anyway. There’s no use in fighting giving her the rest.
Pleased with the lack of mess, I take a quick shower and change before tossing my hat on and making my way back to the front of the house. I’ve gotta pick her up right about now, and I’m itching to see her.
I’ve hardly tugged one boot on when I hear tires roll over the packed snow outside. I put on the second boot before opening the door and stepping outside, arms bare in the cold.
The small, clunky red car comes to a stop seconds before the passenger door is flying open and Anna’s hopping out. Fit with tight blue jeans, my old jacket, and her new boots, she’s a fucking dream. I’m entirely unprepared for when she reaches back into the car and then sets a light brown cowboy hat on her head. With a beaming smile, she takes a gift box from Poppy before shutting the car door and jogging toward me.
“Merry Christmas, Brody,” she calls, each step bringing her closer and closer until finally, she’s in my arms.
I scoop her up and lift her feet from the ground, spinning us around. “Merry Christmas, sweetheart. I was just about to come get you.”
Glancing at the car in front of my house, I wave at Poppy before she returns the gesture and leaves the way she came.
“Poppy stopped by to drop her gifts off, and I couldn’t wait any longer to come. It feels like I haven’t seen you in forever.”
“Three days without kissin’ you and I’m damn near outta my mind,” I mutter before I’m remedying the problem.
Our kiss isn’t soft; it’s hard and fierce and desperate, chock full of a longing that I don’t think I’ll ever fucking understand. It’s been a long two weeks of trying to take my time with her. Of trying to learn her body with my hands and tongue while giving her the opportunity to learn mine in the same way. We haven’t had sex yet, been holding off as long as possible to take that last step, but I’ve about run out of time.