Chapter 25 #2
“Come on, beautiful. Let’s get you home,” I say as I help a buzzed-up Oaklee into the passenger seat of my truck before slipping her painting over the headrest and into the back.
“You’re pretty,” she says, running her palm across my cheek as she stares up at me from the seat.
I can’t help but smile. “Thank you, sweetheart. I think you’re pretty too.”
She grins as I shut the door and run around to the driver’s side and climb in. As soon as I have the truck started, she leans over and lays her head against my arm. Since she’s buckled in, she can’t get any closer, but I sure do like the feel of her lying against me regardless.
I drive toward her house, a Faith Hill song playing on the radio. I don’t know when I start humming along to the tune, but I only notice when I sense her eyes on me. Glancing to my right, I give her a grin. “What?”
“Even when you hum, you have a nice voice. I think you should come over every night and sing me to sleep,” she says, yawning.
“Yeah?” I ask, returning my eyes to the road while my heart pounds like a snare drum in my chest.
“Oh yeah. You sing me to sleep, and you’d get lucky every night,” she vows.
I’d be lucky.
She starts to hum along to the end of the song and jumps right into the next one. Her eyes are closed and there’s a faint grin on her lips. She doesn’t say anything else, just sits there quietly and contently as I drive her home.
When I pull into her driveway and park, I release my seat belt and climb from the driver’s seat. I make it to the passenger side and open her door before she’s made a move to exit. I help her out, slinging my arm around her shoulder as I escort her to the door. “Got your keys?” I ask.
She pulls them from her bag and dangles them in front of me.
“Thank you,” I reply, finding the one that unlocks the front door. “Come on, beautiful. Let’s get you inside.”
“I had the best time tonight,” she says, stepping into her house.
The second I cross the threshold, she moves. Like a cheetah, she leaps at me, knocking me back against the door and almost sending us both to the floor. But I’m able to right myself to keep standing. “Are you okay?” I ask, hoping she didn’t injure herself in the shuffle.
“I’m fine,” she declares, leaning her head against my shoulder. “Thanks for catching me.”
I chuckle. “You leaped into my arms.”
“Yeah. Because I knew you’d catch me.”
I press my lips to her forehead, the words I long to say on the tip of my tongue. “I’ll always catch you.”
She sighs, her eyes closed. “I’m tired.”
“We should get you to bed,” I state, walking toward the hallway that leads to her bedroom.
“Yeah.”
When we reach her bedroom, I slowly lower her to the floor.
She keeps her arms wrapped around me, holding me tightly.
All the things my brother said come flooding to my mind, and I can’t help but wonder if maybe, just perhaps, she actually feels the same way I do.
Of course, she has no clue how I really feel because I’ve never told her.
What if…
“I have an idea,” I start, causing her to look up at me. “What if I stayed here tonight. With you.”
I don’t know what I was expecting, but confusion wasn’t it.
She watches me, as if trying to figure out what I just said. “You want to…stay? Here?”
I shrug, as if it’s no big deal, all while my heart is pounding so loudly, I’m sure the neighbors can hear. “Why not?”
“Because we’re just…ya know, fooling around.”
My heart drops to the floor. “I know, but—”
“No, buts. You wanted casual, right?” she asks, releasing her hold on me and stepping back. The distance is excruciating. “You always do casual.”
“I do, yes,” I confirm.
Until now.
“We have to keep it that way,” she insists, her arms crossed over her chest as she looks anywhere but at me. “That’s what we agreed to.”
I don’t argue with her. No agreement was really made. It was just assumed, in my opinion, which is part of the problem. I haven’t really communicated well because I knew she was nursing a wounded heart and didn’t want anything serious.
At the time, that arrangement was perfect.
I usually don’t do serious either, but somewhere along the way, it started to feel different, and I never told her.
Hell, I didn’t even see it myself really, not until someone else slapped me upside the head with their observations.
All I know is she wants to keep things casual, and I don’t want to lose her and the friendship we’ve built just because I’ve started to have feelings.
Oh, who am I kidding. Definitely not my brother. Collin saw it. Camden too.
I fell in love with her.
“Okay,” I reply, shoving my hands in my pockets, agreeing to whatever she wants because she means too much to me.
A plethora of emotions cross her face, everything from hurt to shock to anger, but it’s when I see the tears in her eyes, I realize I really fucked this up. I want to kick my own ass for putting those there.
Stepping forward, I take her in my arms. “I’m sorry, just forget I said anything.”
She sniffles and whispers, “Yeah, okay.”
“I’ll head home and let you get some rest.”
She nods and doesn’t say anything, just stands rooted in place.
I press a kiss to her forehead, not wanting to push it by kissing her lips. “I’ll lock up behind me.”
There’s so much emotion swimming in those dark brown eyes, and I know I can’t fix this now. Not after she’s been drinking with the girls most of the night and is buzzed up. Any further conversation needs to happen when we’re both sober and able to talk like adults.
“Good night, beautiful.”
I walk out of her bedroom, praying it’s not the last time I’ll be there. And I’m not talking about the sex, even though that’s pretty fucking amazing. I’m talking about being here, with her.
I glance around the living room before stepping outside, ensuring the door is secured as I go. My feet are heavy as I return to my truck and climb inside. I start the engine and sit there, watching her bedroom window. The light never turns on, so I can only hope she climbs into bed and passes out.
As for me, I pull from her driveway but only make it as far as the road.
I stop along the curb and put my truck in park, wishing I had a magic wand to fix this.
I shouldn’t have said anything about spending the night, even if I truly wanted to stay.
Now, because I tried to potentially take this thing to the next level, I may lose her completely.
See?
Nothing good comes from falling in love.