Collins
THEN
The low rumble of a motorcycle vibrates the floor as I’m throwing a shirt over my head, hair still wet from a shower—a cold shower.
The thought of spending the night with Johnnie left my dick painfully hard, and I barely slept.
Campbell is already at the window when I reach the living room.
Sure as shit, there’s our brother parked out front, on what appears to be his new toy.
“Looks like I won’t be needing to share my Trailblazer with Crandall anymore.”
Campbell crosses his arms, shakes his head and lets out a deep breath, staring at his twin brother.
Campbell has always been protective of us, an old soul, taking on the role of responsible big brother.
It’s only intensified since our parents died.
I can tell he’s not exactly thrilled with the new choice of transportation.
Clapping a hand on his shoulder, I give him a genuine smile. “He’ll be just fine on that thing. I think it suits him.”
“Yeah, it suits him, all right. That boy is danger dressed as a man.” I huff a laugh as Crandall comes strutting through the door, grinning.
“Not that I have any trouble as it is, but those two wheels are about to be panty droppers. Worth every penny.”
I damn near choke on a laugh when Campbell brushes past us, rolling his eyes. “You’re such a slut.”
Crandall takes that as a compliment, confirmed when he mutters a “thank you,” cheesy grin fully intact.
“Dammit.” Bird seed sprinkles to the ground at my feet as I attempt to fill the feeder I’m attaching to Nan’s dogwood tree. I made sure to get a mix with peanuts to hopefully attract some Blue Jays for her. She was nice enough to loan me her granddaughter for the night, so it’s the least I can do.
The truck is packed with everything we should need, and I’m giddy as fuck.
Johnnie doesn’t know it yet, but I’m taking her back to the property we went riding on the first time we actually hung out together.
I have a few surprises up my sleeve to make her birthday special, because she’s special.
Getting dirty on a camping trip might not be the most romantic thing I could have come up with, but I want her all to myself.
When it comes to her, I have no shame in my need to be greedy.
I place the wooden rooftop on the feeder, dust my shorts of residual bird food, and head up to their door. I can see Nan scurrying around the kitchen through the small window on the door, so I give it a light knock before turning the knob and letting myself in.
“I have a surprise for you, Nan.”
She smiles and throws a dish towel over her shoulder.
“Well, honey, you better tell me what it is. I don’t have all day.” Her quirkiness brings color to the gray in any situation, and I love her for it.
“Look out the window.” I nod to the large bay window in the kitchen, and she waddles over there on her stubby little legs.
“Well, I’ll be damned! Did you get me a bird feeder, handsome?” She puts one hand on her hip, takes the towel from her shoulder and flips it at me.
I can’t help but smile at her genuine surprise.
“You little shit!” Her arms are around my waist as my chest aches with bliss. “Thank you, honey. Smitty would love it. I love it. You’re one of the good ones, you know it?”
“What’s all the commotion in here?” I don’t even know what Nan’s response is, because when I turn around and find Johnnie standing at the counter, bag in hand, looking a whole hell of a lot like my entire future, my mind pauses. All coherent thoughts take a vacation.
I walk over, taking her bag and shouldering it. “Ready for your birthday trip, beautiful?”
She rolls her eyes.
“What?” I ask.
“My hair is wet, I’m not wearing any makeup, and I’m dressed—well, like I’m going camping.”
So that’s why she took my breath away like she did. She’s all natural and I fucking love it.
“Listen here, I think you look great. Don’t go selling yourself short, okay?”
She tries so hard not to smile, but she’s terrible at hiding how she really feels, and the blush on her cheeks just went straight to red. God, now I’m thinking about what else I could do to elicit the same reaction from her. The cold shower I took clearly wasn’t enough. I’m so gone for this girl.
“Collins, I thought my Smitty was the most romantic man there ever was, but you sure as hell give him a run for his money.” She swats me with the towel again, and Johnnie giggles.
“You two love birds get out of here and have fun. Oh, I almost forgot.” She reaches into the cabinet above the kitchen sink and pulls out a square pink wrapped gift and hands it to Johnnie. “Happy birthday, sweet pea.”
Johnnie rips it open and squeals, practically knocking Nan over in a hug. “Thank you, Nan! I’ve been wanting this CD. It’s his newest one! How did you know?”
“I called Bea.”
I already know what album it is. Nan asked me to pick it up for her last week, but I take it from her and inspect it like it’s the first time I’ve seen it. “Dierks Bentley. Good thing you’re pretty because your taste in music is questionable.”
She takes the case back and starts peeling away the wrapper. “I’ll get you to like country, just wait and see.”
“I doubt that, but have fun trying.”
The music from her new CD has been playing in the background as I put the final touches in the bed of the truck, two bed pillows propped up on the cab.
Johnnie is lying on the bench seat, dangling her feet out the rolled down window, tapping her foot to the beat when she pops up to check out what I’m doing. She looks confused as her eyes wander over the makeshift bed.
“We’re camping and we don’t have a tent?”
“How are we supposed to get a good look at the stars if we’re under a tent?”
She walks toward me, placing her arms on the side of the bed.
“We’re sleeping in the bed of the truck?”
I know she’s trying to act like it sounds like a bad idea, but I’ve got this girl figured out and she’s a bad actor.
“Yeah, I’m going to sleep under the stars with my girl and when we wake up in the morning, I get to be the first one to tell her happy birthday.” She throws herself in my arms. “Oooomf.”
“How did I get so lucky?” She beams up at me, and damn, she’s adorable.
“Funny, I’ve been asking myself the same thing since the first time you let me kiss you. Maybe even before that.”
I see her eyes dart to my lips, so mine land on hers in the next breath.
She tastes like sunshine and sin. She always seems so pure, but when her mouth is on mine, she turns into something I hope no one else has ever seen.
I want to be the only one to get this side of her, the hungry, curious, seductive side.
I reach down to take her hands in mine before whispering against her lips, “Come on, let’s go for a walk. I have a surprise for you.”