Chapter 19
CHAPTER 19
OH, MAYBE SHE’S A RUNAWAY brIDE!
Griffin
Me
U up for a task this afternoon?
Tucker
You’re getting better at texting. Who are you and what have you done with my Griffin?
Me
Are u going to answer the question?
Tucker
Does it involve working at the bar?
Me
A construction project.
Tucker
Sign me up.
Tucker
Also. Asking for a friend…what do you do with all that extra time you have not spelling out the entire word: Y-O-U.
Tucker
Do you save a lot of time only using one letter?
Me
Fuck YOU.
I’m not sure what I was thinking when I decided on this project.
I haven’t slept in two nights, and I’ve spent every minute of sunlight at the ranch or the bar. Trying like hell to stay off Barlow Drive, and away from the temptation living next door to me.
I call Blair that because after I stupidly showed up at her house with a first aid kit, everything shifted. My brain spiraled, and thoughts I never wanted to have again in my life came back with a vengeance.
I started thinking about a relationship.
Something I swore I would never have again in my life.
When insomnia struck the first night, I found myself with my head face down, screaming into the pillow out of frustration. All because I put my hands where they don’t belong.
I put my hands on her .
And it sparked something I had buried so deep down that it would never see the light of day again. I felt the electricity through my palm when it made contact with her bare leg, shooting through every part of me. And I didn’t want to leave.
Tucker walking through the front door of the General Store forces me to stuff these thoughts back down.
“Are you in a better mood?” Tucker asks immediately.
“Who said I was in a bad mood?”
“You always are. And your profanities via text message almost had me putting on body armor for this project, just in case you try to kill me,” he jokes.
“Hysterical,” I deadpan.
“What in the world are we doing now? Isn’t your house done?”
I don’t answer him but turn around and head for the hardware side of the store. I meet with the clerk, who sets me up with slabs of pressure-treated wood. I built the deck myself years ago, so I already know it has a solid base. But I went cheap on the wood, which clearly has deteriorated over time.
Once I’m ready to head to the checkout, I scan the area and can’t find Tucker anywhere.
“Tucker,” I shout.
“Right here,” he says, hustling to the register with an armful of snacks.
I narrow my eyes. “Are you kidding me right now?”
“What? I get hungry on the job site.” He shrugs. “I got you some trail mix.”
I shake my head. “I don’t want trail mix.”
“You will, Griff. I’m confident in knowing what your stomach needs.”
I stare at him unblinkingly before looking back at the clerk behind the counter. “I guess you can add this mess to the total.”
The clerk laughs before lifting the bag of seasoned pretzel twists. “Good choice here,” he says to Tucker.
“Right? I can fuck up some pretzel twists,” Tucker says.
I shake my head. I can’t believe the one person I trust to help me finish this project before the sun sets today is the one person who loves to waste my time over snacks.
I hand the clerk cash and leave before we can engage in any more conversation.
I already know this is going to be a long day.
I didn’t tell Tucker what we were doing today.
The entire ride back to my place, he kept asking questions about why I wanted to redo my deck so soon when we just did it last year. I just stayed quiet because I didn’t want to explain anything going through my head. After the railing broke on Blair’s deck, I hated the thought of her getting hurt again.
When I pull the truck into her driveway instead of mine, I look out of the corner of my eye and see Tucker realizing everything.
He scans the deck, the broken pieces from when she fell still scattered along the grass. Blair cleaned nothing up, and I wasn’t surprised. After that wicked gash in her leg, I doubt she wanted to subject herself to another one by touching it.
“Ready to explain?” he says.
I turn to face him from the driver’s seat, his arms across his chest and a shit-eating grin plastered on his face.
“Nope,” I say, popping the p and exiting the truck.
“Are you building your hot neighbor a deck?” he asks, rounding the front of the truck to meet me.
“Have you met her?”
“Nope,” he mocks me, popping the p the same way I did.
“Then don’t fucking call her my hot neighbor,” I warn him. “Do you see that broken rail over there?” I gesture to the deck.
“Yeah?”
“She fell a couple of days ago. I’m simply helping her out by fixing it for her. But also making it a little bigger since she mentioned she wants to expand it,” I explain, trying my best to hide any feelings I’ve been fighting in my chest.
“Dang.” Tucker huffs out a laugh. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re falling for the girl.”
“Never fucking happening,” I grit out quicker than I intend, pointing a finger in his direction. “And I don’t want to hear it out of your mouth again.”
He holds his hands up in defense. “Sore subject.”
I turn on my heel and start to unload the supplies from the bed of my truck, while Tucker silently grabs the tools we need from the back seat.
For the next hour, we successfully tear off the old wooden pieces, leaving us with the concrete base I poured that’s still in excellent condition. I wipe the sweat from my forehead and assess the next steps, while Tucker pops open a bag of his stupid pretzel twists.
I roll my eyes and work to set up the buzz saw for the wood, so each piece is the same length.
Once we lay down the first few pieces, I look over at Tucker, the conversation from before running through my head with each minute that passes.
“There’s something about her,” I say out loud.
My words cause Tucker to stop what he’s doing, sit back on his heel, and waiting for me to say more.
“I think Blair’s been through some shit. That’s why she’s here,” I say.
“Maybe she’s trying to start over.” He shrugs before his eyes widen. “Oh, maybe she’s a runaway bride! Could you imagine?” He laughs.
“You’re delusional.”
He scoffs. “Says the guy building his neighbor, who he barely knows, a whole ass deck.”
I don’t respond, because he’s right.
For the first time in his life, Tucker Daniels is right.
As we get back to work, I think about what would happen if I tried to pursue something with Blair. If I tried harder to find out why the hell I’m so drawn to her as much as I am. Why I want to learn more about her and her life back in the city.
She’s quirky, stubborn, and…real.
Fear creeps in, mixing with these thoughts, because what if I finally decide to open up to her, and she doesn’t stay? What if I let myself fall and she goes back to wherever she came from? What if she decides the bakery isn’t enough for her and she opens one up back in the city just to go home?
These are all the reasons I can’t let it happen.
But, dammit, she makes me want things again.
I need to get out of my own head.
I lose track of how long we’ve been here when the sky morphs into an orange glow as the sun crests over the mountain. I stand back with Tucker and assess all the work we’ve put in for the whole day.
It’s done, and it’s fucking beautiful if you ask me.
“All that’s left is to stain it,” Tucker says, standing next to me with his hands on his hips.
“I’ll find out what color she wants before we do that.”
“You got it.” He nods. “If you need help with that, call me. Don’t text. I get bad vibes from your messages.”
I scowl in his direction, ready to rebuttal when a white sports car pulls into the driveway behind my truck.
Blair jogs in our direction and her eyes widen before it quickly morphs into a scowl as she crosses her arms over her chest. “What did you do?” she hisses.
“Oh, she seems pissed,” Tucker whispers next to me, before straightening his spine. “It was his idea,” he defends.
“Who are you?” she asks him.
“I’m Tucker,” he says, shuffling in her direction with his hand extended to her. She eyes it before taking it to return the greeting. “Unfortunately, I’m related to this guy.” He hikes a thumb in my direction.
“My condolences,” she says to him, but is now looking at me.
“Whoa.” Tucker beams. “Even pissed off, she’s got jokes. I like this one.”
I keep my gaze locked on her angry eyes and refuse to laugh at this entire interaction. Not until I know she’s not actually mad.
Okay, I mean…she’s mad. Her body language is screaming it right now.
Tucker looks between both of us. “Well, I’m going to head up to your house and make a sandwich. I’m starving again. Those pretzel twists just weren’t enough,” he says, before making his way across the lawn.
Blair and I stand where he left us, still looking at each other. The tension I feel radiating off her, even from a decent distance away, is so thick that I can barely breathe right now .
“What did you do?” she asks again, this time crossing her arms over her chest.
Still mad, I see.
“I wanted to fix your railing,” I say honestly.
Her arms fly out, gesturing to the deck. “This doesn’t look like fixing my railing. The entire thing is new. I can fit an entire ten-piece patio furniture set on here.”
“Didn’t you want it bigger?” I question. “I remember you saying that. I was just helping make your life easier.”
She groans. “I don’t want it to be easier,” she shouts, throwing her arms out before muttering “ fuck ” under her breath. She turns away from me, kicking the rocks around in the gravel driveway. “You wouldn’t understand.”
“So, make me understand,” I say, my voice louder than I expected.
She turns to face me quickly, shocked that I even care.
Me too, Blair. Me too.
“You really want to know?”
I nod.
“My husband cheated on me.”
The words leave her lips so fast that I don’t have time to fully register what she just said.
Her husband?
Are they still married?
Did he fucking hurt her?
I remain silent, hoping like hell that she keeps going.
“That’s why I’m here,” she continues. “I want to start over. I want to find my independence again and learn who the hell I really am.” She pauses, looking down at the ground. “I’ve spent my entire life having other people do things for me. I’ve always relied on my parents or my husband for things. I don’t want to do that anymore. I moved sixteen hours away so that I can make something of myself . To get out of the city and finally be…who I’m meant to be. ”
My heart thunders in my chest with every word out of her mouth.
I knew she’d been through some shit, but I never expected this to be it. And I fucking hate myself for thinking about my past in this moment because that’s what she did to me.
I take slow steps toward her, and every part of me wants to wrap her in my arms.
She’s not my ex.
I know this with every fiber of my being.
When she refuses to look at me, I take her chin between my fingers and force her to look at me. The same electric buzz flows through my body with just one touch again.
“Regardless of trying to find your independence or not, there’s no way in hell I was letting you build a deck on your own to find it.”
She blinks but says nothing. Keeping her eyes locked with mine.
They burn the way they always do.
“How about this,” I start, keeping my tone level, releasing my hold on her chin and stuffing my hands in my pockets to calm the fire I feel on them. “Next week, we go down to the General Store and you pick out the stain you want, and we finish it. You’re in control of it.”
Just like she’s slowly gaining control over me .
“We?” she asks with a raised eyebrow.
I nod.
She looks from the deck and back to me, thinking about it.
“Okay,” she finally agrees.
I want to smile. I want to acknowledge that her agreeing to this actually makes me happy for the first time in a while, but I can’t get my head to cooperate.
I move to load the tools in the back of the truck and finish cleaning up the loose pieces of wood, tossing them into the truck’s bed. Once I slam the tailgate shut, I turn around and Blair stands there, staring at her new deck, delicately running her fingers along the new railing in place.
The corner of my lip twists up, but I turn around before she catches me.
Just as I’m about to make it to the driver’s side door, she stops me.
“Griffin,” she shouts.
I snap my head in her direction and find her rushing at me. Next thing I know, she has her arms wrapped around my neck. Her body pressed into mine only causes every part of me to stiffen. I feel tense at this new feeling rushing through me.
“Thank you,” she whispers into my neck.
I relax under her touch, wrapping my arms around her waist delicately. Not wanting to release her from my hold, but I know I need to.
“You’re welcome,” I choke out, releasing our hold and turning to get in my truck and leave as fast as I can.
Her words against my bare neck confirmed every desire I’ve had.
The feel of her body against mine just changed everything.
Even though I barely know her, I’m definitely falling for the city girl.