Chapter 66
CHAPTER 66
ABIGAIL
“G od, I love it here.” I inhaled deeply and looked out of my sister’s kitchen window, watching the long grass sway in the light breeze and hearing the cattle lowing in the distance. “It’s so peaceful and beautiful. I can totally see why you’re happy here.”
“It really is the best, isn’t it?” Liv smiled at me after sliding a dish filled with vegetables into the oven. “On the other hand, being all the way out here means being pretty far away from you. So while the boys are poking around the barns, tell me what’s been going on with you and Simon.”
“It’s been pretty up and down,” I admitted, ignoring London’s sudden scowl where she was slicing ingredients for the salad on the other side of the island. “Despite that, I’m getting pretty attached to him again and that scares the hell out of me.”
Olivia swung a rag over her shoulder and looked at me. “Why?”
“Because going through the lows this time? He’s different. He takes responsibility, he apologizes, and I know he’s trying to be better, but I never stopped loving him and I don’t know if I’ll survive losing him again.”
“It sounds like he grew up.” A soft smile spread on Olivia’s lips as she held my gaze. “That’s a good thing, Abi.”
“I know, but the problem is that I don’t think George has grown up, which means the thing that tore us apart to begin with is still there. Still exactly the same.”
“If you ask me, Simon should just quit that damn company and get out from under his father’s thumb.” London took a large gulp of her wine. “George Astor is toxic, and if Simon doesn’t get away from him, that toxicity is going to leach into him sooner or later. If it hasn’t already.”
“I agree,” I said. “I just don’t think it’s easy to walk away from your own family, especially because he doesn’t only have a dad. He has a mom too.”
“He’ll work it out.” Olivia gave my arm a reassuring squeeze as she passed me a cutting board and a knife. “That guy has always been nuts about you and I know it’s been tough, getting to where you are now, but you love him, Abi. That’s worth fighting for.”
“ If he fights too,” London qualified before she sighed. “I don’t doubt that he loves you. My only worry is whether that’s going to be enough.”
“Amen to that.” I held my glass up in a silent cheers. Then I got to work helping to make the salad while Olivia started gathering cutlery and crockery.
Not long after, loud laughter and banter drifting in from outside told me the boys’ reinforcements had arrived. I looked up from the salad just as the front door banged open, and sure enough, all four of Charlie’s brothers as well as his best friend, Dallas, traipsed inside.
“Oh, brother.” Olivia chuckled, her eyes twinkling with love and joy even as she shook her head. “The chaos has arrived. I hope you’re ready for this, ladies.”
And she wasn’t wrong.
The men blew into the house like a hurricane, the Andersons and Dallas sweeping London and I into their arms and hugging us like long-lost sisters. Colt gave me a thorough onceover when he stepped away from me. His lips curved into a smirk and his eyes were relaxed and happy on mine. “You’re looking a lot less stressed than usual. Does it have anything to do with this guy I heard you’re bringing with you?”
I laughed. “It might. Be nice to him, okay?”
My brother-in-law sighed but finally winked and nodded. “If he deserves it, I’ll be nice enough.”
The boys grabbed beers and headed outside. Charlie, Liam, and Simon had already gone out there to fire up the grill, and when we joined them outside, I loved seeing how they all meshed so well with Simon. He was holding court at the fire pit, all the others in stitches around him.
As we strode closer, he suddenly looked over at me and smiled, his dark hair windswept after his tour of the ranch and the corners of those deep greens crinkling on a genuine smile. He held a hand out toward me and I took it, letting him pull me into his warm side. He swung his arm around my shoulders and held me close, all without missing a beat in his story.
“…gets up and starts yelling about how it was my fault that she was out of the competition, but she sat in the shade all day and didn’t lift a finger for anything we did.”
Liam and Colt cracked up laughing, and Liam sighed as he glanced at London. “Well, you did say her name was Karen, so that explains it, but some women can be pretty dramatic no matter what their name is.”
My sister scoffed and sat down next to him, wine in hand as she narrowed her eyes and propped her free hand on her hip. “If you don’t want drama, you shouldn’t make a scene, Liam. I only act on the stage you set.”
His brow furrowed. “How are we suddenly talking about me? Simon was telling us about what’s been going on at Fit Gal.”
“Yeah, Simon was talking about that. You insinuated that I was dramatic too. Why are you even here? We’re living in Houston right now. You could be at home.”
“You told me to help with the Anderson stuff.” He groaned and glanced at me. “Can I get a little bit of help here?”
“Nope.” I took a big step back, sliding my hand into Simon’s and pulling him away from the battling duo with me. “They’re always so much fun, those two.”
He chuckled. “Well, I think so. It’s kind of cute to watch them trying to dance around the fact that they’re so into each other that they’re at each other’s throats all the time.”
“It’ll definitely be easier for us all once they just give in.” I took a seat at the table Liv had set outside for dinner and Simon sat down beside me, quickly falling into conversation with Mason, the second oldest Anderson brother.
As they spoke, I held his hand under the table and caught up with Wyatt and Dallas, really feeling like I was with family now that I’d gotten to know them all better. I used to dream about who my sisters would marry—who we’d all start families with and what that would look like—and it’d always looked something exactly like this.
I loved everyone laughing and telling stories when we got together, and it was extra special that Simon fit in so well with them. After a dinner of steaks cooked on the grill with loads of salads, veggies, and bread Olivia had apparently baked with her mother-in-law this morning, we went to sit around a big fire Charlie lit in the firepit.
He and Liv came outside with everything we needed for s’mores and we sat around talking while the sun set. Simon grabbed my hand in his as the flames danced high, the sounds of laughter and the fire crackling accompanying the cicadas in the distance.
I smiled and bent my head to the side, resting it against his shoulder as I drank in the scene. I was desperately trying to play it nonchalantly, but I was crazy about this guy and having him here with me made me feel complete .
Like we’d finally reached the point I’d thought we were going to be at years ago, of him being part of my family while my sisters were with their significant others and their families. As I thought it, London let out a bark of disbelieving laughter.
“You’re such a liar. I did not superglue myself to you, Liam. I was eight and I’d just put on fake nails. It’s not my fault you grabbed my hand after that.”
“I didn’t grab it,” he objected. “You took it, supergluing yourself to me in the process. Besides, who puts on fake nails on a camping trip?”
“Better question,” she countered. “What eight-year-old wants to be on a camping trip?”
“Uh, me?” Charlie volunteered, chuckling before he turned his head to press a sweet kiss to Olivia’s head. “You know, the more time I spend with you guys, the happier I am that we didn’t grow up together. Our dads might’ve gotten along when they were young, but I doubt we would have got on so well.”
Liv chuckled and pursed her lips at him. “Shows how much faith you’ve got in me. I would’ve gone camping with you, Cowboy.”
“No, you wouldn’t have.” I laughed, settling into Simon’s arms and enjoying the time I was getting to spend with my siblings.
After s’mores and a few more drinks, we all turned in. Morning always came super early on the ranch and I knew tomorrow would be no different, especially because we also had the rodeo starting.
As I was getting ready for bed, I heard a soft knock on my door and I spat out my toothpaste, rinsing out my mouth before calling, “It’s open!”
I finished up quickly, but I was still rubbing cream into my face when I walked out of the bathroom to find Simon standing in my room, wearing nothing but navy pajama pants hanging from his hips. My eyes got glued to them for a moment, that enticing V and the ladder of his abs above.
He chuckled. “No way I’m coming all the way to Texas to sleep without you. My bed or yours?”
I finally managed to unstick my gaze from his torso, my cheeks flushing as I looked at him. “Mine. You’re already here.”
“I’m glad you noticed.” He smirked. “For a minute there, I was wondering if you thought it was only my abs.”
“Well, yeah. You can leave those here and go. Thanks.” I grinned at him, taking his hand when I passed him on my way to the bed. The lights were already off, only the lamps on the nightstands filling the room with a soft glow. “Come on, Simon’s abs. I’m beat. Let’s cuddle up and get to bed.”
He pretended to pout before he chuckled. “Can my ass stay too? It’s also pretty beat.”
“It’s about to be if it doesn’t get into the dang bed,” I joked, pulling back the covers and sliding underneath them. I groaned as I got comfortable, watching him climb in on the other side. Once I’d flipped my lamp off, he did the same on his side, then gathered me in his arms and pulled me closer.
In the dark, I brought my hands up to his face, feeling the coarse texture of his beard against my palms before I slid them into his hair. Simon didn’t hesitate, his lips finding mine easily and his arm banding around my waist.
All at once, it felt like everyone else had vanished from the house, like it was only him and I on the ranch, with the stars twinkling bright in the sky outside and the silver light of the moon providing just enough illumination to make the moment feel like magic.
Simon pulled me closer and I hooked my leg over his hips, deepening the kiss. He groaned into my mouth. My entire body came alive at the sound, my skin suddenly singing and heat pooling between my legs.
He was the only person I allowed myself to be so uninhibited with. Need coursed through me. I reached for the hem of my pajama shirt and pulled it off, pressing my chest against his as I lay back down with him. Immediately, one of Simon’s hands closed around my ribs, his fingers flexing. He moaned and stroked his thumb along the underside of my breast.
I trembled against him, all that need coiling tight in my lower belly as I felt him grow between my thighs. Already starting to feel a little frenzied, my breathing quickened and I stroked my tongue against his, silently begging for more.
Simon delivered without hesitation, pressing a palm to the small of my back and rolling his hips against me. Pleasure sparked through the very core of me at the friction and I held him tighter. Kissed him harder. It’d never been like this for me with anyone else, but as he peeled my pajama pants and my panties off in one smooth motion, I surrendered to him, knowing he knew exactly how to extinguish the flames he was fanning.
As his hand slipped between us, fingers sliding between my folds, I bit back a loud moan, but I couldn’t stop my hips from bucking. Simon kissed me harder, touching and stroking until I was a quivering mess. Then he finally put on a condom and sank into me.
My breath caught in my lungs, my body tense and wanting. He thrust in and pulled out. His own breathing was shallow, but he gave me everything I needed and more. Between kisses, I opened my eyes to look at him, taking in the dots of sweat on his brow and the tight restraint on his features.
Flooded with a torrent of emotions that mingled with the sensations he elicited, I claimed his mouth and kissed him hard, meeting every one of his thrusts with renewed intensity. Simon moaned into our kisses, his thighs rock hard between mine as he tensed.
In response, I wrapped my legs around him and moved faster, those first blissful wisps of pleasure quickly turning into a storm that completely overwhelmed me. Somewhere in the midst of my orgasm, I felt him swell deep inside my body. Our mouths crushed together to keep too much sound from escaping.
Simon’s hips jerked and then his kisses slowed, the tension easing out of his brow. I let out a breathless chuckle, too spent to do anything other than press a kiss to his chin.
“You’re way too good at that.”
“It’s not me, it’s you.” He shot me a lazy smile in response, then gave me one last, hard kiss before he rolled away from me. “Back in a moment.”
I watched as he strode across the moonlit room to the bathroom, coming back just a few seconds later with the condom taken care of. As soon as he climbed back in under the covers, he slid an arm under my head and pulled me to him. My head rested on his chest as our breathing slowly returned to normal.
Snuggling up to him, I closed my eyes, so sated, comfortable, and tired that I started drifting off to sleep almost immediately. Right before I surrendered, I felt him drawing a deep breath beside me before he whispered against my ear, “I never stopped loving you, Abi. I don’t think I ever will.”