Chapter 28
Oakley
Lawson sleeps in, not that I’m surprised. He’s already been excused from work for the week, the timing not ideal considering school starts up again in a matter of days. But there’s little Lawson can do about that, and the man needs the rest.
Jackson told me to take some time off, too, in order to look after his brother. I didn’t consider arguing.
Lawson’s mouth is soft in sleep, the lines of his face relaxed and one bandaged hand tucked under his pillow. The sight of it has my chest twisting, the memory of Lawson scrambling around on the ground through broken glass with his truck tipped on its top still fresh in my mind.
I have no doubt Lawson was running on a good bit of adrenaline after the crash, probably not even feeling the cuts he was collecting. Luckily, none of them were severe: shallow only, no stitches required. Even so, knowing he was so torn up over the lost acorn I had no clue he even still had…
Fuck.
I brush my fingers ever so lightly through Lawson’s hair, the strands somewhat coarse from the gentle curl they have. It’s difficult to force myself away, but I want breakfast to be ready when Lawson wakes so he can take his pain meds.
The house is quiet, Bell out back. I get the pills prepared first, laying them next to a glass of water. My mom calls as I’m pulling bacon from the fridge.
“Morning,” I say, setting my phone on speaker so I can keep cooking.
“How is he?”
“Good. Resting,” I answer, pulling a pan from the rack. “Thanks again for following me that night. And for keeping Lawson’s family fed at the hospital.”
My mom hums. “Of course. You want to talk about it?”
I start the stove heating, knowing exactly what my mom is asking. It still takes me a moment to speak.
“I was terrified. Because what…what if…”
“But he’s okay,” my mom cuts in gently. “He’s perfectly fine. You’ve seen it for yourself.”
“He flipped his damn truck.”
“He did,” she says, her voice calmer than my own. “And he walked away from it.”
“But what if he hadn’t? What if the last time I spoke to him, we were arguing? What if I’d gotten there and found him—”
I can’t say it. Can’t even think it.
I exhale shakily as my mom’s voice pipes into the kitchen. “Fear is normal, honey. It’s healthy, even. You just can’t let yourself linger on it. Do you remember when you were fourteen and your dad fell off a ladder?”
It takes me a second, but I nod, even though she can’t see it. “I’d forgotten actually, but yeah, I remember now.”
“That was one of the scariest moments of my life. You know what another was?”
“What?”
“The moment I first held you in my arms. I was terrified something was going to go wrong. You were so little, and there were so many things in the world that could have hurt you. So you know what I did? I hugged you close. Your father, too. You can’t fixate on all the bad.
Hold on to the good, Oakley. Let that fill you up instead. ”
I lay the bacon into the pan as Lawson’s resting face comes to mind. The strong lines of his body in sleep. The way he asked me to kiss him just yesterday in this kitchen. And how nothing could have prepared me for what it felt like to press my lips to his.
A simple kiss.
And the lighting up of my very being.
I’d never kissed someone I was already undoubtedly and irreversibly in love with. Not until him.
“Why did Dad fall off that ladder?” I ask, my voice hoarse.
My mom chuckles. “Spider crawled on his hand. That man can climb up on the roof like it’s nothing, but one little bug and he’s done for. It’s why I hide the good cookies in the garden.”
“You do not,” I say around a laugh.
“Oh, I sure do. Got an airtight lockbox out there.”
“My God. I never knew you had such a villainous side.”
She laughs, the sound light. I can’t help but smile in response.
“Thanks, Mom. For calling. For checking in.”
“Always,” she says simply. “Let it out and then let it go, Oakley. And give Lawson a hug for me, would you?”
“I will,” I promise.
When my mom hangs up, I flip the bacon in the pan. I’m not expecting arms to snake around my middle, but I manage not to jolt too hard when they do.
“You hear that?” I ask Lawson, the man nuzzling against my neck. My eyes slip shut.
“Just the part about hugging me.”
Spinning slowly in Lawson’s arms, I wrap myself around him tight. He lets out a soft breath, the two of us fitting together like those ceramic salt-and-pepper shaker sets in ridiculous designs. My chuckle has Lawson pressing a quick kiss to the side of my cheek.
“All right?” he asks.
I nod against him. “Mhm. Just thinking you’d be pepper.”
Lawson pulls back to look at me. “Oak. Did you hit your head this morning?”
I bark a laugh. “Nope. I’m right as rain. Breakfast is on the way if you don’t mind waiting a few more minutes.”
“I don’t mind,” he says. “Although I have a question for you.”
“Oh boy.”
I peck a kiss against Lawson’s lips with the intent to get back to cooking, but that quick peck becomes another and another, and then Lawson’s hands are slipping into my back pockets, and I’m gone.
He tastes minty, telling me he used my toothpaste this morning. I didn’t realize I have a kink for the man helping himself to my toiletries, but apparently, there’s a lot about Lawson I’m still learning.
Like what his mouth feels like curved against my own. The pleased sound he makes in reaction to the moan that slips past my lips. The fact that I’m more than certain he’s ruined me for all others, but I can’t find it in me to care or worry.
Because if I have my way, there won’t be any others.
And isn’t that a remarkable thought.
“You’re dangerous,” I mutter against his mouth.
“I thought I was pepper.”
“Good God, he’s got lip.”
“Two of ’em,” Lawson says, proving his point quite nicely.
Thankfully, the man steps back before the bacon can burn. I clear my throat, licking my lips as I turn back around to pick up the tongs. The strips of bacon are cooked, so I turn off the burner and start the oven on quick preheat, having forgotten before. “Your question?”
Lawson leans his hip against the counter as I collect flour and the other ingredients to make biscuits. “You said something I didn’t get a chance to ask about.”
I shoot him a quick nod so he knows I’m listening.
“You said you didn’t want to be my next Laura.”
I still for only a second before continuing to mix up the biscuit dough. “I did.”
“What does that mean?”
Lawson waits patiently while I cut up the still-warm bacon, folding it into the biscuit mixture with some cheddar cheese. I start dropping the biscuits onto a tray after.
Voicing this is harder than I expected it to be.
“I was afraid if I pushed you into something you weren’t ready for, you’d stay out of obligation. Not because it was what you wanted or needed. And I didn’t want you to be unhappy, Law, even if it meant I got you.”
Lawson is quiet for a long moment. Long enough I get the biscuits in the oven and am starting on the eggs when he finally speaks.
“Oak. Did you forget the part where I drove over a thousand miles to drag you back here? You are my happiness. Don’t you get that?
I’m never happier than when I’m with you. ”
I draw in a ragged breath and chance a glance at Lawson. The expression on his face leaves me no room for doubt.
“I’m not ever gonna feel stuck with you,” he says. “I can’t get enough of you. Pretty sure I’d chain us together if I could figure out a way to manage it.”
My laugh is hoarse. “Shit, Law. We went from rope to chains pretty fast.”
There’s amusement in his voice, albeit a gentle sort. “I don’t think it was all that fast. It took us a long time to get here.”
I can’t argue that.
“I don’t want to step back from this, all right?” he says, more serious. “When I think about what it is I want and what I need, the one constant is…you.”
“Jesus,” I manage.
“Something I said?”
“Everything,” I tell him truthfully. “You have this way of just…cutting deep. Not in a bad way. You’re just so damn honest, it makes me feel splayed open, too.”
“And that’s a good thing?” he asks, a smile tipping his lips.
“Where it concerns you? Yes.”
“’Cause I’m your person.” It’s a factual observation he’s confident in.
“Mmph. You’re gonna, uh, need to give me a minute to find my feet again.”
Lawson’s smile is wider now. Smug. “You’re standing just fine.”
I pointedly eye the counter I’m gripping. “Am I, though?”
“You look good from here.”
It takes me a beat. “Fucking hell, you are flirting.”
Lawson chuckles, the sound one I’m not likely to ever forget. “I’ve found I like knocking you off-kilter.”
“Why’s that?” I ask, not sure if my heart is ready to hear the answer.
He hums. “’Cause you’ve always held me up, Oak. I guess it’s nice being the one to pull you to your feet now and again.” After the briefest of pauses in which, yes, my heart thumps erratically, he says, “Plus—”
“Oh Lord, help me.”
“I’ve found it’s real easy to get you hard. And when you’re hard, you fuck me.”
“Nope,” I tell the man, aiming a stern finger his way. “Nuh-uh. You’re recovering from whiplash. You’re an injured man. Behave.”
Lawson chuckles again. Thankfully, I’m saved by a knock at the door.
“I’ll get it,” he says.
I pull the eggs off the stove as Lawson heads to the front door. When I hear who it is, I grab three plates from the cupboard instead of two.
“What are you doing here so early?” Lawson asks his daughter.
“Morning, Wen,” I call.
“Morning,” she calls back, toeing off her shoes. “Figured I’d bring this by. I know you still have a little work to finish, and you’ll just be anxious until you get it done. Even though your doctor told you to rest.”
I keep my amusement to myself as Lawson accepts his laptop bag from Wendy.
“Also,” she adds a little shyly, “I wanted to see you. ’Cause I love you or whatever. What’s for breakfast?”
“Bacon-and-cheddar biscuits plus eggs,” I tell her, catching Lawson’s eye as the two near. He’s doing his best to keep it together, but I can see the emotions he’s battling. “Orange juice?”
“Please,” Wendy says, pulling out a chair at the table. “So… You two?”
Lawson and I exchange a look.
There’s a lot we still need to figure out. What we’re calling this. How this change will affect our lives, separately and together. Whether or not we’ll be living in one house or two. Or if Laura is going to be a problem.
But it’s clear we’re on the same page when it comes to this.
“Yeah,” I tell Wendy, my lips curving into a smile as Lawson’s brown eyes hold mine. “Us two.”