Chapter 47
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
ariana
“You asked for a charcuterie board and I’m making you one, but you have to save some grapes and cheese for the actual board, otherwise what is the point?” Boston asks, stopping to scold me while shirtless. He’s holding a little knife, his hat backward on his head. He’s a snack making me a snack.
I was too busy staring at the hair on his chest and stomach that leads to one of my favourite parts of him. I pop another grape into my mouth, snapping my eyes up to his face. He raises his brows, so I just smile.
“It’s a drive-thru charcuterie board. It’s a new thing. I eat as you cut.”
He rolls those green eyes, his lips pulling upward at the absurdity of my comments.
I got here early so I can help around the farm.
We fed the animals, and I spent far too much time with the cows because they’ve become my favourite.
I never realized how cute cows can be. We played with the dogs in the field for a bit, too.
After lunch, he’s going to let me visit the baby goats.
He says they like music. We haven’t spent all too much time out on his land, but I’ve learned quickly that I love his way of life.
It’s simple, and something about that is endearing.
I’ve been here multiple times a week since August. It’s now mid-September, and we're still doing this. My brother thinks I’m back to dating around town, and I let him think that’s the truth. As long as I tell him when I’m staying out, he doesn’t ask questions. He just grimaces and waves me off.
Lately, Boston and I have been doing much more than just hooking up.
We watch TV, we do farm work, we talk, and talk, and talk.
Sometimes I spend the night, sometimes I don’t.
It’s easier that way. If I were sleeping out every single night, Carter would start asking questions.
I’m doing my school work and actively working on myself, so he’s stopped worrying as much.
Boston picked me up today once I was done studying at the coffee shop.
It’s a nightmare to have to hide this thing between us with sneaky pick-ups and drop-offs, but it’s nice not to have to drive everywhere.
He’s become my chariot who always awaits.
I was growing tired of making the trek here and back so frequently, especially late at night.
I much prefer being a passenger, especially if he’s driving.
He retrieves a jar of olives from the fridge. I perk up. “My favourite!”
He pops open the jar and looks at me. “I know. That's why I bought them.”
“Really?”
“I’ve seen you beg bartenders to pour them into your martini like sprinkles. I’ve gathered that you like olives, Ari.”
“Perceptive,” I say, impressed.
“Bare minimum,” he corrects with a hard look, a reminder that if I keep dating losers, I will keep being with men who don’t care or notice my preferences. Like losers.
“You look very hot when you make me food.”
He snorts, scattering the olives on the board in a stylistic line. This man could have a job as a charcuterie maker. It’s like an art. “You look very hot when you do anything.”
I press a hand to my chest, my jaw dropping open. “Boston Black, you flatter me.”
He rolls his eyes, dropping the spoon in the jar of olives and handing it to me instead of sticking it back in the fridge.
I like him more than I did five seconds ago.
I dig in, popping spoonfuls of them into my mouth, watching him finish his task with precision, like we’re feeding a party of twenty food critics and not just ourselves.
When he’s done, we pick at it together. We chat.
We talk about school and practice, about his brother coming to town in a couple months and how he hasn’t seen him in ages.
I don’t push for more information, but I can tell there is a distance there.
When the inevitable talk about Morgan comes up, we both grow a bit more solemn.
“What’s Callum going to do?”
He’s leaning against the island on his elbows, grabbing a cracker and a pepperette. “I’m worried about how he’ll react when he sees Tom for the first time. I feel like if Morgan is around, he’s just going to pretend she doesn’t exist. Look right through her.”
“And you guys are still going to handle it the way you discussed?”
“Yeah,” he says, green eyes darting to mine. “It’s what they want. I’m more than happy to dish out whatever punishment they deem appropriate.”
“It should be worse,” I grumble. I think about that night often. How broken Callum looked, how worried Wyatt seemed.
“I know,” he says with a sigh. “I knew that girl was bad news the moment I met her. Danford isn’t my favourite person, but I don’t even think he knows he’s chained to the actual devil.”
“Lemmy got it stopped?”
He pauses. Contemplation runs through him for a moment, but he seems to make an internal decision. He says nothing. Just continues to chew. “Yeah. She’s good at that.”
Well, that won’t do.
“She’s beautiful,” I say.
He pauses again, eyes snapping up to my face. “Do you have something you want to ask me?”
I shrug. I already know the answer, so I don’t know why I’m doing this.
He straightens to a stand, crossing his arms in front of that broad chest. God, it’s impossible to focus with that body in my direct line of sight. That long, dark hair, pulled away from his face by his hat…
Maybe I don’t need to know. Maybe it doesn’t matter.
“Go on, then.”
I look at his face instead. “Have you and Lemmy slept together?”
His jaw pulses. For a second, he says nothing, just stares at me. Then he dips his chin and a sting of pain squeezes my heart. “Not since you.”
I suck in a breath, but manage a nod. “It’s okay. I thought so. It was…nothing serious, right? Like, I'm not hurting her by doing this?”
“No,” he answers, his voice calm and clear. “It only happens every so often. Completely unattached. We’re just friends.”
I smile tightly. “Okay.”
“Does that bother you?”
I shrug. “It…isn’t my favourite thing about you.”
He smiles gently, letting out a breath of a laugh and then lazily trudges toward me. He places his hands on my jaw, forcing me to look up at him as he walks into my space.
I pout, because even just thinking about him sleeping with other women, especially someone as intelligent and gorgeous as Lemmy—it sucks.
“What Lemmy and I would do, and what you and I do, they aren’t the same.”
“Okay.”
“And I know we haven’t discussed it, but I’m not sleeping with anyone else while we’re sleeping together. I’ll tell you if that were to ever change.”
“Me neither.”
We just look at each other. Eyes burning into one another. Knowing that our situation is weird and uncharted and we don’t really know what we’re doing.
“You okay?” he asks, thumbs brushing my cheeks.
I nod in his hands, but I don’t want to talk about this anymore. I’ll cave inwardly and probably die. “Can we go and see the baby goats now?”
“Kids,” he corrects, leaning down to press a kiss to my mouth. He straightens. “Finish your fucking drive-thru charcuterie first.”