Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
LANDEN
Once we’re done chatting with Mom and unloading all the bags, I take Ellie to my place so I can finally put my groceries away. She’s never been here before and now I wish I would’ve cleaned up first.
But if she minds, she doesn’t make it known. In fact, she helps herself to looking through my cabinets and drawers, snooping around as if she hopes something will trigger a memory.
“Satisfied?” I muse, watching her from my couch as she looks at my photos hanging on the wall.
“If I’ve been here before, nothing’s clicking.”
“Nope, you haven’t.”
She glances at me over her shoulder. “How many girls have been?”
I chuckle at the way she snuck in that question so effortlessly. “Are we havin’ the body count talk?”
“Body count? Are we talkin’ about murders or sexual partners?”
I blow out a tense breath. “Honestly, murders would be a more comfortable topic.”
“So I’m guessing you’ve slept with a lot of women.”
“Depends what you consider a lot.”
“Well…” She paces around the living room. “Five would be a lot to me. But I’m only twenty-three.”
“Right…”
“And you’re twenty-nine, so…probably close to that number.” The way she says it sounds like she’s asking for confirmation rather than being certain.
“Twenty-nine women?”
“Yeah, I’d consider that to be a lot.”
“Okay…” I scratch along my jawline, curious as to where this is leading.
“So…have you slept with a lot of women?”
“In terms of what you consider a lot, then no.”
Not even close to that.
She raises a brow. “Really?”
“Why do you sound surprised?”
Her gaze roams up and down my body. “Because you’re hot.”
I laugh under my breath, still not used to Ellie calling me anything but how annoying I am. “As are you. Doesn’t mean I’d assume you’ve slept with a lot of men.”
“Okay, fair point. That was a little presumptuous of me. But I don’t put myself out there. I didn’t go out in search of a hookup. As far as I remember, anyway.”
“I pretty much figured that out since all I saw you do was eat, breathe, and sleep barrel racing. What about in high school?”
“I had two boyfriends. Slept with one of them. The other guy I slept with was after high school.”
“Only two?”
“Yep.”
“Okay. I’d never judge you for your past anyway.”
She sits on my coffee table in front of me, and I cage her legs in between my thighs. Leaning forward, I wrap my fingers around her knees and pull her closer.
“Is that what you’re worried about?” I ask. “That I’m going to judge you?”
“No, I guess if you’ve been obsessed with me for years, you wouldn’t care anyway.”
Smiling at her honesty, I nod. “Accurate. So tell me what you’re thinkin’.”
She pinches her lips together as her cheeks flush. “That I’m not experienced enough for someone like you.”
“Why would you think that?”
“I spent my first week home doing nothing but sleeping, pacing around my house, and thinkin’ about the guy I met in the hospital.
I couldn’t do much else because it hurt my head to look at the TV screen, and I couldn’t read without my vision going blurry, so you were on a constant loop in my mind.
Then, this past week, I spent it texting you as much as I could and drivin’ myself crazy overthinking everything about you. ”
Grabbing a loose strand of hair around her face, I wrap it behind her ear and then slowly slide my finger down her neck. I smirk when she shivers against my touch.
“You never have to worry about not being enough for me. I’ve always wanted you exactly as you are—moody and straightforward—and in case you haven’t noticed, there isn’t anything that’d change that.”
“Do you really wanna date me? Not in like three weeks but where we’re together right now?”
Grinning, I nod. “Yes. Even knowing the risks and consequences, I’m all in when it comes to you. And if you accept the same terms, knowing you could one day figure out why you didn’t like me, then we should make it official.”
She tries concealing her overjoyed smile by biting her bottom lip.
I pluck it with my thumb and then tilt her chin until our gazes meet. “Whaddya say, Little Devil?”
“Okay.”
“Okay?” I arch a brow, needing more.
“Takin’ risks is something I know isn’t outta the norm for me, and although this might be a different type of risk than I’m used to—especially when it’s only been a couple weeks of what I remember—I’m willing to try it anyway.”
Brushing my mouth against hers, I slowly kiss her, letting her take the reins and leading us to what she’s comfortable doing.
She moans and seeks out my tongue, sending full-body shivers down to my toes. When I weave my fingers through her hair and deepen our kiss, she climbs into my lap and settles on top of me. I move us further into the couch until we’re comfortably grinding against each other.
“You’re not makin’ it easy to hold out for our first date,” I tease against her neck, sucking lightly beneath her ear.
“We’re already engaged,” she playfully reminds me.
“Mm…good point. We should already be in wedding plannin’ mode.”
Her neck falls back, giving me more access to her soft skin. “Hmm…what colors do you like? I’m thinkin’ teal and a pretty burnt orange for a fall theme.”
“Fuck, you’re too good at this…” I cup her breast as my mouth makes its way back up to hers. “I’m gonna forget we’re pretending.”
She widens her legs and then relaxes her hips, dropping deeper in my lap.
“You’re killin’ me here…we have to be at my parents’ house in five minutes.”
She continues rotating her hips and my cock feels every painful movement.
“I guess we’ll have to continue this later.”
When she shifts off me and stands, I immediately take off my cowboy hat and cover up my noticeable erection.
“What’re you doing?” She looks down at my lap.
“You know the rules…” I wink.
She bends down, stopping right in front of my lips. “Yeah, but I’d much rather ride the cowboy.”
“Landen Michael!” Noah shouts, the front door slamming behind her. She marches into the kitchen with Poppy on her hip and Fisher behind, who looks like he’s dreading this conversation. She shoots me a murderous glare and then points between me and Ellie. “You two are engaged?”
Everyone’s head snaps toward us. Gramma Grace stands next to us with a grin.
I smirk at Ellie, who looks horrified, then wrap my arm around her and pull her closer. “Look, that only took a few hours to spread to my family. Might be a new record.”
She pinches the bridge of her nose as if she’s fighting the urge to smack me. “Which means my parents are next.”
“One of y’all better start explainin’ right now…” Noah demands. “I told you to spend time with her, not whatever the hell this is…” She waves her arms at our proximity. “You two can’t be together.”
“I knew it…” Gramma Grace mocks. “As soon as they walked in, I saw it.”
“No freakin’ way.” Wilder barks out a laugh. “Y’all didn’t tell her she hates his guts?”
“Of course I did.” Noah whacks him in the arm when he teasingly pokes her. “But my question is how the hell did this happen? How did we go from Ellie having a concussion and forgetting Landen’s existence to Ellie’s now engaged to Landen?”
“I’d like to know as well…” Mrs. Hollis asks, grabs Poppy, and then kisses her cheeks.
“Storytime!” Magnolia grabs a piece of fresh bread from the middle of the table and pops it into her mouth.
“Are we gettin’ a new sister-in-law?” Wilder smirks.
“Dibs on godfather this time!” Waylon shouts.
Oh my God.
I scowl at him.
“What? You called it last time,” Waylon argues. “Now it’s my turn to be someone’s daddy.”
When he waggles his brows, all stares move to Fisher, who’s trying desperately to stay out of the conversation.
“That’s not the same, you idiot. Magnolia was pregnant,” Noah reminds him, and then she nearly snaps her neck to look at Ellie. “Holy shit, are you pregnant?”
“No!” she exclaims. “And we aren’t engaged.”
“But we are together,” I confirm, smiling at Ellie, who looks flustered with all the attention on her.
Noah presses a hand to her chest and exhales. “I swear to God, one of y’all better start explainin’. But let’s start with why Harlow and Delilah texted me that you two are gettin’ married.”
“Calm down before you pop a blood vessel…” I taunt, then tighten my grip on Ellie’s waist. “Some douche was harrassin’ her at the store, claiming they met a few weeks ago at one of her races and hit it off.
When he got aggressive and persistent, I stepped in and told him I was her fiancé. I only said it to get him to back off.”
“Aggressive how?” Wilder asks.
“Kept gettin’ closer and insistin’ she knew him, then once he started shouting at her, I threatened him with my fist if he didn’t back off. After mentioning my dick-shootin’ skills, he finally walked away.”
Magnolia rolls her eyes with a smile. “You and that story.”
“I’m pretty sure he followed my truck out of the store parking lot and tailed me most of the way here,” I continue.
“Who is it?” Tripp asks. “Someone we know?”
“His name is Gage and he works for my dad,” Ellie explains. “But I don’t remember him and when I tried to explain my injury, he called me a liar.”
“Where did Harlow and Delilah hear it?” I ask Noah.
“They were shoppin’ downtown an hour ago and some man was talkin’ loudly on his phone saying that Ellie and Landen are engaged.”
“Oh my God…he coulda been talkin’ to my dad.” Ellie blows out a frustrated breath.
“Well, safe to say most of the town’s heard it by now,” Noah says, reaching for something in the fridge.
“You should tell your dad anyway,” I tell her. “He needs to fire that lunatic.”
“What if that pisses him off even more?” Ellie asks. “He probably knows where I live.”
“Maybe you should call Sheriff Wagner and give him a heads-up,” Dad suggests. He’s been quiet this whole time, so I wondered if he had any opinion on this. “Better to keep a paper trail now in case he does something else.”
Ellie looks at me in a panic, and I pull her closer. “Don’t worry, I won’t let that happen.”
Once we sit to eat dinner, and I answer all of their annoying questions about Ellie and me, we move on to dessert and then scrapbooking. Tripp and Magnolia leave early to get Willow to bed and then Waylon and Wilder bail to go finish chores.
“So you do this every Sunday night?” Ellie asks when she looks at all the supplies dumped on the table.
“Yep, and we probably have an album for everything you could ever think of,” I say, then find a photo of me and my dirt bike.
“You ride that?” she asks.
“Yeah, I rode it that first day we met. Again…you weren’t impressed.” I smirk when she rolls her eyes. “Noah yells at me when I ride it too close to the stables, so I’ve been ridin’ it around the mountains and one of the ponds we have out there. There’s a nice trail.”
“That sounds fun,” she says. “I’ve never been on one…I don’t think.”
Leaning in so only she can hear me, I whisper, “I’d love to be the first to give you a ride.”
My fingers squeeze around her thigh and she swallows hard. Then I flash her a wink and go back to the photos.
“I should dig out my family’s albums and make one. Maybe it’ll spark some memories or at the very least, be a fun little project so I don’t die from boredom.” Ellie watches me flip through the pages of a completed one.
“Do you like to cook or bake?” Gramma Grace asks her.
“I dunno. I’ve never really tried. My mom cooks every night, so I’ve never had to learn.”
Gramma Grace smiles wide, and I know what she’s about to do.
“I’ll teach you. I have dozens of family recipes I could share with you.”
“Wait a minute…” Noah blurts. “I couldn’t get my favorite peach cobbler recipe until my bridal shower because Mama said it was tradition.”
“It is,” Mom confirms, reaching for more stickers and floral pieces.
“Well, if they’re engaged, there’ll be a bridal shower soon…” Gramma Grace defends. “I can still teach her without giving her the recipes.”
“Did you miss the part where they said it wasn’t real?” Noah arches a brow.
“I don’t wanna be a bother,” Ellie says.
“You’re not, darlin’. We’d love to teach you,” Mom says. “Since my own daughter hardly visits anymore, it’d be nice to have you around.”
“Sorry for havin’ a job, a husband, and takin’ care of your granddaughter.”
I chuckle at Noah’s annoyance. “Aww…is someone feelin’ left out?”
She kicks my shin underneath the table. “With you around, I’m used to never gettin’ attention anyway. You and the twins are always loud and obnoxious.”
“Me? I’m just sittin’ here.”
Ellie giggles, and I glance over at her.
“What’s funny?”
“The way y’all bicker is cute. I never knew family time could be like this. I got so serious about racin’ so early in my teen years that it took over my life ever since then. We never did stuff like this. Everything revolved around my career.”
“It’s good to learn balance,” Mom tells her. “Noah was the same way until she met Fisher and finally realized there was more to living than just workin’ nonstop.”
“Yep, now I work nonstop and manage a family.” Noah smirks, turning toward Fisher, who’s rocking Poppy to sleep. “I love it. Wouldn’t change it for the world.”
When I glance at Ellie, I see the way she looks at the three of them with admiration in her eyes. Considering earlier she said she loved racing too much to slow down once she’s cleared to begin again, I wonder if she ever thinks about her future in terms of starting her own family.