Chapter 29
Christine
“Why did you say that?” I ask, sitting upright and staring at him.
“I love you? Because I do.” Tagger is unshakable and not a regret is heard.
My emotions are twisted. I’m not sure what to think about this. “No. The Christine part.”
He chuckles. “So let me get this straight,” he says. “I tell you I love you for the first time, but that’s overshadowed because I used your real name?”
“Yes. It’s Pris. That’s who I am with you.”
With a gentle smile creasing his cheeks, he kneels beside the tub and leans over to cup my face.
A kiss to the head is followed by one placed gently beside my eye, then he kisses my cheek and ends the tour on my lips.
This one lingers as I lean my head against his.
He says, “I love you, Pris. I’m so in love with you. ”
Words I never believed I’d hear are said with such fervency that I have no doubt they’re real. Cupping his neck and sliding over the scruff of his face, I pull back to see his eyes so brilliantly alive with color and honesty. “I love you, too, Tagger. So much it hurts.”
“I’ll be gentler then.”
I smile. “No, don’t change a thing.” I kiss him and then sink back into the water to soak in his love, which I’m bathing in. “I love who we are together.”
“Me too.” He breathes a sigh of relief as he gets to his feet. “Hungry?”
“Famished.”
“I’ll take you out to breakfast. No rush, though. We’ll leave when you’re ready.” Walking to the door, he says, “I’ll shower in the other bathroom so you can have some privacy.”
“I don’t need privacy from you, babe. I mean,” I say, wobbling my head back and forth, “you’ve kind of seen everything. Well, not everything, but you’ve been inside me, so I think it’s okay if you see me putting on makeup or doing my hair, drying, and whatever else I’d get up to in here.”
“I love listening to how your mind works,” he says. “You talked me into showering here.”
“Not going to lie.” I start cleaning my body, wanting food sooner than later. “It was for purely selfish reasons.”
“I’m good with that.” He strips off his boxers, freeing his dick from the confines. I’m pretty certain his body part shouldn’t be that attractive. It doesn’t surprise me since it’s him.
Just over an hour later, I’m wearing one of my favorite sundresses and a pair of sandals while walking the streets of New York holding hands with my boyfriend on a beautiful Saturday morning.
It’s early, but restaurants overflow with the brunch crowds, and the lines to get a table already extend longer than we’re willing to wait.
“How about we go to the deli and eat in the park?”
“I think that would be better than any crowded restaurant.”
We stop for coffee and pick up bagels, muffins, and some fruit before entering a smaller park surrounded by skyscrapers.
He walks down a path to an empty bench. “Is this good?”
As I look around the park, the leaves are blowing in the wind and the grass appears recently cut and softer than the St. Augustine a lot of us have in our yards. “We could sit in the grass?”
“I didn’t bring a blanket. The grass could stain your dress.”
I look down, wondering if I’m willing to sacrifice another dress to nature. I glance once more at the park bench. I’d rather be in the grass than sitting away from it. “I’ll be careful.”
“My lap is also available.” He scans the area. “There’s a spot over here,” he says, signaling to a patch with no one else around. He sets the bag of food down, then offers me a hand.
Although I had one short-lived ballet class on my preschool résumé, I didn’t remain graceful and sit down without regard for etiquette. While we dig in, I ask, “What do you do in your free time?”
“Every other week, when I don’t have Beck, I play basketball on Thursday with your brother at some courts near our buildings. He lives five blocks from me.”
My brother . . . I don’t know what to think about him. Some days, I feel abandoned. Others, I’m relieved I get the final say with Dad instead of having to run it by a committee. But I know what the issue really is. “I miss him.”
Tagger sets his bagel down and lifts me onto his lap. Hugging me, he says, “I’m sorry. Maybe we should stop by and see him while you’re here?”
I lean back. “And blow our cover by telling him I’m here to see my boyfriend? How do you think it will go over?”
His chest deflates from a heavy breath. “Not well.” His gaze lengthens in the distance. “We can’t be a secret forever.”
“You already want to blow our cover? You’re the worst secret keeper that ever existed, Grange.” I giggle because, being honest with myself, I’m not opposed to the idea. But damn, we’re weak. For each other.
Chuckling, he says, “I have no interest in hiding you away from the world.” The laughter disappears quickly, though the way he looks at me like I’m solid gold—or in his industry, my stock just took off—has me cuddling to him.
“I want to show you off to everyone, Pris, and I know when they meet you, they’ll know exactly why I fell in love with you. ”
My gulp is embarrassingly loud as I squeeze him tighter. The floodgates of his heart have opened, and now his emotions are on full display. I know the feeling. “We need to decide whether this is the way to continue for now or if we want to face the consequences to be together openly.”
“It’s wild that we have consequences to handle because we fell in love.”
“Really only one . . .” I let that float around in the fresh air, curious if he’ll take the bait.
His lips twitch to restrain the corners I can see want to go up.
He could have scrutinized me for setting him up, but I think he’s onto my wily ways.
“I see what you’re doing, but you don’t have to.
I agree that I need to talk to your brother soon.
” He kisses me. “Remember this kiss, though. It may be the last one you ever get from me since he’s going to kill me as soon as I mention your name. ”
My thoughts are still ticking through options. “If that’s the case, maybe you tell him with me around. I can protect you.”
He laughs. “I have no doubt, but I think you need to be reconnecting with him without this baggage around.”
“There’s no rush. Let’s think about it.” I slip off his lap and lie on the grass with my arms spread. “Because right now, I don’t want to think about anything but us staring up at this stunning blue sky and the clouds.” I point. “That looks like a cactus.”
He lies beside me with our heads bumped together. “I can see that. What about that one?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I see the smile that makes me happiest—the carefree cowboy he is when he’s home on the ranch. “I’m thinking of a pagoda.”
“That’s a good one.” His hand finds mine, and our fingers weave together.
“I’ve lost hours to this game growing up. It was a big ranch with not a lot of people my age to play with.” I glance over at him. “Lauralee was my saving grace.”
“Let me be that for you now.”
The words momentarily stun me, and my stomach squeezes. “What makes you think I need saving?”
“I don’t think you do, but I do think you need someone to lean on more than you admit.” The sincerity in his eyes captivates me. “It’s okay not to be strong all the time, so let me be there for you when you need to rest.”
My heartbeats pick up their pace, and tears fill my eyes. I shouldn’t be as affected by the sentiment as I am, but it feels like I finally have a place to rest my head. I don’t need expensive dinners or beautiful clothes I’ll only wear once. This right here—Tagger. He’s all I need to be happy.
We spend the rest of the day not doing much of anything.
We stroll, do a little window-shopping, and daydream of when we can see each other next.
Sitting on the couch with Thai takeout and a movie that happens to be on the TV that neither of us is much interested in, I say, “Come back for the Peach Festival and Rodeo.”
“When is it?” He sets his plate on the coffee table and drinks from a bottle of beer.
I laugh, marveling that someone could forget details ingrained in us Peachtree Passers our whole lives. “Second weekend in June when the peach season is in full swing.”
He grins as if the memory returns. “Peach season.” Setting his eyes back on me, he says, “I miss the simplicity of being excited about fruit ripening in summer.”
“Us hokeys live for it—”
“That’s not what I was going to say or mean. You know me better than that.” He has a point. I’ve never heard him mock where he came from.
I drop my defenses and lay down my fork. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you. I’m sure you remember how some tourists looked down on us.”
“I don’t think they were looking down on us. I think they were envious that life could be that down-to-earth. I think most people want that in their lives more than we know.” He glances out the windows to dots of lights outside his window instead of stars. “Maybe not New Yorkers.”
I laugh, loving how down-to-earth it is to be with him, even in the city that never sleeps.
The more I sleep in this bed, the more I never want to leave it. I roll over and hug it the best I can. “I’m going to miss you.”
He wraps himself around my back. “Did you just tell my bed you’re going to miss it?”
“I did,” I reply, feeling a little self-conscious about being busted. But what I wouldn’t give to have this bed in my room on the ranch. Or even better, my own place altogether. With Tagger there with me. That would be heaven on earth.
“Will you miss me or the bed more?”
“Tough call. Let me get back to you.” I giggle and turn in his arms. With the morning barely peeking in, I cup his face and kiss him. “You. Always you.”
He pushes up on his forearm. “Hate being the bearer of bad news, but you have just about two hours until you need to leave for the airport.”
I pout, sticking my bottom lip out. “This weekend flew by too fast.”
“We have the festival to look forward to. Beck is going to love it.”
Tapping his nose, I ask, “And you?”