Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
WEBB
I’d forgotten how good it felt to join with others in service to a neighbor. The fact the neighbor in question was someone as kind and appreciative—and sexy—as Luke Williams made it even better.
There’d been an actual barn raising years ago in Little Pippin Hollow, and I remembered how proud I’d been of my fellow Hollowans for coming together to help the Swansons after a devastating fire.
Helping Luke today felt like we were all a part of something bigger than us, a community that looked out for each other.
It made me proud, and it reminded me that there was more to life than focusing on my own family, my orchard, and my never-ending chore list.
What we’d done today was more than work to fix up a house. It was an outpouring of love, and I was grateful to live in a place that valued helping others.
The weather today had been perfect, and I’d seen the difference it had made to Luke’s mood. He’d bounced around from person to person, project to project, smiling and laughing, thanking everyone for their contributions.
He’d felt honored and grateful, too, and watching him happily thank everyone for their help, rather than nervously resist, was an indicator of how far he’d come in these three weeks.
Not only had he relaxed about accepting help, but he’d also connected with several people outside of work.
I could tell he almost felt like one of us now.
“We really only need one napkin per person, bro. What the heck are you doing?”
I glanced up at Em, whose smirk was focused on the mess I was making on the kitchen table. We were back home for dinner, and my only contribution had been setting the table.
So much for that. Apparently, I’d been giving each person their own stack of cloth napkins instead of one.
“Mm,” I grunted. “I’ve seen you eat Marco’s chicken before and decided an ounce of prevention would be worth a pound of dirty laundry later.”
Knox set a few glasses of ice water down. “Methinks he wants to make a good impression for his Lukey-love.”
I snapped my head around. “Zzzt. Ix-nay on the uhv-lay.”
“There are no little ears around to overhear.” Emma laughed. “Aiden’s spending the night out, remember?”
My stomach lurched. Of course I remembered.
This would be the first time Amanda would have him overnight.
Thankfully, it was a Nature Scout group campout, but still.
It was hard to leave him in her care for so long when I knew she had a tendency to flake.
At least there were several other parents there who knew to keep an eye on him.
Thinking of that reminded me of earlier today when Luke had pulled me inside his trailer to help me get my head on straight before I lost my cool. There was something about him that grounded me, that helped me put things in perspective and not take things so seriously.
I loved that about him.
“Anyway, it’s not love,” I continued, ignoring my mental contradiction. “It’s just… the thing with Luke is…”
Uncle Drew snorted under his breath. “Then the dreamy look on your face is just a platonic kind of dreamy. Sure.”
“Temporary,” I said firmly. “It’s not… he’s not… we’re not…”
“Why not?” Gage asked, elbowing me out of the way after yanking the rest of the cloth napkins from my hands.
I was going to tell him why not. It was obvious. “Because.”
Knox let out a booming laugh. “Because.”
My face burned. Luke was going to arrive any minute and find my family implying we were in a serious relationship. That was a complete falsehood. “We’re not in love. We’re just engaged,” I said stupidly.
Now it was Uncle Drew whose laugh drowned out everyone else’s.
I sighed. “Please don’t embarrass me when he gets here.
Okay? I don’t know what we are right now, but I like him.
And I think he likes me. And I want to see where it goes.
Clearly I’m not in a position to enter into anything serious, but… ”
“But?” Emma asked before mimicking my voice. “Why aren’t you in a position for anything serious?”
I sat down heavily in one of the kitchen chairs. Marco bustled around the kitchen while Drew acted as his sous chef, and Knox and Gage finished preparing the table for dinner.
“Because things finally might be settling down with Amanda. Aiden is happy and secure. The orchard is in good shape. The last thing I need is something fucking it all up.”
Drew was the one who pinned me with a glare. “And that sweet man would fuck it up?”
“What? Of course not! He’s the kindest human being alive. He could never fuck anything up.”
My family stared at me until I realized I’d stood up and poked my index finger on the table to emphasize my point.
I sat back down and cleared my throat. “He’s awesome.
There’s no denying that. I just… I can’t jump back into the kind of legal mess I had with Amanda. Marriage isn’t for me. Not again.”
Knox slid into the chair next to mine and straightened the napkin. “How are you doing with the whole… he’s a guy thing? Do you have anything you want to talk about there or… I dunno… questions?”
Gage muttered, “Oh God, here we go,” under his breath. Knox shot him a look.
“I’m good, thanks,” I said, keeping my eyes on my own place mat.
Drew moved closer. “So… you don’t want to talk about it?”
I looked up at him. “You guys are gay. I’ve been around gay men my whole life.
I don’t have any issues with the fact Luke is gay.
It’s a little confusing as to why I was never attracted to a man before, but honestly…
I think people change. Maybe he’s the right person at the right time, and he happens to be a man.
” I shrugged. “I promise I’m not having second thoughts about that part of it. ”
“And you understand about safe sex,” Drew stated, as if he hadn’t lectured us all a million times as teens. “And anal—”
“Can we… not do this right now? Luke is seriously going to be here any minute. Also? I’m not sixteen.”
Gage snickered. “Don’t worry. I’ll send you some links to some videos about bottoming. That’ll set you up just right.”
Knox sighed. “Don’t even think about it, especially if it’s the one you tried to get me to watch the other night. That would make him turtle up and never want sex again.”
Gage’s eyes narrowed. “That was just between you and me. And I’ll remember this the next time you imply you want to get a little freaky—”
“Okie-dokie!” Marco snapped, cutting him off with a giant fake smile full of teeth. “Welcome, Luke, we’re so glad you’re here.”
I buried my face in my hands and groaned. It seemed as if Emma was the only one who’d heard the doorbell ring.
“Thanks for having me,” Luke said in his friendly, polite voice. I looked up at him and smiled. How could anyone not smile with him around? He was sunshine personified.
“Hey,” I said, standing up to give him a hug. “Did everyone finally leave?”
Luke’s body relaxed against mine after a beat, and I held him tightly for as long as I could. He smelled like soap, and the ends of his hair were still damp from a shower.
“Yeah,” he sighed. “Long day, huh?”
I pulled back and pressed a kiss to the edge of his lips. “Mm. Definitely. But a good one.”
His face lit up. “So good. I still can’t believe how fast everything has happened. It’s like… it’s like I have the fairy-tale farmhouse of my dreams. I can’t wrap my head around it. Everyone’s been so nice and generous with their time.”
I nudged him into the chair next to mine and then sat down beside him. “Everyone seemed happy to help, and the place looks amazing. Your mom’s going to love it.”
Drew came over and squeezed Luke’s shoulder. “Can I get you some beer? Wine? Maybe a little toke to start your night off right?”
Em shook her head. “Not sure Mr. Williams is the weed-smoking type, Uncle Drew.”
“Shame,” Marco muttered under his breath.
“Wine would be great?” Luke said, looking around. “Unless I’m the only one. Water’s fine, too.”
Before I could stand up again, Drew waved me off and grabbed the bottle to pour Luke a glass.
Gage apologized for leaving before finishing planting the bulbs he’d brought, and Luke insisted it wasn’t a problem.
“After you left, Mr. Avery brought this awesome bulb-planting tool and showed me how to use it. It’s got like a hollow shaft that’s a blade.
You have to really slam it down into the ground hard.
” He demonstrated with his hands, slamming the heel of his palm against his other hand.
The sound of his skin smacking seemed to fill the kitchen with heat.
“If you do it right, shove hard enough, it makes a nice channel for your bulb.”
I swallowed. When I spoke, my voice cracked. “S-sounds good.”
Gage lifted his eyebrows. “I’ll bet it does.”
Knox nodded. “We need to plant some things now that I think of it.”
Emma’s forehead crinkled. “We run an orchard and kitchen garden. We plant stuff all the t—”
Marco cut her off. “Dinner’s ready. Let’s eat.”
My mouth watered, but it wasn’t for Marco’s special chicken.
Dinner was excruciating. Luke had inadvertently woken my dick up, which wasn’t surprising considering how unsatisfying the past three weeks had been sexually.
We’d had plenty of stolen moments and even some shared orgasms, but I was beyond ready for more.
I didn’t need more in the sense of going further than a frot or mutual hand job, but more in the sense of being naked together all night without fear of being interrupted.
For the past several weeks, every time we found each other alone, it seemed like the universe was out to get us. Aiden would come bouncing in, or one of the volunteers at Luke’s would need to ask him a question. We both still had to keep our jobs going as well, and Luke had his sheep to care for.
Tonight was the unspoken exception. We’d agreed to a sleepover at my place, in a bed big enough for both of us, when Aiden would be gone and we would no longer have the house projects hanging over our heads.
So why the hell had I included family dinner in the fucking plan?