Chapter 27
SAWYER
I vy relaxes more and more as Dallas and Liam converse with her, putting her at ease. Dallas meets my eyes and nods at something behind me, and I crane my neck to catch Carter, Kinsey, and Reid walking up to us. I squeeze Ivy’s shoulder and pull her closer to me as they join our group.
“Oh my god! Kinsey?” Ivy squeals, shocking the shit right out of me. “You’re all grown up. Oh my god. Look at you! You’re so beautiful!” I let Ivy go as she meets my sister halfway and they hold each other in a hug. I release a deep sigh of relief. Kinsey was my wild card. She was little when I first brought Ivy home, only five. Ivy was the big sister Kins never had. When Ivy left she had just turned eleven, a year younger than I was when I first met Ivy. My mom handled explaining to Kinsey that Ivy had moved away, and it was hard for her to get through. She’d visit me in my room every day and it was comforting my baby sister through my heartbreak that eventually pulled me out from rock bottom. Because of that, though, I’m fiercely protective of her. Us four boys don’t baby her, but I’d kill someone if she ever got hurt, and she knows how protective I feel. It’s probably why she’s never dated.
“Hi! Me? Look at YOU!” Kinsey says as she holds Ivy out in front of her. “Damn girl, you are just as beautiful as I remember. You look happy. That my brother’s doing?”
Ivy looks back up at me and I can’t help the smile I give her. She takes my breath away.
“Yeah,” she says, holding my eyes. “Yeah, he’s got a whole lot to do with it.”
Carter stays on his best behavior, quiet, but that’s better than me having to kick the piss out of him in front of the town. The conversation flows, everyone catching up, and in this moment, not much could make me happier than being surrounded by my family with Ivy next to me.
My sister and Ivy are lost in a conversation with Reid about how Kinsey wants a tattoo. Luckily, Reid refuses to tattoo Kins, which may or may not be due to me threatening to break his hands if he ever did. But, hey, that’s my baby sister.
Dallas comes up next to me with beers in his hand and passes one to me and Ivy.
“Thanks, man. Where are Mom and Dad?” I ask him. I’ve been avoiding my mom since her text demanding that Ivy and I come to dinner on Sunday.
“Dad’s having a rough day. She didn’t want to come down here and leave him. But she said to tell you that there’s no excuse that will get you out of dinner and that she expects you both. So big ole family dinner on Sunday,” he says as he smacks me on the back, sloshing my beer over the rim.
“You’re such a dickhead,” I say as I shake out my hand in his face. But he isn’t paying attention. I look at his line of sight and find Blaire chatting it up with Cole Barnes. Cole’s around our age and a top-notch douche canoe. Expert level asshat.
I smack Dallas in the stomach to get his attention.
“You gotta problem? Blaire can do what she wants and it’s good she’s out making friends.”
“No problem. Just further reason to not like her. They’re perfect for each other.”
I roll my eyes at him before turning my attention back to Ivy.
She looks up at me before pulling me down so she can whisper in my ear, even on her tiptoes she can’t reach on her own. I lean down, breathing in that sweet cherry almond scent that I could get lost in.
“I love it here. Thank you for bringing me.” She turns my face and kisses me sweetly on the lips. And fuck if it doesn’t feel good to have her initiate kissing me in public. She has all the power over me. Good or bad, my heart has always been in her hands. I will gladly get on my knees and worship this woman if she’ll let me, but fuck if I don’t want her to feel the same for me. I need her to.
“C’mon, let’s go walk around.”
I lead her by the hand, and it’s like I can feel each hesitant step she takes through our connection, she’s winding up tighter and tighter again. Pulling her next to me and wrapping my arm around her shoulders, I gently kiss her temple.
“You’re okay, butterfly.” She relaxes into me as we walk around the crowded beach.
“Is that Ivy, Sawyer?” I look behind us to see a dumbfounded Luna. “You didn’t mention Ivy was back at lunch!”
Ivy tenses next to me and I rub her arm reassuringly. She can’t seriously think I was on a date with Luna, but damn if I don’t appreciate the slight jealousy it brought out in her.
“She actually just arrived and we’ve been hiding out a bit. Lots to catch up on. This is her first time being out with everyone. Sorry, Luna.”
“It’s okay! It’s good to see you, Ivy. Welcome back. I’m not sure if you remember me—”
“I do! Luna Mills. You were in the class right under ours. It’s good to see you. How are you?”
“Oh, life is busy! I work at Barrel House and boy is it just crazy right now! But life is good!”
“Hendrix come back, Luna?”
“Ugh. No. Actually, he decided to stay with his family. So the kitchen staff is keeping up with the basic menu, but man has it been tough! We’re the only real restaurant in town, you know, so people aren’t thrilled that they’re missin’ more than half of the dinner menu.”
I look up at the stars then, thanking every fucking power that be for paving the way for my girl to come back to me.
“Ivy?”
“Sawyer . . . don’t.” She grabs a fistful of my shirt and tries to pull my attention back to her but it’s too late, my mind is already made up. I told her I’d give her choices, but fuck if I’m going to make this easy on her anymore.
“You’re in luck, Luna. Ivy is a trained and experienced chef. She graduated from the Culinary Institute and has worked her way up in the kitchen. She’s in between jobs right now, but her last one was as a sous chef at a fancy restaurant in Seattle.”
“Are you really? Oh, Ivy. I don’t want to speak for the owners, but I’m the manager and will be calling them first thing in the morning! You’d be saving us if you’d consider coming to work as our chef, at least for a bit.”
I look down at Ivy, prepared for her wrath, but instead find her mouth gaping open at me. I push under her chin to close it.
“What do you say, Chef? Want to get back in the kitchen?”
Watching the smile grow across her face is priceless. She turns to face Luna.
“Absolutely, Luna. You can get my contact info from Sawyer. Just reach out if you want me to come in.”
We say goodbye to a very relieved Luna, and I steer Ivy back to my truck.
“Sawyer, what you just did back there . . .”
I open the passenger side door and push her up against the seat, shielding us from anyone passing by.
“Baby, it’d be good for you. Just go with it. Nothing has to be permanent, but you said it yourself, you miss being in the kitchen. Do this while you figure the rest out.”
“I don’t need to figure anything out, Sawyer.”
Her words freeze me to the spot, my eyes on hers, my heart stops beating and all the air whooshes from my lungs. Fuck. Is she still leaving? Did I push her too far? Did I misread everything?
“Aspen Ridge is my home. You are my home.”
I blink at her a few times before all of my restraint breaks, I grab her face between my palms and slam my mouth down on hers. Her hands grab my forearms, looking for purchase as I devour her mouth. I fuck my tongue in and out, tangling with hers, taking as much of her as I can get. My hands roam down to her sides, grabbing her around the waist and lifting her into the seat of the truck before breaking the kiss. I look at her now, lips swollen and pink, face flushed with arousal, and her breathing ragged.
Fuck. I need to get her home.
Now.
“I may have been okay taking your virginity in the back of this truck at seventeen, but that’s not how this is going to go the second time around.”
I push her legs in before slamming the truck door closed and jogging around to get into the driver’s seat. I take one look at her again before cursing under my breath and starting up the engine.
“Seatbelt, baby,” I say as I peel out of my parking spot.
I get us home in record time, breaking about a hundred traffic laws in the process. I jump out of my truck before rounding the hood to get Ivy’s door and haul her out.
Once she’s on her feet, I crowd her space, caging her in between me and the open door again. I run my palm over her cheek before combing my fingers through her hair where I keep a grip on the back of her head.
“Fuck. You are so goddamn beautiful.”
A blush blooms on her cheeks and I can’t help the smile it brings me. I lift her, wrapping her legs around my waist as I shut the truck door and walk us up the stairs and into the house. Her fingers thread into my hair as she pulls my neck back to take my lips with hers. She kisses me like she means it, like she can’t get enough of me, and fuck if my heart isn’t pounding out of my chest.
I finally feel whole again.
It’s cliché as fuck, but this woman completes me. She’s the other half to my whole and I’ll be damned if she fucking leaves me again. I’m going to make it hard as fuck this time so there’s not a lingering question in that pretty little head of hers how I feel.
I kick the door shut behind us before spinning her and pushing her back up against it, dropping her feet to the ground. Her little fingers run through the coarse stubble of my beard and she moans into my mouth. I grab her wrists and hold them above her head.
Releasing her lips to look at her, my heartbeat in my ears, her gorgeous face leaves me breathless.
“Fuck, Ivy.”
I rest my forehead against hers, taking a moment to slow down so I don’t blow my load before I even get inside her. Our eyes connect as we hold each other close.
Fuck, I hope this is it. I’m giving her my all.
Please don’t break me, Ivy.