Chapter 25
Twenty-Five
Peter
There’s nothing quite like your family accepting the person you’re dating.
The only exception being Pierce. I haven’t even told him I’m dating anyone.
Though, I’m sure he’s heard it through the grapevine by now.
As much as I love my family, secrets aren’t their strong suit.
Now I only need my parents to come back from their travels.
They’re going to love Lexi I just know it.
My phone dings with a text.
Callie
Let me know when you’re on your way. Your brother keeps bugging about when you’ll be here.
The past couple of weeks we’ve been rotating houses for game nights and just hanging out. This week it’s at Callie’s house. I tried to offer my house, but Paula said it’s not big enough. Which is something I need to think about for the future.
I would have been able to leave with the rest of my siblings if Pierce hadn’t derailed my day. Now they’re having fun without me.
Peter
Which brother?
Callie
Parker
Of course it’s him. He’s all about instant gratification and thinks the world revolves around him. Not that I blame him. He has charisma and people flock to him. It’s actually kind of annoying. But it’s who he is.
Peter
Figures. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Pierce gave me a bunch of shit to do late in the day.
Callie
Of course he did. Oh, I also invited Eric and his crew. Lexi asked if we could so she’s not the only kid.
Peter
That’s cool. I’m hurrying as much as I can.
I would have been done by now if Pierce had given me the list of bottles that needed to be poured this morning. But, no, he waited until we were busy and knew I’d be rushing bottles to the main house.
I don’t understand why he can’t just let me be.
Working all the time isn’t something I want to do anymore.
Especially when a lot of it was unpaid labor.
Which is wild considering I’m one of the owners.
But Pierce has decided he’s the main boss and needs to learn how to delegate better.
Piper and Parker are upfront with the customers because they possess the charm our customers love. Phillip can do some of what I do.
Pulling out my phone, I open up our company shared document and add a note for the upcoming meeting. He’ll probably complain about it, but I don’t care. I had plans, and him handing me work that didn’t need to be done today, put a damper on them.
I glance at the progress I’ve made. Only ten more to go.
“Why are you in such a rush?” Pierce’s voice echoes through the room, and I almost knock a bottle over.
“Because I have a date.” He doesn’t need to know about the game nights, even if tonight is more of a dinner. Not right now when I’m pissed at him.
“With who?” As if he doesn’t know.
“Callie.” I keep working. There’s no way in hell I’m going to let him pull me away from what I’m doing.
“Miles’s little sister?” He laughs. “Isn’t she a little, young for you?”
“She’s two years younger, Pierce. Why do you care?”
“I don’t.” He preps the next bottle. “I saw your note on the meeting agenda.”
“Is it a problem?”
“Not really. It’ll be up to you to make sure Phillip’s handling things okay. And if he screws up…that’s on you.”
“You realize he knows how to do all of this, right?” I glare at him and wave my hand around the building. “He grew up in this business the same way we did.”
“He doesn’t have any motivation. He takes too long to do one thing.”
I don’t tell him it’s because he’s bored out of his mind. If he goes any faster, he won’t have anything to do. The last thing he wants is to be caught sitting around and get yelled at.
“Phillip will do what he needs to.”
“You can get out of here. I’ll finish up.”
“Really?”
He must be tired of getting the cold shoulder. He likes to dish it out, but has never liked being on the receiving end. Maybe if he wasn’t such a jerk people would like him more. I still can’t believe it’s taken me this long to realize how awful he can be.
“Yeah. Go on your date.”
I’m not arguing with him. “See you tomorrow morning.” Without waiting for a response, I hightail it to my truck. I’m not even going to stop at my house to change. The last thing I need is for Callie to think I’m the same as Conrad. I’d much rather be with her than bottling wine.
In less than five minutes I’m pulling into Callie’s driveway. All of my siblings are here and I see Eric’s car parked at the very end of the line.
A quick glance in the rearview mirror to make sure I’m presentable and I’m out of my truck. Before I have a chance to knock on the door, Callie is opening it up.
“Finally.” The relief on her face breaks me. That asshole made her second guess everything. Always on the search for a possible lie.
“Yes, finally.” I pull her into my arms and my lips crash into hers. She won’t have any doubt about how I feel toward her. Once I’m sure she’s gotten the message, I break the kiss. “The party can get started,” I call out.
“Callie, you can never leave this family again.” Paula grabs a glass and pours herself some wine. “I don’t know what you’ve done to my brother, but this is the happiest I think I’ve ever seen him.”
“Well, I did just buy a house. I think I’m going to be around for a while.” She beams at my older sister. I’m not sure Paula knows how much she’s reassured Callie with that statement. But I’m glad she knows how happy she’s made me.
“Good. I don’t think I can take another day of Peter moping around and simply existing.” Parker adds.
“I don’t mope.” What is this gang up on Peter night?
“Sure, you don’t.” Parker rolls his eyes. “Can we eat now? I’m starving.”
“Dig in.” Callie gives the go ahead and takes my hand in hers. She really is a dream come true for me.
Parker is the last person to leave, and I’m practically shoving him out the door. I love my brother, I really do, but I need him to go. Now that Callie is back in her own house, we don’t get as much time together.
“I think we just hosted our first successful event.” Callie collapses on the couch and I pick up her legs to sit under them. “That was exhausting. It’s been forever since I’ve had people over.”
“You’re a natural.” I grab her fuzzy sock covered foot and dig my thumbs into the arch.
“Oh my God, that feels good.” She moans, and damn she needs to stop doing things like that. We made an agreement no sex while Lexi is in the house. Callie feels weird about it, and I’m going to respect those wishes.
“You deserve it. Do you want to go lie down? Me and Lexi can clean up.”
“I think Piper and Beau took care of most of it. There may be a few dishes left. They can wait, though.” She covers her face with her arm and for a second, I think she’s fallen asleep. “Is it just me or is it odd us not being in the same space all the time?”
It’s like she plucked the thought out of my head.
“Not just you. The house feels empty when I go home.” I lean my head against the back of the couch. “I know we weren’t sleeping in the same bed, but you were right down the hall.”
“Agreed. I don’t think I like it.”
Me either, but we need to make sure we’re going at a steady pace.
Even with Lexi doing her best to get us together, I don’t want us to go too fast. At least not yet, it’s only been a couple of weeks.
But…I already know I want forever with her.
In a lot of ways it’s like we picked up in our friendship where we left off.
“I can stay here tonight and leave early for work.”
“I don’t want you to cut into sleep.” She feels around the couch. “And my sofa won’t fit you at all.”
“It’ll be fine.” It’s literally the same size as the one at my house. “I can stack all the pillows to the side.”
“Okay.”
Well, that was easy. I figured she’d put up more of a fight. She rolls over to her side and pulls her knees up. She’ll be passing out in about five minutes.
As soon as I know she’s asleep, I slide out from under her legs and head to the kitchen. Lexi is putting up food and getting everything in order.
“Need some help?” I roll up the sleeves of my shirt before heading straight the sink and pile of dishes. There isn’t a lot, it’s big stuff that takes up more room.
“You don’t have to do those by hand. We have a dishwasher.” She points at the appliance in question.
“I’m good. There’s something relaxing about washing dishes. Besides you shouldn’t be doing this by yourself. It was my family that crashed your house.” I fill up the sink with water and soap.
“They’re really nice. They did a lot, including taking out the trash. I hate doing it when it’s cold.”
Lexi liking my family is important to me. I want her to feel comfortable with them since we do a lot together.
“I’m glad you get along with them. It’s not always easy when we’re all together. There’s a lot of us.” I finish washing the last item before rinsing it off and setting it in the drain on the counter. That didn’t take long at all. I turn toward Lexi to see how she’s doing with clean up.
She stacks a container on top of a stack of them on the table. Hopefully they have room in the fridge. “Yeah, but y’all are funny.”
That’s a term nobody has used to describe me. Parker was right earlier when he said I was only existing. I never had anything in my life I wanted to do more for…until now.
“Are you going to the Valentine’s event with me and your mom?” I want to make sure there’s space for her at our table.
“Gross, no. I don’t want to hang out with a bunch of adults making googly eyes at each other on Valentine’s Day.” A shiver runs through her, and I can’t stop from chuckling.
“What are you going to do?”
“Abby is having a girl’s only sleepover. We’re going to watch cheesy romcoms and play games.”
“That sounds like a fun night.”
“Yep. I need to buy some cute pajamas and gifts for the girls.”
She’s open with me and I like that I can be that for her. I’m guessing her father isn’t. But I don’t want to ask.
“Do you know what your mom is wearing to the dinner next week?” I need to make sure I match, and I want to get her flowers to complement her outfit.
“Nope. I don’t think she’s picked out anything. I want to get my stuff tomorrow so maybe we can shop for something for her.”
I like the way her mind works. Reaching into my back pocket, I pull out my wallet and grab one of my cards.
“Here, use this for your shopping trip.” Her eyes light and her hand shoots out.
“Don’t go wild, but you can get whatever you need for the sleepover and your mom something to wear.
Make sure it’s something she loves, and not something she settles for. ”
“Okay.” She waits for me to put my card in her hand. “You know, I think I like you and Mom dating.”
“Whys that?”
“Because you make her happy.” She stares at the card in her hand. “And you take care of her instead of the other way around. I try, but she has this whole thing about it because she’s the parent. It’s nice seeing her carry less stress.”
“I’ll keep doing it as long as she lets me.” I had a great example growing up. Dad still dotes on Mom and they’ve been together over forty years. I want that with Callie.
“Good. Are you going home?” She gestures toward the containers on the table while sliding the card into her pocket. “We have a ton of food. You can take some with you.”
“Nope. I’m going to crash on the couch.”
“Oh.” She grabs the containers and I rush to open the refrigerator door. “You don’t have to sleep on the couch, you know.”
“Whys that?”
She slides the containers onto various shelves before turning to me. “You are both grown-ups. It’s weird you aren’t sleeping in the same bed.”
“Okay.” I take a step back.
She points her finger at me. “But no funny business. These walls are thin.”
Now I’ve been properly warned by a teenager. I never thought that would happen in my entire life. I wait until she leaves the kitchen, turn off all the lights, and head to the living room.
Callie is fast asleep. I scoop her into my arms and carry her to her bedroom. She usually does a routine at night to get ready for bed, but I don’t think she will tonight.
Her eyes open a bit, and she glances around. “What are you doing?”
“Putting you in bed.”
She wiggles her legs for me to put her down. I pull back the blankets and wait until she’s comfortable to place the covers over her. I take off my pants and shirt before climbing into the other side of the bed.
“I thought we agreed not to sleep in the bed together.”
“Lexi gave me permission. But no shenanigans.” I move next to her until her back against my chest, and I wrap an arm around her waist to close any gaps.
A contented sigh escapes her lips. “Oh, okay.”
She snuggles into me and damn this feels like home.