Sierra
Chapter forty-eight
Instead of driving me home, Colton dropped me off in the parking lot of the grocery store. I needed to pick up some stuff, and it gave him time to run Sam home.
Watching them drive off gutted me, but it was the best day I’ve had in a long time. Just being able to hold her gave me the energy I needed to fight all this shit. She’s worth it and a million times more.
I push the shopping cart up and down the aisles, mindlessly grabbing the needed items from the shelves. It’s muscle memory at this point.
Toilet paper, trash bags, tampons, body wash. Once I’ve put everything in my cart, I head to checkout. Oddly, this store is one that still has actual people checking its customers out and not you having to do it yourself.
Amen for a business that still wants to provide employment for people, instead of adding to the population of unemployed individuals.
It doesn’t take long to ring out the items, and I place the bags back in the shopping cart and head outside to wait for Colton. We decided to wait and have our conversation once we got back to the apartment.
I’m nervous as hell about it. But after talking with Arizona about what’s taken place between Colton and me, and the feelings I have for him, she helped me decide what I need to do.
It’s helped to hear about the struggles with the relationships with her own men, especially Bash, who fought it in the beginning.
My phone vibrates in my hand from where I stand leaning against the building.
Colton: OTW 10 minutes out
Me: K I’m outside waiting
I almost slide my phone back in my pocket, but I stop and pull up my messages to send a new text.
Me: I’m doing it today. I’m going to tell him exactly what we talked about. He did something today that sealed that decision for me.
Arizona: Yay! That’s exciting. I can’t wait to hear how it went.
Arizona: See you tonight at the club. The old man is demanding some time if you catch my drift.
I can feel the heat rush to my cheeks. Crap, did I interrupt them having sex? I’ll apologize later, but shit, why did she answer?
Switching to my camera roll, I look through the pictures I took earlier today with Sam. I can’t wait to show them to Mrs. Butler. She wouldn’t ever tell anyone.
I’m so lost in them that when someone grabs my arm, I panic. I scream and hit them before I realize who it is. When did Colton pull up?
“Sorry.” I pull back and wince.
“Fuck, you got a wicked backhand,” he tells me as he rubs his head. “Go ahead and get in and I’ll put these bags in the backseat.”
I smile and head to the Jeep, looking over my shoulder when I get there, watching him gather all the bags in his hand, looping the handles over his arm, so he only has to make one trip.
Once they’re all safely stored inside, he rushes around and gets in the driver's seat.
“Ready to go?” he asks.
“I am. Today wore me out more than dancing,” I joke, wondering how he’ll take the reference to what I do for work. All three of them have been oddly okay with it.
“Your sister is a spitfire. I don’t know where she gets all that energy. I’ve been enjoying getting to know her, but I’m just sorry that it comes at a price to you.” He bites his lip as he grips the steering wheel tighter.
Reaching over, I place a hand on his and squeeze it. “I don’t blame you. Don’t feel guilty about that. Take me home so we can talk and you can show me this other surprise. But I don’t see how you can top the first one.” I give him a wink, pulling my hand back and he pulls away from the curb.
“Did you make sure to remind Sam not to mention she saw me today? I had to remind her not to let our secret slip about once a week.”
“I did. In fact, she wanted to know that if she didn’t let it slip, if we could do it again.” He tilts his head slightly toward me and smiles.
“I’m looking forward to the day we can see each other without having to sneak around. I know I still have to wait a few more weeks until I’m eighteen to try to get custody,” I tell him quietly, letting my gaze drift out the window.
I sit down on the couch beside Colton, who has a bag sitting on the table in front of him. He hasn’t given me any hints. But now that I’ve got everything put away, it’s time to have a talk and to find out what it is.
Taking a deep breath, I blow it out as I count to ten in my head, calming my nerves. It’s what I used to do when I first started dancing at the club.
“There are things I want to say and I want you to listen. I need to get them all out.” I gaze into his piercing brown eyes, the tiny dimples in his cheeks winking at me.
“Okay,” he gulps.
“When I first met you, I was attracted to you. You’re just as handsome as your brother.
I actually thought you were him at first. But when I saw you side by side, it was easy to see the differences.
The slight difference in stature, the way you hold yourselves, the look of your eyes.
They’re so very different, proving although you look the same, you are very different people.
But then you let the words of others influence you. ”
I can see him fidget in his seat, unable to maintain contact with my eyes. This is an uncomfortable conversation, but one we need to have. My hand slides across the fabric of the couch until it connects with his hand.
“You weren’t the nicest, and your words were not always kind, but you never physically hurt me.
I listened to why you did what you did, and I can understand to a degree.
I recently met a wise woman, she’s in a relationship just like the one we’re trying to have, and had something similar happen with one of her men. ”
I scoot closer to Colton, cutting the distance between us.
“She reminded me we can’t always hold on to the bad.
If we do, then it can smother anything good before it has a chance to grow.
So I’m going to leave the past in the past. I’m not going to let it dictate the future.
I know we’ve talked about it before, but this goes even further than that.
You won’t have it thrown in your face in moments of anger.
Just promise me any time you have a question, come to me and ask and I’ll do the same for you.
I can’t say I love you, not yet anyway, but I really like you.
Will my feelings for you grow into love? I know it beyond a shadow of a doubt.”
He smiles brightly. “Can we start growing that love now?”
“There’s nothing I want more.” And I mean it with every fiber of my being.
“I have one question?” His eyes are locked on my lips.
“What?”
“Can I kiss you?”
“I would love that,” I tell him. He leans forward, cradling my head in his hand, and covers my lips with his, his tongue slipping between them.
The kiss is deep and forceful, filled with raw desire.
When we break apart, we’re both breathless, with swollen lips.
“Colton, what you did today means the world to me, and I want you to know how much I appreciate it. I’ll never forget it. But I need to know, what’s in the bag?”
He bursts out laughing before picking it up and placing it beside him.
“Scoot back and rest, and put your feet in my lap. A little birdy told me the ticket to win your affection and give you the best date ever would be to massage your feet and paint your toenails.” He winks and I do as he says.
“A massage and a pedicure on top of everything else. I’m starting to feel like a queen.”
“As you should.”
I reach down, slipping off my shoes and place my feet gently on his lap. They graze along his crotch, and I feel his cock twitch.
He reaches into the bag and pulls out some lotion. I’d know that bottle anywhere. It’s my favorite cherry blossom.
“Sam really did help you, didn’t she?”
“That she did. Even picked out the color for your toenails, but that’s a surprise. First, I’ve got to loosen these tootsies of yours up. Especially since you have to dance tonight. Maybe one day I can see you perform.”
He squeezes the lotion in his hands and grips my feet, kneading the muscles, making me melt into the couch.
“How about a game of twenty questions?” he asks.
“Okay. I’ll start. Who’s your favorite brother?” I grin.
“You play dirty. I love both my brothers. But I shared a womb with Brax, so it’s going to be him.”
Fair. I knew that would be the answer, but I didn’t want to start with a hard one.
“When’s your birthday?”
I raise my eyebrows as I think, shit it’s close.
“October 16th.”
“Really. That’s like two and a half weeks from now.”
“Yeah, I’ll be the big eighteen.”
“What do you want for your birthday?”
He asks me the one question I don’t have to think about.
“I want to be able to see my sister and have her back home with me. And you asked two questions in a row, sir.”
He laughs, then hits a particularly tender spot on my foot and I can’t help the moan that escapes.
“You’re good at this. Did you do it for all your girlfriends?”
He tilts his head away from me. “I didn’t really have a girlfriend.
When I was in foster care, it was hard, then when Dad adopted us, I just dated around, not really settling on anyone.
Now I think I was searching for someone, and that person just so happened to not be there.
I had to move to find her. And judging by the moan my girlfriend just let out, I think she likes my foot rubs.
” He turns his head back toward me and winks.
“Girlfriend. That has a nice ring to it. Now, can I see those nail polish colors?”
“Yes, you can.” He releases my feet and reaches into the bag beside him, pulling out two bottles. One green and one blue. Odd choices. I know green is my favorite color, but what’s the blue for?
“Is blue, by chance, your favorite color?” I ask, already seeing what Sam has done, that sneaky little girl.
“It is. She told me I could paint one of two ways. I’ve just decided which one it’s going to be, so just lie back and be patient. Let me pamper my girl before she needs to go to work. I’m sure you want to take a nap.”
“I do. I need to be there at eight. But can you take a nap with me?”
“I would love that.”
He sits the polish down on the table and pulls out a piece of foam made to go between the toes to separate them.
Once they’re in place, he picks up the green bottle and opens it.
He pulls the brush out and begins to paint, starting at the big toe on my right foot.
It’s like he’s trying to paint a masterpiece as he glides the polish across my nails, skipping every other toe.
He moves to the other foot, except this time, he skips the big toe and starts with the one after that. Once he’s done, he puts the green on the table and picks up the blue, doing the same process on the unpainted nails.
He’s not the best; some of the paint has ended up on my skin, but the way his face twists as he focuses makes my heart warm. He’s trying so hard and I love it.
Yeah, this one is definitely carving out his place in my heart.