Chapter 20 #2
I think about her idea. That room has the ability to be something great.
I don’t know how we haven’t thought of it before.
It’s just always been a catch-all for anything we couldn’t find a place for.
The room is filled with boxes, but I can imagine it filled with tables topped with white crisp linens. “It’s a good idea, Anya.”
My mother beams. “I think it’s the best idea. Callum’s an idiot for not listening to her.” My mother smiles, and Anya and I raise our brows. My mother lifts a shoulder. “I can call my oldest son an idiot if I think he’s being one.”
Anya and I share a look of shock.
“What?” my mother asks, swatting at us both with a towel. “You need to get your girl a drink before one of your brothers steals her away. She’s a catch.”
I glance at the bottle of lemonade in my hand and nod at my mother. “They’d never steal her away.”
“You sure about that?” my mother asks and my heart plummets.
I rush back into the living room, and Brock and Tripp have shown up while I was in the kitchen.
Tripp’s got his arms around Hartford, wrapping her into a tight hug as they exchange hellos. My insides boil over with anger. I’ve seen Tripp hug Hartford a million times over the years and I’ve never been jealous before. Maybe mildly jealous, but nothing like what I’m feeling right now.
Hartford’s beautiful in a light-brown dress with bright yellow flowers all over it. It’s short, and she’s paired it with a pair of brown cowboy boots. Her auburn hair is down and curlier than usual, and her makeup makes her eyes really pop.
She’s breathtaking, and now I’m watching my brothers fawn all over her. Even my father has his attention focused on Hartford.
“I heard about your house, sweetheart. Let me know if you need anything,” my father says after Tripp has finished hugging her. Which took way too long if you ask me.
“Thanks, Don. I appreciate that. I’m good though. I’m staying with Paxton while the repairs happen and between the insurance and my aunt, there’s no money out of my pocket, thankfully,” Hartford says.
My dad nods. “The most important thing is that you weren’t hurt. Everything else is replaceable.” He looks at me and back at her. “You are irreplaceable.”
That’s the damn truth.
“You’re sweet, Don,” she says.
“Dad, quit hogging Hartford. I haven’t gotten my arms around her yet,” Brock says, hugging her as he lifts her.
“Asshole,” I mumble.
“What’s wrong with you?” Shepherd asks.
I pull my eyes away from the obvious display to piss me off—which worked—and look at Shep. “Nothing.”
“Right,” he says with amusement on his face.
“Hey, Hartford. Sorry about your house. Hope my little brother is making you feel welcome,” Callum says.
“He is,” she says, trying to hide her smile. Which makes me puff out my chest with pride.
I go over and wrap my arm around her, squeezing her side. “She’s well taken care of. Don’t worry.”
“Oh, she is, huh?” Brock asks, wiggling his eyebrows.
“Enough, Brock,” my dad says, shaking his head.
I grin as I lead Hartford back to the love seat.
Shepherd and Callum are still seated on the couch, and Tripp plops down on the couch next to them.
Brock heads into the kitchen to say hello to our mother, and I want to wrap my arms around Hartford and have her snuggle down beside me as we watch the game on TV.
That would be too obvious, and I don’t want to give my brothers any ammunition.
Brock heads back into the living room, leaning against the frame of the entryway from the kitchen to the living area.
“You can have my spot,” Hartford says, getting up, and I try to reach out because I don’t want her to go.
“Where are you going?” I ask her, hoping she’s not trying to make the great escape.
I know my family can be overbearing at times, but Hartford’s been at my house more times than I can even count.
She’s also been a guest of many Sunday dinners over the years, so this shouldn’t be too much for her.
“I’m going to hang out with the girls in the kitchen,” she says, walking away from me.
Brock throws his body into the spot Hartford just vacated, and knocks me in the shoulder. “What’s wrong with you?”
“What?” I ask.
“That exchange. It felt like you guys are a couple or something.”
“Pax,” Tripp interrupts, and I’ve never been more thankful.
“What?” I ask. I’m becoming annoyed because I know my brothers can sense something going on between me and Hartford, and I don’t want to tell them anything. It’s none of their business.
Hell, I don’t even know what’s going on. Sure, we’ve had sex. Great sex. Life-changing sex, but that doesn’t mean we’re a couple, does it?
Fuck. I don’t even know what’s going on, so how am I supposed to tell anyone else about it?
“You do look like a couple. More than normal,” Tripp says in a raspy voice. He looks like shit, and I’m sure he’s probably hungover. Again.
“Nothing’s going on.” When is dinner going to be ready? I hate getting the third degree from my brothers. “Everything’s fine,” I add on for good measure.
Callum and our father discuss the game, while Shep, Brock, and Tripp focus on me.
“Are you trying to convince us, or yourself?” Shep asks.
“You all are a bunch of assholes,” I say, not really sure why I’m even so bothered. I’m used to my brothers joking around with me. Normally I can give as good as I get, but today there’s something off.
I blame my mother.
Her saying I needed to claim Hartford before one of my brothers did really got to me. Okay, she didn’t say it quite like that, but she meant that, right?
My head’s a mess.
Hartford and Anya come back into the living room, and Hartford squeezes between me and Brock on the couch. She rests her hand on my thigh as she hands me a beer.
“Thank you,” I say, thinking about the fact that I never even asked her for a beer. I should marry this woman.
That thought makes me pause, but then I think about Hartford as my wife. I think about getting to have Hartford by my side always and not having to worry about any of my brothers moving in on her.
“Scoot over,” I tell Brock, realizing he’s way too close to Hartford and it’s pissing me off. Would it be weird if I told all of my brothers that none of them are allowed to look at Hartford while she’s here?
Probably.
As my family chatters about the game, work, and life, I stay silent, lost in thought. Hartford squeezes my thigh, and I want nothing more than to pull her close to me and kiss her madly.
Can we leave early?
Maybe dip out before dinner even begins? The need coursing through me right now to claim Hartford is overwhelming.
“How’s it going living with Paxt, Hartford?” Brock asks, breaking me from my inner turmoil.
She confiscates my beer from my hand and takes a sip before handing it back. “It’s fine.”
“Sounds exciting,” Brock says lifting a brow, obvious sarcasm lacing his tone.
And I get more and more upset with how close Brock is sitting next to Hartford. Can’t he sit somewhere else?
Like the floor?
“She’s being well taken care of,” I say, placing my hand over hers on my thigh, and Shep eyes me from across the room.
He raises a brow, and I quickly move my hand away.
Fuck. I don’t know how to act anymore.
“She’s being well taken care of,” Tripp says in a mocking tone, and I wish I could chuck this beer at his head.
Hartford blushes, and I shake my head.
My god, is dinner ready yet? I wish I could escape this tension growing in the room. Why is everyone so focused on Hartford?
“I’m taking better care of her than you ever could, Tripp,” I say back to him.
Tripp holds up his hands in surrender. “Never said I would take care of her.”
Hartford pouts, batting her eyelashes at Tripp. “You wouldn’t let me stay at your place, Tripp?”
A smile erupts on his face, and my anger bubbles over.
“Enough,” I say, placing my hand over Hartford’s resting on my thigh. “Hartford’s not staying anywhere but with me.”
Hartford giggles like she’s playing a joke, and Tripp laughs along with her.
“Obviously,” she says, facing me. “Stop getting so upset,” she says quietly for only me to hear.
She takes my beer, and finishes it off. “I’m going to go and get another, and help your mother more.
” She gets up and heads into the kitchen, and I try to breathe out a deep breath.
Fuck. Why am I wound so tight?
Shepherd stands and nods at the back door. “Let’s talk,” he says.
Once we’re on the back porch, I suck in a large lungful of fresh air, and blow it out slowly. Shep sits in a green patio chair, and I take a seat next to him in the other chair.
“Talk to me,” he says, leaning back and overlooking the large backyard that backs up to the edge of the bay.
I run my fingers through my hair and sigh. “I don’t know what to say, Shep.”
“How about the truth?”
“The truth?” I shake my head and turn to face him. “The truth is, I’m crazy about Hartford. I want her. I feel like my heart is going to explode if I can’t have her.”
He smiles and crosses his arms. “You’re just now realizing this?”
“What?” I ask.
“Pax, the teasing. It’s all in good fun, but it’s because we know.”
“Know what?”
“Sometimes I worry about sending you out to sell our beer when you can’t even comprehend a simple conversation,” he says, shaking his head. “We know that you want her. You’ve always wanted her. Just like she wants you.”
I squeeze the back of my neck. “She’s not in the same place.”
He clicks his tongue, tsking me. “Pax, she is.”
I stare at him as he nods. “Shep, what are you talking about?”
“I can see the way she looks at you. Like you roped the moon, or something like that.” Shep takes a long pull from the can of beer in his hand.
“Only because we’re friends.”
“No, it’s not. That woman is crazy about you. I’ve only been home for a hot minute and even I can see the sexual tension between the two of you is off the charts.”
I close my eyes and scrub my face, processing what he’s saying. “So, what do I do? We’ve gotten close since she’s been staying with me, but I’m man enough to admit that I’m terrified it’s going to end for good. And I’ll end up losing her as a friend.”
He sets his beer down on the small table between us, and shifts in his seat to face me.
“Talk to her. Tell her how you feel and lay it all out. It’s the only way.
Otherwise, you’re both going to continue this dance of avoidance.
Plus, after all these years, it’s getting hard to come up with new ways to tease you about it. ”
He stands, grabbing his beer. He cracks a grin as he walks back into the house, while I stare at the closed door.
Talk to her about my feelings? That will scare her off before I even have her.
I’m doing this my way—I just need to figure out what that is.