Chapter 28 #2
“You want to go sit out by the pool and look at the stars?” I asked in hopes that I’d get her out of the house. Maybe some fresh night air would do her some good.
“We can,” she said as she slowly sat up.
She raised her arms to stretch before she walked around the couch and out of the room with the blanket that had covered her tossed over her shoulder.
I followed behind her as we walked through the kitchen and out the back door.
My parents weren’t anywhere in the kitchen as they’d been moments ago.
The night air was still hot even though the sun had set. We likely wouldn’t need the blanket. But the stars did shine brightly above.
I followed her down the porch steps and over to the pool where she sat on the outdoor daybed that had a canopy above.
I kicked off my tennis shoes before I laid down on the plush cushion beside her.
Even though the air was hot, she covered herself with the blanket and curled it underneath her chin as she stared up at the sky with a sigh.
“It’s beautiful out here,” I said as I got comfortable.
“Yeah, it is,” she replied with a sigh as she laid her head on my shoulder.
She thought I was talking about the night sky above, but I wasn’t looking at the sky.
I was looking right over at her.
I rolled to my side just a little and looked down at where her head lay on my chest. I moved her hair off of her shoulder before I laid my hand on her waist.
She settled into me more as she continued to look above.
“You're safe here,” I reassured her with a whisper.
Her head nodded into my shoulder, but I needed to hear her words of understanding.
“You know that, right?”
“Yeah,” she said with a sigh as she moved her hand up and laid it just underneath her head.
“Anythin’ on your mind?”
“Just thinking,” she replied without elaborating.
“What about?” I pried.
She let out a heavy sigh before she pulled away from me. I immediately missed her touch.
I rolled fully onto my side and looked over at her, my hand rested on the cushion below us.
She looked up at me, but I couldn’t read her expression.
“Thank you,” she finally said after a few moments.
“For?”
“Finding me. Keeping Luke safe. Being nice to me when you could be anything but,” she rambled before she rolled onto her back, putting her hand behind her head.
“You don’t have to thank me for any of that. I’m here to make sure you and Luke are safe. And as for bein’ nice to you, that’s a given. You’re the mother of my son. Even if I did still hate you, which I don’t, I couldn’t do that to you,” I explained.
“What do you mean?”
“I’m not raisin’ my son to think it’s okay to treat a woman with anythin’ other than kindness.
He’d sense something between us if I treated you with anything other than the kindness you deserved.
And it’d get me nowhere with gettin’ to know him.
It’d get me nowhere with you allowin’ me to see him.
Being kind to you is the least I could do,” I told her, meaning every word.
She stared up at the night sky, but I couldn’t stop staring at her. Longing to make her mine. To officially be a family with her and Luke.
“I’d like to go home tomorrow,” she whispered so low I barely heard her.
I tensed at the mention of her leaving the ranch. Not because I didn’t expect her to want to leave now that her stalker had been caught. But I liked having Luke here in the house where I grew up.
“I’ll help you once we wake up, but are you sure you’re ready to go back?” I finally said, worried at the thought of them leaving.
At least she’d be back in the house right beside mine. Maybe going back to her routine would allow her to finally feel safe.
“I just want to get Luke and I back in our routine. I can’t impose on your family forever.”
“There’s no imposition. I promise. You can stay here as long as you need to,” I reassured her.
“I know. I just need to do this.”
“As long as you’re sure,” I reluctantly agreed, and hoped that she was actually ready to go home. It felt like she was pulling away from me and reverting into herself, and I didn’t know what to do to stop it.
“Are you okay, Leo?” she asked as she moved closer to me and laid her head on my shoulder.
I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her into me.
“Yeah, why do you ask?”
“You just seemed tense a minute ago,” she said as she laid her hand on my chest above my heart.
“I’m just thinkin’,” I said, not sure I wanted to reveal my private thoughts just yet.
“About?” she pried.
“You.”
“What about me?” she asked, her interest piqued.
“I don’t know if I should tell you.”
“Well, now you have to tell me,” she demanded as she pushed herself into a sitting position with the hand on my chest, causing me to groan from the sudden weight.
“Nah, I think I’ll keep it to myself,” I said with a smirk I wasn’t sure she could see since the only light that shined came from the stars above and the porch light in the distance.
“No fair,” she said as she tried to tickle my sides.
I pushed up on my elbows and turned to my side, using my weight to push her down onto the daybed as I loomed above her.
She looked up at me, a blush on her cheeks, and her chest rose heavily as she waited for my next move.
“You’re beautiful,” I whispered above her as I stared down at her.
“Thank you,” she said in a bashful, unsure voice.
Instead of giving her what she wanted, an answer to my thoughts, I leaned forward and pressed my lips to hers. Since I couldn’t explain how I felt, I needed to show her. I poured every ounce of love I held for her into that kiss.
When I pulled back, I stared down at her before I brushed my nose back and forth across hers.
“Leo,” she whispered as she moved her hand up to the side of my face.
I leaned into her touch as I stared into the chocolate brown eyes I used to happily get lost in.
“Yeah,” I whispered.
“You never answered my question,” she said, her breaths still uneven from our kiss.
“I told you everythin’ you needed in that kiss,” I said as I laid beside her and pulled her into me.
I could feel the smile on her face through the cotton of my shirt as she laid on my chest.
“You technically didn’t say anything,” she countered as she drew circles on my shirt with her finger.
“I know. My mouth did. Now let’s enjoy the stars for a little bit longer,” I suggested with a smirk.
She sighed into my shirt, and we spent the remainder of the night staring up at the stars.