Chapter 53
LIAM
Ipulled up to Anderson ranch as the sun was dipping low. Twinkle lights glowed on the porch, faint music was playing somewhere in the background, and the scent of barbecue was floating through the air when I climbed out of the car.
Inhaling a deep breath, I smiled and headed up toward the house. London was sitting alone in the egg-shaped swing on the front porch. She was barefoot, her hair in a messy braid, and she was sipping something from a mason jar like she was in a country music video.
My heart started pounding in my chest, but I smirked, intent on keeping things as normal as I could. “Well, well, well. What do we have here? Were you waiting on me?”
She didn’t look my way, her sparkling blue eyes latched onto something in the distance. “Nope. Just guarding the house from stray egos and men in trucks who think they’re God’s gift.”
“So me, then?” Dirt and grass crunched under my boots as I took the last few steps to the porch, grabbing hold of the banister and jogging up. “Sorry, it looks like the stray ego and the man in the truck who knows he’s God’s gift found you anyway.”
She rolled her eyes, chuckling as she stood up. Surprisingly, she turned to face me and opened her arms. Between the soft glow of the sunset and her bare feet and casual, vintage style, I kind of felt like I was suddenly trapped in a dream.
The whole scene had an almost unreal quality to it, but I strode over to her fast before she changed her mind. Sliding one arm around her hips, I pulled her close, everything in me thrown out of whack when her arm wrapped around my neck, her soft body molding to mine.
It was a quick hug, just her arms around my neck and mine around her hips, but it was long enough to mean something. Short enough to pretend it hadn’t.
As we separated, she peered up at me from between those long lashes and smiled. “How’s it been for you so far, being home?”
She motioned vaguely at the wide open land that stretched from Olivia and Charlie’s house far into the distance, the fields and pastures that seemed to have no end. I walked to the edge of the porch, sliding my hands into my pockets as I looked out at the view.
“It’s been good,” I said finally. “I’m already missing Miami, though.”
Mostly because it turns out I kind of like living with you.
She came up beside me, arms hugged loosely across her chest. Cocking a hip against the banister, she leaned against it and stared up at me with curiosity written across her features. “Have you seen Isabella yet?”
“We had dinner last night.” I moved my gaze to hers and grinned. “If you’re worried that she tried to convince me to stay, don’t be. I would never abandon you.”
She scoffed, but I saw the smile she was trying to hide. “Please. I wasn’t worried. They can keep you for all I care. I’d have another bedroom for my clothes and no one to give me shit about it.”
Yet as she pushed away from the banister to head for the door, her expression softened with relief and I sighed. “You do know that you can admit to liking having me around, right?”
“Sure. If it was true, I would’ve admitted it,” she joked. “Saying it now would be an outright lie, though. Are you coming?”
“Not right now, but I could be if you’ve got a few minutes and an interest in getting down and dirty in the barn.”
“Liam!” She groaned, her head shaking before she squeezed her hands around her hips and glanced at me over her shoulder.
In the low light out here, it was hard to be sure, but I could’ve sworn I saw a flash of amusement entwined with desire in her eyes.
“I don’t get dirty and I sure as I hell don’t get down. You should know that by now.”
“Oh, you get dirty alright. Just maybe not the type you’d be getting in the barn. What’s a little dust and dirt between friends, though?”
“You’re forgetting the mud, muck, and hay.” She pretended to shudder. “Besides, we’ve got better things to do right now.”
“Better things?” I held her gaze and stalked forward, not stopping until I was only inches away from her. “I know you know that’s not true, but fine. If you want to play games, let’s go.”
“You know this is a literal games night?” she asked dryly. “I have zero interest in any other type of game.”
As I looked at her, I had to wonder if that was true.
It sure felt like she’d been playing with me at least a little bit these last couple weeks or so, but this wasn’t the time or the place to get into it.
All of her sisters and Charlie’s brothers were right inside, and judging by the laughter and chatter filtering out to us, the evening was already in full swing.
“I’m going to kick your ass at poker,” I said, reaching past her hip to twist the door handle.
As I stepped around her, she sniffed as if I’d just mortally offended her sensibilities. “Unlikely, but we’re not going to find out tonight. There won’t be any poker. Something about a tournament going wrong a few years ago and Wyatt threatening all his brothers with the wrong end of skunk.”
I laughed. “I could totally see him following through on that. What games have we got, then?”
“Ticket to Ride, Cards against Humanity, and good old Monopoly.” She smirked when I waved for her to precede me. “I’ll kick your ass at any of those, though.”
“Game on.” I accepted the challenge without hesitating, already enjoying myself even though I’d only just arrived.
We reached the patio at the back of the house where a long table had been set up for the evening. The place was buzzing with conversation and laughter. All five Anderson boys stood up to shake my hand and I pulled Abi and Liv into quick hugs.
Flames were already dancing in the fire pit nearby and that country music I’d heard when I’d climbed out of my car turned out to be coming from a speaker out here. Charlie grinned as he waved me into a seat beside London.
“Good of you to join us, Jones. I just hope you’re ready for it. Game nights around here tend to get a little ugly.”
“I can take it,” I said confidently, sitting down between London and Cody, one of Charlie’s brothers, and finding myself relieved to be between them.
Cody was charming and funny, and as one of the youngest Andersons, he was pretty close to London’s and my age. He’d flirted with her a time or two in the past, but then again, he’d flirted with Abigail and even Olivia too.
None of them had ever taken it seriously and I didn’t think he did either, but my protective instincts had grown some seriously possessive barbs and I was glad to be the buffer between them.
As she and I settled in, their banter and laughter resumed, and on the whole, dinner was a loud and lively one.
With nonstop teasing and someone throwing a joke at me every time I opened my mouth, I felt that same sense of belonging as I had ever since I’d met all these people.
They truly made me feel like family, howling with laughter and cringes when I gave as good as I got and accepting me into the fold seamlessly.
“Jones here traded in his cowboy boots for flip-flops,” Wyatt joked. “How’s it feel being a city boy?”
I smirked. “A hell of lot better than sweating through denim in a hundred degrees while you’re wrestling tumbleweeds for fun.”
Cody hooted with laughter. “Oh, he got you good there. Is it true that there are more sharks on land in Miami than there are in the ocean?”
I shrugged. “I wouldn’t know, but I guess that makes me one of the sharks.”
Charlie laughed. “I don’t know about that. Maybe you’re one of them sucker fish that cleans the shark.”
London flashed them all a smug grin. “Which would make me the shark.”
“Has Liam been sucking you, then?” Cody asked with laughter shimmering in his eyes and the corners of his mouth twitching up into a knowing smile.
She scoffed. “He wishes.”
Her cheeks flushed though, and I leaned forward, intent on taking the focus off her. “The only thing we lasso in Florida is happy hour. Y’all been having fun chasing cows?”
Olivia winked at me. “Well, I hope now that you’ve upgraded from barbecue to Michelin star, you’ll still enjoy a good old-fashioned cookout.”
“Always.” I smiled, tuning back into the Andersons’ banter and genuinely finding myself having a good time with them.
Throughout one of the best dinners I’d had in a long time though, I kept glancing over at London. She was laughing along with everyone else, relaxed and glowing in the warm light. When our eyes met, it was like a jolt.
Neither of us said anything, but I could feel the pull between us.
It was a constant thrum in my blood that made my heart beat in my ears every time I caught her looking at me.
Somehow, we even ended up sitting even closer together when we gathered back on the porch after helping take the dishes to the kitchen.
With barely a couple inches between us, we settled in for dessert and board games and I felt the heat of her by my side. It didn’t escape my notice that something deep inside me that had been on edge since we’d arrived in Texas felt calmer now. Like a soothing balm had been applied to a bee sting.
Olivia got up to check on the baby, who had already been asleep by the time I’d gotten here. Charlie took a quick vote among the rest of us for the game to be played first, leaving the table to go and collect Ticket to Ride when it won.
Some of his brothers went to grab another round of drinks and Abigail headed upstairs to take a call with Simon. Sitting next to London again, I scooted closer to her side. “This feels like home.”
She glanced at me, leaning in a little as she smiled. “The ranch?”
I grinned and shook my head, leaning back in my chair with my body angled half toward her. “No, London. Being back with you. That’s what feels like home to me.”