Page 11 of Finding Home
He nods.
“I’m not sure how she’s going to take it. She guarded herself a bit when she first heard you were coming home.”
He flinches. He’s highly trained to hide his reactions, so I know he wasn’t expecting that comment. Aspen always seemed to be his soft spot, even if he left her.
“Thanks, Chloe.”
I nod. “For what it’s worth, I’m glad you’re home. We’re all glad you made it home safe.”
I go up on my tiptoes and wrap my arms around his neck and hug him. It takes a second, but his arms wrap around me, too. I pull back and kiss his cheek.
“Stay safe,” I say.
He nods before turning and walking away. When I turn around, I see Everett standing outside the bar staring at me. He gives his head a shake before forcefully pulling open the door and walking inside.
I roll my eyes and scoff, following behind him.
SEVEN
EVERETT
Inside, I make my way directly to the bar and give Boyd my name for my takeout order. He taps the bar before heading to the kitchen to grab it, and I use the time to take in the place again. Last time I was here, my attention was solely focused on Chloe. I was a broody asshole then because this town was the last place I wanted to be. I’m a broody asshole this time because something about seeing that man’s arms wrapped around Chloe and her kissing his cheek had me wanting to punch him.
I’ve only been with her once and I know so little about her, even though I noticed right away she’s wearing a sundress in her favourite colour. That paired with her cowboy boots give a mixed innocent and sexy look that has me wanting her bent over for me.
I’m beginning to wonder if the only thing that will get her out of my system is another fuck. I find myself thinking about her all the time. My mind will wander to something random she mentioned that night or to the way she told me exactly how she wanted me to fuck her and took all of it. How pretty she was when she came.
The scent of her perfume pulls me from my thoughts as she stands beside me at the bar. I grunt, acknowledging her, and she shakes her head, but a small smile tugs at her lips.
“As grumpy as ever, I see.”
I stare at her, saying nothing, and her smile grows as she turns to face me.
“You know, I’ve seen you when you decide to participate in conversation. I’m sure if you did it more often, you might make some friends.”
“Don’t need friends,” I say, and she nods.
“Sure, because why have friends when you can be grumpy and holed up in your house with your daughter.”
I can’t help it, the corner of my mouth quirks. No woman has called me out or pulled me out of my grumpy attitude the way Chloe does.
“Are you trying to say you want to be my friend, Chloe?”
Boyd places a bag of food in front of me and a margarita in front of Chloe.
She thanks him before turning back to me. “Nope, just offering some friendly advice.”
She walks away, leaving me staring after her.
I’m in a weird mood when I pull up outside Grandma’s. I grab our food and head inside, calling, “I’m back,” as I make my way to the kitchen, where I find Grandma working on her puzzle and Lila colouring beside her. I smile at getting to watch them spend time together. I know that in the coming months Grandma is going to lose her energy and she won’t be able to do a lot of these things with Lila, which will also mean finding another solution for getting Lila after school on the days I work, but we’re going to take advantage of all the time she’s still feeling like this.
I start digging into the bag and pulling out our order. “Okay, so we’ve got a chicken Caesar wrap for Grandma and some chicken strips for miss Lila May. Are we eatin’ in here or are we hunkerin’ down with a movie?”
“Movie!” Lila calls, and Grandma nods.
I collect everything and take it into the living room, getting Lila set up at the coffee table and pulling out Grandma’s TV tray to gether settled before grabbing drinks and my food and settling on the couch. “What are we watching tonight?”
Lila holds her finger to her chin in deep thought before finally saying, “Tangled.”
