Page 33 of When You're Home
“Take my picture!” she exclaimed, pulling out her phone and unlocking it before handing it over. She backed up against the rail and turned toward him, smiling with the stage in the background.
Rhett hopped up out of his seat into the aisle. He took another two steps back, making sure he got the stage in the frame, following the rule of thirds just like Chandler taught him.
“Where are you going?!” she giggled as he backed up one more step. He hit the shutter mid-laugh, catching her in motion.
“Hold still,” he admonished, taking another shot. “Okay, now look over to the side like someone just called your name.” Tori turned her head but bit down on her bottom lip, no doubt trying to hold in a snicker.
“Beautiful. Okay, now look right at me, and do something sexy.”
She turned her head again, locking eyes with him instead of looking into the camera. She bit down harder on her bottom lip and winked.
“Got it.” Rhett groaned with satisfaction, swiping through the dozen options he had just taken. He quickly AirDropped them to his own phone. She looked gorgeous in every single picture, and now he was rocking a semi from one single wink.
“Okay, okay!” she exclaimed, waving her arm and motioning him back to her. “Get over here, you. Let’s take a selfie.”
He shifted his body behind her in front of the railing, resting his arm low around her hips. He held out her phone with his other hand, hitting the camera button once while he gazed at her, then again after he turned his head to smile directly into the camera.
He felt the roar of the crowd rise up around them. He spun them around so they could swap positions, Tori pushed up against the rail with Rhett standing directly behind her.
He took advantage of the darkness and let his mouth find her neck. His free hand caressed the small of her back before wrapping around her waist. She pushed her ass back into his groin, her body warm and relaxed in his arms. Rhett closed his eyes and sighed, committing the moment to memory. It was nights like tonight that kindled the smallest spark of hope, that let him burn for the possibility of a future with her.
“It’s always been you,” he whispered into her hair as the band hit the first notes of “Universal Color.” He knew she couldn’t hear him. That was okay for now if it meant he got to hold her like this for a little while longer.
Chapter 20
Rhett
Rhettpulledthecarasclosetothesidedooraspossiblebeforeputtingitinpark.
“Tori,” he whispered softly, reaching over to place his arm on her shoulder. “Hey, Tori, wake up. We’re here.” She had fallen asleep after the concert before they were even out of the parking garage, making the forty-five-minute drive to his family’s cabin unexpectedly quiet, save for her soft snores.
The concert was amazing. It had exceeded his high expectations for Karta Stella, and the whole experience was even sweeter because he got to see them with Tori. She was wild during the show: singing, dancing, shimmying up against him, and even slipping her hand into his pants at one point. Thankfully they had the row to themselves.
A part of him felt sad that she wouldn’t let herself do that more often. Seeing her so uninhibited tonight made him resent all the ways she closed herself off because of fear. Rhett hoped he could make that same carefree feeling last for her all weekend. She loved coming up to the cabin, and they hadn’t been up here alone in over a year. He was so eager to please her—in more ways than one—over the next few days.
She didn’t even flinch when he gently shook her shoulders again, so he gave up and decided to let her sleep while he got things setup. She wasn’t going to be any help unloading the car anyways if she was groggy or still tipsy. He kept the Prelude running so she wouldn't get cold before he popped the trunk to unload the car.
He had used an app on his phone to turn on the heat in the cabin before they left the venue. He punched the code into the deadbolt keypad to unlock the side door, then turned the handle and stepped into one of his favorite places in the world.
He flicked on just one set of lights in the kitchen before setting down the first load from the trunk. He made a few trips back and forth from the car to the cabin. On the last trip, he spent a few extra minutes inside, putting away the groceries Tori had packed them and carrying their bags into the master bedroom.
He set the bags down and looked around the room. Rhett usually slept in one of the two basement bedrooms when he was here with his family, and Tori slept with Maddie in the loft just like they had done since they were little. She always ended up sneaking down to the basement with Rhett at some point during those trips, too. He smiled to himself as he thought about all the happy, sometimes naughty, memories this place held for them.
He backtracked into the kitchen, fetching a few water bottles from the fridge and searching the cupboards for ibuprofen. He wandered back into the bedroom and opened up her bag, looking for whatever she had packed to sleep in.
“Were you going to leave me out there in the Prelude all night?”
Rhett jumped at the sound of her voice. He turned around to see her slumped against the doorframe of the master bedroom, pouting. Her eyes were still half closed as she let out an exaggerated yawn. Her hair was a tangled mess, and she had already ditched her shoes and jacket.
“Hey! You’re up. No, I tried to wake you, but you were sleeping so peacefully…” Rhett started to explain.
“I’m teasing you, Wheeler.” She rolled her eyes, then shut them as another yawn surprised her.
“Are you okay sleeping in here?”
The master bedroom was spacious and airy, decorated with soft white and cream linens plus a few navy and gold accents, per his mom’s usual interior design style. It was like a Pottery Barn catalog exploded inside a log cabin next to Lake Erie. There was a double-sided fireplace embedded in the wall so it could be enjoyed from the bedroom and from the master bathroom. In the morning, they would wake up to amazing lake views out of the floor-to-ceiling windows.
“Oh yeah.” She practically skipped over to the king-sized canopy bed.
