Page 49 of Flare Up
“I was almost asleep,” she said. “Now I’m awake again.”
“I’ve been thinking about something.”
She screwed her eyes shut and did a horrible version of a fake snore.
“Very funny. I’m serious.”
Sighing, she opened her eyes again. “Okay. What have you been thinking about?”
“Let’s go to New Hampshire for a couple of days. Visit my parents. Get away for a bit.”
She lifted herself onto her elbow so she could look down at his face. “Really? You were thinking about your parents?”
“Well, not just now. Before. My mom’s been after me to visit and if you go with me, you can relax. Like totally relax, you know?” He didn’t spell it out for her because he didn’t think he had to. There was nothing—or more importantly nobody—to fear in his home state.
“When would you want to go? And for how long?”
“I get that you don’t want to miss a lot of work right now, so what if we went up Saturday morning and came back Sunday night?” Long enough for a nice visit with his parents, but not so long it would drag on for Wren if she wasn’t totally comfortable.
He knew his parents would make her welcome, no matter what their thoughts on the relationship were, but Wren was sensitive and she might pick up on any weird vibes his mom was putting out.
“I guess that means you’ve told your parents about me?”
“Of course.” She didn’t say anything, but he didn’t need a psychic to tell him what she was waiting for. “They just want me to be happy. I promise my mom won’t put anything awful in your food.”
“Don’t you need to sleep Saturday morning?”
He couldn’t tell if she was concerned about that or just flailing for reasons not to go at all. “I’ve always gotta play that part by ear. I’ll probably be fine to go, but if it’s a busy night, I might need a quick nap before we head out. It’s only an hour and a half of driving.”
“If you’re sure they won’t mind me coming with you.”
“They won’t mind.” He chuckled. “I should tell you up front you’ll be sleeping in the guest room, though. And not the same guest room I’ll be sleeping in. Not that they’re really old-fashioned, but...uh, it’s just a thing.”
Wren laughed and slapped her hand on his chest. “There’s a story there. I want to hear it.”
“Nope.” When she pinched his nipple, he yelped and grabbed her wrist. “Ow!”
“Tell me or I’ll start twisting.”
“You’re so mean.” She also had a painful pinching grip for somebody with such small hands. “Fine. The first time I went home, I brought a girlfriend with me and we crashed in my room because my parents didn’t care. But, in the heat of the moment, I said something and I said it too loud, so my mom heard. She yelled ‘Grant, that’s disgusting’ and woke everybody up. Breakfast was awkward as hell, believe me.”
At least laughing at him made Wren let go of his nipple. “What did you say?”
“Honestly, I don’t even remember. I swear.”
“And now your girlfriends have to sleep in the guest room forever?”
“Yeah. Not that it would matter. I haven’t been able to get an erection in that house since.”
“Is that a challenge?”
“No.” He rolled her onto her back, ready to go again. “I get plenty of erections in my own damn house, thanks to you.”
* * *
Grant wanted to take her home to his parents.
The anxiety helped keep her warm while she worked in the milk cooler, checking expiration dates and restocking. They were going through half and half a little faster than usual, so their customers must be hitting the coffee and hot chocolate hard in the cold weather.
