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“Sawyer Wild, are you really going to throw that back at me after all the shit you put me through when I was struggling about our age difference?”
“I know, and I’m not … not really,” I added, quickly, “maybe I’m overthinking.”
“Then you need to stop. I’d never be romantically interested in your brother. I only have one more thing to say and then this conversation is over. A few months ago, I thought I’d never get over seeing Logan and Poppy together, and since I’ve been with you, I couldn’t care less. When I see you, my mind is immediately full of desire, longing, and love. When you touch me, it makes my bones feel like they are melting inside, and when you kiss me, you control the beat of my heart. No man has ever made me feel the way you do.”
“Yeah?” I asked playfully, as my heart swelled to hear her thoughts. My stomach flipped over with her admission.
“You are the hottest man I have ever met, the only man I want, and for some unfathomable reason, I believe you truly want me. We’re going to have a great future together, but this shit in our lives will rumble on unless we make a stand and face it head on until we reach a point where it doesn’t hurt us anymore.”
When she looked straight ahead at the road with flushed cheeks, I knew it had taken a lot for her to express herself like that, but her confession reassured me about us moving forward. What she’d said was exactly what I needed to hear.
It was almost 5:45p.m. by the time we arrived back in New Jersey, and as soon as we hit the cul-de-sac where Billie lived we were surprised to see a light on in Billie’s sitting room.
“I definitely checked I’d turned everything off before I left with Colby,” Billie muttered, sounding both confused and a little bit anxious.
“It’s okay. I’ll go and check, you stay here,” I said, parking her car on the road and not in her driveway. As I went to get out of the car, Billie gripped my hand to stop me and wouldn’t let it go.
“No. What if it’s a burglar, I mean, what if he has a gun? Let’s call the police. We’re not taking a chance with this, I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
Searching through her bag, she pulled out her cell, and at that very same moment Logan walked past the sitting window. “It’s Logan.” Relief filled my chest at the same time as a mixture of frustration and curiosity took over from my apprehension.
Billie immediately slipped my grandma’s antique ring box out of her purse, tugged the ring over her knuckle, reluctantly inspecting it. For a second, her dull blue eyes connected with mine and then she placed her engagement ring back in its box. “Sorry.” Her apology was regretful in tone, but it was all the unspoken words she hadn’t said that showed in her sad expression. Although my heart ached when I saw her take it off, I got it. There hadn’t been time to tell them about our plans, and in this instance, more for Colby than her ex, I’d felt it was the right thing to do.
Sliding out of the driver’s side, I wandered around the hood and opened her door. Taking her hand, I helped her out onto her feet then hugged her quietly for a moment. “It’s okay, darlin’, whatever this is, we’re not going to let it bring us down.”
The game Logan played at Christmas when he’d turned up at Billie’s door highlighted his willingness to fuck with us as a couple. I was determined not to lower myself to his level, and I remained calm to help Billie feel more comfortable with Logan’s sudden visit.
Before we reached the front door, Colby opened it, ran out excited to see Billie, and hugged his mom’s side. “Whoa, Baby, what are you doing home already?”
“Poppy wanted to come home, so we left Grandma and Gramps early this morning and flew back. Dad’s in a mood, by the way,” he added solemnly, as he leaned back to look up at her with a sad look in his eyes.
“How did you get into the house?”
“You know that key you hide in the bricks at the back wall near the cherry tree?” he asked.
“I’d forgotten about that,” Billie replied, she had needed no further explanation.
“Dad didn’t,” Colby informed her, deadpan.
When Billie looked past Colby into the house, before glancing at me, I knew by the furious look in her eyes there was going to be words between her and Logan. “Well, now that you’re here, do you think you’re strong enough to help me get your mom’s suitcase out of the car?”
Placing an arm around his shoulder, I turned him away from the door and guided him toward her car. I knew the diversion would keep Colby busy for a few minutes, and it gave Billie the opportunity to challenge Logan without their son having to listen to his parents’ disagreement.
“How was your trip, buddy, did you have fun?” I asked sounding upbeat, even though I was concerned about what was happening inside. The pull I had toward Colby felt natural and there was just something about him that made me want to spend time with him.
“With Gramps yeah, he was cool, but I hated all the whispering, and I know Grandma wasn’t happy with Daddy and Poppy, because she kept doing this long huff thing she does when Gramps leaves the toilet seat up. Then the usual happened,” he said, throwing his eyes in the air.
“The usual?”
“Yep, Poppy saying to my dad he wasn’t fun and that she wanted to go out to a bar. My dad had to go with her because she said she couldn’t go out alone. I stayed at home with Grandma and Gramps when they went out. I didn’t mind though, because we got to play Scrabble and then we had hot chocolate with whipped cream and baby marshmallows.”
“Well, the drink sure sounds cool, but I don’t know about the rest of it,” I replied, trying to take the sting out of his words, but agreeing with how annoyed he must have felt. I closed the trunk. It was cold and I knew I couldn’t keep him outside without a coat any longer. As we walked back up the path, I was relieved to see Billie arrive back at the door and I guided Colby quicker in the direction of the house and painted on a smile.
“You haven’t done any gaming today, have you, Colby?” Billie asked her son.
“Nope, we got home a little while ago and Dad said I couldn’t go play because you’d likely be mad when you got home.” Billie scowled and glared in Logan’s direction, he glanced up from the counter stool he sat on and shrugged his shoulders.
“You said not to let him play games when he was with me.”
