AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You want to do it in private?” Matthew laughs. “After all of that?” I look over at him, and he has his hands on his hips. “We’re all invested in this now.”
“Why don’t we give them some privacy?” my father urges.
“I think they said everything they had to say,” Tyler says, his eyes glaring at me. “Ryleigh, are you ready to go?”
“She’s not going anywhere,” I declare, trying to sound as respectful as I can, but no fucking way is she going away from me.
“Is that so?” Romeo asks.
“Perhaps everyone needs to calm down a little.” Christopher holds up both his hands, earning him a glare from Romeo. Christopher then looks at my Uncle Justin, who nods and goes to stand next to him.
“I think that we all need to give them a bit of space,” he finally declares, looking at Romeo and his father. I know he probably doesn’t want to go toe-to-toe with his son-in-law and father, so I step up before anything else gets said or things start happening.
“I’m really sorry this played out in front of everyone.” I slip my hand in Ryleigh’s, and I’m expecting her to snatch it out of mine. “Now, if you will all excuse us.” I look over at Ryleigh. “We’re going to get out of here.”
“Might as well just go with him, and then you know.” I look over and see Jessica, who looks at Ryleigh. “Call us or come back.”
“Jessica,” Tyler snaps.
At the same time, Romeo groans, “Mom.”
“What?” She throws up her hands, getting frustrated with it. “They need to talk.” She points at us. “And they need to do it in private, without all the eyes.” Her finger then points all around the room.
“And opinions,” my mother interrupts.
I don’t wait for anyone else to say anything. Instead, I walk with her out of the house, and by some miracle, she follows me. Only when we are out of the door and it’s closed behind us does she pull her hand from mine. “You don’t have to do anything,” she says. “It’s over, no one is watching us.”
I stop in my tracks and turn to face her. “You think I give a shit if people are listening or watching?” I ask, but I don’t wait for her answer. “I don’t give a shit. The only reason I wanted to leave was so I could hold you in my arms, on my lap.”
“What?” she gasps in a whisper.
“I don’t care who hears this conversation. I don’t care if we do it in the middle of game seven of the Stanley Cup. I don’t give two shits who hears this conversation.” I smile at her softly. “I just want to do it while touching you.” I slip my hand back into hers and pull her down the driveway and across the street, walking up the driveway.
“Where are we going?” she asks as we walk up the steps to the front door.
“My house,” I inform her, putting the code into the front door. “This whole block is ours.” I motion with my finger up and down the block. “Well, not ours but every single one of the houses on this street and in the cul-de-sac belongs to one of my family members. My uncle Matthew found a developer, and we all bought houses.”
“That sounds like your family,” she mumbles as I open the door and wait for her to step in before locking the door behind her. “Where do you want to do this?” She looks around.
“Naked with you in my arms.” My mouth doesn’t give my brain a minute to think. “But I’ll settle for the living room.”
“Good choice,” she huffs, walking down the hallway toward the family room. “How many houses do you own?”
“A few.” I shrug. “It’s an investment.”
She steps into the sunken family room, turning to face me. “I don’t really think there is anything else to talk about.”
“There is a whole lot of stuff for us to talk about.” I close the distance between us, putting my hands on my hips. “Like the fact you gave up everything for me.”
“I didn’t give up everything for you.” She glares at me. “I gave it up for myself.”
“So you didn’t quit your job to move to Nashville and be with me?” She’s about to argue with me, but I hold up my hand and touch her cheek with my thumb. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t want to get your hopes up, in case it fell through.” Her voice goes higher. “How would you have taken that, Stone?” she asks. “Do you even know what that did to me?”
“Yes.” It’s almost a whisper. “Your job meant so much to you.”
“Obviously, not as much as you since I gave it up,” she says.
