Chapter Four
Gray
“Where are you headed looking so handsome?” my mother asks sweetly. I stop to kiss her cheek before snagging a green pepper slice from the cutting board. Just as I take a bite, I almost choke at my little brother’s uninvited two cents.
“He’s probably banging that waitress from Rocky’s,” Asher lobs while grabbing a beer from the fridge.
“Asher James,” Mom chastises at the same time my father clears his throat, throwing quick looks to both of us that means “cool it.”
“What?” A too-smug grin curls his lips. He ignores all the warning signs my parents are throwing and continues to poke instead. Leaning back, he crosses his legs at the ankles. “It’s true. Tell her, Gray.” He nods to me, as if I would ever admit that to my mother, for fuck’s sake.
And I don’t like him talking about Livvy that way. She’s an incredible woman. Strong. Spirited. Sexy as hell. Curves for days. Fun. Proud. Smart. Selfless. So fucking selfless. The childhood she practically gave up so her sister would have one is both heart wrenching and heart warming. But that’s just who she is. I don’t have to spend a year with her to know that. I knew it inside of twenty-four hours.
She’s in me. Rooted so far already it should have warning bells firing, but they’re stone silent. Livia Kingsley has come to mean more to me in the last two weeks than I thought possible. If I’m honest, I’m falling for her. Hard and fast and so deep I’ll never climb out. I wasn’t looking for a complication like Livvy, what with a few months of college still left; knowing I’m going right for my MBA afterward and will have to work my ass off at Dad’s company this summer. But I found her anyway and I’m holding on tight because I already know this woman is once-in-a-lifetime special.
And though I hope to remedy it some night soon, I’m not “banging” Livvy. Not yet. I want to. Holy shit, it’s practically all I think about.
But she’s not ready. I respect that. I respect her, and if she’s not ready, she’s not ready. And while that clock taunts us by ticking off the seconds we have left until I have to return to Cambridge, I’ll wait for her as long as she needs. I’ll wait a lifetime if I have to. My dick won’t be too happy, but I’ll just keep him busy in the shower day and night to thoughts of what she’ll look like with her lips wrapped around me, those doe eyes watching to see if she’s bringing me to my knees.
She would.
She has.
Not one stroke of her finger down my cock and already she owns me.
“Fuck off. Don’t talk about her like that.” I push him away from the fridge so I can grab a bottle of water. He stumbles and I chuckle.
“Boys, please. You know I don’t like that vulgar swearing.” Barb Colloway, my saint of a mother. How she had the patience and wherewithal to raise four boys, I’ll never know. But she did and if God put a better woman on this earth, I haven’t run across her yet…until Livvy.
“Then tell Ash to mind his own damn business.” My mother just sighs and goes back to cutting up raw vegetables, knowing she’s not going to win this one. I don’t even need to look at my dad to know I’m getting another warning glare. He’s as protective of his wife as I’m starting to feel about Livia. That’s how I know this is real.
Ash just shrugs. “We’re family. Your business is my business. Especially because I think you really like this girl.” I love my little brothers, but hot damn, they are a pain in the ass sometimes. Especially when it comes to women.
“We talking about the waitress again,” Conn chimes in as he strides into the room.
“Yes,” Ash answers at the same time I bark, “No.”
“You seeing her again tonight?” Conn continues, picking up a few pieces of raw broccoli. He eases down onto a bar stool at the island, next to my father, and starts chomping into one, waiting.
“So what if I am?”
“Nothin’. Just asking is all. You like her, huh?” He’s nonchalant, as if my answer doesn’t matter, but everyone is hanging on it anyway. I’ve dated a few girls in high school and had a couple girlfriends at college, one semi-serious, but I’ve never met anyone like Livia. Felt even a fraction of what I feel for her.
My gaze floats around my family. The people in this room mean more to me than anyone else…except now maybe my Livvy. I’d intended to see how things played out between us before I made this little announcement to them, but I want them to know. I want them to meet her. Find out first hand how incredible she is.
“I do.”
My mom looks up from the radishes she’s halving. She heard something in the gravity of my voice. So did I. “Is it serious?”
Is it serious? I’ve spent every night either with or talking to Livia since she agreed to go out on a date with me. Sometimes it’s not until midnight when she gets off, but I don’t care. Time is what I need with her right now, what we’re short on. What I crave when I’m parted from her. When I can’t be with her, she’s all I think about. I’m obsessed. Whipped. Whatever you want to call it. I know how I feel, but is it as serious for her as it is for me?
“I hope so.”
Fuck…I hope so.
Because I do believe I have met the love of my life, and I won’t stop until I posses every last part of her. Especially her heart.