Page 16 of Sofa King Devotion

"Sure as hell did. You kept to yourself most of the time, so you probably had no idea."

"You warned men away from me?" I truly had no idea he was doing this. Then I think back to his most recent stunt at Dixon’s, where he popped up out of nowhere.

"That's in the past. We're moving forward." He winks at me, and I can't help but laugh. That's Sawyer through and through. I'm trying to say sorry, and he's letting me off the hook.

"I wasn't looking to date anyone," I mutter more to myself. But if I’m honest, I kind of love the idea of him getting so jealous over me.

"We established I'm a dumbass."

"You are not." I elbow him in the side before I place my hand on top of his. "And only I can call you that."

“Yes, ma’am.” He turns his hand over so we can link our fingers together.

The feel of his strong, possessive hold is overwhelming. The simple act of holding hands has my insides warming. I’m still buzzing from the pleasure he gave me earlier, and I don’t ever want it to end.

“Maybe we should go to my place,” I suggest when he turns in the opposite direction.

“Well, I was thinking that you haven’t been to mine in years.” He’s driving toward his family's land, and a ball of emotions form in my chest.

“It has been a long time,” I agree. We have a lot of memories from time spent there as kids. “But we’ll be alone at my place.”

“We’ll be alone at my place too.” He grins.

“Oh.” I let out a breath. “Your parents are out of town right now?”

If Sawyer and I are truly committed to this relationship, I will have to face them at some point. I’m just not ready for that to happen today or, to be honest, tomorrow. Right now, things are pretty dang perfect, and I don't want to rock the boat quite yet.

"They're back tomorrow. They'll be in for a shock when they find out about us. Mom will be so damn excited."

Well, shit. She's not going to be excited one bit.

"Hey, why’d you tense up on me?" Suddenly Sawyer is catching everything when it comes to me. He takes his eyes off the road to glance over at me for a second. "Tell me. I don’t want there to be any more hiding. From now on, we talk things out."

I sigh, and even though I don’t want to have this conversation, he’s right. We’ve spent far too long keeping these things in, and I don’t want to continue this way. This needs to stop now, and it’s best to get it all out.

"Your mom doesn't like me."

As soon as the words are out of my mouth, a bark of laughter leaves Sawyer.

"Lane, you’ve lost your mind. She loves you."

The irony is that at one time, I would have said the same thing.

"Since when?"

"What do you mean, ‘since when?' Your whole life." He blinks at me like I’m speaking another language.

"At one time, sure, I think she felt that way but not so much now."

"Did she say something to you?" Sawyer's laughter vanishes, and his whole mood shifts. It's a power I have only ever seen with him. He can somehow change the whole vibe in a room with his presence or a couple of words. I always thought it was why he's so good with animals.

“No, in fact she doesn’t say anything to me anymore.” I could be standing right next to her, and I was a ghost. It hurt, but I kept telling myself it was for the best.

“I’ll fix it,” he promises.

“It’s not your job to fix everything.” I squeeze his hand, appreciating that he would go to bat for me, but I don’t want to come between him and his family.

“Are you my girl?”

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