Page 48 of Finally Home

“Okay, okay. My sister curses like a damn sailor. My mom loves to gossip about the neighbors.”

“I guess she was a joy, then, when her son was out causing a wiener ruckus, huh?”

I tickle her sides, and she nearly jumps off the bed. “My girl’s got jokes.” I kiss her forehead. But yes, it was hard to keep quiet when she told me all the juicy gossip and her theories. “And, well, my dad…” I hesitate. My dad has definitely been a tough subject that I honestly haven’t shared all that much with Hollie about. “My dad was notorious for having to be the one to pick what was on the television, and then it was a guarantee that he would be in his chair snoring five minutes in.”

Hollie snuggles in further to my side. It’s like she knew what I needed before I needed it.

“Will you tell me more about him?”

I clear my throat. “Yeah, another time, though.” She nods. But I don’t want to get too distracted by her naked body pressed against me, so I revert to my point. “I’m sure I could list morethings that my family isn’t good at or a bad habit they have, but that’s the thing—I still love my family, flaws and all. Because they’re my family. And families aren’t always who we’re born into. Like Rhyland—he’s my brother in every way that counts but blood.”

“They’re all lucky to have you and vice versa.”

I know that I’m lucky, but I can’t fully appreciate it when I know that not all of those out there are lucky like that. Like Holland. All she’s had is herself, but that fucking changes now.

With my thumb and forefinger, I tilt her chin, hoping she will hear, remember, and understand what I’m about to say. I want them to stick to her like glue.

“No matter what, I’ll always be your family.” I seal that promise with a kiss that lasts long into the evening.

Chapter 21

Hollie

“Ireally appreciate you spending the day with me. Not sure I could take one more day of my mother telling me about the soap opera drama between our two neighbors across the street.”

Ollie had mentioned his mother’s love of gossiping. My mother loves to gossip, too, but her style is more malicious and pot-stirring, whereas I’m sure Connie’s gossiping is just small-town tabloid things.

“Fall break hasn’t exactly been…” Payton trails off, taking a sip from her iced coffee.

I was a little shocked, to say the least, to find her knocking at our door this morning and wanting to hang out with me. Ollie, however, had a few choice words for his sister.

It could have just been the blue balls talking, though, since he was about to have breakfast—or, should I say, was about to havemefor breakfast on the kitchen counter. However, he seemed to chill when she revealed a tray of large coffees from behind her back. He left us to get ready for work, but not without giving his sister a little payback. Payton made gagging noises as her brother kissed me in a passionate kiss that curled my toes and whispered in my ear a promise to finish what we started later. As he walked down the hallway, he chuckled as he blew on his finger pistol and pretended to reholster it.

Since deciding to make this thing between us official, neither of us can seem to stop touching the other. Every morning starts with kissing him, and it’s the last thing I do before bed, even on nights when he comes home late from Tilley’s. When he slides into bed well after I’ve fallen asleep, his mouth dances across my skin in search of my lips.

I shift in my chair, fighting a giggle as the nail salon stylist scrubs the bottom of my feet with the pumice stone. It was Payton’s idea to kick off the day with manicures and pedicures.

“Have you heard from Joel?”

She shrugs. “Just when he had made it.” She stares into the bubbling water as if it held all the answers. “I swear he’s not as awful as my brothers make him out to be. He’s really a good guy.”

By her tone, I’m not sure if it’s me she’s trying to convince or more so herself.

This right here is another reason I’m happy I extended my stay in Elmhurst. Pay really looks like she could use a friend right now. Today is honestly a first for me, too. I’ve never had girl time like this. Not with my mom and not with girlfriends. I was a loner growing up, so I feel like I’m making up for lost time. This town has brought more than one new experience.

I’m really thinking that there is something in the water in this town, or maybe it’s something ingrained in the Mosby family DNA that makes it so comfortable to be around them. I just metPayton, yet I feel this instant connection. Obviously not in the same way I have a connection with her brother, but one where it felt like we had known each other much longer than reality.

Maybe in another lifetime, she and I could have really been good friends. Or maybe we can remain friends once I leave.

Will I be able to handle having a connection to Ollie, though, once I leave and I’m not with him?

We may have just postponed the inevitable, but the thought of leaving this place and leaving this man has my stomach in knots. I’ve always been able to just pack up and leave, and this time, it’s more than that. It’s more than just a place I’m leaving, but people who have welcomed me as one of their own.

Could I actually see myself setting roots here? Giving this relationship an actual try? I’ve always shut down those possibilities before. What’s changed? I don’t really have to think all that hard, though. The difference is that this time I have Oliver Mosby.

“Hey, woah.” Payton touches my arm. “Where’d you go just now?”

I shake off those thoughts, knowing that I could easily fall down that rabbit hole if I allowed myself. I just need to live in the present and focus on the now and not think about the what-ifs of the future.

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