Page 78 of That One Night
She hated the way he said that. Like it was a fact, not a feeling.
“You’re anything but stupid,” she protested. “Look at the way you can take care of a farm. The way you can cook. The way you take care of me.”
His gaze narrowed as he looked at her. “Yeah, well it all comes down to nothing when you can’t do well academically. My mom was beside herself when I was finally diagnosed. She thought she’d let me down by not finding out earlier. But I’d hidden it pretty well. Just made it seem like I didn’t care about school or learning. I was all about sports and being outside and she was okay with that.”
“Because she loves you.”
“Yeah.” His voice was thick. “And I had my brothers. They helped with my homework enough for me to scrape by.” He shrugged his shoulders, like he didn’t care even though she knew he did. “So there you have it. I’ll never be the kind of guy who can provide luxury. I’ll never be a bank manager and I don’t want to rely on my folks to keep a roof over my head. This is me. What you see is what you get.”
“Do you think I care that you have dyslexia?” she asked him, frowning. “Because I don’t. I just told you I can’t cook.I also can’t seem to figure out my own life. And here’s you, running a farm all by yourself. Succeeding against the odds.” She reached for his hand, squeezing it. “You take care of me. You make me smile. You protect me, even when I’m not sure I need protecting.”
His jaw tightened but he said nothing. Maybe he just needed to listen right now.
“All the book learning in the world doesn’t make you a good person,” she told him. “Ask me how I know.” Her voice cracked, because she didn’t want to think about her past.
She just wanted to move forward. With him.
“Emery…” His voice was thick.
“What?”
“Can you come over here before I drag you across the table?”
She laughed softly, then did as he asked, walking over to him, letting him pull her onto his lap. He held her close, burying his face in her hair, like he was trying to breathe her in. She slid her arms around him, hugging him like she thought he needed to be hugged.
Fiercely. Unashamedly. She needed him to know that she didn’t care. That nobody who really knew him would. It was a diagnosis, not an affliction. His heart was pure, and that’s what mattered to her.
He’d shown her more kindness in the last few weeks than she ever thought she deserve.
“Are you hungry?” he asked her, his voice rough as he lifted his head, his gaze catching hers.
“Not really,” she admitted. Her stomach felt too tight for food.
“Good.” He stood, pulling her into his arms. “Because I need you.”
She stroked the hair from his brow, her heart doing that little flip it always did whenever he touched her. “You’ve got me,” she whispered. And he had no idea how true that was.
He had her, and she never wanted him to let go.
“Stay with me tonight,” he murmured an hour later. They were both naked and sated, her body curled against his as they came down from their highs. He was holding her tight, the way she’d learned he liked to, his fingers playing along the ridges of her spine. The way he softly kissed her brow made her chest tighten.
He’d made sure she felt good again – more than once – but it had been the way he’d stared into her eyes as he spilled inside of her that made her feel like there was this unbreakable connection buzzing between them.
They’d both shared their secrets. Laid themselves open to each other. And somehow the honesty between them had made sex even better.
“My mom will be home from Chairs soon.” She took a deep breath, because part of her was afraid. Of upsetting her mom, of destroying her hopes and expectations.
But the bigger part of her needed this. “Let me send her a message telling her I’m heading to bed.”
“Won’t she check on you?” he asked.
“Probably not.” She turned her head to the side. “But I could always run over and make it look like I’m under the covers.”
In the end, he came over with her, the two of them sneaking into her mom’s house like naughty teenagers, rolling up some clothes and pushing them under the covers until they looked vaguely like a human form all curled up sleeping.
“Grab some fresh clothes for the morning,” Hendrix instructed her.
“Good idea.” She nodded. “I can get my toothbrush, too.”
