Page 79 of Needing to Fall
“Come on, babe,” Lynx called from the hallway as I applied some gloss to my lips and fluffed my hair. I had spent way more time on my hair and makeup than I normally did, but I wanted to look perfect.
I had put on a skirt earlier, but Lynx had said, “Babe, it’s my sister. Wear jeans and be comfortable.” He didn’t realize it was his sister I was meeting for the first time! I wanted her to like me. I really did.
This had been so far out of my realm of possibilities—meeting a man’s family—that it didn’t hit me until I had started getting ready. The nerves took over, and I tried to suppress them by making myself look as okay as possible.
A week before, after returning home from the cemetery, Lynx had asked me, if on my next day off, I would meet his sister and her family. I had said yes, but the gravity of it didn’t hit me until about three hours ago. Since then, I had been a shaky mess. I wasn’t feeling sad. No, just anxious and nervous that she would think I was too messed up to be with her brother, that she wouldn’t accept me, or that she would think I was a horrible match for Lynx, all of which would break my heart. I kept telling myself it didn’t matter, but deep down, it really did. I wanted her and her husband to accept me into the fold.
I made one more swipe of my gloss then put the lid on it. My eyes popped with my long lashes, and my skin looked almost flawless. My dark hair was in long waves, cascading down my back with a sweep of bangs in the front. I felt good about the way I looked. I had never put too much thought into it, even at the bar, but that day, it felt good, and I looked better. It helped bring the nerves into check.
“Coming,” I yelled, walking out of the bathroom and slamming hard into Lynx. My head snapped up. “Sorry.”
He took a step back and scanned me up and down, and I felt the heat rise to my cheeks as a wide smile stretched across his face. “Beautiful. Absolutely fucking beautiful.” He pulled me to him and kissed me hard. When he pulled away, I saw my gloss on his lips and became frantic.
“You messed up my lips!” I tried to get out of his grasp to grab the gloss and fix my ruined job.
“Babe, give me those lips.”
My stomach started to quiver as tingles raced up my body. I gave him my lips, gloss be damned.
After fixing my lips, we climbed into Lynx’s truck and made the twenty-minute drive to his sister’s. I couldn’t get my leg to stop bouncing as the nerves flung around inside me like super bouncy balls. I tried holding it still, but then my hand just went up and down with it. My anxiety was through the roof, and I felt the urge to run, to go and pound everything out into the pavement, but that wasn’t an option, so I counted in my head.
One … deep breath. Two … deep breath.
Lynx laced his fingers with mine, bringing them to his lips and kissing them softly. I sucked in his comfort and willed myself to calm down.
“Babe, you’ll be just fine. I’m not gonna let you fall.”
My head snapped to him at his words. He got it. He so got it.
“Love you.” I had been telling him that at every opportunity, letting him know the feeling he had for me was mutual and returned. I didn’t want him to ever think I took him for granted. I wouldn’t. He was too important to me.
He kissed me again. “You, too, babe.”
I felt my body begin to relax—not fully, but enough for my leg to stop its action.
Lynx slowed the truck in front of a ranch-style home with tan siding and brown shutters. You could tell they loved the place by all of the trees and bushes. Each one had their place like it was meant to be there. Each one was trimmed, and the dirt was covered with mulch.
Lynx parked the truck as he said, “Come on, babe.” He gave my hand a squeeze and hopped out of the truck, coming over to my side then helping me out. He intertwined his fingers with mine and led me up the concrete walkway.
I felt my insides shake. I didn’t know it was possible, but it was. I felt everything in me shake. I started breathing again, just as we got on the landing and the door swung open.
A wide smile adorned a beautiful woman with long, dark hair and deep, brown eyes. I saw some similarities to Lynx in her, like her nose. She was slender, yet her jeans hugged hips I would love to have.
“Brody!” she screamed, and I gasped. He had told me his name, but I had never heard anyone call him that before. It seemed surreal since he wasn’t Brody to me. He was Lynx.
She ran out and wrapped her arms around her brother, and he gave her a one-armed hug, not letting go of me even when I tried to pull away to give them a moment. He wouldn’t let go.
I had to admit I loved it. I loved that he liked having me close to him. That little gesture meant the world to me.
“Hey, Bay.” Lynx pulled away and introduced us. “Bailey, this is Reign. Reign, this is Bailey.”
The smile didn’t leave his sister’s face as she stepped close to me, and I instinctively took a step back. While I wanted her to like me, there were some things I couldn’t get past quite yet, and one of those was the touch of people.
I quickly held out my hand, compromising on the hug I saw in her eyes she wanted to give me.
She looked to Lynx who nodded, and she took my hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Same here.”
