Page 81 of Fall to Me
“I can’t wait to watch you walk into that house and try to keep a straight face after what we just did out here.”
“Carter Ethan Graham! You did not just say that to me. Now that’s all I’ll think about.” He laughs, and I smack his chest. “Payback is a bitch.”
“Well, River Ashton Graham. I think it’ll be worth it.”
I loved the way that sounded.
“Can you say that again?”
“I think it’ll?—”
“No, the other part. Say my name. My full name.”
He strides over and palms the side of my neck bringing his forehead to mine. “River. Ashton. Graham.”
“Mmm.” I close my eyes, and smile.
“Fuck. I love you.” He takes my face in his hands and kisses me.
We hang up the riding crop and reins, then spend the rest of the morning tending to the animals. Once we’re showered and dressed, I go to the kitchen to help Mom, absolutely not thinking about what we did in that stable . . . or in the shower a few minutes ago. Dad has Mom wrapped in an embrace against the kitchen sink. I guess now that the cat’s out of the bag, they’re free to be themselves around me. Carter sits down at the table and begins peeling potatoes while I busy myself starting other side dishes. We all work as a unit, prepping the meal. Everything is just about done when my two uncles come waltzing in at noon.
I throw my arms around my dad’s brother. “Uncle Matt! I missed you!”
“Hi, baby girl. I missed you most.” He perks up, looking at Carter, then at me. “Who is that fine ass piece of eye candy? Is this your hubs?”
Giggling, I nod my head as Uncle Matt fans his face. “Yum.”
“I know you didn’t drool over some other man right in front of—oh, hot damn.”
And that's my Uncle Kyle. I give him a hug and make introductions.
“Carter, this is Dad’s brother Matt and Matt’s husband Kyle.”
They set their desserts on the table and each give Carter’s hand a shake.
“Where’s everybody else?” I ask.
“Why do you need anybody else? The fun is already here, baby.” Uncle Matt turns to my mom. “Marcy, come give me some sugar.”
One by one, my teenage cousins begin to trickle into the house. Hayden, Hayes, Harley, and Harper—all of them Uncle Matt and Kyle’s kids. Hayden and Hayes are eighteen. Harley and Harper are sixteen. Two sets of twins born from the beautiful gift of surrogacy. The girls have Uncle Matt’s brown hair and hazel eyes, and the boys have Uncle Kyle’s black hair and blue eyes, but don’t ever ask who belongs to whom because one: that’s fucking rude, and two: they will set you straight and tell you they all belong to both of them.
The boys sit in the living room, chatting with Carter about sports. I don’t really know if they know that Carter is a professional hockey player. If they do, they aren’t making a big deal about it, thankfully. The Cowboys play on the TV, and voices grow louder as everyone begins trash talking the refs and yelling at “bad calls.”
The door whips open, cold air hitting me in the face.
“Would you look at that? Trouble just walked through the door,” Mom says as Cal, Aspen, and Tucker walk in.
“What?” I squeal “No way!”
Jumping up, I pretty much tackle Aspen. We’ve never spent a major holiday apart, though now that our lives are changing, I know one day we’ll be forced to.
Carter leans in as he passes by. “Surprise.”
“You knew about this?” I point at Aspen.
He winks and pulls a beer out of the fridge for Cal, popping the top and throwing the lid in the trash.
“It was a last-minute decision,” Aspen says.
