Page 70 of Make You Love Me

“I can't wait to share my stories with you. You’ll have to come over one night soon. I have a bunch of things I’d love for you to see. You're coming to family dinner tomorrow, right?”

“Yes!" I say with a smile, "Greyson asked me to come a few days ago.”

Smith beams a smile at me. “Oh man, I can't wait to see the look on my mother's face when she sees you. She loved your mom so much, so get ready cause she’ll probably fawn over you all night long. I think I still have a bunch of photos and stuff at her house from when your mom and I were young. We’ll have to rummage through it together.”

I let out a light chuckle. “I can't wait.”

“Now, come on.” He stands, shaking off the remaining emotional fog that surrounded us. Stretching out his hand for mine, he says, “Let’s go have some fun tonight. There will be plenty of time for us to share stories later.”

There's a genuine smile plastered on my face as I take his hand. We leave the shop and head across the way to where the party seems to be in full swing by the sounds of the booming voices and laughter.

I look to the sky and send up a silent thank you. To my family watching over me, making sure the cards aligned and I found my way… home.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Bliss,purebliss.That’show I would describe how perfect this weekend has been. After my heart-to-heart with Smith, we returned to the cookout, and he introduced me to several of the brothers in the Rebel Knights MC. At first, some were just as shocked as Smith about who I was, but that faded quickly, and they welcomed me into their family circle. Greyson, being the sexy, possessive man I love, made sure he reminded the brothers to whom I belonged every chance he had. Stealing passionate kisses and intimate touches all day and night had my body on fire.

I don’t think I've ever seen a party like that, and I've been to plenty of parties. The Rebel Knights can go all night long. Seriously, at one point I could tell the evening was taking a turn towards debauchery and Greyson signaled it was time for us to head home. I was more than willing to leave with him; he had me on edge all day. The way I was feeling, I couldn't care less about taking it slow. I was ready to be with him again… Ineededto be with him again.

To my disappointment, once we arrived at my house, he didn’t stay. He tucked me into bed and left me with a very ungentleman-like kiss. I was about to beg him to sleep over, but his phone rang out several times. It was Gunnar, asking Grey if he could return to the clubhouse to pick up Smith. He said something about them all being banned from Uber and everyone being too wasted to drive home. So, I can now say I've been officially cock-blocked, and by my boyfriend's dad, no less.

Needless to say, I'm a bit high-strung today sitting around Nana’s dinner table. Especially with his hand rubbing small circles on my thigh. I swear I must sound like a bumbling idiot in my attempts to answer his nana’s questions. Greyson is certainly enjoying this torture, or at least my reaction to it, because he’s smiling from ear-to-ear next to me.

Smith was right. Nana was stunned when she first saw me. Took her several moments to get her bearings. But now recovered, she’s been chatting up a storm ever since.

“This meatloaf is absolutely delicious,” I say to Nana Rex as I finish my plate. "I haven’t had a meal like this since my Gigi passed." She went all out for dinner tonight. There's homemade garlic mashed potatoes, green beans, and fried okra, and fresh cornbread. Greyson said this is how she usually cooks for every meal and to save room for the dessert. What a far cry from the salads I'm served at Ethel's house.

“Thank you. Please, there’s plenty where that came from,” she says and scoops another helping onto my plate. “You’re welcome here for dinner any day of the week. Just make sure you get here early enough otherwise these hooligans will leave you with scraps.” She motions to the table full of smiling faces, all deep in conversation. Frankie is in a deep conversation with Smith, and Ford is showing Gunnar pictures on his phone of a bike he's interested in. She smiles at the rag-tag family she's acquired, and I can feel the love radiating off her. Although I will always live with the grief of losing my closest family, I feel somewhat at ease at this table. Like I’m meant to be here.

Nana reaches across the table and places her hand on top of mine. “My door is always open,” she says with such an endearing smile. “Your mother knew that too. I was devastated when Leah left without saying goodbye. Then Smith let me read her letter to him and I understood why she felt like she had to,” she adds, choking up slightly towards the end.Why would she leave without saying goodbye? She left him a letter… I wonder if that's what Smith was referring to last night when he said it's a story for another time.

The sentimental moment is disrupted when Greyson’s hand slips higher up my thigh and pinches me lightly, causing me to let out a small yelp and jump in my seat. My cheeks flush with embarrassment as all eyes turn my way.Bastard.

Nana Rex must be aware of her grandson's antics because she stands and asks him to help her clear the table. He grumbles a response along the lines of “why can't Ford do it” but does as he's told. Loving the dynamic, I stick my tongue out at him. Childish I know, but it felt necessary.

I'm having such a great evening. I haven't stopped smiling and laughing since I walked through her door.

After we finish with dessert and all help clean up the kitchen, we make our way to the living room. Greyson mentioned it’s been recently re-furnished to accommodate their large “family”. Ford turns on the football game, and we all settle into the incredibly comfortable couches, Greyson taking up the corner seat with me nestled into his side.

Smith disappears down the hallway for a bit, returning with a box in his hands. I know immediately it’s the box of memorabilia he mentioned yesterday. He places the box next to me and sits on the other side. Sitting up quickly and re-adjusting my position, I wait patiently for Smith to open it. Even though I'm dying to rip it open, I'm letting him take the lead here. I can only imagine what this must feel like. How often does he rummage through these memories?

He opens the box lid and smiles at its contents. I sit up a little taller to peek inside. “Leah loved to keep busy, we were always doing something together,” Smith says as he pulls out a stack of concert tickets.

“She had quite the eclectic taste in music, she loved it all. We would go to the amphitheater at least twice a month.”

Gunnar pipes up from across the way, “She would drag us to every show possible, even if we didn’t know the artist performing. Our asses were there.” That makes us all chuckle.

The stubs are pretty worn and faded, but I shuffle through the stack regardless. They weren’t lying, they’ve seen literally every type of musical genre there is. I see a Tim McGraw ticket, one for Blink 182, and a K-Ci and Jojo stub. I’m in awe of the amount there are, and for the fact that Smith kept them all. The tickets remind me of the few she had in her box as well…those must have been her favorite memories.

He then hands me a small photo album. Definitely looks like something my mom made, almost like a scrapbook. I tear up at the images inside. Quite a shock seeing my mom and Smith when they were our age. Even crazier are the similarities to Greyson and me. It's overwhelming.

Greyson is looking alongside me and there's one photo of my mom on Smith’s bike and I still. It looks almost identical to the one that’s set as Greyson’s phone wallpaper.

“Holy shit,” he says, not needing to say anything more. The similarities are uncanny.

Then as we flip further into the book, you can see the changes in my mom. From the looks of her, I'm guessing this is when she started to get sicker. Her frame is much, much thinner, and her face looks different too, still gorgeous, but definitely different.

I haven’t seen many photos of my mom during this time in her life. I now understand why, she looks frail and weak, not anything like she would want to be remembered as.My mom told me about her first bout of Leukemia. She was seventeen when the doctors discovered it and started treatments. There was a period when she was hospitalized from the strain on her body from the treatments. But to know she had Smith by her side through it all makes me even more thankful for him and solidifies the type of love they shared.

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