Page 30 of Wish Me Home

I dropped my phone against my chest and rested my head against the back of the couch. Closing my eyes and a rush of warmth washed over me as I thought about how I felt about the man that I was currently sitting with. Everything felt lighter when I thought about being with him.

“No Emmett. It’s not just you. I feel it too.”

He swung his legs off my lap and I scrambled to grab my phone before it slid and hit the floor. He stood and held out his hand to me, offering to help me up. Without hesitation, I took his hand in mine. He led me to his room where he locked the door behind us and showed me once again today just how much he appreciated me.

Chapter Nineteen

Emmett

I’dneverbeentoOregon before so I didn’t know what to expect when I got off of the plane. The wind chill hit me first, causing me to pull my jacket around me more tightly. I’d left Chicago a week and a half ago, so you’d think I’d be used to the colder weather, but I acclimated to San Diego quickly.

Cody hadn’t landed us on the same flight this time, but our flights had gotten in only a few hours apart from each other. He had said he would wait for me at the airport. As I got through security, he stood waiting with another fluffy teddy bear and a sign with my name on it.

Aunt Sadie seemed sad at first when I told her about cutting my trip short. Her attitude changed, however, when I explained the reasoning why. She hadn’t been happy with me that I’d had Cody stay the night with me after Christmas, but was thrilled that I had found someone. She would be even happier when she found out what I planned to do when I made it back home to Chicago.

I ran to Cody. He dropped the sign and wrapped me in a tight hug. We had seen each other this morning, but you’d swear it had been longer. Since Christmas, we hadn’t spent a day apart.

“Come on, let’s go grab your bags. I have the rental car all situated.” He grabbed my small carry-on and the sign from the floor and led me over the luggage claim. He hadn’t exactly explained too much about this trip, only that he told his parents he was coming.

My legs felt restless as we sat in the car on the drive to his parent’s house. All I wanted to do was get out of the car and pace. I’d never met anyone’s parents before, yet here I was, meeting the parents of a man I’d known for almost two weeks. A man I was sure I was in love with despite the small amount of time.

The hammering of my heart against my ribcage intensified as we pulled up in front of a large house about thirty minutes later. I chewed on my lip and looked over at Cody for reassurance. He gave me a half smile before killing the engine and climbing out of the car.

I had to take a deep breath before I could follow him out. An older woman with graying hair stepped out of the house and watched us as Cody opened the trunk and started unloading bags. She seemed confused to see someone with him. It was then that I realized we were staying here.

I rounded the car and grabbed his arm, stopping him from pulling out any more of our luggage. “Please tell me you told your parents that you were bringing someone with you.”

He dropped his arm and rolled his head to look at me. Leaning back, he looked at the woman who now looked annoyed with her arms crossed over her chest. A man had joined her on the porch and if that’s what I had to look forward to when Cody got older, then yum.

“You might be a surprise,” he finally said, having the decency to look sheepish.

“Cody! You don’t visit your parents for the holidays ever and the first time that you do you surprise them with a boyfriend?” I started grabbing the remaining bags from the trunk of the car to keep from getting too angry.

“I told you that!”

I turned, slamming the trunk of the car. “You didn’t tell me you didn’t tell them I was coming.”

He winced. “Okay, sorry. Yeah, I thought maybe you’d help soften the blow a bit. I really want you here. And not just because I think it’ll make them happy.”

I let out a frustrated breath, running a hand through my hair. It was difficult to be mad at him because I was trying to understand where he was coming from. At the same time, it felt good that he’d wanted to show me off.

“Well, let’s get this surprise over with,” I said as we grabbed the bags and made our way up to the house.

What a difference from my aunt who always greeted me with warm hugs, to Cody’s parents who barely acknowledged me and didn’t offer to help with the bags. They showed us to a room, barely even greeting us. I set the bags inside the door, looking down the hallway where his mom and dad had disappeared.

“Is that… typical?” I asked.

He sat on the edge of the bed and dropped his face into the palms of his hands. He rubbed his face, and I missed his radiant smile immediately. With one hand he gripped his blond hair and looked up at me. “Unfortunately. I told you, they’re not the warmest bunch.”

I was out the door and walking down the hall before he could stop me.

“Emmett!” He called my name, but I didn’t stop until I found his parents standing in the kitchen. His mother was standing at a large kitchen island with a glass of what looked like ice water while his father held a glass with an amber liquid in it.

I walked over and held out my hand to his mother who stared at it like I did something offensive. “I’m Emmett Butler by the way,” I offered.

She tentatively took my hand and shook it before releasing it and wiping it against the gray slacks she wore. “Louisa Summers. This is my husband Matthew; Cody’s father.”

I turned to shake the man’s hand, but he didn’t offer it to me. Cody entered the kitchen to witness it and rushed to my side. “Dear God, can you two at least pretend to be nice to my boyfriend.”

---