28. Woody

28

WOODY

Despite the county’s assurances, Emery and I decided to go over every square inch of our properties together the next time Stevie went with her grandmother. We didn’t find any additional bees, but we did discover a number of places where we could fuck up against a tree, a rock, or, in one particular stroke of genius, the middle of my hemp crop.

After brushing the dirt from our clothes, we walked hand in hand back to my cabin, where Emery continued to lay gentle kisses on the back of my neck.

“You’ve already fucked me six ways to Sunday, Em,” I said with a chuckle as he nibbled on my ear. “Those pills work pretty well, but I don’t think I have another round in me.”

“Neither do I, sweetheart,” he whispered, deep and low, so that it rattled in my chest. “My nuts are completely tapped out but I. Just. Can’t. Stop. Kissing. You.”

I chuckled as he interspersed kisses between each word, though the moment was broken when my stomach growled. Loudly.

“Damn, baby,” Emery said, turning me to face him. “Just ’cause I like taking your sweet ass all over the great outdoors doesn’t mean I can go around ignoring your basic needs.”

I let my forehead rest on his chest. “Wanna get some food?”

His hands, which had been rubbing my back, stilled. “Like a date?”

“I wouldn’t say all that . . .”

He snorted, then kissed the top of my head. “Yeah, I’ll go on a date with you.”

I muttered, “ Damn right you will ,” under my breath, doing a terrible job of hiding my smile.

“Such a sassy bottom you are,” he said, smoothing his hands over my hardworking ass. “What’re you hungry for?”

Recognizing the compliment in his words, I arched my back, pressing into his hot palms. “You think the Salt Lick has a long wait right now?”

He dug into his pocket and checked his phone, then shook his head. “Shouldn’t be a problem. Also, Salt Lick sounds like a fantastic way to refuel after spending the morning looking for bees .”

I let out a whine when he squeezed my ass.

“Maybe if we make out for a little while longer, we can thread the needle between the lunch and dinner crowds.”

My stomach rumbled again, but I liked where his head was. “Yeah, but don’t make me wait too long.”

“Never,” he said, pressing a hot kiss to my lips as he dipped his hand inside my underwear.

I grimaced as Emery nosed into a parking space in Salt Lick’s crowded back lot. We’d missed our magic window of time, though with the scent of sex on our clothes I couldn’t say I regretted it.

“Damn, this place smells good,” Emery said as he laced his hand with mine, leading me to the sign-in podium.

Before we could add our names to the list, we were intercepted by an old high school friend of mine.

“Woody!” Cecilia walked up to us with a set of menus. “Haven’t seen you in a long time, darlin’.”

“Hey, Cece.” My face heated as her eyes drifted across Emery’s broad shoulders. “Been super busy.”

“I bet you have,” she retorted with a twinkle in her eyes. “And who is this charming fella?”

“My boyfriend.”

She smacked my chest with the stack of menus, completely unserious. “ Well done .”

I rolled my eyes and Emery popped his collar, clearly proud of himself.

Cracking up, she ordered, “Come this way,” as she turned on her heel.

We followed her to a two-top in the corner. After taking our drink orders, she angled off to take care of another set of incoming diners. Emery reached out across the table, opening his hand to me. It was strange and exhilarating, this easy affection between us. I looked around, and all sorts of couples were holding hands, and one couple was even kissing over in the opposite corner.

I swallowed and took his hand.

“I have a confession to make,” he said, sounding very serious.

“What are we confessing to? Espionage? Do you know who shot Kennedy? Have you been to Area 51?”

He laughed. “No, nothing quite so grave. I’ve just never been here before.”

“Wait.” My jaw dropped. “You’ve never been to Salt Lick?”

He grimaced. “To be fair, I had the brisket at a friend’s party once, but I’ve never been to the restaurant.”

“But you at least know about barbecue sauce?”

“That I do—and I like it a whole lot,” he said, carefully unrolling the paper napkin from the utensils.

I let out a relieved breath. “Good thing, too. That could’ve ended us.”

He laughed, bringing my knuckles to his lips.

“Here’s your sweet tea, gentlemen,” Cecilia said, grinning down at us.

I darted a look in her direction. “You’re just loving this, aren’t you?”

“It’s not every day you see the local hard ass become all soft. And you damn sure never made it out here with whatshisbritches. I’m gonna have to put this down in the calendar or something.”

“Why do I even come to this place?”

“Because we’ve got some damn good barbecue. Also, you have a sweet tooth.”

Emery stared at me. “How did I not know that about you? And what do they have for dessert?”

“I ate, like, three pieces of that red velvet nightmare cake and I own beehives, Em.”

“I thought you sold the honey or something.”

I shook my head. “All mine.”

Cecilia turned to Emery with a bemused expression. “As for dessert, we’ve got a really nice pecan pie, but this one right here is a sucker for our cobblers.”

“Cobblers? Tell me more,” he insisted.

“We’ve got a peach and we’ve got a blackberry. This one here orders both, eats half of each and takes the other half of each to go.”

Emery eyed me up and down appreciatively. “Good to know. Good. To. Know.”

“Oh, shut up, you two. It’s just cobbler.”

She arched a brow at me, took our orders, then walked off, laughing to herself.

Grinning, Emery said, “I am going to have so much?—”

“ Woody ?”

Emery blinked up at the man who’d interrupted him, confused. I, however, was not confused in the slightest. Even though I hadn’t yet turned to face him, I’d recognize that voice anywhere.

I shared a slightly panicked look with Emery, who tightened his grip on my hand. Slowly, I turned to find my ex standing by the table with a much older man. A sugar daddy in every aspect, he looked and smelled wealthy, his skin that harsh tan of someone who spent all day every day in the sun without an ounce of SPF, and his golf shirt was a garish coral.

“Hello, Shane,” I said, sounding a hell of a lot calmer than I felt.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, as if somehow I didn’t belong.

At first I wondered if I was the only one who’d heard the note of superiority in his question, but Emery tilted his head, a slight curl to his upper lip.

“Oh, you know. Date night,” I said, gesturing across the table. “This is my boyfriend, Emery.”

Plastering the biggest grin on his face, Emery stood slowly, towering over Shane and his overbaked sugar daddy. I snorted into my fist.

Smooth as silk and twice as charming, Emery stuck out his hand. “Shane, was it?” he asked, as though he’d never heard of the man. “Nice to meet you.”

Shane, having set himself up for the social awkwardness, shook his hand. Everything about Emery was simply so much bigger, and the way his fingers splayed past Shane’s wrist was comical.

Shane’s date pointedly looked down at me, then shifted his attention to Emery, eyeing him like a slab of slow-cooked brisket. “Well, what do you know? A real gentleman.”

I settled farther back into my seat, making it obvious that my narrow ass was staying right where it was.

Emery breezed right past the tension, cheerily asking, “And what is your name?”

“Bartholomew,” he responded, limply holding out his hand.

Sending me a lightning-fast wink, Em returned his attention to Barty-boy and gave him a blinding smile, then bowed, bussing the back of his hand. “Enchanté.”

“Oh,” said the over-tanned sugar daddy, a tiny bit flustered. And was that sweat on his upper lip? “Do you speak French?”

“Oui,” Emery said, his accent perfect. Shrugging with faux humility, he dipped his chin. “Ne pas parfaitement.”

Not perfectly , my ass. I hadn’t heard him speak any of it until this exact second, but I already knew we’d be using that in the bedroom. In the meantime, Shane was standing there, steam practically coming out of his ears.

“Wait, aren’t you the guy who bought my house?”

Emery pretended to be surprised. “Oh, that’s why you looked familiar. I think we passed each other in the title office.”

Shane turned to me, smirking. “So, that’s how it is, Woody? You just fuck the guys who move in next to you? Must be convenient.”

Emery dropped the friendly act and stepped between me and Shane, staring him down until he shrank back. If Bartholomew’s expression was anything to go on, he was not impressed with Shane’s weaselly, recoiling posture and I hid another bark of laughter in my fist.

“Actually, Shane , there is literally nothing convenient about this man,” Emery said, reaching down to cup my cheek. “And I wouldn’t have him any other way.”

In that moment, Shane, Bartholomew, and the entire population of Salt Lick disappeared. It was just me and Em, staring into each other’s eyes.

“Uh, guys.” Cecilia interrupted our weird little tableau, carrying two plates overflowing with smoked meats. “Little room here.”

Emery stepped back and sank into his chair while Cecilia brushed past the gape-mouthed duo, setting our plates down with a heavy thunk. “I asked chef to give you the burnt ends, Woody. Just like you like.” She patted my shoulder and gave me a significant look.

The look she gave Shane, however, nearly blistered his face. Cecilia was a lovely woman, but I wouldn’t put it past her to spit in his food.

It occurred to me that she seemed to know what he had done, and since I hadn’t said anything, I had to assume Rowdy was the one with the big mouth. Given my cousin’s reach on social media, I had to wonder how badly Shane’s reputation was ruined in this area. By the looks of things, pretty thoroughly.

Cecilia left on that note, but Bartholomew and Shane stiffly remained by our table. I wasn’t sure how to handle their continued presence until I looked into Emery’s eyes. Unlike the big fake smile he put on for those two, his smile to me was soft, and he pointed to the overflowing plate. “I’m going to dive into this right now. Possibly face-first.”

Having temporarily been on the outside of Emery’s affections, I recognized a cold shoulder when I saw it. I was pretty sure he’d decided that he wouldn’t be giving them a second more of his time.

I laughed and speared a slice of sausage with my fork, joining him in ignoring our guests as I popped it into my mouth. “God damn , that’s good.”

I grabbed the squeezy bottle of Salt Lick’s unique, flavorful barbecue sauce and drizzled the good stuff over my selection of smoked meats. Emery did the same, and then we both dug in, enjoying the hell out of our meal.

After a few painfully awkward moments, the interlopers quietly shuffled off.

Grinning at my soft, intimidating man, I said, “I have never seen you that cold, and I used to piss you off on the regular.”

He wrinkled his nose. “You never pissed me off, and you were never actually disrespectful. You just called out my idiocy. On the regular.” Gesturing at their retreating backs, he said, “They weren’t acting in good faith. They came by the table to start trouble, and I just wasn’t gonna give them any oxygen for it.”

“Is it wrong that watching you glare him down really turned me on?”

He sucked a smear of barbecue sauce off his thumb. “Anytime I can make your ears turn red,” he said, gesturing to them, “that’s a good thing. Hell, I’ll glare at everyone in here if gets you that hot under the collar.”

I tossed a napkin at him, then covered my ears. “Jackass.”

“I learned from the best,” he retorted, his eyes sparkling with mischief.

We finished our dinner, and I got my two cobblers. We ended up finishing them between us, so I ordered two more to go. Emery laughed, but I was quick to inform him he was not welcome to my leftovers.

“We’ll see,” he said, then sucked the last bit of cobbler off his fork.

After bagging the extra desserts and paying, we made our way back to the massive parking lot. We climbed into his car and, once we were settled, he held out his hand. I grabbed it without hesitation.

“I’m so full,” I complained, rubbing my belly.

“Wanna go for a walk?” he asked, kissing my knuckles.

“Blue Hole?”

“Show me the way.”

Dusk settled in around us as we meandered hand in hand along the path that circled the Blue Hole Regional Park, enjoying the medieval-looking cypress trees that grew along the lush banks of the creek named after them. I went quiet, the words I wanted to say to Emery heavy on my tongue. He didn’t push for conversation, though, content to simply walk by my side.

I couldn’t put a name to the racing sensation of hope and fear at work in my chest. Or maybe I could, and that terrified me even more.

Finally, as the sun started to set, he bumped me with his shoulder. “You’ve been awfully quiet over there. Everything okay?”

I leaned up for a quick kiss. “Yes. Just letting my food and my mind settle.”

“Same.” He wrapped his arm around me, tugging me in close. “You ready to go home?”

I nodded, loving his affectionate embrace and the sweet kisses on my temple. “Sure.”

Night fell fast in the Hill Country, and the stars were beginning to twinkle as we got back to his car, and he opened the big moon roof.

“Recline your seat, baby. It’s one helluva view from the passenger side.”

I shot him a look, pausing ever so slightly before doing what he told me to do. Shaking his head, he smiled as he exited the parking lot, comfortably driving one-handed through the winding roads.

I lay back, enjoying the cloudy stripe of the Milky Way against the now-onyx backdrop of the night sky, loving that we could share the wind-blown silence together.

As the stars flew by overhead, I pondered the life I’d have if Shane had stayed. The truth was, I’d never felt “safe” in his presence. Horny, sure, but he wasn’t that great of a lover, actually. It wasn’t even that Emery had better technique—he did—but that he paid attention to me and responded to my desires and needs.

I never had to negotiate for attention or affection; Emery gave those willingly and in abundance. Everything felt so...easy. Effortless, even as he worked to show me he cared. I’d been so heartbroken and disillusioned when Shane left, but in the end it had been a fucking gift.

That realization came with more of that warm, rich feeling in my chest, something I’d experienced over and over with Emery, even when we weren’t fucking. The words, once so heavy, felt light.

“I love you, too,” I blurted at the night sky.

That was probably something you should say directly to a person, but I couldn’t make myself face him.

“Like, probably from the first time I met you,” I admitted, now unable to stop myself. “And I’m sorry I couldn’t say it before, but...”

I let my words fade as he pulled into the overlook that offered a view of the Wimberley Valley. I took a deep breath, keeping my eyes on the sky as I listened to him shift the car into Park, hit the unlock button, and open the door. Seconds later, he appeared at the passenger side, tapping the window.

“Come on out, Woody,” he said in that low, resonant tone of his.

I wondered if he knew how often I’d come to this very overlook, notebook in hand as I watched the sun move across the sky. Even here at night, unable to see much of the landscape, I knew its beauty by heart.

Letting out a trapped breath, I raised the seat, grasped the handle, and pushed the door open. He held his hand out to me and I took it, knowing I would take it every time he offered. He led me out of the car and shut the door behind me, but I could only focus on his chest. A cicada played its buzzy tune somewhere off in the distance as Emery wrapped me up in his warmth.

“You mind saying that again, sweetheart?”

Something about the softness of his question drew tears. I forced my chin up, nervous even as I gazed into his amber eyes, which held such sweetness for me. Cupping my face, he used his thumbs to wipe away the moisture.

“You are safe with me, Woody. You can give me those words and I will hold them right here,” he said, placing his hand over his powerful chest.

Sniffling, I blinked a few times and then repeated myself. “I love you, Emery. I love you so fucking much.”

The skin around his eyes crinkled with his smile. “I know you do, baby. And it’s okay because I love you right back,” he said in his most soothing tone. “I promise it’s okay.”

The relief that those words unleashed swept through my body, making me want to laugh and cry at the same time. So, I did.

“Shit,” I said, wiping my tears. “I swear, I have never cried so much in my entire fucking life.”

He hummed, lifting my chin to meet his eyes again. “Some people don’t like it when men cry, but these happy tears I see in your eyes? This love streaming down your face? That’s what’s precious to me.”

I sniffed, then huffed, then plonked my forehead on his wide chest. “I never stood a chance against you, did I?”

Emery shook his head. “Nope. Not a single chance. And, while we’re admitting things, I’m absolutely certain you fussin’ at me was a big part of me falling in love with you.”

I chuckled, then found his gaze again, serious. “I promise, I don’t really enjoy doing that.” I grimaced. “Well, maybe a little.”

His answering smile nearly took me out at my knees.

“I know, Woody. You’re an artist, sensitive to your surroundings, open to what this landscape and this life have to tell you. I know the rest of the world acts like being sensitive is a liability, but that’s a fucking lie. And I want you to know that you can always be yourself with me.”

“I know,” I said, laying a kiss on his chest. “And that’s what made you so terrifying, right from the beginning. I can’t explain the whiplash of going from someone who was supposed to love me but who didn’t really like me, to someone who frustrated me but never seemed to grow tired of my presence.”

“Tired of you ? Never,” he said, placing a soft kiss on my lips. “You’re far too interesting for that.”

“I love you so much,” I said, this time feeling the truth of it spread through to the tips of my toes and fingers.

“Thank God.”

He overwhelmed me with a deep, searching kiss under the stars, surrounded by the land I’d loved my entire life.

Running his nose across mine, he said, “I love everything about you, Woody. Exactly as you are. And I’m not going anywhere.”

Thank God, indeed.