Cody
Thank fuck the drive from my parents’ place to Ms. Mable’s is all of about ten minutes on a bad day because I keep vacillating back and forth between thinking this Joe character is a huge douche bag and watching Angel in the rear view mirror look at my great-grandmother’s engagement ring with wonder and hope in her eyes.
And if that doesn’t make a man feel good to see his girl fall in love with his grandmother’s ring. Angel is the first girl I have ever been serious about that really fit, clicked with my family, with my town, my life. Hell, even my dog. My parents love her. Like really love her. She makes my Gran laugh and laughs at the crazy shit my Gran says back. And these are the thoughts I can’t stop from running through my brain while I drive this circus back to town.
I should have known my mother would call Mable and give her the skinny on this fake engagement bullshit. When I pulled the jeep to a stop, Mable ran down the porch stairs, and down the walk, throwing her arms around Angel so hard she had to take a step back to keep her aunt from taking her to the ground. It was a good move. I was proud.
“My sweet girl! I’m so happy for you,” she tells Angel with her palms on either of her cheeks. She takes her niece’s left hand in hers with tears in her eyes as she looks at the ring. “I’m so, so happy. Now, how about those babies?” She asks and I just laugh. Sounds like a good idea to me. A brief thought flits through my brain, that I know where Angel keeps her birth control pills in the bathroom drawer, and I should just flush them down the toilet, but that would probably piss her off.
I take a good look at Angel. She’s still not one hundred percent, so she’s in these weird jean legging super hybrid pants she seems to fancy, and they make her ass look fantastic, so I have no complaints. A light pink and a white ribbed tank tops one over the other skim over and hint at her beautiful body. She’s got these little black shoes on her feet that look like slippers. They’re kind of ridiculous but she’s so cute I can’t help but smile. There is no makeup on her face, and honestly, she doesn’t need it. Her blue eyes are bright and her cheeks pink with excitement. I love seeing it. The best part is, she’s left those wild blonde curls down. I just want to grab them and wrap the springy coils around my fingers. Yep, I got it bad. But Sam was right. I’m ok with it. Let’s see where this adventure takes us.
“Do you need to grab a dress for tonight from your closet here, or do you have something at the house you can wear to dinner?” Mable asks Angel.
“I didn’t realize we were dressing for dinner,” she tells her grandmother.
“Oh yes, Cody’s grandmother is putting together a lovely dinner party in your honor, sweethearts. You’ll love it. And she really knows how to do it up.”
“This is true,” I tell her.
“I have that silk dress I wore to church a few weeks ago….” But everyone is making a face at me.
“What about that white flowy dress?” Aunt Mable suggests.
“Is that the low cut one?” Cody asks. He knows which dress it is. I’ve only worn it once when we went out to dinner.
“You know it is,” I tell him giving him my best school nurse glare.
“Wear that one but with no underwear,” he tells me and I just roll my eyes. I should have gone for my ER nurse glare. Clearly, I’m losing my touch.
“I am most definitely wearing panties to your grandmother’s dinner party,” I tell him, but he’s giving me big sad puppy dog eyes.
“She always was a spoilsport,” Aunt Mable tells him. “She gets that from her mother.”
“You two are incorrigible,” I tell them both, shaking my head but smiling at them as I do it.
After Aunt Mable rushed upstairs to throw on a gorgeous soft pink, pleated, sleeveless silk dress that tied in a bow at a modest but sexy vee, and with a hem came to her knees. She paired it with a beige, braided leather belt and matching pumps. Mable is still gorgeous. Still turning heads. Her blonde curls are smoothed into a 1940s wave that only she can pull off. Paired with soft pink makeup, she looks very mother of the bride. It stings my heart to think it, but if I was really getting married, I would want Mable to give me away.
Mable is the only parent I really ever had. My mother travelling all around the world with her rich husband was never there, and who in the hell even knew who my father was. He sure enough hasn’t shown his face in my life in the last twenty five years.
We all pile back in the jeep and again, Joe takes the front. Mable narrows her eyes on the back of his head, Cody just shakes his head, as if he’d said Joe is such a moron, and I just shrug when they look at me. He’s not my problem anymore.
The short drive back to The Reynold’s ranch is tense and done silently. Each of us lost in our own thoughts. When Cody pulls the jeep up in front of his cabin we all hop out and head for the front porch.
“Y’all go on upstairs and hurry up. I’ll get the good doctor something to drink,” Aunt Mable says on an eye roll. I am seriously hoping this drink doesn’t include arsenic or rat poison.
Cody and I take off up the stairs. He’s headed straight for the shower and I head for my makeup and hair stuff to get this mess looking decent. Before I make it a foot away from him, Cody is swinging me up into his arms and I shriek.
“What are you doing?” I ask a little breathless, seeing him shirtless.
“Join me in the shower?” He asks with that sexy smile on his face. I think about it. If I pin my hair up now, it’ll probably be ok and if it’s not I’ll just put it up in a bun. It would work with that dress. So I offer him up my sassy smile.
“Okay,” And before I have even finished saying that one little word, my top is off, my bra is flying. “Hey. I’ll need that later!” I shout but he doesn’t care. He is pulling my jeans and panties down my legs and his fingers are taking some serious detours.
Cody picks me up again in a fireman hold over his shoulder and drops his own jeans and underpants as he walks us both into the shower. I can’t help the laughter that comes out with his playful side. When he hears me and all my laughter, he swats my butt. Hard. My laughter is cut off as he walks us into the warm spray.
He slowly slides my body back down his and I take a step back when I see the look in his eyes. It’s…intense. But he’s right there crowding me in. His palms against the shower wall on either side of my head. I get one more look at him before he kisses me. Hard. Before sliding one of his hands down my body, over my belly. I can’t help the shiver that racks my body when his hands trail between my legs. I know Cody feels it because he smirks at me.
“We don’t have a lot of time,” I tell him.
