“No way that’s the whole story,” Gray shouts.
I’m not sure what else they expected from me. I’m not a talker. I don’t share my feelings. I’m not going to wax poetic about Farrah even if she does deserve to be written into a sonnet. It’s just not my style. I’m an action kind of guy. You’ll know how I feel about you by the things I do for you.
The oven beeps, signaling it’s done preheating, so I take the opportunity for a break from the interrogation. The cookies go in, and I set the timer on the stove.
“Here’s the deal. The whys and hows of Farrah and me getting to this point are irrelevant. They happened, and now I need to figure out what I do next.”
Holt frowns. “What do you mean? You’re dating, right?”
I shrug, which makes the three of them groan.
“Okay, lads, we’ve got our work cut out for us.” Grayson rubs his hands together.
I sit back and listen while my best friends debate about the best way for Farrah and me to move forward. Half of their ideas are bullshit, and you wouldn’t find me doing any of them under threat of death.
Gray’s idea? Write her a love note—absolutely fucking not.
Emmett’s suggestion was to bring her flowers and tell her how much I like her. The flowers are fine. Not exactly my style, but I have a feeling Farrah would appreciate something like that. I’m not going to get sappy about how I feel though. She knows my thoughts, and I doubt it’s necessary to keep hammering the point home.
Holt’s the only one who came up with a decent idea. He said I should plan a picnic for just the two of us. I probably should’ve just gone to him in the first place.
“How about we have a group outing at Howling Wolf?” Holt offers. “With all of us there, it would take a little of the pressure off you.”
“But you need to invite her to go with you. Make it clear you’re going together,” Emmett adds.
Gray also throws in his two cents. “And you have to offer to dance with her. She may not like dancing, so if she says no, then fine, but you have to ask.”
I’m sure my face is expressing exactly how I feel about that idea. I hate dancing. I have no rhythm, so I end up looking like an idiot.
“Look, I know it’s not your thing, but if everyone else is dancing with someone, she’ll wonder why you aren’t asking her.”
I nod reluctantly at Grayson. He’s right, as much as I don’t want him to be.
“So we’ll plan a gathering? Maybe next weekend?” Holt asks. “I can see if Mom and Dad will have a sleepover at their house for the kids.”
Gray smirks. “You just want a night alone with Gia.”
“Fuck yes, I do. We’ve barely had a moment to ourselves the past couple of weeks. Leah’s been having nightmares, and Lauren always follows her in to sleep with us.”
My brain gets stuck on the thought of having the whole night alone with Farrah. I don’t expect her to stay over, but Ican’t deny the way my body stirs. It’s been years since I’ve felt the curl of desire deep in my gut.
I hadn’t realized it before, but Farrah’s had this effect on me a whole lot longer than just since our kiss. I’ve always thought she was beautiful, but the trauma from my past made me twist her beauty into something ugly. I’ll regret that for a long time to come.
The guys start talking about going out on a family ride in a few weeks. We try to have one every summer. We bring our horses out to Holt’s family’s farm and camp out overnight. The first time we did it was more fun than I thought it would be. I’d love to host it on my land, but it’s usually too busy with tourists to be private.
By the time I head home, my brain is buzzing with thoughts of having Farrah by my side on the family camping trip. In all these years, I’ve never felt alone. I had my friends. I had Finn. I never wanted anything more than that. But the image of Farrah riding next to me or sharing a tent or, fuck, even dancing with her, overwhelms me with longing.
I still don’t know what it is about her that’s changed everything I thought I knew. It should terrify me. I liked my well-ordered life. It’s predictable, comfortable.
But Farrah adds a shine to my days that I don’t think I can live without now. Just thinking about her makes me want to see her.
And before I know it, I’m pulling into her driveway. Her truck is out front, so I park next to it. I have no idea what I’m doing here or why. I just couldn’t end my night without seeing her first.
Since Finn is hanging with Holt’s girls tonight, I have the whole night to myself. And I want to spend it with Farrah.
CHAPTER 25
Farrah
