Page 27 of Until Easton

"Look, I'm going to call you tomorrow, Em," Easton tells his sister.

"No! I want to know more about Becca."

"I'll talk to you later."

"Easton."

"Love you, Em. Later."

"Easton, don't you dare…" Emerson is cut off when Easton taps the screen of his phone.

"Did you seriously just hang up on your sister?" I ask.

Easton Smiles. "Yep."

"Why?"

"Cause that's our thing. We give each other shit. It will drive her crazy until I answer her call tomorrow."

"Why is she so interested in me? I'm sure she hears about all the women you've dated. So this can't be anything new to her."

Easton climbs off the bed and prowls toward me. My breath hitches when he snags me around the waist, and I brace my palms against his chest. "First, my sister is most definitely interested, because I don't date. I haven't since high school. Have I had women? Yes. But that's not a subject I talk to Emerson about."

"Oh," is all I say.

"Until you. And I may have mentioned us to her the other night."

"Oh," I repeat myself as Easton dips his face down close to mine, his smell invading my senses.

"Are you starting to get that what we have here is serious? That you are mine?"

Licking my lips, I peer up at Easton's handsome face. "I…I think I'm starting to get it."

"Good," he says before closing the distance between us, taking my mouth in a searing kiss.

Three days after mine and Easton's fair date, I'm standing in the kitchen making fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and green beans for dinner when my grandfather comes walking in from outside.

"Smells good, baby girl."

"Thanks, Daideò. Dinner will be ready in about an hour. Have you seen Easton?"

"He's helping Steve round-up Hank. The bastard got out again."

I let out a heavy sigh. "I don't know what I'm going to do about him. At this point, I'm convinced a ten-foot concrete wall couldn't keep him contained."

Daideò chuckles. "You might be right." Moving around the kitchen, he goes about fixing himself a glass of cold sweet tea then sits down at the table. "You got a minute for an old man?"

I pause from chopping potatoes to peer over my shoulder at my grandfather. "Sure." Setting the knife down, I wipe my hands on a dishtowel and sit down at the table across from him. "What's up?"

"You've been spending a lot of time with Easton."

"I have." I nod.

"I don't have to ask if what's going on between you is serious because from the way that young man looks at you, I know it is. I just wanted to see where your head was at. What are your feelings toward him?"

I chew on my bottom lip while contemplating how I want to answer. Finally, I decide to go with the truth. "I think it's serious. I've never felt this way about anyone before, Daideò. I can't explain it, but something tells me Easton is the one. I know it sounds crazy."

My grandfather cuts me off by placing his hand over the top of mine. "It's not crazy, baby girl. I knew your grandmother was the one for me the second she walked into my life. And you already know how it was for your mom and dad. Some people wait a lifetime for that special someone, so when you are lucky enough to have found yours, you grab hold of them and don't let go."