Page 20 of Home Is Where You Are

“He’ll live. I’m too comfy,” he replied with a sleepy voice, just as I grabbed the phone and turned the alarm off.

“You’re not gettin’ me in trouble. Plus, last night shouldn’t have happened. I shouldn’t have stayed here,” I said as I sat up in bed, throwing the covers off me.

He sat up on the air mattress. It was so dark in the room I could barely see him. His hair was ruffled in a bedhead kind of way. Whiskers lined his cheeks. His eyes still had a sleepy glow to them.

My breath came harder as he moved off the air mattress and knelt beside the bed. His lips were so close to mine. The warmth of his breath caressed my face.

“Nothin’ between us has ever been a mistake. One day you’ll realize that. That’s includin’ last night. Nothin’ happened for us to even regret. Me bein’ there for you is never goin’ to stop. You’ll do yourself a favor if you remember that,” he said before he kissed the tip of my nose and pushed himself away from the bed.

That man would be the death of me.

I got up from the bed and put my slippers on, bound and determined to sneak into the house and get ready without anyone noticing that I’d slept out here. My family would make conclusions that wouldn’t be good for either of us. I couldn’t give Gentry hope where there was nothing left to hope for. I just had to figure out a way to stop him.

Somehow, I managed to succeed in making it up to my room without seeing either of my parents. Opening my closet door, I pulled out a pair of jeans, tank top, and flannel shirt. I searched my closet and found my cowgirl boots nestled on the top shelf. I stood on the tips of my toes and reached for them, my fingers only grazing the worn leather. I jumped and grabbed them, knocking the box beside them onto the floor. The contents of the box spilled out, and I groaned. I didn’t need to be late, especially not on my first day.

The boots slipped out of my hand as I stared at the contents of the box. My heart constricted at the sight of the origami love notes from Gentry. He’d write the sweetest things inside. I didn’t have time to reminisce. I quickly gathered the notes and tossed them back into the box. Picking up the last one, I held it between my fingers, caressing the worn pages, scared but curious about what words this one contained. Maybe one day I’d have the courage to open them again.

I made sure to cover the ink that now graced my skin. I’d paid a pretty penny for the best tattoo concealer, and I made sure to use it every day. Not even Dylan and Aspen had seen them. After they were covered, I got dressed; thankfully everything still fit. I hadn’t touched anything in my closet since long before I’d left.

After putting my hair in a ponytail, I made sure I grabbed an old baseball cap that hung on the side of my vanity before I left the room and headed to the kitchen for a much-needed cup of coffee.

The aroma of my mother’s coffee hit my senses midway down the stairs. She knew us all so well.

I walked into the kitchen to find her making each one of us a cup. There was even a cup for Gentry. I had to get her by herself and ask some questions. People around here needed to give me answers.

“You still take yours with lots of sugar and a little coffee, right?” my mother asked without even looking to see who it was.

How did she always do that?

“You remember,” I said as I walked up beside her and leaned against the counter. She’d placed the steaming hot cup of java in a thermos in my hand as she turned to face me.

“A mother never forgets. Remember that.” She winked at me as she turned back to continue making everyone else’s coffee.

“I won’t.”

“How did the bed in the stables sleep?”

Wait. What?

“What do you mean?” I tried to feign ignorance, but I knew better. I still had to try, though.

“I heard you leave your room last night and go outside. I figured you’d gone to the one place we always knew where to find you. I’m not stupid or blind, Ainsleigh. I knew comin’ home would be hard on you. I even knew how hard it would be for you to go into your room. And even though I knew that, I’m still stupidly happy that you’re home where you belong.”

“I slept perfectly fine. Thanks for removin’ that picture and puttin’ another in its place. It would’ve been a lot harder if I had to see it there.”

She stopped in her tracks and turned toward me.

“I didn’t remove it. Gentry did. The second I told him you were coming back, he went up to your room and took away all the reminders so you didn’t have to see them. I don’t know where he put them, but he packed them away until you were ready to face them.”

Why did he have to still be so sweet and thoughtful?

It would’ve been easier to just thank my mother. Then I wouldn’t have to thank him. Because that would lead to a conversation that I wasn’t ready to have.

“So you slept well, huh?” she asked, a knowing gleam in her eyes as she waited for me to respond.

She knew he was out there.

What I didn’t want to happen. The smile on her face was the perfect indication of the assumptions she’d already made.