Sway (Landry Family 1)

His head jerks towards me, a smile tickling the corner of his lips.

“I’ll worry about you both, and I won’t get anything done. It’ll be hard for me to see you guys, and then she’ll stop singing while she cooks, and then everything will go down the drain.”

“So,” he starts, his voice shaky, “what are we going to do? If you leave, she’ll cry, and I’ve already told you I can’t deal with that. Plus, you promised you wouldn’t make her cry.”

I know Alison is staring at me. I can feel her gaze heavy on my features, but I keep mine fixed on her son.

“I did promise you that. That’s why I propose you both come to Atlanta with me.”

“Really?”

Nodding, I reach across him and take Alison’s extended hand. She squeezes it and holds on for dear life.

“Really, Hux. It would mean a new school for you, new friends. You’d be away from your grandparents a lot of the time and I know that would be tough for you. If you go with me, that would mean we would live together. Our lives would change. Do you understand all that?”

He doesn’t look away this time. He doesn’t smile either. He just searches my face for a lot longer than I expect.

My heart starts thumping because I thought I had this in the bag. I was sure I did. But the look on his face, the blank canvas, makes me think I overestimated myself.

“Barrett?” he asks finally.

“Yeah?”

“Are you going to marry my mom?”

I force a swallow and look at Alison. She wipes a tear at the corner of her eye and opens her mouth to speak, but nothing comes out.

My heart swells. The peace and love in this room is such a different feeling than I’ve ever felt, even with my own family. This gorgeous woman and her son support me and love me, even when I mess up and even when I might not deserve it.

I’ll do anything in my power to ensure they’re mine forever.

“Would that be okay with you, Hux?” I ask. “If I married your mom one day?”

“I’d really like that.” His words are heavy, pressed around a lump in his throat. “I think that would be really great, actually.”

Alison squeezes my hand and brings it to her mouth, planting a soft kiss against my knuckles.

“I’ll have to talk to her about that and hope she agrees,” I wink, “but if I have your blessing, that’s a step in the right direction.”

He leans over and wraps his arms around my neck, knocking the wind right out of me. Before I can respond, he leans away.

“I’m going to go find Lincoln. He has this app on his phone,” he says happily, bouncing off the bed and scurrying toward the door, “that—”

“Stay off of Lincoln’s phone!” Alison and I both shout in unison as Hux slams the door behind him.

Laughing, I pull Alison close to me again. “I’m not responsible for whatever he learns or sees from my brother.”

“Lord, help us,” she giggles. Tilting her head and looking at me, she smiles. “Did you mean what you said to Hux?”

“I meant every last word of it.”

A sparkle glimmers in her eyes. “Really?”

“Speak as you find. Remember?” I grin. “As far as I’m concerned, we are together for the long haul. However you want to make that permanent is fine with me, as long as it is.”

“It is,” she whispers.

“Roll over here and show me you mean it.”