Feels Like Home (Southern Bride 5)

There was a knock on Bristol’s door, and then it opened. Drake walked in, not looking very pleased.

“Hello, you’re just going to walk in? What if we were otherwise occupied?” Bristol said.

He shot his sister a smirk. “Not without these, Sis. Besides, I knocked first.”

He looked at me, and I felt the intensity in his eyes. He threw me a bag, and I was almost positive I heard him snarl before he pointed to his sister.

“Do not ask me ever again to buy you condoms.” He gagged. Before he turned to leave, he shot me the finger. As he walked out the door he shouted, “I’m glad y’all worked it out! Don’t knock up my sister, asshole.”

I laughed, but it quickly faded when I looked at Bristol. She stared at the door, her face white as a ghost.

“Hey, are you okay?”

She laughed. “I’m just surprised he bought them! And his last comment threw me. If he only knew.”

I tossed the bag of condoms onto the coffee table, then reached for her hands and took them both in mine.

“Bri, are you worried you might be pregnant?”

Her eyes nearly popped out of her head. “No! I mean, how would you feel if I was?”

“Have you taken a test?”

She shook her head. “No, I haven’t.”

“I mean, we’d deal with it if that was what happened.”

“Deal with it,” she whispered.

“That’s not what I mean. If…if it happened, you and I will work it out. Okay?”

She smiled, and when it reached her eyes, I nearly sighed out loud in relief.

“Now, where were we with the fooling around? We have a lot of time to make up for.”

Heat flashed in her eyes. It took everything I had not to pounce on her like an animal. Slowly, I raised my hand and placed it on the side of her face.

“I want you, Bri. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about your touch for the last week. I’ve nearly gone mad. If I’m being honest, a piece of me has been missing since the moment I pulled away from your folks’ house and left for Nashville. I don’t want to live this life without you anymore. You’re the air that I breathe.”

“Now I see why you’ve won songwriter of the year awards, Anson.”

I laughed. “Someone been keeping tabs on me?”

Her gaze met mine. “I want to show you something.”

She stood and took my hand. We walked over to a cabinet, and she opened the drawer and withdrew a large box. When she handed it to me, she smiled sheepishly. Her cheeks turned pink, and I wanted to pull her into my arms and crush my mouth against hers.

“What is this?” I asked.

“Open it,” she said as she sat on the Victorian sofa and looked up at me. I took the seat next to her, placed the box on the table, and opened it.

My eyes nearly popped out of my head. The first things I saw were my three albums.

“I opened them and read the dedications, but I’ve already told you that.”

With a nod, I set them each on the table. My hands shook as I took out the large scrapbook. My throat thickened, and I fought to keep my emotions at bay. I was staring at the last thing I ever expected from the woman I walked away from six years ago.

Bristol

I SAW HIS throat work as he attempted to speak.

“I’ve tried to keep track of everything. You’ve accomplished so much that I’m sure I’m missing some, but not much. Any articles I found I printed out and kept in here.”

Anson slowly looked at me. “Why?”

I lifted my shoulder into a half-shrug. “I wanted to. Anson, I never doubted once that you could make it. I knew you could—it was just a matter of how long it would take. I don’t think anyone anticipated how fast your career would take off.”

“That stupid song,” he mumbled.

A small, humorless laugh slipped free as I said, “Obviously not my favorite of yours, but you knew that too.”

“And it’s the reason you never listened to any of my songs.”

I hadn’t wanted to admit it, but, “Yes, it was the reason.”

“I’m so sorry for all the backlash you had to go through with that stupid song.”

I took his hand in mine. “Don’t say that. It was that song that made you famous. Don’t ever regret it. And trust me when I say that it takes a lot for me to say that. I despise that song.”

He laughed. “I do too.”

“Is that why you changed up how you end your concerts?”

Anson lifted a brow. “It’s sort of turning me on that you keep tabs on me, Bri.”

I laughed.

“Maybe this is the time I should admit I pull up your Instagram page and check it at least once a day.”

My mouth nearly dropped open. “You do not.”