She draped her arm over me and replied, “Mmm . . . it sure does.”
It didn’t take long for my eyes to grow heavy. The last thing I remembered was Taylor turning off the lights and climbing back into bed. Pulling her closer to me, I breathed in a deep breath then slowly blew it out.
The feel of Taylor up against my body was something I had always longed for . . . more over the last week. It was a feeling I would never again take for granted.
Slowly I drifted off to sleep and heard Taylor whisper, “Thank you for bringing him back to me.”
The second I walked into my parents’ house I was overcome with the amount of people there. Everyone came up and started hugging or slapping me on the back. Taylor never left my side.
“It’s damn good to have you back, dude,” Walker said pulling me in for a quick hug.
I let out a huff of air and replied, “It’s damn good to be back. Everything okay here on the home front?”
“A few cows might have missed your pretty-boy face but other than that all is well.”
“Ha. You’re funny.”
After my fair share of hugs and congratulations on being home, I pulled Taylor off to the side.
“How about we sneak away?”
Her mouth dropped open. “What? Everyone is here for you. You can’t leave.”
“Why not? No one seems to even notice I’m still here.”
She narrowed her eyes and bit down on her lip. “Where would we go?”
“Our spot. I want to sit in the very location we plan on building our house.”
Her smile grew bigger. Taking my hand in hers, she whispered, “Lead the way, Mr. Morris.”
We took two steps and came to a stop. “Now, did I ever tell you kids about the time I jumped up on a bull to impress my Emma?”
Taylor giggled as Garrett stood there looking between us. The man did not look, nor did he act like he was ninety-eight years old.
“Um . . . I don’t think so, Gramps,” Taylor said.
Garrett turned to me and winked. “Oh, you’re in for a doozy of a story, son. Grab us some iced tea and I’ll meet you right here.”
Garrett walked back into the dining room and sat down in a chair. “Do we have to?” I asked as Taylor’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Yes! Jase Morris, go get some tea for Gramps. I’m excited to hear about his bull riding days!”
Moaning internally, I walked into the kitchen. Gunner and Jeff were talking to my father.
Jeff let out a laugh and said, “You look like someone just rained on your parade, son.”
Rolling my eyes, I poured a glass of tea for Gramps. “You could say that.”
“What happened?” my father asked.
Glancing over my shoulder to make sure we were alone, I turned back to them. “I finally talked Taylor into sneaking off with me and Garrett stopped us. Said he wanted to tell us a story about him bull riding.”
Jeff and Gunner looked at each other and busted out laughing. My father and I looked at them like they were crazy.
Gunner was holding his side while Jeff was bent over trying to catch his breath from laughing so hard.
“Did I miss something?” I asked my father with a confused look.