Feels Like Home (Southern Bride 5)
I pulled her onto my lap and kissed her. She placed her hand on the side of my face as I deepened the kiss.
When I pulled my mouth from hers, she looked into my eyes. “We’re not going to lose each other, Bristol. And if you ever feel like something is more than you can deal with, tell me. Promise me you’ll tell me.”
She nodded. “I promise. But, Anson, I need you to know I don’t ever want to come between you and your career.”
I frowned. “You won’t.”
Bristol swallowed hard. “I know you think it’s going to be easy, but we need to be realistic about this. You’re going to be gone. A lot. I’m okay with that. I mean, I think I am,” she said with a laugh. “But if I’m feeling weird or unsure about something, I promise I’ll tell you.”
“I promise you the same thing.”
She drew in a deep breath and exhaled. “Then we should do this.”
“I’m sorry that you’re having to deal with this.”
“Don’t be. I’m so proud of you, Anson. And I swear, from this point on, I’ll listen to every single song you sing.”
“And write? ’Cause I write songs for other artists too, but you’ve been the inspiration for a lot of them.”
Bristol laughed. “All of them. I’ll even pay close attention to the ones you sing in the shower.”
“I don’t think I’ll be singing ‘Let It Burn’ for a while. A long while.”
She smiled and then shook her head and opened up her phone again.
“Put your hat back on, and we’re ready to go.”
I reached for my hat and slipped it back onto my head, while Bristol pulled out a tube of lipstick from somewhere and put a little bit on her lips.
“Here we go!” she said as she hit LIVE on her Instagram story. It was only showing her and not me.
“Hey, y’all. Well, it’s been a crazy couple of weeks here on the home-front. Let me give you the four-one-one. An old boyfriend showed back up in town.”
People started posting on her video, and she said hello to a few and then kept talking.
“I think I’ve mentioned a time or two about my first love, and I’ve always been pretty silent on the matter of who he was. We’ve talked about first loves on this platform and all of that. Well, fate has a funny way of making things work out. I haven’t talked much about the man I first kissed. We were best friends before we became a couple. Dated all through high school and college. Then we broke up and, well, things changed. But that first love, the man I never truly stopped loving, I’m happy to say we’re back together.” She looked at me and smiled but kept me off the screen.
“I thought I would introduce you to the love of my life and then show y’all a little video we made together about the first time we kissed. As a matter of fact, this tree I’m leaning against is the tree he kissed me under. I’ve got to be honest with y’all, his kisses have improved drastically since that first one.” She fanned herself while talking to her followers, and I’m pretty sure I couldn’t have pried the smile off of my face with a crowbar in that moment.
Instead, I poked her in the side, and she laughed.
“Without further delay, I’d like y’all to meet Anson.”
She turned the camera so we were framed together. I waved and smiled. “Hey, y’all.”
A few people said hi or hey. Some made comments about my looks. Then realization hit, and a few freaked out.
Bristol started to tell them a bit more about the upcoming video, and I wanted to laugh at one comment from a dude.
Holy freaking shit. You’re dating Anson Meyer! There goes my chance to marry you!
“Enjoy the video and be sure to check out the post I’m going to be putting up here in a bit. I finally made Eccles cakes, and Mindy practically ate them all! Later, y’all!”
She hit End and then uploaded the video of us.
“So, it’s out,” I said as I stood then reached down and helped her up.
“It’s out.”
“I’ll share it once we get back into the truck,” I said.
Bristol nodded, but I could see the worry in her eyes.
“You know what I think we need to do?” I asked.
“Drink and have sex?”
I tossed my head back and let out a roar of laughter. “Fuck yes, that sounds good. But first, I want some pizza.”
She lifted her brow. “Comfort Pizza?”
“Hell, yes. Come on, let me feed you, then have my wicked way with you.”
Bristol
TWO WEEKS HAD passed since the big announcement, and life really hadn’t changed all that much. Lanny had fielded a handful of requests from people who asked for interviews with Anson and me. Anson took a few more phone calls than normal from Robert, but all in all, life seemed to be normal. For now.