“I mean it. I don’t want the property. We’re fixing up our place, and it’s where Miss Hazel is the happiest. That property was yours. As far as I’m concerned you come back, it will be yours again.”
“You’re being good about all of this.”
“I appreciate how you handled things with Lennon. I can’t say it erases all of the past between us, but I can’t say I wouldn’t have done the same thing in your shoes. Katie…” I sigh. “She’s one hell of a woman.”
“That she is,” my brother admits. I may see the pain that flashes over his face, but I ignore it. He must find his own way. I know that pain because I felt it every time I came home and saw Jeff with Katie and Lennon clinging to them.
“Is this a private party, or can anyone join in?”
I look up to see Reed walking toward us and smile.
“Sorry, we’re too pedestrian for the great Ryker Lane,” Jeff says, and Reed flips him off.
“Kiss my ass, dude. I can’t believe you’re leaving us for Tennessee.”
“It’s a nice place. I mean, you still have a house there, right?” Jeff responds.
“We had it sold but the deal fell through. You want to stay there? You’re welcome to it. Callie and I are happy here.”
“Nah. I’m working on a ranch in Dandridge. I’m good. Thanks for the offer, though.”
“You know it. I have a confession,” Reed announces, grabbing our attention.
“What’s up?” I ask.
“The girls sent me over here because they were afraid you two might break out in a fight.”
“You’re like a guard dog?” Jeff laughs.
“Kind of. So, are you about to kill each other yet?”
I look over at my brother and find him staring at me. Slowly both of us smile and for the first time in forever, the tension between us isn’t swallowing up the air in the room.
“We’re cool,” I murmur, taking a drink from my beer. Jeff laughs. “Yeah, we’re cool.”
Reed joins in and some of the anger that I’ve held inside slides away. I look across the yard to find Katie staring at me. I wink at her and love the way the color rises in her face. The smile she gives me warms me all the way through, though. Lennon comes running over and wraps his arms around my legs. I pick him up and he starts talking to Jeff while holding onto me.
This is it. This is what I’ve been missing since leaving Macon years ago.
I’m home.
CHAPTER 14
Jake
“You had a good time tonight,” Katie murmurs as I walk into the room after tucking Lennon in bed for the night. She’s slipping on my T-shirt and as the shirt falls, I get a look at the red lace material of her panties. My fingers itch to take them off—take it all off. We sleep in clothes because of Lennon, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I miss the way we used to sleep together skin against skin.
I walk straight to her and pull her body back against mine. Her juicy ass nestles against my cock, making me groan as I slide my hands under her shirt to cup her breasts.
“Now that’s a hello,” she whispers. “Is Lennon, okay?”
“He was sound asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow almost. I barely made it to page three of his book,” I respond, kissing her shoulder.
“I saw the way he loved on you all night.”
“He did, didn’t he?” I respond as she turns in my arms.
Katie’s still a little stiff and has some limitation with motion in her right hip and leg. Still, she’s getting better every day. The doctors are optimistic that she will only have a slight limp once she heals completely. Things are starting to feel almost normal. Although, the doctors haven’t given her the okay to have sex.That means we haven’t gone past hands and mouths with one another. Thank God it’s not just about me these days, but I still bring her to climax slowly and deliberately, letting it unfold slowly so she just concentrates on the pleasure. Still, I want more and if I’m reading her correctly, she does, too.