Tell Me You Love Me

by Julie Prestsater

  A loud groan comes from Molly. “Boring,” she says as she places my lunch in front of me. The others grab their lunches and the eating commences in between some saucy exchanges.

  “I only have a half hour before I have to watch my niece and nephew, so let’s talk quickly about Sunday.” Rachel teaches the morning kinder class, then spends the rest of the afternoon watching someone else’s kids. I don’t know how she does it. “What are your plans for gardening?” Rachel asks.

  “Gardening? I don’t have any plans to do yard work,” I tell her. It’s hot as hell outside.

  Rose laughs.

  “What are you laughing about?” I ask her.

  “You guys are always making fun of me for not getting jokes. I got that one. Loud and clear,” she says.

  I glance in Molly’s direction for help. She’s chuckling, too. “Honey, she wants to make sure you’re going to landscape your pussy.”

  Rose gasps. Rachel and I are silent for a beat before we start laughing.

  “Oh, I’m sorry. How did I miss the subtle cue?” I laugh some more. “I think I got that handled. Thanks for looking out, Rach.”

  “Aha,” she says. “You plan on getting busy on your first date.”

  Molly places her hand over her chest and bats her lashes at me. “Oh, you make me so proud.”

  “I’ve done nothing but think of Ryan since he left and now that he’s back, if it happens it happens. I’m not going to create a timeline of events about when stuff should happen. Hold hands on the first date. Kiss on the second. Third base on the fifth. Forget that. I’m just going with whatever feels natural.”

  “Sex is natural,” Rose says sweetly from behind her cute glasses.

  I smile at her. “Exactly.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Ryan

  Just as I shut the door to my truck, Lizzy comes barreling down her walkway tossing a bag on the ground before she reaches me.

  I raise my hands in the air in protest. “What are you doing? I was going to come up and get you?”

  She doesn’t say anything. She just throws herself at me, her arms curving around my neck and I can’t think of anything better to do than hold her. I lift her off the ground, leaving her legs dangling until she lifts them and circles my waist. Anyone who drives by might slow down to watch the show, but I don’t care.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to trample all over you,” she says into my ear and placing a kiss on my neck. “I’m just so happy to see you.”

  The unexpected display of affection sends bolts of electricity straight to my dick. I try lifting her above my waist, but it’s no use. She starts laughing. “Seems like you’re happy to see me, too.” She giggles. “I suppose I should probably apologize about that,” she says as she slides down the front of my body. Oh, sweet fuck. Her body sliding down my own is not a temptation I need. Vixen. She knows it, too.

  Light laughter rolls through me as I try to adjust myself without sticking my hand down my pants. Awkwardly, I bend down to place a quick kiss on her lips. “You don’t ever need to apologize for that. You have one hell of an effect on me, Lizzy.”

  “I’ll take that as a compliment.” And then she hugs me again. This time, my boy stays at ease and I just take her into my arms, inhaling her distinct sweet scent. She smells amazing, just like fresh fruit and sweet flowers. I missed that intoxicating smell so much.

  At the same time, we both back away from each other with a sigh. “You ready?” I ask reaching down to grab the bag she dropped earlier. “All packed for a day out with me?”

  “I sure am.” She walks to the passenger side of my truck and I follow her to open the door, placing her bag in the backseat before she gets in. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

  I run around to the driver’s side, get in, and get settled. “Do you mind if we make a pit stop before we go on our hike?”

  She cocks her head to the side, looking at me with a confused expression. “Don’t mind at all. Where to?”

  I wince, wondering how she’s going to take this. “I’d like to take you to meet my mom and sister,” I announce as I turn the ignition.

  Her eyes just about pop out of her head. I start backing down her driveway before she can change her mind.

  “And you thought now would be a good time to fill me in on our detour? Ryan, I’m dressed to go on a hike. Not to meet your mom.” She starts pulling the hem of her shirt down and brushing the non-existent lint from her pants. Then her hands rise to her hair. “Oh my God, my hair is in a ponytail.”

  There’s no turning back. We’re already down the hill and at a stoplight. I reach for her hand to calm her. “It doesn’t matter what you’re wearing or how you’ve styled your hair. My mom won’t care. She just wants to meet you.”

  “How does she even know about me?” she asks.

  “I told her about you, Lizzy. I told her all about you.” I glance over at her and I can see a shimmer of tears pooling in her eyes. “This is happening. I need her to meet you. You mean that much to me.”

  Her grip on my hand tightens as she says, “Okay.”

  Yep. She’s my girl. She’s the one.

  When we arrive at my mom’s place, I’m not at all surprised that she pulls the same thing Lizzy did. Although, she doesn’t even wait for us to get out of the truck. She is walking around to Lizzy’s side before I can put the damn truck into park and hit the emergency break.

  Lizzy glances my way wide-eyed and amused. “I’m going to love her, aren’t I?” she asks, doing that thing where she rolls her eyes back like this is going to be so much fun. She cracks me up when she doesn’t even wait for my response. She just pulls on the handle to open the door and slides down and into the arms of my mother. I can hear the squeals from my side and I shouldn’t be surprised.

  Not sure if I should just turn tail and drive away, I talk myself into finally getting out and joining the girl fest. My sister is waiting for me.

  “You’re in some serious trouble with that one,” she says, pointing to my mom. “She’s already calling caterers and picking out baby names.”

  The thought makes me laugh inside. Not because I can’t imagine a future with Lizzy, but because we’d have to do something other than kiss to get there. So not opposed to that plan. Like usual, my mom is way ahead of herself.

  But then again, if I have my way, Lizzy and I will be off to a great start by the end of the day. I can’t be alone with her without thinking about the many ways I’d like to have her. And when she looks at me, I know she’s thinking the same thing. We’ve done our fair share of waiting. No need to wait any longer.

  “Honey, are you going to introduce us?” my mom asks.

  Shaking my head, I can’t help laughing a little. “Really, Mom. I thought you might already know Lizzy’s blood type with the way you accosted her as soon as she got out of the car.”

  She doesn’t miss a beat. “Well, it’s A negative if you must know, but a proper introduction would be nice.”

  Now, we all laugh. My mother...she’s a spitfire. Taking a few steps closer, I haul her in for a big hug, knowing she’d kick my ass if I didn’t. Not that I wouldn’t anyway. She pats me on the back when she’s had enough love and pushes away from me, ready to meet my...shit. I don’t know what to call her. She’s definitely more than a friend, but titles and relationship status isn’t something we’ve discussed.

  Fuck it. I’ll wing it.

  Speak from the heart. That’s all I can do. That’s all my mom has taught me.

  “Mom, I’d like you to meet Lizzy.” I take Lizzy’s hand in mine, giving it an extra squeeze. “She’s my girlfriend.” She smiles up at me. “I’ve waited a long time to call her that.” Looking down at her, I say, “I hope that’s okay.”

  “It’s perfect,” she says, this time giving my hand a squeeze.

  “This is my mom, Clara. And this is my sister, Katherine, but I call her Katie.” My sister punches me in the arm. “And they’ve been dying to meet you,” I say,
dragging out the words dramatically feigning my best girl voice.

  Lizzy holds out her hand to my mom first. “Nice to meet you, Clara.” Of course, my mom doesn’t take her hand. Instead, she wraps her arms around her and hugs her like one of those rally monkeys that fasten around your neck with Velcro.

  When my mom releases her, Katie takes her turn. “We’re huggers,” my sister says. “And now, we’re done with you, Ry.” She waves me off. “Go fix something. Shoo.”

  Lizzy doesn’t even blink at this. She’s totally in her element, completely amused by the other women in my life.

  “I’m fine, Ryan,” she tells me. “Shoo.” Her hand rises and she shoos me away just as my sister did.

  “Oh, I like her,” my mom says, as she hooks her arm with Lizzy’s while my sister does the same on her other side.

  They turn away from me, and head into the house without me. I raise my hands into the air and then drop them to my sides. Yeah, that just happened.

  Needing to give them some space, I look around and decide to water my mom’s plants in the front yard. That should give them a half hour or so before I go in and take my girl away from the madness and get on with the day I’ve planned.

  The girls are chatting away about books when I finally go in to interrupt them. “Are you ready, Lizzy?”

  “Oh, honey, we were just talking about book boyfriends. I think we could use another couple of hours.” My girlfriend winks at me.

  “I like this girl,” Katie says. “She’s definitely a keeper.”

  My sister springs to her feet at the sound of a knock at the door. “I’ll get it.”

  I look to my mother. “You expecting someone?”

  She gives me one of her devious grins. “Katie is.”

  “Oh, shit no. I don’t want to meet—” But before I can finish my sentence, Katie comes around the corner with him. “Thompson? What the hell are you doing here?”

  He looks at me like I don’t know what the hell I’m talking about. “What are you doing here?”

  “This is my house, dammit. What about you?” I ask, my voice raising about ten notches. I can see my mom and Lizzy stand from out of the corner of my eye.

  Katie steps between us. “I invited him,” she says. “Ryan, this is my new boyfriend...Brendan.”

  “Brendan? You would have some pussy-ass name. Brendan? Your mom didn’t know how to spell Brandon or what?” Fuck if this guy is going to date my little sister. That’s not going to happen. I don’t give a shit if the little prick has started to grow on me.

  I can tell the little bastard wants to react but he keeps looking over at my mom. He has some level of respect, I’ll give him that.

  “Hey, hey, hey,” my mom calls out. “No need to get your panties in a bunch.”

  “What is your problem?” Katie asks, sneering at me. “Brendan, this is my brother, Ryan. But I have a feeling you already know him.”

  He gives her a questioning stare. “You didn’t tell me your brother is a firefighter.”

  “It never came up,” she says, looking down at her shoes.

  “You said he lived out of town?” Haha. Good one, Kate.

  “Well, he did. For a while.” She swings her foot back and forth, kicking an imaginary rock. “Look, things were going good between us. I didn’t want to ruin it by telling you my big brother was a sawyer in a hotshot crew. That can kind of be intimidating to a younger firefighter.”

  “Fuck the hotshot part, your brother is intimidating period.” He then stares at me with his mouth hanging open. “A sawyer? That’s so bad ass.”

  That makes me laugh, and I can hear a chuckle coming from behind me. Lizzy. Typical this would appeal to her wacky sense of humor.

  “Well,” she says as she steps around me, “I’m Lizzy, this badass’s girlfriend.” She hikes a thumb in my direction and then holds out her hand to him. He takes it. “Nice to meet you, Brendan. Love the variance in the name, by the way. We’re going to get going, but now that we’ve all met, maybe we can do dinner at Ryan’s place next week. We’ll cook, you bring the beer.” She hooks her arm in mine and pulls me away from Thompson. “Lots of it,” she mutters so only I hear. Even with my blood boiling with my sister’s choice in men, my girl still manages to make me crack a smile.

  “See ya later, Mom. Katie.” We all exchange hugs while Brendan stands off to the side. Finally, the little shit gets it.

  CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

  Lizzy

  Ryan doesn’t say much after we leave his mom’s house. We’re on our way to his place to drop off my bag and park his truck before we take off on our hike. I can tell he’s still taken aback by his sister’s new boyfriend. I don’t know much about the young firefighter other than he gets on the other guys’ nerves. I’ve tried to tell them that the poor guy probably feels like he has to prove himself to them, but they don’t want to hear it.

  “Hey, if you want to just call it a day, I’ll understand.” He doesn’t seem like he’s in the mood to spend the day entertaining me. Not that it would take much.

  He shoots a look in my direction. “Are you crazy? I’ve been waiting for this day for months.” He shakes his head. “I’m good. We’re good.” He flashes me one of his smiles and all is right in the world. “Are you sure you don’t want to call it a day? My mom and sister didn’t scare you off, did they?”

  I can’t help but chuckle a bit. “No way, they were awesome. I wish I had family like yours.”

  And then he goes and says something that melts me to pieces. “They’re yours now, too, you know. As soon as they took you into that den with them, they made you family. They’re yours, if you’ll have them.”

  How is it possible this man knows me so well? Is he simply a good listener or do I never shut up when I’m around him? He seems to have the Lizzy manual down pat, because he compliments me sincerely, understands my need for affirmation, but, now, offering me his family? He is definitely the product of Clara’s wonderful mothering. Her warm welcome and immediate acceptance did more for my heart than Ryan could imagine. I haven’t felt that since my dad died. How did he know how much I needed that? Tears sting my eyes and I answer him with deep emotion and thankfulness, “I will.”

  * * *

  Our private stage is now filled with houses, but that doesn’t stop us from singing some Lenny Kravitz and Shania Twain. Nice combo, I know, but we had fun with it.

  “Playlist Roulette has to be the best game I’ve ever played,” I tell Ryan as we finish our usual hike through our neighborhood.

  “You’re lucky you’re cute or I’d ban you from ever playing again.” He tosses his arm over my shoulder and pulls me closer to him, planting a peck on the top of my head.

  “You’re lucky you’re hot or I’d kick your ass for making fun of my dazzling vocal skills.” Bumping my hip into his, we both crack up at the banter. It’s been like this since Ryan picked me up this morning. Just an easy flow, back and forth, like half a year hasn’t passed between us. It’s like we’re picking up where we left off, before he punched my ex-husband in the face.

  “Hey, I have something to show you.” He tugs on my hand, pulling me in a direction off the trail.

  I yank back on his grip. “You know where you’re going, right? You’re not taking me on a crazy exploration, are you? You’re finally home. I don’t want to go get eaten by mountain lions now. Or get attacked by a rattlesnake.”

  He chuckles at my dramatics. “You have a wild imagination,” he says, shaking his head.

  Rolling my eyes with amusement, I shoot back, “Oh, you have no idea.”

  “Forget the wildlife, Lizzy. You’re going to kill me.” Again, he tugs on my hand and this time I follow him without any questions.

  I’m amazed by the change in scenery the farther we travel off the trail. For the most part, our community looks like a desert—with the exception of the sparse trees planted by the developer. But the farther we hike, more and more trees surround us, partially shading us from the sun and
creating a welcome coolness that refreshes my body.

  It’s beautiful. Light filters in through the trees creating an array of colors on the grass, sparsely covering the ground. Wildflowers can be seen here and there if you really take the time to look.

  “How did you find this?” I ask, when we come into a clearing where a few gigantic boulders sit at the base of the mountain.

  He releases my hand and spins around slowly, taking in the beauty of the wilderness. “Since our other private spot is now covered with track homes, I thought I’d find us a new place. Somewhere not likely to be overrun by builders. Somewhere we can come anytime we want to hike or walk.” He takes my hand again and hauls me toward him, wrapping his arm around my waist. “A place where we can sing and dance. A special place of our own to talk anytime we need to.”

  Gazing up into his eyes, I can see he has something on his mind. “Is that what you want to do? Talk?” I knew this time would come. As much as we have picked up where we left off, we can’t possibly move forward without talking about what happened. We need to get it out, lay it all out and see where we end up. Part of me is afraid of what might happen once we say everything we need to, but a bigger part of me knows I can trust Ryan. I know I can believe everything will be okay.

  He covers my cheek with the palm of his strong hand and I lean into the comfort he offers. Even though his hands are rough from hard work, there is still something so tender about his touch. “I’d love to talk. Really talk...about everything that happened. I think we need to.” His eyes gaze into mine for a few beats longer. “No, I know we need to talk.”

  A simple nod is all I need to give him to show I agree.

  Ryan drops his backpack on the ground and opens it, fishing out a small blanket.

  “You came prepared,” I say, teasing him.

  “I’m a firefighter. I’m always prepared.” He looks up at me with a wink. He shouldn’t wink at me if he wants to talk. His wink is lethal. That wink screams hot, sex, lust, and desire all in one shot.