“I’ve got that stuff in the RV,” Tarr said. He couldn’t stop grinning, and he faced the big screen, which sat paused on the movie that Briar had found and he’d approved—Jumanji, with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
“Are we ready?”
“I’m just waiting for you to stop talking, cowboy.”
Tarr chuckled, and he really did want Briar in this luxury lounger with him, instead of all the way over there with the cooler and drinks and so many armrests between them. He’d been surprised that she’d let him kiss her so much at the dining room table, and he felt certain that if Tuck and Bobbie Jo hadn’t interrupted, he’d have his kiss on the mouth by now.
That would be worth thirty birthday gifts,Tarr thought, and his pulse jumped just thinking about it.
They’d finished their poutine lunch about an hour ago, and he’d helped her clean up and opened his birthday gift—a brand-new pair of winter gloves to work around the farm—before they’d come downstairs to start their movie afternoon. Thenhe’d gotten distracted with calls and texts and trying to disable the camera, but in the end, he felt all of that would be worth it.
Briar got up to go start the movie. She’d attached her laptop to the cables coming out of the wall, so she didn’t have a remote for it. She hurried back down the aisle, and Tarr waved her closer, as if she were an airplane and he wanted her to park right on his lap.
First, she bent over the cooler and got out a can of his Diet Dr. Pepper. He took it and put it in the cup holder on his left so he could hold Briar on his right. She slid into the space, and he opened his arm and put it around her, her hips butting right up against his. Then she twisted onto one side and leaned into his chest.
“Is this okay?” she whispered, as if there were other moviegoers who would be bothered by the two of them talking.
“It’s perfection,” he whispered.
And while he wasn’t a hormonal fourteen-year-old who could make out with his girlfriend during the whole movie, Tarr suddenly wanted to. At the same time, he really needed to let Briar lead in all things physical.
He ate his popcorn slowly and then opened a package of Red Vines as he enjoyed the movie. Being with her was enough, and he didn’t want to pressure her or make her feel like it wasn’t.
He also didn’t believe that she would stay awake for the duration of the movie, and sure enough, about halfway through, a soft snore met his ears. He gently leaned the luxury lounger back even further so she could rest more completely against his chest.
Tarr’s new favorite thing was holding Briar while she slept when she wasn’t hopped up on narcotics, or hurt, or needed him to stay warm. No, she lay in his arms now bychoice, and she only needed him for him, not because she had a medicine schedule to keep or she might freeze to death without him.
Tarr, too, closed his eyes, though he didn’t think that he would doze. He just wanted to breathe in the purity of this moment and enjoy the shape of Briar in his arms, the scent of her in his nose, and the fact that, for this soft moment in time, she was his and he was hers.
Briar had dinner delivered to the house—a complete steak-fajita meal—which completed the third meal of Tarr’s favorite things.
He hadn’t kissed her during the movie, and they’d taken their fajitas down to the big couch in the basement so they could talk without Bobbie Jo and Tucker overhearing them. The hour had grown late, and Briar had been yawning for a good half-hour by the time Tarr stood up and said, “We should get you home, sweetheart.”
“Yeah.” She sighed as she got to her feet as well and started helping him gather up their plates, napkins, and plastic containers.
With everything upstairs and the house clean, Briar bent down and wrapped her arms around Wiggins’s neck. “You be a good boy for Tarr,” she said. “I left you some food on the counter, and he’ll feed you in the morning, and I’ll see you out at the Goatel, okay?”
Wiggins licked her face and she giggled as she stood up. She tucked her hands in her back pockets, a showing of vulnerability for Briar that Tarr really loved.
He certainly wasn’t going to kiss her right there in the kitchen or the foyer or the front porch, and if he wanted to do that for his birthday, he’d have to drive her back to her cabin, which seemed a little bit ridiculous.
“Thank you,” he said, pulling her into his arms again. “This was the best birthday I’ve ever had.”
“I’m glad.”
Tarr pressed a kiss to her neck, and then just below her earlobe, and then her cheek, before pulling away. “Thank you for lending me Wiggins for the night.”
“You know you could get your own dog.” She moved over to the couch where she’d tossed her coat at some point during the day.
He helped her put it on. “I could,” he said. “But I think I’m going to wait until I have a permanent house to live in.”
“Will you really let me come to your meeting on Tuesday?” she said. “I love blueprints.”
He grinned at her. “I said you could come. Tuesday, one-thirty. In fact, maybe we could meet in your office.” He raised his eyebrows as a silent question mark.
Briar nodded and reached up to cradle his face in one of her hands. “That would be great. Happy birthday, baby.”
“Thanks.”
