I snort and roll my eyes.
Zander: Well, she’s actually from Nashville, so who knows?
Landon: Well, either way, I’m happy for you, man. Happy Thanksgiving.
Zander: Happy Thanksgiving.
Putting my phone aside again, I resume staring up at the ceiling as I struggle to resist my desire for the woman next to me. I need to show her that I can be trusted. Relied on. That I’ll listen to her needs and do what I can to make her feel safe and secure with me.
I desperately need her to know that I care about her. Really, really care.
Suddenly, she shifts and then rolls over, facing me. She snuggles into my side and I lose my breath. I carefully wrap my arm around her and hold her against me, the feel of her body pressed against mine easing much of my stress and worry, at least for the moment.
Relaxed, I start to drift off and as I finally fall asleep, I do so knowing that Rylee may be resisting the idea, but she knows that I care and that she can trust me.
And I’m going to make sure she never doubts that ever again.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE: THANKSGIVING
RYLEE
Waking up on Thanksgiving morning,I feel surprisingly well rested. I honestly didn’t think I’d get much sleep at all considering being so close to Zander had my heart racing and my blood running hot, but it only took a few minutes for me to fall asleep once my head hit the pillow.
Blinking, I roll over, and am a little relieved to see that Zander is already gone. I run my hand over his pillow, which is cool to the touch, and let out a long sigh. Being here, seeing Zander with his family, it’s getting really hard to hold onto my anger toward him. He really is such a good guy, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t tempted to curl into his side before I fell asleep last night.
Grabbing my phone, I check if I’ve got any messages and see there’s a text from Sutton. Uh oh… that’s probably not good. She’s with her family today, and that doesn’t usually end well. I open her message, bracing myself for the chaos.
Sutton: Is it too early to get totally wasted?
I wince. Nope. Not good.
Rylee: Depends on how messy family time has been.
Unsurprisingly, she responds right away.
Sutton: Family time has been its usual nightmare. I get home and the first thing Mom does is show me pictures of her friends’ eligible bachelor sons. Like a fucking PowerPoint presentation!
Rylee: Are any of them cute?
Sutton: I will cut you.
I chuckle at that.
Rylee: I’m sorry. That sounds like it really sucks.
Sutton: Yeah, well, it’s not like I was expecting anything else from Mommy dearest. How’s it going on your end? How’s your mom?
I hesitate, debating whether I should tell her I’m with Zander or not.
Rylee: I’m actually with Zander’s family right now.
Sutton: WHAT??? YOU’RE WITH ZANDER?? WHAT THE HELL??
Ooph… maybe I should’ve kept that to myself.
Rylee: I’m just getting to know him better. Seeing if we can make this work.
Sutton: Oh my God! This is so exciting! You have to tell me everything!
