Read Online Going Down by Shelli Stevens - Free Book Online

got a little more nervous. She sat staring out the window at the cute houses they passed. Some literally had white-picket fences, flower gardens, kids and dogs running free.
    This town was surreal. The people were surreal. But in a good way that she hadn’t known existed outside of the sitcoms.
    And now she was going to meet the rest of Tyson’s family. It seemed so overwhelming and, well, soon. They weren’t even dating—though pretty soon they’d most likely be sleeping together.
    “You have nothing to worry about,” Tyson said softly, glancing her way with a reassuring smile. “It’s just a barbeque, Ellie. Seriously.”
    “Oh, I’m fine,” she said a little too quickly. “Was just thinking maybe we should’ve brought a potato salad or something.”
    Damn. Now that she’d mentioned it, she realized they probably should have.
    “Nah, mom makes enough food to feed an army.”
    “Do a lot of people come?”
    He hesitated. “Not too many. Depends if the cousins, aunts and uncles show up.”
    Cousins. She bit her lip and wondered if these cousins were as much trouble as Tyson and his brothers seemed to be.
    Her gut clenched. When was the last time she’d met a guy’s family? Probably a few years ago, when she’d been in college, and that had been after almost seven months of dating.
    What would Tyson’s family think of her? What would his parents be like? Or the now infamous brothers she’d heard so much about. And apparently cousins to top it off.
    “Here we are.”
    She blinked as Tyson turned the vehicle onto a dirt road. The property was massive, with an old wooden fence running along the open land.
    “Wow, that’s a lot of green. Do your parents have horses or something?” she asked.
    “A few, actually. We all grew up riding.”
    “Do you still ride?”
    His expression turned reflective. “Not as much as I’d like. Trevor’s the big rider in the family. But I do hop on Jimmy every now and then. Riding’s a great way to de-stress.”
    Ellie’s lips twitched. “Jimmy?”
    “Mom named the horse after Jimmy Buffett. She loves the guy.”
    Her smile widened. Something told her she was going to like Tyson’s mom quite a bit.
    A few minutes later, they parked in front of the large, sprawling ranch house. It was painted white with a green trim, and of course had pretty flowers aligning both sides of the front door. It was almost too lovely.
    “You grew up here?” she asked softly.
    “Sure did.” He turned off the engine and opened his door. “My parents have been married for almost forty years.”
    Wow, that many years was pretty amazing nowadays. Her parents had just hit twenty-seven and she’d always been impressed by how long they’d made it.
    Though she sometimes wondered how much her parents really loved each other. They bickered constantly and slept in separate rooms. It had crossed her mind more than once that they both just didn’t want to deal with the hassle of a divorce.
    “Ready for this?” Tyson asked when he opened her door a moment later.
    “As ready as I’ll ever be.” She gave him what she hoped was a confident smile. “I mean, it’s just a barbeque, right?”
    “Tyson Gerald Wyatt!” Sharon’s voice called out. “Will you stop your stalling and bring your girl in so everyone can meet her already?”
    Ellie’s brows shot up and a barely audible whimper slipped past her lips.
    “Sorry about that,” Tyson muttered under his breath as he shook his head. “She gets excited if we bring a girl over.”
    “Totally a mom thing. I get it.” And she did. But still, it didn’t make it any easier as they walked up the pathway to where his mother stood in the doorway.
    “Nice to see you again, Ellie.” Sharon took a step back and waved them inside. “Go on in, everyone’s out back.”
    Ellie stepped over the threshold of the doorway and into the house, one ear still open to hear the greeting between mother and son behind her as they continued to stand