Read Online Pieces of Paisley by Leigh Ann Lunsford - Free Book Online

worried anymore?” I ask him, pensively waiting for his answer.
    “Not about your mom. Meeting your step-dad scares the shit out of me.” He sighs.
    “As long as you don’t drink imported beer, you are okay,” and I realize at that moment that he fits in. He just clicks, and it is like this has been a normal staple in our house, and I know without a doubt, more and more of these Sunday dinners are going to include half the ship.
    Dinner conversation is loud and never lacking on any subject. Once cleanup is over, Kara tells Jake she needs to get back to the house because Rick will be off his twenty-four hour duty and will wonder where she is. My mom looks disappointed and so does Jake. Chad jumps in, “Krista, why don’t we head out now, and Paisley and Jake can come later?” He knows Krista always drives at night, she is the day partier, and I am the night one. Once that is settled, we all go in the living room and my mom turns on some stupid crime show. I roll my eyes, but Jake gets comfortable on the loveseat and pulls me down with him.
    I see my mom watching from the corner of her eye, but I don’t care. I have my head in his lap, and he is absentmindedly running his fingers through my hair, engrossed in the show. She watches him for a few more minutes before I see her wipe her eyes and settle in her chair, and her attention is pulled into the television. We finish watching the show, or rather they do, because I was too busy trying to stop myself from purring like a kitten. My hair is one way to make me relax, and I love it. The rare times my mom isn’t driving me bat shit crazy I will bring my brush to her and sit down in front of her and have her brush my hair for hours on end, and the way that Jake just knew that . . . I have no explanation.
    I get up and say bye to my mom, and she reminds me of my curfew. I tell her I know. We get in Jake’s truck, and he says “Where to?”
    “Don’t you want to get back to the house?”
    “I am in no rush. I have you alone, and I want to take advantage of it.” I try not to tense up, but I am not ready to go there. He must realize what I am thinking, “Not that way, Paisley. I just want to spend time with you. Someone is always around lately, and I just want to enjoy the two of us for a little while.” I ponder that. Usually my dates or get-togethers are in groups, it is what you do in high school, and so I don’t know how this elevated level of dating or relationships work.
    “Sounds good, but I don’t know how we do this,” I explain my reservations to him, and he listens.
    “We don’t do anything differently. We just act like Jake and Paisley. No expectations, no questions, no pressure. Can you do that?”
    “Yep, now can we get ice cream?” He stares at me for a minute.
    “Seriously? That is what you want?”
    “Yes, I have a terrible sweet tooth and could live off chocolate alone.” He scrunches up his nose in disgust. “Please tell me you don’t hate chocolate. That is a sin.”
    “Okay, I won’t tell you I hate chocolate, but I do.”
    “Holy shit, that is un-American. You just crushed my little heart.”
    “Baby, I am as American as you get, and I wouldn’t crush your heart intentionally. Dairy Queen?” I nod my head like a seven year old, clapping and hopping in my seat, and he laughs at me. I want to laugh, too, because he thinks I was just living up the moment, but mention Dairy Queen to me, and my inner child stands up and takes center stage.
    He doesn’t hate chocolate. He had no problem licking the drips off my chin and then tasting it from the inside of my mouth. He assured me I just made it taste better. We get to the house and all hell breaks loose. Rick is yelling at Kara for something, Krista looks high as a kite, Chad is passed out on the couch, and I want to cry. How did this happen? It isn’t even midnight, and I can’t let Krista drive, and I can’t drive a stick.
    “Hey, Pais. We will figure it out. I don’t want you