“Oh, Sweet Pea.” Caleb’s mom reached out and touched her hand.
Caleb moved even closer to her on the couch and put his hand over hers, trying to shut the box. “He can take the song out.”
“No, it’s not the song. It’s the…” She turned the box around so everyone could see the inside lid. It was the outline of her, Owen, Caleb, both dogs, and his parents with the word FAMILY above them.
“Oh, George.” His mom got up, walked over, and kissed his dad.
“Now my creative license isn’t so bad, huh?” he teased as he patted her rear and wagged his eyebrows at her.
She rolled her eyes with a smile plastered on her face as she went back to her seat.
“Oh, I have one more for Taylor.” Caleb’s dad pulled out a gift bag from the side of the recliner and handed it to Caleb to hand to Taylor.
“You do?” Both Caleb and his mom looked equally surprised.
Taylor wasn’t sure what to expect as she pulled out the tissue paper. She reached inside and lifted out a candle with a label that read: Daughter-in-Law Welcome to the Family. Then beneath it in fine print it said, No Refunds. No Returns. No Exchanges. All Marriages Final.
She turned it around to show everyone and chuckled when it got a laugh out of Owen.
“When did you have the time to get that?” Caleb’s mom asked his dad.
“I’ve had it for years.” His dad was grinning from ear to ear, clearly proud of himself for having it on hand and having the foresight to pick up the novelty gag gift so many years prior.
Caleb and Annie both just shook their heads. Owen resumed opening presents until his last, which was a baseball glove.
“Do you want to go throw in the backyard?” his grandpa asked.
“Sure.” Owen hopped up, which triggered both dogs to do the same.
Taylor had been watching for any signs of an allergic reaction to the cats, and so far, so good.
They took the party out to the backyard, and Taylor lowered herself onto the porch swing. Caleb sank down beside her. She ran her hands up and down her arms, and the next thing she knew, Caleb popped up, went into the house, and returned with a hoodie that looked like it had a very cool retro vibe. The cotton was worn, and she could tell it had been washed a few hundred times. She wondered if this was a sweatshirt he’d worn back in high school.
“Thanks.” She put her arms through it as he wrapped it around her, the warmth enveloping her as the scent of him wafted from the cotton fibers.
It was going to take some getting used to having someone notice things about her and then actually take care of her. She’d never had that before. But she liked it. It just made her a little scared that if she started to depend on it, what would happen if it went away? She knew it was wrong to think like that, but she couldn’t help it.
“Sorry about the presents. I know it was over the top.” Caleb’s knuckles brushed against her outer thigh before his fingers spread over the top of her leg and rested on her knee.
The way he touched her was so familiar yet exploratory, so firm yet gentle, so private yet brazen. It was a contradiction in every way, and she loved it. Even visually, the contrast of his tanned skin against her fair skin was a turn-on. The size of his fingers and the muscular lines of his forearms stood out in stark contrast to her petite frame. He was large, powerful, and strong, and he made her feel safe…among other things.
“Hey.” His fingers squeezed her thigh. “If it was too much, I can talk to her and?—”
Taylor looked up at him and realized that she’d zoned out over how good just being near him felt. “No, it’s not too much. Imean, yes, it is. They didn’t need to get him anything, but it’s fine that they did.”
He leaned in closer to her ear, and the heat of his breath fanned down her neck as he whispered, his fingers sliding lower down between her legs, “I’ve been waiting to hear panthers so we can get out of here.”
She wasn’t sure if he meant he wanted to leave because he was tired of being at his parents, or if he wanted to leave because when they did, Owen was going to his friend’s house and then they were going to be alone.
Last night, when they’d gone to bed, he’d kissed her on her forehead, but that had been the extent of their physical contact. They hadn’t discussed what that part of their marriage was going to look like going forward. Even though they were far enough away from George and Owen, who were throwing the ball, and Annie, who was taking pictures, this was definitely not the place to talk about it.
“Do you know why he picked that?” she changed the subject.
“I figured it was because he liked the showFriday Night Lights.”
“Last night, when I asked him if he was happy that you were his dad, he told me when he used to imagine who his dad was, he always wanted him to be like Coach Taylor, fromFriday Night Lights, because he was the best dad he could think of having. But he said you are even better than him.”
He stared at her for a moment, not saying a word, before he quietly asked, “He did?”
