Page 128 of Heartland

A beat later Chastity is still staring at me like I have three heads. I will probably have to say that a few more times before she believes me. Or—wait—Chastity needs actions, not words. So I take her face in my hands and kiss her instead.

* * *

There’s a lot of kissing after that. We both need it.

Maybe I’ve been a little slow to figure us out. But one thing is clear—we’re both very sexual people, and not just in the sense that we have a high sex drive. (Which we obviously do.) It’s a key way that we communicate.

When I unzip her jeans and push them off, I’m telling her that I need to feel her skin against mine. And when she puts her palm under my T-shirt and over my heart, it’s because she needs that connection.

We kiss and kiss until we can’t breathe. And then we lie face to face, legs entwined. “You could spend the summer right here,” I point out.

“Where?”

“Right here in the bunkhouse. If Isaac and Leah sell their place before it’s time to head to Burlington in the fall, we can stay in this room together.”

“I can’t believe they’ll sell,” she whispers. “They worked so hard for everything they have.”

“Wouldn’t be my choice, either,” I agree. “But Leah is a crusader. Her concept of home might be different from ours.”

I’m still trying to figure out what home means to me, too. It’s harder than I thought it would be.

“Connors wants the farm,” Chastity says. “He’ll put cattle in the barn.”

“Isaac has a buyer already?”

“Well, yeah. Since you and Griff don’t want it.”

My eyes fly open again. “What?”

Chastity sits up part way. “Griffin told Isaac tonight at dinner. That you guys aren’t in the position to think about it right now.”

“Oh shit.” I sit up, too. “Is that what Griff wanted to talk to me about?”

Chastity stares at me. “He didn’t? He was supposed to.”

“Um…” I think back to the fight we had over the tractor. “I told Griffin I didn’t want to farm after college. I said I didn’t want to work for him. But I didn’t let him tell me whatever it was…” I trail off, because it’s just hitting me what I turned down. “Oh fuck. Griffin was actually considering it, wasn’t he?”

“I guess,” Chastity flops down on the pillow. “If you don’t want to farm after college, it doesn’t really matter, though.”

I let out a groan as I fall back on the pillow. “What a mess. I truly thought there was no room for me in this equation. But if Griffin expanded, he’d need a partner.”

“It’s kind of a dick move for him to decide without asking you,” she says.

“Oh, it would be. It’s just that I didn’t give him a chance. Maybe I can fix this.”

Chastity runs a hand down my arm. “Don’t rush into anything.”

“Will you stay in Vermont, either way?”

“Yes,” she says. “Because I love you, too.”

I pull her against me again, because I can’t get enough. Loving Chastity isn’t a big decision I made. It just happened. And as for the rest of the big decisions coming my way, they aren’t as scary as they were a few hours ago.

So long as we’re together, I think I can handle all the other stuff.

Chastity yawns against my chest. “We never just sleep.”

“You’re right.” I chuckle, and her body bounces as my stomach contracts. “I have never gotten into bed with you without tearing off all your clothes first.”