“Stop teasing your dad.” My mom bumped her shoulder against mine. “Even though you’re a year older than I was when we got married, the thought of walking you down the aisle anytime soon sends him into a tailspin.”
“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m all grown up now.” I sighed and shook my head. “I only have one more semester before I graduate and have been dating Leland for two years.”
My dad stepped close and wrapped his arms around me in a tight hug. “You’ll always be my baby girl.”
“I know you’re old enough to live your own life and make your own decisions.” My mom patted my back. “But your dad isn’t logical when it comes to you.”
“Throw me under the bus, why don’t you?” my dad grumbled as Leland came back downstairs.
He must have caught the tail end of our conversation because he said, “Don’t worry, Mr. Hall. You’re not the only one who isn’t logical where Olivia is concerned. My ability to be rational flew out the window during our first date.”
My dad didn’t seem to take much comfort from my boyfriend’s show of support. Instead, he glared at Leland’s back as he rolled his suitcase down the hall toward the guest bedroom. Then he turned his ire on my mom and me since we were giggling. “This isn’t funny.”
“I mean…it kind of is,” my mom disagreed.
I flashed a big grin at my dad and nodded. “Definitely.”
“What’s funny?” Leland asked as he joined us, sliding his arm around my back to pull me against his side.
My mom and I dissolved into a fit of giggles over his innocent question. I couldn’t have answered even if I wanted to, and I didn’t have the chance to anyway because my dad had had enough of this conversation.
“Trust me, you don’t want to know.” He tugged Leland away from me and shoved him toward the door. “Let’s go. I need help putting the lights up. Hope you’re not afraid of heights.”
“No worries there. My dad always sent my brother and me up the ladder when we were decorating our house for the holidays, so I have plenty of experience.” Leland flashed me a grin over his shoulder before he headed outside. “I’ll be outside if you need me, baby.”
My dad heaved a deep sigh and shook his head as he followed.
After the door shut behind them, I turned to my mom and murmured, “I’m not sure we should trust Dad to hold the ladder for Leland. His parents were already disappointed about him not coming home for Christmas. I’d hate to have to call them to explain how he ended up in the hospital on our first day here.”
“Your dad might put on a good show, but he likes Leland. He isn’t going to let anything happen to him,” she assured me.
He better not. I hadn’t been teasing when I’d warned him that Leland wasn’t going anywhere. I knew him better than anyone else in this world, and I had a hunch my dad’s fear was going to come to pass sooner than he might like…my ring finger might not be bare for too much longer.
2
Leland
I respected Olivia’s parents too much to disregard their separate bedrooms rule. So, as hard as it was, we never spent a full night together when we were visiting them. But when my hot-as-fuck girlfriend came sneaking into my room wearing nothing but one of my old rugby team T-shirts, I wasn’t stupid enough to send her away.
Her parents’ room was upstairs, at the opposite end of the house from hers, and mine was just below that. I’d half expected her dad to be keeping vigil outside her door, and part of me hoped that the reason he’d never done that was because he actually liked me. I fucking hoped so because he would be my father-in-law eventually. Sooner rather than later if I had my way. Which was in serious jeopardy since the jeweler screwed up and the ring hadn’t been ready when I went to pick it up this morning before I met Olivia at her sorority house.
Olivia quietly shut the door to the guest room, then sashayed her sexy ass over to the bed. I sat up and pushed the covers off so I could swing my legs to the side. When she was standing between my knees, I cupped her hips and stared into her gorgeous face. With our height difference, we were almost eye level.
“Do you know how much I love you?” I asked, staring into her sparkling green orbs.
“Almost as much as I love you?”
I shook my head and glided my hands down until they were at the hem of her shirt. “It’s the other way around, baby,” I teased. Then my expression turned serious, and I slipped my hands under the shirt so I could wrap them around her waist and bring her closer. “You’re everything to me, Olivia. My whole fucking world.”