Page 56 of Fall For Me
My brows pull together in confusion. I don’t recall him ever telling me anything about her.
“Um . . . no?”
“That was a wild time, wasn’t it Stud? We were bangin’ against every surface of that bedroom. Threw my back out and damn near broke a hip. Pretty sure his stamina is what landed me in this walker here. The look on his face when he rolled over that mornin’ and saw me? Oh, I’llneverforget it. He jumped outta bed, snatchin’ his clothes up off the floor and throwin’ ‘em over his shoulder—his wiener just adanglin’ and swinging back and forth, back and forth, with each hop, skip, and jump he took. I gave him a good chasin’ before he ran out the house naked?—”
“I was not naked . . .”
“Oh really? Is that why you fell down the porch tryin’ get a foot into the hole of your unders? I always wondered if ya skinned your little python on the damn concrete. Anyway, the asshole left me high and dry, if you know what I mean.”
“Don’t say asshole; it’s a naughty word.” Jade scolds her, then says, “She cusses a lot.”
“And I ain’t sorry ‘bout it either. I didn’t live damn near a hunerd years just to start filterin’ my mouth for the likes of you. But don’t ya go a repeatin’ everythin’ I say now, ya hear?”
I blink . . . repeatedly . . . then my head whips in Aiden’s direction and my jaw drops. “What the?—”
“That’s how I was left with Jade,” she adds.
My eyes widen. No way. That’s not biologically possible, is it? She’s so . . . old.
A low wheeze hisses from Sean’s direction, and I glance his way. He lowers his head, shoulders shaking, then a loud, rumbling laugh flies out of his mouth. Aiden doubles over, holding his side. Jade begins to giggle, too. I look back at the little old lady, and when she winks at me, I lose it right along with them. The entire dining room fills with uncontrollable laughter.
Wiping the tears from my eyes, I sigh. “Oh god. You had me there for a second. That’s such an Aiden thing to do, I didn’t know if you were kidding or not.”
“Oh, I’m not kiddin’. That’s exactly what happened, ain’t that right, Stud?” She combs down the back of her short, white hair with her fingers.
I stand there with my eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets and my mouth hanging wide open like a fish out of water.
Aiden’s laugh grows louder. “Y-you should see your . . . your face right now, Han-Han . . . Oh, God . . . I c-can't . . . I can’t breathe. . .”
He trails off into a coughing fit, choking on air. A few minutes passbefore he collects himself and amends, “What she failed to mention is that she found me in Jade’s mother’s bed. Jeez, Granny, you made it sound like I was railingyou. It was her bat smashing every surface of the room, Hannah, not me . . . you know . . . smashing her.”
My sides and my stomach hurt from laughing so hard, but it feels so good to release my pent-up emotions this way. So much better than crying.
“This is Jade’s great-great grandma.”
The little old woman braces one hand on the polished wood surface of the table, and the other on her metal walker, then gives a good push to stand. She shuffles to face me and opens her arms as I approach her.
“I’ll take a hug if ya don’t mind.”
Her arms wind around my waist, and she speaks low into my ear, “Hi, I’m Maggie, but you can call me Granny.”
“Hi, Granny. I’m Aiden’s best friend, Hannah.”
“Sorry to mislead ya and make your heart stop like that, hun, but ya looked like ya needed a laugh.”
“I really did. Thank you,” I say, releasing her and taking a step back when Aiden slides between us to help her into her seat. “You’re definitely a great storyteller. I was totally falling for it hook, line, and sinker.”
I move to the other side of Jade and sit down. My fingertips brush along the top of Sean’s arm as I admire the abstract looking art. “How pretty. You’re so artistic.”
“Thank you. Seany doesn’t know his aminals. He thought this was a giraffe,” she says pointing at his forearm. “Can you believe that?”
“Well, it’s clearly an elephant, isn’t it?”
It does kind of look like a giraffe, but I would never tell her that.
“See, Seany? Even she knows what aminal this is.”
Sean glances up at me, and winks, a smile spreading on his beautiful face. Then he shifts his attention back to Jade, and holy hell . . . Could he get any freaking hotter?
