~~~This is a prequel, spin-off from Ties~~~
Briar Hayes has lived her entire life being polite, never daring to express the crazy and wild thoughts running laps in her head. At almost twenty-five, stuck in the throes of monotony, she finally snaps...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
* "What are you lookin' at?" Briar asks between mouthfuls of formerly frozen pizza, sitting on the counter of my sister's kitchen, of all places.
I lean against the fridge and don't take my eyes off her for a second. Not nervous, not sneaking glimpses, but signing the deed to every single one.
"You," I respond. It's as simple as that.
"Stop, you weirdo." She tosses a balled-up paper towel at me and keeps trying to look away, though she can't seem to do it either.
She feels something for me?
My skull can't wrap around that knowledge. I don't wanna rush it, but we've also covered more ground in an hour than most do in months. I'm okay with it. Shit, I wantmore of it.
Kyra had avoided my family, claiming my sisters exhausted her, which I can't fully disagree with. She wouldn't have let my nieces use her as a jungle gym and make a disaster of her hair. The same disaster Briar happily worked to undo on the drive over here.
"Stop."
"I don't want to." I move towards her. Sitting here. In front of me. The unattainable woman who I'd never in a million years imagined a chance with. My fucking dream girl. I'm stealing allthe moments. I wanna stare at her till she leaves, and then I wanna stare at her some more.
"Why?"
"Because I'm so into you." I said it, not like she doesn't already know it. I could say so much more, but I'm worried I'll freak her out.
"Why?" she asks again and pulls her top lip between her teeth.
You're gorgeous and funny. You successfully won over my entirefamily in a matter of minutes. You surprise me. You scare me. You make me feel something unparalleled to anything I've ever felt.
But that might be too much for right now, so I shrug. "Because I am."
Briar stares at me with raised brows. Actually, she's doing some strange thing where she scowls, then arches them while crinkling her nose, resulting in her eyes squinting.
After a defeated sigh, she takes another bite of pizza. I had apologized for it being the only food in the house, and she told me it's her favorite, which I don't buy. She also told me to stop apologizing for shit I can't control.
"What are you doing?" I laugh at her contorting facial features. Her ankles unravel, opening up an invitation for me between her legs—which I'll always accept—then she recrosses them behind me. I arch a single brow, and she exhales an exasperated huff.
"It's unfair," she says while I slide her towards me, and sink my teeth into the pizza she's offering. "Certain people should not be able to do the one eyebrow thing while the rest of us have to suffer."
