Page 20 of Stone
“We brought our snugglies, Beck. You should have your mom bring yours. Nobody wants to sleep without their snugglies,” Phoebe advised.
“Yes, please, Mom,” Beck said.
“Okay, I’ll walk over and bring it back,” Naomi agreed.
“I’ll walk with you, just in case you need to carry more for the girls,” Stone offered.
“Thank you,” Naomi said, waving at the girls before heading out the door.
Stone held the door open for Naomi after she delivered the girls’ pillows, pajamas, snugglies, as Phoebe called them, and the other items she’d deemed necessary for the girls.
He’d walk her back and then maybe take his bike for a ride. It was close to seven o’clock, which would give him time for a ride before it was dark, and he ended the night with his late-night walk.
It was a Friday, but he didn’t want to socialize in the clubhouse. After being out, he enjoyed the brotherhood, but he craved that quiet time where the constant din of sound was replaced with the sound of the road or the quiet of the wind and nighttime animals.
Naomi walked down the steps and paused. Stone waited because she seemed to be contemplating something. She started walking, and he followed because he didn’t know her moods enough to judge if she was upset. After they’d passed a couple houses, she paused and turned to him.
“This is strange. Without the girls, I have no idea what to do with myself. It’s as if I lost my purpose when I came to Bluff Creek,” Naomi confided.
Stone breathed deep before he asked the question that had been plaguing him. “Were you with the girls whenever they weren’t in school?” Stone wondered.
“Yes. Beck would have never felt comfortable enough with any of their classmates to spend the night. I wouldn’t have dreamedof asking the girls to ask friends over. Who knows how Jared would have reacted.”
Naomi headed back toward Locks’ house, and Stone walked with her.
“What do you want to do?” he asked.
“I don’t know, but I realize that everything I did was either for the girls or meeting his expectations,” Naomi said, air quoting his.
“If you don’t want to be by yourself, I’m taking a ride on my bike. You’re welcome to come,” Stone invited.
It didn’t take any time at all to get to Locks’ house. Naomi paused at the door. Stone was comfortable with silence, but having Naomi not immediately answer him made him nervous.
“I’d love that if you really want me to ride with you, but if it’s a pity offer of, ‘Oh, poor Naomi, she’s divorced and doesn’t know what to do with herself,’ then no thanks,” she said, staring at the ground instead of him.
Stone reached over, tilting her head up until her eyes met his.
“I enjoy spending time with you. You’re funny, and you don’t mind if there’s silence. I’m going on a bike ride and would enjoy you joining me,” Stone confessed, feeling as if he was stepping off a cliff with his words. It had been decades since he’d asked any female to do anything. His chest tightened, wondering if she was going to turn him down and how he’d feel if she did.
“I would like that. Should I wear anything special?” she asked.
“Jeans and boots or tennis shoes would be good. No sandals, and maybe a tie for your hair. If you leave it loose, it will tangle,” he said.
She nodded. “Give me a couple minutes. Do you want to come in?”
“I’ll stay out here. The evening is nice,” he replied, sitting down on the patio furniture that was outside the house.
He closed his eyes and listened to the sounds of the compound. Faint music echoed from Sarah and Scoop’s house. Flick and Beth’s dogs must be outside because the barking was louder than when they were in the house. Lights were on in Cannon and Jesse’s house, but no sounds were distinguishable from the others. When Stone had come to the compound, he couldn’t sleep at all, but now, sometimes the noise of the place is what lulled him to sleep.
“Okay, ready. Hope was inside and suggested braiding my hair and wearing a bandana. She also loaned me some boots,” Naomi said.
Stone turned and worked not to drool. He liked seeing Naomi in dresses because she looked so proper, but Naomi in tight blue jeans, boots, a long-sleeve tight top with her hair in braids on each side of her face, and a bandana around her forehead was smoking hot. Stone had never ridden with a hard-on, but he wondered if he would be this time.
“All right, let’s go,” Stone said, walking with Naomi to the clubhouse where he’d left his bike.
Chapter Twelve
Naomi held Stone’s hand as she got off the bike, steadying herself. They’d ridden to Coldwater Lake, then wrapped around Bluff Creek to end up on the road where one of the Nelson cousins had made a rest stop where he’d found his love.
