Cierra sits beside Lynn, Justin’s grandmother, his aunt and Rachel on the back patio at Lynn’s place in Shelby Forest. It’s the day after Thanksgiving and the boys decided on playing a game of touch football. Cierra takes a sip of her hot chocolate and laughs along with the other women. She wasn’t sure how being around Justin’s family was going to be. Knowing Lynn already was helpful but she always got self conscious when meeting a boy’s family, especially since Justin is so close to his. She was surprised that everyone knew about her before she even walked into the door. His family embraced her with open arms and she was entirely grateful. She just hoped her family would be the same with him.

“Cierra? You okay over there?” Rachel, Justin’s cousin and personal assistant asks, waving a hand in front of her face. The two other women at the table laugh when Cierra blushes. “You’re staring at him awful hard there sweetheart.”

          Shaking her head, Cierra laughs with them, “What? I’m not staring at him. I was thinking and my eyes just happened to be in his direction.” She sits her mug down on the table. The weather was cool but it wasn’t over cold like the last couple days had been. She was wearing her favorite pair of denim jeans, a light blue sweater and her black Emu boots. She had pulled on one of Justin’s old North Caroline sweatshirts.

          Lynn looked over at her, smiling brightly, “its okay honey. Stare all you want. He’s your problem now.” They watch as Justin lifts his head up, looking in their direction. He lifts his hand in a small wave and all four women wave back.

          Justin’s grandmother shrugs, “Pretty sure he doesn’t realize he ain’t young no more.”

          Cierra laughs, “Oh he will tomorrow.” They watch as Justin’s youngest brother, Stephen, hikes the ball to Jonathan; who in turn throws it out to Justin. Trace takes off after Justin. She had to hand it to Trace; the little punk has a lot of speed.

She scrunches her face up when she realizes Trace is running too fast, looking over his shoulder and laughing at his own father. Justin has dropped the ball in a touchdown, doing his cocky dance. The women groan at the sound of impact, Justin being knocked down and Trace landing on him. Not sure what else to do, they stand and make their way into the backyard.

          Justin’s youngest brothers are laughing hysterically while Paul is trying to keep his composure. Cierra stands near the two boys, shaking her head, “Are ya’ll okay?”

          Trace stands up rubbing his head, “Yeah. Damn, J. You’re shoulder hurts like fuck.”

          Justin rolls over, both arms laid out on the ground, “I think I’ve dislocated my back.”

          Cierra giggles, “That’s what you get old man. Thinking you can play with the kids still.”

Everyone laughs. He tilts his head, staring up at her. The sun is barely out, dark clouds giving the day a dreary look, he reaches a hand up. She leans over, grabbing his hand but instead of pulling him up, he pulls her down. Wrapping his arms around her waist as she squeals, everyone still laughing and his fingers start dancing down her sides, “Old man, huh? I’ll show you old man!”

She squirms, gasping for breath through her laughter, “Sss..stop it!” She finally manages to push herself away from him. Standing slowly she narrows her eyes, “Oh you’re going to pay.”

Lynn walks over, helping Cierra brush the leaves off her back, “And she will get you Justin. We’ll make sure of that. You guys go get cleaned up. Dinner should be ready in twenty.”

Justin sits up on the ground but makes no move to stand. They watch as everyone files into the house, his grandmother looking over her shoulder, winking at the two of them before closing the back sliding glass door. He pats his lap and she shakes her head, “If I get down there I am probably not getting back up again. I realize my body isn’t like it was when I was twelve, unlike some people.”

He doesn’t respond, just stares. Feeling uneasy under his piercing gaze, she straddles his legs on the ground and groans, “So not comfortable, dude.”

Justin wraps his arms around her waist, “I kind of love you. Thank you, for coming out here. It meant so much to a lot of my family to finally meet you. Apparently, I haven’t shut up about you since the day we met.” He grins, his blue eyes twinkling.

Cierra wraps her arms around his neck, her fingers playing with the short curls at the base of his neck, “I kind of love you, too. I’m glad I came. You’re family is pretty amazing.”

He puckers his lips and she kisses him gently, “They love you, actually. Especially Jonathan, he told me if we ever broke up, he’d make a move.”

She throws her head back and laughs, “He’s fifteen! He can’t even drive yet.”

He nods, smiling, “You think they’d stop a man? Shiiiiit, you got another thing coming.”

Biting her bottom lip, she stares at him. How she managed to land such a caring, understanding and immensely beautiful man was beyond her. Danny royally screwed her over in the love department and after him, she really didn’t think she’d ever fall for another guy. She was truly in love with him and it scared her shitless.

His voice brought her out of her thoughts, “What are you thinking about, baby?” She shakes her head and moves to stand up but his grip tightens, “Nuh uh. What’s going on in the beautiful head of yours?”

She smiles softly at him, grabbing his hands to make him stand up with her, “My knees are hurting.” After they stand up and brush off the leaves, Justin wraps his arms around her waist again. Bringing her hands around to play with the collar of his t-shirt, she says, “It’s been, what, seven months now?” He nods his head; she continues, “I feel like you’re not real.”

His brows scrunch in confusion, “What?”

Pushing up on the tip of her toes, she kisses his cheek, “You’re good to me. I mean, really good to me. When you’re used to be treated a certain way and you find a guy who does the complete, positive opposite of it… it doesn’t seem like I deserve it, you know?” He opens his mouth to respond but she silences him with her finger, “Listen. I’m scared you’re going to run. I know, I know, you say you won’t and I do believe you. But Justin, you are a strong man to be involved with someone like me. Coming out of an abusive relationship, it’s hard to realize that there are good guys out there. I’m an emotional train wreck waiting to happen. I love you, I completely adore you. You’ve been so patient with me and I appreciate it.”

He looks down at her, a small smile playing on the corner of his lips, “You adore me, huh?”

She steps out of his embrace and rolls her eyes. Grabbing his hand they make way towards the house, “You’re such a bastard.” He tugs on her hand until she turns around. Grabbing her face with his hands he pressed his lips gently to hers. She sighed, her hands coming up to rest on his chest. He tilted his head to the side, deepening their kiss. She opened her mouth slightly, allowing him access. After a few moments, they both pulled away breathless.

Justin grins, “My grandma’s watching.”

Cierra looks over her should, smiling when the older woman waves at the two of them, “She’s something else you know that?”

Wrapping his arm around her shoulders, they head into the house, “Tell me about it.”