My Grumpy Old Bear - Jayda Marx Page 0,20

too nervous to eat lunch before you picked me up,” I admitted, and Noah’s smile brightened.

“Nervous of little ol’ me?”

“Terrified.” Noah’s smile flattened and his brows tucked in with confusion. “I still don’t understand how this is happening, and I’m waiting for you to realize I’m just an old, flabby, cranky asshole with enough baggage to fill an airplane. So yeah, I was terrified to come out with you because I figured it would be the last time once you saw what a mess I am.” There. I’d dumped out all of my secrets, stories and fears in a matter of a few hours. It wasn’t like me to divulge so much, but I promised to be open and honest with Noah. I wanted and needed this to work.

Noah’s thumb caressed across my rough cheek. His big blue eyes were full of sadness as he whispered, “You’re my beautiful mess, Brooks, and I’m not going anywhere. Everyone has baggage; the trick is finding the right person to help you carry it.”

“How did someone so young get so goddamn wise?”

He chuckled and shrugged as his pretty grin returned. “I don’t want to hear anymore about you being ‘old and flabby’, you hear me? I already told you I think your body is incredible. After hearing about everything you’ve been through, I think you’re pretty damn incredible, too. But not old. You’re aged to perfection.” He pecked my lips and I shook my head in disbelief.

“Whatever you say, Sunshine.”

“Good. Now come on; I want to buy my honeybear dinner.”

Chapter Six

Noah

My mind spun as I pulled out of the butterfly house’s parking lot. I was amazed by how much Brooks had told me about himself and his past, and I couldn’t believe everything I’d found out about my big grumpy bear. I meant it when I told him he was incredible; what he’d been through with his accident, Ernie, his parents, Beth and Jonathan was enough to break a person, but Brooks kept pushing forward.

My heart ached over the fact he’d missed out on so much with his son. I was glad he’d seen photos, but it wasn’t the same as being there. I couldn’t help but hate Beth even though I’d never met her, and wanted to shake some sense into Jonathan. He had a father who wanted to be in his life and he was taking it for granted; not everyone had that.

Brooks was so scared to tell me he even had a son. I’m not sure what he thought would happen; that I would throw a fit and walk away or something, I guess, but I could never be upset about that. Especially since it happened four years before I was even born, though I doubted he wanted to hear that. Brooks had a hangup about his age, though it was something I loved about him.

For now, I just wanted Brooks to relax and enjoy himself; to let go of any stress he was feeling and get back to the serenity and romance we’d shared at the butterfly habitat. It felt amazing seeing Brooks’ tender side as we held hands and fed the delicate little creatures. He let me take as many photos of him as I wanted without complaining, and I even got some great shots of us together. It was probably the best date I’d ever been on. I was already catching some big feelings for the big man, and hoped in time he’d feel them too.

“So, I did some research and found a place where I thought you might like to get some dinner,” I told him, reaching over to take his hand. I felt bad that I’d been basically ignoring him as I sorted through my thoughts, though he was silent too.

“Oh yeah? Where’s that?”

“It’s called ‘The Rhinestone Cowboy’.”

Brooks slowly panned his head around to face me. “You’re not serious.”

I snorted. “I am serious! It’s a LGBTQ-friendly restaurant that plays country music.”

“You’re taking me to a gay honky tonk,” he replied in such a serious tone it made me chuckle.

“Honky is such a funny word.” Brooks groaned and rubbed a hand over his face. “Come on, honeybear, it’ll be fun! We’ll get to listen to good music and their website said they had the best burgers in the state. Plus, I can kiss you and not worry about what the people sitting next to us might do.”

That was a huge selling point for me. The butterfly house was vacant besides the two of us, so there