The Eyes Have Me

Chapter 7

"Hello Axel, how are you?" a baritone voice asks as I hear carpeted feet approach from behind me.

"Hi Mr Reid, I am good, and how are you?" Axel replies politely as he smiles at the man over my right shoulder.

Turning my face slightly to the right, I fucking come face-to-face with a man who I swear is identical in appearance to my granpa Reid - my dad's dad.

My jaw drops in surprise as my eyes widen while I stupidly stare at the man standing at the end of the table between Axel and me; "Oh my! No fucking way!"

The man's attention immediately snaps to me, and his expression mirrors mine; "Holy fuck. Are you a Reid by chance?"

Stupidly, I nod unable to verbally reply.

Mr Reid sits down next to Axel, diagonally from me to intently study my face for a few seconds before speaking; "Who are your grandparents that are Reids?"

Swallowing thickly, I answer as strongly as I possibly can; "My paternal grandparents are Morgan and Andrew Reid."

Mr Reid has a ghost of a smile on his lips when I say grandpa's name, so I have to ask; "You are my grandpa's brother, aren't you?"

"I am," he softly answers with a ghost of a smile gracing his lips. "Andrew and I have two other siblings, Ashley and Abel."

Chuckling lowly at the mention of uncle Abel's name, and that's when I realize he doesn't know my brother is named after this uncle; "My parents named my older brother after uncle Abel. He is moving here soon since he is a late-in-life change."

My great-uncle surprises Axel and I when he lets out a low laugh. Axel and I look at each other confused for a second before turning our confused faces to the chuckling, older man.

"There are two more of our family here, my wife Mercy, and our son James Junior," he informs me with a twinkle in his eyes. "They work here at the restaurant, too."

"That is awesome," I reply lamely since I am unsure how to respond.

We order our food while uncle James stays with us, and we continue to talk the entire time we are at the cafe.

Upon leaving the cafe an hour later, I timidly hug uncle James goodbye as I timidly promise him; "I promise when Abel is settled,  I will bring him here to meet you, and your family, too."

"Thank you, Arrow," he softly replies, and I can hear the sincerity in his voice as we pull apart. "Next time we see each other, I will make sure Mercy and Jimmy are here, too."

"That would be great, uncle James," I happily agree with a tiny smile, and I actually looking forward to seeing him again.

Leaving the restaurant after uncle James insists our dinner was on the house, Axel and I walk toward his vehicle.

Axel grins over at me; "I was hoping that Mr Reid was related you."

"I appreciate that, but why?" I ask with a curious expression as we climb into his vehicle.

"Why wouldn't I want you to have as much family here as possible because you deserve that as we all do," he replies, and that makes my heart flutter in happiness.

"Thank you, Axel, I really appreciate that," I say with a bright smile as we settle in the seats.

"You are welcome, Arrow," he grins with a wink. "I am just glad I was right."

"I am glad you were right, too," I agree as he drives us toward the Inn which is about twenty minutes away, and we talk the entire ride back.

He pulls into the parking lot of the Inn to park in one of the staff parking spot, turns the engine off before turning to silently look at me for a second; "Arrow, will you be my boyfriend? I know we haven't known each other long, but I think that will be solved the longer we know each other."

Leaning over the arm rest separating us, I slam my lips into his. Axel momentarily freezes at my bold move before returning my kiss. We wrap our arms the best we can each other to continue the kiss.

Pulling apart when we need air, Axel leans his forehead gently against mine as we stare into each other's eyes while sucking on deep lung-fulls of oxygen as we grin stupidly at each other.

"Hey love birds, are you coming inside or not?" Mr Brown hollers from the front door of the Inn causing Axel and I to loudly laugh as we climb from the vehicle.

"We are coming, granpa!" Axel hollers back good naturally as we walk toward the older man who is grinning broadly at us.

"You are a mood killer," Axel grumbles at his granpa with a teasing voice as we pass the man.

Mr Brown chuckles which earns him a fake glare from Axel, and a deep crimson blush from me. Axel and I spend the rest of the evening in my room hanging out, and talking while music from my phone plays softly in the background. Now before anyone thinks we were doing anything more than talking, get your mind out of the gutters because all we did was talk.

I don't remember falling asleep while Axel and I laid on top of my made bed, but I woke the next morning with my socks off, but the rest of my clothes were still on me. I am tucked under the covers, too which is sweet that Axel did these things for me.

Rubbing my tired eyes for a moment before noticing a note lying on top of my plugged in cell on my nightstand when I rolled over to search for my phone since the alarm is obnoxiously blaring.

The note from Axel reads; 'Hey love, I hope you slept well? I am sorry I left without say anything, but I didn't want to wake you. I only took off your socks as I am not sure if you would be comfortable with me taking off the rest. See you this afternoon. All the love, Axel.'