Free PRIDE: A Bad Boy and Amish Girl Romance (The Brody Bunch#1) by Sienna Valentine Page B

simple. You know, I never could have conceived of something like this. Not ever. But here I am riding it, looking up at the stars, so close to them I wonder if I might be able to reach out and touch…” I dug my teeth into my lower lip. “Everything is so much more different than I thought it would be. I knew the English world would be alien, but still…”
    “You’re feeling homesick,” Reid said, as if he understood. But how could he? He was already home. I nodded, and he continued, “Why don’t you tell me about it, then? Home. If you think it’ll help.”
    I hesitated for a moment. Could I really expect Reid to understand? Was it worth sharing details about my life with him, or would he just roll his eyes and laugh like he had thus far? We were so different, he and I, right down to the worlds we came from. What could he possibly hope to get out of this? For that matter, what kind of hope of making a connection did I have?
    And was that what I wanted—to get closer to Reid? It was certainly what Hannah had pushed me into. Sure, I was curious. Reid was unlike anyone I’d ever met. But was that enough of a reason to go telling him my life story?
    He didn’t press the issue, regardless of how long I stayed silent, though he did slip an arm behind my shoulders while I was debating. I sighed and leaned back against him. This was improper, surely, but it felt good to know he was there—that he was holding onto me, ensuring I came to no harm. Just like he had back when that man had grabbed me… and I’d come off so ungrateful…
    Slowly, I said, “Home is… different from here. Very different.” Before Reid could say something snarky in reply, I added, “There’s a lot more space, for one thing. Fields and meadows, devoid of man’s touch. Farmland, too, though. And of course, we do have the village itself. But we know when to leave land well enough alone. Not everything was meant for us. Some things are meant to stay as God created them. We do our best to figure out what’s what.”
    “Meanwhile, we turn every available scrap of land into a Starbucks or a parking lot,” Reid said with a low chuckle that made me look at him. He was shaking his head. “I can see how that’d be kind of a culture shock for you. But I’m sure there’s more.”
    I nodded. “Yes. Much more. Like what happened down there, before—with that man.” I looked away again. I couldn’t bear to behold that bruise. “Reid… I’m sorry. I am grateful to you for trying to protect me. I was just… startled. And scared. Things like that don’t happen where I’m from. And I can’t condone violence of any kind, but given how things seem to work in the English world, I… accept that you felt you had no other choice. And considering what he did to you… you were obviously right.”
    Reid let his fingers trail over my shoulder softly. His touch was feather-light, not at all how I’d imagined it, and goosebumps rose in the wake of his ministrations. I could feel my cheeks heating up again and I tried to look away, but he just swept his arm tighter around me and tugged until my head was nearly on his shoulder.
    “Tell me more,” he said. “About how things work back home.”
    I laughed nervously. “Well, this certainly wouldn’t be tolerated. Courtships aren’t very… physical affairs. That doesn’t come until after marriage.”
    Reid laughed. I tried not to take offense to it. “How the hell can you know if you wanna marry someone if you don’t get to test drive them?”
    I looked up at him, brows furrowed in confusion. The way Reid was grinning at me told me all I needed to know about that particular insinuation.
    “Oh—you mean…” I bit my lip and came away with a thin layer of skin. “Well, you just… do. That’s not the most important part of being married, anyway.”
    “Probably not,” Reid agreed. “But it sure as hell is up there on the top ten list. Hell—top five.” He considered this for a moment.