by Gorman, A.
“It could have been worse,” Jesse mumbles.
“For once, I agree with you.”
Without saying another word, we all pile into our own vehicles, and being the graceful, southern woman I am not, I pull out ahead of my neighbor. But I don’t feel any hint of satisfaction from it.
Are they right? Has our feud lost its purpose? At this point, I’m not sure either.
Chapter Four
Jesse
Unloading at the fair took a few hours, and check-in for registration was another hour on top of that. By the time I make it back to my camper, I’m exhausted. I’m really not in the mood for conversation when the man I hoped I wouldn’t see comes strolling toward me.
“Mr. Stokes,” I say with a cool nod of my head. I may dislike the man, but my momma taught me manners.
“Evenin’, Jesse.” He tips his giant cowboy hat in my direction, but I do my best to ignore him while I continue unloading my camper hoses and equipment. I hope he’ll take the hint and leave me to it, but he doesn’t, of course.
“Just came from the pens. Your hog is lookin’ mighty fine this year. I dare say maybe even better than last year. Think she’ll take the ribbon?”
“Maybe. We can hope.”
“If she doesn’t win, I’ll still pay the same.”
“No thanks,” I say quickly, raising my head to glower at the man before me. You’d think after rejecting his offer every year for the past five, at least, he would have given up already. This dude might just be more stubborn than Nessa, and that’s saying something.
I try to ignore him while I hook up the hoses. He’s wearing another gray suit, much too formal for a country fair, and for some reason he’s always given me a bad feeling when I’ve crossed him. I don’t know the man from Adam, but even I can tell there’s something off about him. He’s shady, and I still don’t understand why he keeps trying to buy my hogs. What use could he possibly have for them? I don’t think I want to know.
“You haven’t even heard my offer,” Stokes replies with wide eyes.
“Don’t need to. They’re not for sale.”
“Maybe when you hear how much I’m willing to pay, you’ll change your—”
“I won’t.” I tighten the last hose and start toward the camper door, ready to lock myself inside for the night and watch some television until I can’t hold my eyes open. Even the cooking channel is better than listening to this man’s nasally voice chirp. “Good night, Mr. Stokes. Enjoy the fair.”
I’m inside the camper before I can hear his reply.
The next few days go by in a blur. It’s one competition after another, followed by the award ceremonies. I won a few, lost a few, but I try not to keep count since I know it’s rude to boast.
I’m not really here for the awards anyway. I only continue coming to the fair now because it’s a nice morale boost for my workers. To see their hard work pay off and earn a pay bonus from any prize money we win. I don’t need the ribbons, and they always end up in a box in the attic by the year’s end.
Yet when Nessa finds me walking toward the pens, she doesn’t seem to feel the same way I do about bragging.
“Have you seen the final tally?” she practically sings with delight.
I can’t help but slow down and stare at her. I know she’s goading me, but she’s so damn beautiful when her face lights up like this. Her eyes twinkle in the setting sun, and I have a strong urge to do something very stupid.
Like kiss her.
But I control myself because I was raised to respect women. Even when they’re poking me in the chest and gloating about winning one more ribbon than me.
“Congratulations,” I grumble, but I have to hide my grin because losing has never felt this good.
“Now, don’t be a sore loser,” she says, her smile never leaving that perfect face of hers. “We can’t all be as awesome as I am.”
“Well, now that you have all of this prize money, you’ll be able to pony up your share of the truck repairs, I guess.”
“I think you mean I’ll be able to pay for my own damage. I’m not paying for any of yours.”
“My truck is bigger. The scrape on my truck is bigger than yours. We should split the bill in half. Both of them.”
“No way. And your truck is not bigger than mine.”
“It’s a 350. Yours is a 250. It’s obviously larger.”
I have no idea how we got into another argument. Okay, that’s a lie. I know exactly how this happened. I can’t help myself when it comes to Vanessa. I keep poking the bear just to see her eyes turn to fire and hear that sweet voice bark at me.
I’m a glutton for punishment because I know how this will end—the way it always does, with the two of us giving each other the cold shoulder for a week or two. Glaring at the other across the parking lot of the grocery store. Bitching about each other to our brothers and anyone else who will listen.
It’s a cycle that never changes.
Unless…
I have no idea what makes me do it, but I stop and grab Nessa’s arm, spinning her around to me. She’s in the middle of taking another jab at the size of my truck when her eyes widen.
My lips are on hers before she can utter another word. She’s soft, and there’s a hint of mint from her toothpaste when she opens her mouth to me. I glide my tongue right in, accepting the small invitation.
Holy fuck, she feels good. Just like she always did. Her body was made for my arms. She’s just the right height so that my hands are automatically cupping her plump ass without having to bend down. And her breasts push against my chest, reminding me of what lies underneath that ratty old t-shirt she’s wearing. I’m tempted to slip under her shirt to take a swipe at her with my tongue, but it’s a little busy now, tangled with hers in what is probably the hottest kiss we’ve ever shared.
I know I’ll probably regret this later, but I can’t find it in myself to stop now. Not when she is so obviously into this as much as I am. Her gloating was apparently the best foreplay I’ve ever had, because I’m so stiff under my jeans that it’s painful. But the discomfort fades when a small moan escapes her lips.
Just like that, I’m a goner.
Chapter Five
Nessa
I’m gone the second his lips touch mine. Now this is a nice way to end an argument. With Jesse’s mouth practically breathing life into mine and his hands roaming down my backside.
I completely forget where we are and what we were even bickering about. The size of something? Well, there’s a certain stiff something poking me in the side right now that I’d like to measure. With my tongue.
What in the world is wrong with me? I need to get ahold of myself before someone sees us. All I need is to be banned from the fair for the rest of my life for public indecency. And I know we’re being indecent. The way he’s caressing my cheeks, and I don’t mean the ones on my face, and how I’m grinding against his very tempting erection…we probably look like a couple of horny teenagers.
Wait. What in the hell am I doing?
This man broke my heart. Shattered it into so many pieces that I still haven’t found them all.
I can’t do this with him. Not again.
Before I can stop myself from stopping myself, I break away from him with the small amount of willpower I have left.
Glancing around, I’m relieved to see that we’re still alone, but that’s only because this part of the fairgrounds is closed for the night. Everyone else is probably riding the rides in the distance. From the way my heart is pounding and my breath is ragged, it feels like I’ve just stepped off of the Tilt-a-Whirl myself.
Neither of us speaks for a moment as we look at everything except for each other. My lips still sting from the power of his kiss, and every part of my body is tingling. I wish there was some way to bottle this feeling and enjoy it every day. It’s somehow even better than it used to be between us.
“That was…” Jesse starts to say something and trails off.
“
Yeah.” That’s the only reply I can think of.
We remain frozen in time for another moment before I realize exactly how awkward it really is. I have to get out of here before I do something even more dumb than kissing Jesse the first time. Like, do it again.
“Nessa,” he tries to say, but I hold my hand up to stop him.
“Just forget it ever happened.”
I spin around and start toward the pens. My mind is racing, and I can’t put a single thought together that doesn’t involve turning back around and finishing what we started.
But Jesse doesn’t let me go far before he’s right behind me, reaching for the arm I quickly jerk out of his grasp.
“No, wait,” he huffs, his breathing still as erratic as my own. “What if I don’t want to?”
“What?”
“What if I don’t want to forget about it?”
“You don’t know what you’re saying,” I bark as we round the corner and step into the long row of pens. The straw beneath my feet gets crunched by my stomping. I’m not even sure why I’m angry. Because he doesn’t want to forget or because I don’t either?
“Ness, stop and talk to me.”
“No!”
“Yes!”
Two strong arms latch around me, and I’m tackled to the ground. The hay breaks my fall, but it does nothing to soften the irritation inside me as I try to wrestle myself away from him.
“Let go of me, you ape!”
“Not until you talk to me!”
“You can’t make me—” I lose my train of thought when he rolls me over to face him and my eyes meet his. There’s a fire lit inside those eyes that takes my breath away. Or would have if I wasn’t already struggling to breathe beneath his firm body.
“We can’t keep doing this,” he whispers, his eyes still fierce but dimming.
I open my mouth to reply, but nothing comes out because I know he’s right. We can’t keep doing this to ourselves and each other. But I don’t know what else to do.
I can’t hold his gaze any longer, and I look to the right, focusing on the number stapled to the side of the pen.
It’s my number. My pen. Only…it’s empty.
“Jesse—” I blurt out.
“I’m serious, Nessa,” he starts.
“No, Jess! Look!”
Jesse lifts his head and stares into the pen. When recognition hits, he springs to his feet so fast that it almost makes me dizzy. He turns to look into his own pen, three stations down from mine, and he freezes. I roll over and look to find his pen is empty too.
This can’t be a coincidence. Someone took our pigs. And I know exactly who is to blame for this.
I turn to Jesse, and he must be thinking the same thing I am, because we answer at the same time.
“Stokes.”
Chapter Six
Nessa
I hastily dial my brother’s number and wait five rings for him to pick up.
“I need to file a report. She’s missing.”
“Who?”
“Stella.”
“Okay…what does she look like?”
“Like all of them do,” I say impatiently. “She’s pink all over. Oh, she does have a brown spot on her rump, right next to her tail. That should make her easy to distinguish.”
“Wait. Her tail? What the hell is this? Are you prank calling me right now?”
“No, I—”
“We’re busy over here dealing with a bunch of hooligans who started a damn fight at the ferris wheel and you’re calling me about a pig?”
“She’s been stolen! Kidnapped! Pignapped!”
“I don’t have time for this.”
He hangs up on me, and I screech in frustration. “Stupid son of a—”
“What did he say?” Jesse asks, interrupting my internal plans to strangle my brother.
“He’s busy.”
“Okay…well, Stokes hasn’t gotten far, since I was just in here about an hour ago and neither pen was empty then. Maybe someone’s seen him.”
Jesse starts typing on his phone. I lean over and watch him send a text message to his entire friends list, telling everyone what happened and to be on the lookout for at least two large hogs in the back of a trailer or truck.
I do the same thing even though I’m sure our contact list contains about 80% of the same people.
I’m so mad I could spit nails.
“That son of a bitch Stokes!” I growl, kicking one of the pen posts for no good reason. “I should have known he’d do something stupid like this.”
“I know,” Jesse agrees, running his hands over his face in frustration. “I probably pissed him off when I turned him down without even listening to his offer. But he just won’t take no for an answer.”
“He’s been sending letters to the house all year!”
“Mine too. And calling.”
I nod because it seems Mr. Stokes has been pestering the both of us.
Jesse’s phone dings, and he lifts it up to read the message. His face lights up, and I feel my heart skip. He really is a beautiful man. His adorably boyish face used to be rounder, but his cheekbones and chin have thinned since high school. Those lips, though? They’re just as plump as they used to be, and it reminds me of where that mouth was just a few minutes ago.
I’m so distracted that I don’t hear him reading the message until the very end.
“…in the parking lot at Motel 6.”
“What?” I ask, snapping back. “Motel 6?”
“Yeah, Kevin says he’s sure someone has pigs in their truck. A man who just checked in to a room about twenty minutes ago.”
“Stokes?”
“Probably.”
“Which Motel 6?”
“I think he’s staying at the one off 440. Let’s go.”
“I’m driving,” I say, walking ahead of him as we leave the pens. For once, he doesn’t argue.
The ride to the motel only takes a few minutes, and we immediately spot the truck Kevin was talking about. It’s parked in front of the hotel, and a quick peek into the back verifies our suspicions. Both hogs are there, all right. And the vehicle’s tag number gives away the owner: Stokes-1.
“The moron didn’t even have enough sense to drive more than five miles away from the fair?” I ask, shaking my head.
“He probably didn’t think anyone would find out they were missing until morning,” Jesse offers. “But yeah, he’s an idiot. Fortunately for us.”
“How are we gonna get them out? Even you can’t lift those pigs. Stella is almost three hundred pounds!”
Jesse looks around as he tries to think of a plan. Then he snaps his fingers. “We don’t need to get them out.”
“I don’t follow. We can’t leave them here.”
“No, we’ll take them back. In this truck.”
“You want to convince Stokes to let us borrow his truck?” I’m flabbergasted. “No way will the rat bastard agree to that.”
“Who said ‘borrow’?” Jesse’s grin spreads across his face. “We’re gonna steal it.”
I know that Jesse can hot-wire. I’ve seen him do it once in a farm truck and twice with a tractor. I don’t question his skills or the plan he has concocted. When he opens the miraculously unlocked truck door, I just stand aside and let the master work.
I’m a little worried about Mr. Stokes, though. Stealing farm animals is one thing. Taking his truck is a more serious crime. If we get caught by anyone other than my brother, I’m pretty sure we won’t be able to talk our way out of it.
To make sure that doesn’t happen, I run back to my truck and take out the chain I keep for towing. I loop the chain around the doorknob on Stokes’ hotel room and tie it to the pole outside, hoping he won’t be able to leave his room if the door won’t open. That’ll make this a lot easier on my conscience.
I hear the engine rev up, and I run around the side of the truck, jumping in just before Jesse peels out of the parking lot. We drive straight back to the fairgrounds and unload the
pigs with the ramp from Jesse’s own trailer. We’re about to put the ramp away just as my phone rings.
It’s my brother, and he’s slightly apologetic when I answer, feeling guilty for hanging up on me. He tells me that Kevin called him, and he’s on the way to the motel now. I forgive him and explain the situation, even admitting to how we ended up handling it. He isn’t thrilled but says he’ll take care of it.
When we drive up to the motel about ten minutes later, the Sheriff’s car is parked next to mine, and Nathan is leaning against the hood, smiling at us. We return Mr. Stokes’ truck to its original parking spot and hop out. We can hear someone banging and muffled shouts coming from the man’s hotel room.
“He’s been trying to get out,” Nathan says with a chuckle.
Jesse walks over and takes the chain away. An irate Mr. Stokes bursts outside in his boxer shorts and t-shirt.
“Whoa!” I say, covering my eyes. “Didn’t your momma teach you how to dress yourself?”
“Shut up!” Stokes shouts, stalking over to Nathan. “I saw these two steal my truck. I want to file a report!”
“Now, wait just one minute. You’re not filing a report.” Nathan stands up, and his authority fills the air. He was born for this job, I’ve always said. I’m pretty proud to call him my brother right now.
“They stole my truck! I saw them.”
“Can you prove it?”
Stokes stutters but eventually says, “No.”
“Well, I didn’t see it. That truck was here when I got here. It hasn’t moved an inch. The stolen property in the back, however, might be gone. But you wouldn’t try to file a report for already stolen property now, would you, Mr. Stokes?”
The man doesn’t even try to reply this time. He just angrily marches into his hotel room and closes the door.
Chapter Seven
Nessa
It’s been a quiet few weeks since the fair. Things have gotten back to normal on the farm, and I’ve almost forgotten how it felt when Jesse scooped me up into that scorching kiss.