Southern Charms

by S. E. Kloos

  Blinking a few times, Elizabeth walked over to him. “What?”

  Once she was right in front of him, he took off her hat, setting it on top of the truck so he could slip the lanyard over her head. Once it was on, he ran his fingers through her hair, pulling it out from underneath. He tightened it on her chest, then grabbed her hat before turning back to the truck window.

  Elizabeth looked at the card on the end of the lanyard a second while Xander was doing whatever he was doing. “What’s this?”

  Xander was still reaching the window when he answered. “All access pass. It gets ya in, drinks, and food for the day. Plus,” He backed out of the window, turning to lean on the door as he began pinning something to the ribbon around her hat, “It lets you back in the stable area that’s roped off, to keep the masses from spookin’ the horses.”

  Looking back at the card, she smiled. “Thanks.” She leaned forward a bit to try finding out what he was doing. When she couldn’t because his hands were in the way, she asked, “What are you doing to my hat?”

  Xander glanced at his Little Darlin’ out of the corner of his eye before smiling. “Not a problem, Sugar Britches. All riders get one for their trainer and one for their girl.”

  Smiling at him, she offered, “Well, that’s kinda cool. I figured this was gonna cost an arm and leg.”

  Smirking wide enough for his teeth to show, Xander turned his upper body a bit to put her hat back on her. “It would have been my arm and leg, Little Darlin’.”

  Taking her hat back off, she looked to see what he’d done to it, smiling when she saw the pin. It was slightly bigger than a half-dollar, gold, with the number 25 in the center and ‘Alexander Steele’ going around it in bold, dark black so that it stood out. Looking back up at him, he saw her curiosity as she asked, “What exactly is it?”

  Xander rolled his eyes as he crossed his arms and leaned back against his truck. “My number for the event. The pass I gave ya lets the vendors knows that you a guest of a rider. The pin tells them which one, so they can keep track of what goes to who, in case more is gotten than there are credits in the rider’s account.”

  She blinked at him as she put her hat on, “Should I be careful about how much I drink then? “Cause, I gotta be honest... I don’t know how sober I can stay and make it through this.”

  Snorting as he hooked his fingers through her belt loops, he pulled her to him. “Ya make it sound like you ain’t lookin’ forward to this, Little Darlin’. You gonna hurt my feelin’s.” Chuckling at the look she gave him, he shook his head. “Naw, you ain’t gotta worry ‘bout it. We get credits and shit like that for our placement in events. Since I haven’t been ridin’ in a while, my account hasn’t been touched. Plus, even if ya do happen to go over what’s in there, not like I can’t cover the overage. Kyle has one too, and he drinks like a fuckin’ fish.”

  Elizabeth smirked. “Isn’t this kinda girly lookin’ for a guy to wear?”

  Xander snorted and grinned. “Only the lady gets a pin. My number is on his pass.” Poking the pin with the tip of his finger, he explained, “You’ll get a new one at every event. They make them different for each venue, so little hussy ex-girlfriends can’t use an old one for free shit.”

  Her inquiry came out in a giggle, “Personal experience, Xander?”

  To her surprise, he shook his head. “Nope. You the first lady I ever gave one of mine to. Kyle on the other hand, he got experience in that.”

  “The little bitch cost me two hundred bucks feedin’ her friends and new beau beer off my number.” Both Xander and Elizabeth turned to see the glare on Kyle’s face, as well as the storm clouds passing through his normally bright blue eyes. After he shook his head with a growl, he handed Rocky’s reigns over to Xander. “You got stable registry in ten minutes. Better get ya ass in gear if you wanna actually ride in all your events today.”

  After giving his girl a kiss, he took Rocky’s reigns before climbing up on his back. Clicking his tongue to steady the big baby, he reached out a hand to help his girl up behind him. Once she was situated behind him, he took the folder that had the documents from Rocky’s vet visit from Kyle, tucking it under the front of the saddle while calling over his shoulder. “Hang on now, Little Darlin’. We a distance to go and not the time to do it.”

  Elizabeth wrapped her arms around Xander’s waist. When she nodded to his question about her being ready, Xander kicked Rocky’s ribs and snapped the reins with a ‘Yea’, prompting Rocky to rear a bit before leaping into a full gallop. A grin come to Xander’s face when he heard a squeak out of his girl as she tightened her grip on him, then the call of ‘showoff’ by Val as he raced the clock before it even started.

  While he was nice enough to avoid anything that Rocky would jump over, he didn’t pull the horse to a slower gant until he could see the stables. When Xander did finally pull him to a stop, Rocky bounced a bit, stomping a few times before standing still so Xander could dismount, turn in the paperwork, and get his stall assignment.

  The head stable hand turned at the entrance, smiling when he saw who it was. Looking at his watch, he smirked as Xander walked over to him. He held out his hand, grabbing and shaking Xander’s when it touched his palm. “Jesus, Boy. You sure like to cut things close, Dontcha, Steele?”

  Xander smirked while chuckling a bit. “Give me a break, Hoss. It’s my first day back, ya ol’ fuck.”

  Snorting at that, Andrew held out a hand for the paperwork required to stall personal horses. “Just give me the damn docs, Steele. You in stall 8.” Glancing over to where Rocky was at, he whistled low. “Damn, Steele, she a pretty one.”

  After whistling to his girl and waving a hand for her to bring Rocky, Xander grinned at him. “That’s my Lady.” Once she was next to him, Xander helped her off the horse, and did the introductions. “Andrew Martin, Elizabeth Mathews. Little Darlin’, this is Andrew -or Hoss, as ya gonna hear him called. He runs the stables at nearly every event, so ya prolly gonna see him quite a bit.”

  Elizabeth smiled at him before holding out her hand. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Martin.”

  He took her hand, pressing a light kiss to the back her knuckles. “The pleasure is all mine, Miss Elizabeth. And Mr. Martin is my daddy. You call me Hoss like everyone else.”

  Her grin widening, she responded in kind. “Then you call me Lizzy like everyone else.”

  Winking at her, Andrew smiled. “As ya wish, Miss Lizzy.”

  Xander snorted. “Don’t make me hit ya, Hoss.”

  Andrew let out a bark of laughter before looking at Elizabeth. “He an easy one to get all riled up, ain’t he?”

  Elizabeth giggled while nodding. “Oh, you have NO idea.”

  Xander sighed and shook his head a bit, mumbling, “Fuck.” Taking Rocky’s reigns from his girl, he took her hand with the other, lacing their fingers together while smiling down at her. “Y'all two can conspire against me later. We gotta get Rocky put up and go meet Kyle, Mark, and Val for breakfast. We make Mark wait too long, he liable to eat my brother.”

  Elizabeth eyed at her watch before cocking a brow at him. “You mean to tell me he’s up at this hour? It’s only ten after 9.”

  Xander chuckled as he pulled her along to the stall he was assigned. “He gets up this early if his daddy needs him or there’s food involved.”

  Chapter 24

  Elizabeth had spent the majority of the late morning walking the stalls with Val while Xander did his normal shit before a ride. What that was, she didn’t know... and really, she didn’t want to. All she knew was that he hardly left the stables before the events started up, and she didn’t care to sit there waiting around while he got ‘in the game’, whatever the fuck that meant.

  It was around one when there was an announcement over the loudspeakers that the ‘tie-down wrestle’ was going to be starting followed by two names, the first rider and the ‘on deck’ or second rider. Looking up at Val, she asked, “Should we head to the corral now?”

  Val glance
d at her from the stall she was at, shrugging before turning back to the handmade jewelry. “I ain’t really a fan of this event. You g’on if ya what. Chances are you’ll find Xander and Kyle ‘long side the fence on the stable side. There gonna be show and the Anthem ‘fore it starts, so ya got time to make it.”

  Nodding at her back, Elizabeth made her way through the crowd toward where Val told her she would find Xander. She got there just as the people in the stands stood. Moving next to Xander, who glanced down at her with a smile as he took off his hat, she followed suit while the National Anthem played.

  Once the opening show was over, she looked at Xander as the first rider rode into the corral. “So, what’s this event?”

  Grinning at his girl, Xander turned back to watch the show. “Well, this event is all about speed, whereas others give ya a time limit. The goal in the tie-down is to be the fastest at ropin’ and hog tyin’ the calf they let loose.” Pursing his lips, Xander grabbed her wrist, pulling her between him and the fence. Lifting her by the hips to where there was a break in the wood, he brought his leg up behind her and under her ass, to help her stay up so she could see over the top of the fence.

  Laying the forearm that wasn’t around his girl across the top of the fence, he pointed to a gate on the other side. “That there is where the calf gonna come from. Rossy -the current rider- is gonna chase it, lasso in hand, then try to get it around the calf’s neck. Once he does that, he’ll dismount his horse and hog tie the thing’s feet. When he got the rope wrapped all ‘round it, he’ll put his hands up and the clock stops.

  “Now, Ya wanna be fast at this, but ya wanna be accurate, too, ‘cause ya lose points for every time the lasso leaves your hand and ya miss the steer. Ya also get docked points for how close ya are when you rope the thing. The further you are from the steer, the more points ya get to keep. For all the points you lose, it adds time to your score. When the rider raises his hands and steps away, they look at the time you did it in, and then calculate the points lost, addin’ time if they need to. The rider at the end with the fastest time wins the overall event.”

  Running that through her mind a couple of times to make sure she understood the rules to the event, Elizabeth turned to the corral when she heard a buzzer, seeing a calf take off out of the gate where Xander said it was gonna come from, then the rider take off after it. She kept looking at Xander when she heard him grunt or make some other noise of disapproval, but by the time she was able to ask what it was about, there was another buzzer calling her attention to the rider in the corral with his hands up.

  Blinking, she looked back at him. “So, was that good or bad?”

  Xander glanced at the stop watch in Kyle’s hand. After a second of rolling his shoulders, he offered with a thoughtful hum, “Somewhere in between. He was too close to get a good time to beat. Since he was the first rider, he set the bar for the rest of us... and it ain’t very high.”

  Elizabeth nodded at that before looking back over the fence. “Is this event safe?”

  Xander snorted, shaking his head a bit, “Little Darlin’, you worry too much. No, there ain’t a single event that is completely safe. Few years back, I got hooved in the nuts...”

  “I ‘member that. Memory serves, ya carried on like a belle who didn’t win the crown.”

  At hearing the new voice, Xander smirked, a dark gleam in his eyes as he looked over his shoulder at the one who could be considered his ‘rival’, then cocked a brow. “Ya mean like how ya shrieked like a virgin on her weddin’ night when I still got the win, Devon?”

  Devon’s face darkened no small degree at that. Eyes narrowed, he sneered. “You mangy mother fu…”

  Xander cut him off. “You best be watchin’ that mouth ‘round the lady, Smithy, ‘fore I knock your teeth out.”

  The most incredulous look ever overtook Elizabeth’s face as she slowly turned her head to look back at Xander. Who the fuck was he trying to kid? He had a dirtier mouth than that guy from the orbit commercial who pulled that nasty ass old guy’s underwear off with his teeth… and he knew it. The worst part was, she didn’t even understand 90% of what came out of his mouth, and SHE knew it was bad.

  Before the little scene could play out anymore, Xander was called up on deck. With a glare at Devon, he grabbed his girl’s hips and gently set her on her feet. “I gotta grab Rocky. Wait here a minute.”

  She nodded, and when Kyle grabbed her wrist, she put up no fight when he pulled her in front of him. She did, however, let out squeal when he gripped her by the hips and lifted her up to sit on his shoulders. Wobbling, she grabbed his hands tightly when he offered them up, to steady herself so she didn’t fall off.

  Once she was situated, she looked into the corral, waiting for the current rider to finish his run.

  Once the little lady on his shoulders quit moving, Kyle let her hands go, draping his arms over her thighs just in case. Turning to look up at her, he saw the worry lines on her face and snorted, shaking his head. “Ya really do worry too much, Sug. Xan’s the national champion in this, has been for the last three years. He gonna be fine.”

  Before she was able to say anything back to him, the second buzzer went off, calling an end to the current ride. Taking a peek at the stop watch, he rolled his eyes. Xander was gonna be pissed if no one actually gave him a challenge on his first day back.

  Once the rider left the corral, Xander was announced, the stands erupting into a roar of applause. Kyle brought his thumb and pinkie to his lips, curled his tongue behind his lips, then blew a whistle to his little brother. To anyone else, it would just look like he was just cheering for him, but they had system worked out and perfected over the years. Kyle was actually telling him what the previous rider’s time was by how many influxes there were.

  Xander turned to look at his brother and nodded, telling him he understood while he did a lap around the arena. As he was passing his girl, he gave her a wink before spurring Rocky into a faster run. When he reached the start point, he gave the signal to the gate keeper that he was ready for his turn. He wouldn’t ever admit to anyone just how much he missed the butterflies in his gut right before the buzzer sounded.

  Changing his grip on his lasso, he swirled it over his head as he and Rocky chased the calf. Once he was sure of the calf’s course, he let the rope fly, hitting his mark before tugging the rope back. Tightening the slip knot, he pulled the calf off its feet while dismounting Rocky in the same moment. He flipped the calf to its back, wrapped the rope around the calf’s ankles, tossing his hands up while jumping back from the prone animal, a grin coming to his face as the buzzer sounded.

  Kyle glanced at the stopwatch in his hands with a smirk before blowing that same whistle, only this time without as many influxes as the last time.

  Chapter 25

  Xander had dropped Rocky off at a border’s ranch in northern New York, and was now reaching the end of the three hour drive to the little town that his girl grew up in. For the last half hour, she had been all but bouncing in her seat -gushing over this, that, and the other- her voice getting more and more animated with every mile put under the tires. For the rock in his gut over this, he couldn’t stop the grin that came to his lips as she talked about her dad. It had been a long time since he actually met a girl’s daddy who he didn’t know growing up, and never before they actually had sex...

  And they had a very active sex life.

  Normally, there was no ‘daddy meeting’ with the girls he rolled in the hay with. They were one night, or possibly over the weekend, but not anywhere close to ‘take home and meet the folks’ kind of girls.

  Matter of fact, there was probably a pretty long list of daddies ready to shoot him on sight.

  Grunting and shaking his head to rid himself of the thought, Xander returned his attention to his girl when she squealed loud enough to put a pig to shame, turning in her seat when they passed the ‘Welcome to North Creek’ sign. Following the turn by turn directions, he soon pulled up in front of a single st
ory blue house with a small porch and, you guessed it, a car in the driveway with retired military plates.

  Leaning over him, Elizabeth laid on the horn a few times before throwing her door open, not bothering to close it behind her before running around the truck. Xander blinked a few times at the action, looking out his window to watch her leap into the arms of an older gentleman with salt and pepper hair, her cry of “Daddy” echoing off the porch and back to him.

  Getting out of his truck as well, Xander held back as his girl and her daddy got reacquainted. When she turned her bright eyes on him while waving him over, he pushed off the front of his truck to walk across the yard, bending his elbow when his girl wrapped her arms around it.

  “Dad, this is Alexander Steele. Xander, this is my dad, Kenny Mathews.”

  Looking her daddy in the eye, Xander held out a hand, “Pleasure to meet ya, Mr. Mathews.”

  Gripping the boy’s hand and giving it a shake, Kenny tightened his grip as much as he could with a cocked a brow, “You ever so much as raised your voice to a girl, Boy?”

  “No, Sir. My mama have my hide ‘fore I could blink, iffin I ever did.”

  Kenny looked at the guy he had only ever heard very good things about another moment before smirking. “Keep in mind that I have a gun, I know how to use it, and I am retired special forces. If I say I didn’t shoot you, no one will ask me again. You get what I’m saying, Boy?”

  Xander nodded at him, his voice steady. “Yes, Sir.”

  “Good. Call me Kenny.” Then he turned away from the kids, back to the house. “Get your bags and come on in. The game is getting ready to start, plus pizza should be here soon.”

  As they were following the order, Elizabeth giggled. She gazed at Xander over the truck bed as she grabbed her backpack, Xander gathering the duffles together. Shouldering her pack, she smiled at him. “I think that went well.”

  Xander snorted as he pulled her backpack off her shoulder to put over his, once again bending his elbow when she took his arm. “Yeah, he didn’t g’on and shoot me. I consider that a win.”