Jake has shifted his body, his legs tucked right behind mine, and I’m cocooned in his embrace.
“Dad was the shop teacher at the local high school…”
“The woodwork…” Jake says softly and I nod knowing he can feel my head moving against him.
“We’d work on pieces together sometimes, I loved that we had that and in those moments it felt like he was a little less sad. I was twelve when Gran died in her sleep and four days later dad was killed in a car accident. It was no ones fault, just icy roads and poor conditions, but it meant I had no one. Everyone was gone.”
“Jesus baby,” Jake says and I freeze. I know he felt the change in my body and that I need to share more, but he confirms it when he asks, “Cassie?”
“Please don’t call me that Jake,” my voice is small, so I clear my throat, and speak again, “Anything else, but I don’t like that endearment.”
“I’m sorry Cass, I didn’t know or I wou––”
There’s guilt in his voice and I don’t want that for him, so I roll in his arms until we’re facing, and reach a hand out to touch his face.
“I know, it’s ok, let me explain. I’d built wall by then Jake, so I was a loud, mouthy twelve-year-old girl, not exactly adoption material. I’d bounced around few different foster homes for a while. At one of them, there was this ma––”
Jake growls, so I move my hand from his face to kiss his lips, and stroke his chest.
“No, stop. Nothing like that, don’t think that way. You asked me before if I was hurt and physically I never was Jake. Never. By then I was fifteen nearly sixteen, and the way he’d always call me ‘baby’, just felt wrong. Wrong in a way that’d made my skin crawl and I’d known it meant I couldn’t stay there, so I ran away.”
“Cassie, I…”
“Nothing happened Jake, I got out of there. Though because of that experience, the word doesn’t feel like affection to me. That’s all, I promise.”
I hear and feel him exhale, as if letting it go physically as well as mentally.
“Where did you go?”
“There was a guidance counselor who had worked with my dad, her daughter was a few years younger than me. She still worked at the high school, so I went to her. I’d wanted out of there so badly Jake, not her house specifically, for the most part that was ok, but the whole place. I’d wanted to be somewhere no one knew my story, knew all the details of my life. So, I’d studied my ass off, and with Angela’s help got into college on an academic scholarship, leaving Montana as fast as I could, never looking back.”
Jake has rolled on to his back now and I’ve moved with him, sort of lying on top of him, half snuggled into his side. I sit up a little now, I want for him to see my face.
“I don’t talk about my past Jake, and not just with you, not with anyone really. I don’t because living in the past only fills you with ghosts; I saw it in my dad. Being with you, feeling what I am with you, I’m starting to see that in order to have a shot at something I thought I never wanted, I can’t pretend it didn’t happen either.”
Because I’m falling in love with you.
Finished talking, I kiss his chest, soaking in the calm protectiveness I feel being held by this perfect man. I’m lighter for sharing my story with him, but emotionally spent, so confessing the last words I’d thought out loud would’ve been too much. Jake’s arm reaches across his chest and sweeps my bangs aside, placing a kiss against my forehead and I close my eyes, breathing him in.
“Thank you Cassie,” he speaks his words against my skin. God, I love the way he does that. Lifting my chin with his thumb he makes sure he has my eyes. “I didn’t expect you to give me all of that, so much of your truth, but I’m glad you did. It means the world that you’d trust me with it.”
“Jake, I––”
Leaning down and kissing my sentence away he says, “No, not tonight beautiful. You’ve said more than enough.”
“Ok,” I sigh, and snuggle back down on his chest.
We’re quiet for a while, but it’s a comfortable silence, filled with gentle touches and the pressing of kisses here and there.
“Can you ride Cassie?” Jake asks into the night air.
“You should know Congressman Reid, you tell me if I can ride,” I say my voice back to being full of sass and hints of teasing laughter.
“There’s my girl,” Jake says and flips me so fast it barely registers I’ve been moved until he’s tickling me, and I’m begging him to stop. “Such a smartass.”
“If I remember correctly, you like my ass. You’ve got plans for it,” I say as I try to squirm away from him further, but he’s just so solid I give up and enjoy being under his weight, his body pressing me into the mattress. Now I’m squirming for an entirely different reason.
“I do…and I really do, but tomorrow I want your ass in a saddle. We’ll take a ride,” he says, and then exhales sharply through his clenched teeth when he feels me open my legs beneath him, my hand guiding his cock to my center.
Jake has lowered his head next to mine, so I turn and speak into his ear, “Fuck waiting till morning, I say we ride now.”
* * *
Having ridden Jake most of the night, the last thing my lower body wants to do today is sit in a saddle, but I’ll manage.
Dressed and in the kitchen of Jake’s cabin as the sun was coming up, we’d shared a toaster pastry and a cup of black coffee, the wordless companionship of it feeling like something we’d been doing every morning for years.
Arriving at the main house, Jake goes off to find his parents to find out what’s the plan for the day; while seeing that his grandad’s shed door is open, I indicate that I’m heading there.
I knock, calling out hello, before walking inside.
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the workshop fairy,” Jake’s grandad says smiling at me and I feel relief that he’s not mad that I’d continued sanding his chair.
“Yup, that’s me. I’m sorry…I know I should have asked first, it’s I just found myself out here and before I knew it, I had the block and paper in my hand.”
“I don’t mind young lady. From what I can tell, you did a good job, kept with the grain and didn’t create grooves. Thing is, you also sanded the bottom of the chair, and that’s the hardest place for an old man to reach. So, thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” I say, smiling. “You do beautiful work. The pieces in Jake’s cabin are stunning. I couldn’t stop touching the coffee table, the finish is flawless.”
He lights up as he talks with me about what is clearly his passion, and I listen, watching him work the wood as he does. I hear Jake calling my name, so I tell his grandad I’ll see him later.
Looking up, I see Jake standing in the door to the shed just watching. I’m not sure how long he’s been there, but he has a smirk on his face. As I get closer, he holds out a hand and I take it. Pulling me into him, I see him give his grandad a chin lift, before we walk in the direction of the stables.
“Figures,” Jake mumbles.
“What does?”
“That old man in there barely says two sentences most days, and you’ve got him chatting like he’s just discovered he can talk. And for the record, no one, and I mean no one, is game enough to touch his projects. When I told you last night that you’d get away with it because you were pretty…it was more a prayer than a promise.”
“Jake!” I admonish, but he doesn’t respond, merely laughing as he smacks my ass and jogs ahead a few paces to enter the barn.
Watching Jake’s smiling profile as he passes me, and then as he’s whispering words I cant hear while petting the nose of a beautiful bay, I think actually, maybe he did.
Chapter 18
Jake
We spend the morning helping feed the animals and my dad and brother go over a map of the ranch so we can look for the missing calf and mom. My mom prepares the horses for riding and we set off, leaving grandad behind. Cassie’s pretty good on a horse, I had no doubt she would be
with how well she rides me. I make sure she’s beside me so I can watch her, not only because I like the way her body moves in motion with the horse, but also how her boobs bounce and jiggle. Every time she catches me watching her she gives me a smile and kicks her horse to run off ahead of me.
When we get to a certain point, where Jace had last looked yesterday, we split up. The area is just before some woods and a stream. The fear is that the calf maybe fell in and the mom went after it, getting caught in the current and drowning. The mom is a price-winning heifer and raises award winning calves. I watch as Cass and her horse, Buttercup, make it through the stream and onto the other side where my dad is waiting, seeing her laugh at something he says they head up into the tree line.
“What’s up with you two?” Jace asks me as our horses step in line.
“We’re just seeing where we go,” I state.
“Ahh…what does that mean?” he asks.
“It means we aren’t being too serious about anything, we just met,” I shrug.
“So you haven’t talked about it yet?” he guesses.
“Correct,” I nod.
He nods too and we ride for a bit.
“I can tell you guys go better together than you did with Brooke…Cassie’s more like you I guess, she seems good,” he tells me.
“She is,” I reply.
“Over here!”
Dad’s voice comes from inside the woods and Mom’s already headed across the water before my brother and me. Mom finds Dad and Cassie first as Jace and I still maneuver our way through the trees. I can only see Buttercup and Dad’s horse, Ranger, but as we get closer I can see Cassie and Dad are on the ground, and it’s then I hear the calf crying and see the mom walking around them.
Getting down, I see the baby’s legs have been caught in some down trees and she’s clearly stuck. My dad works on freeing the leg while Cassie holds the head of the crying calf against her torso, tell her it’s okay repeatedly. Mom checks the cow for injury as Jace and I help Dad. After almost fifteen minutes, we finally manage to get the calf out. We’re all relieved that they’re okay, and I love how Cass got right in there and helped.
Once the animals seem fine enough to walk back to the ranch, we all get back on our horses and I ask Cass if she wants to go riding some more. She gives me a look in her eyes with the double entendre and nods, and we head further down the property. I want to take her somewhere I love and hope to one day build a house. It’s on a ridge that overlooks the whole rest of the ranch until the property ends at the mountains, and then they cover the horizon.
I’d once told Brooke my plans back when we were together and she’d rolled her eyes at the idea.
“Maybe as a summer place, but not to live Jake, no, I need city and life,” she’d told me.
I direct us where to ride and Cassie follows, not saying much as we take in the scenery. There’s not a cloud in the sky and the sun shining down on Cass has me just looking at her. She’d opted for one of Mom’s cowboy hats and a fitted V-neck navy t-shirt and jeans and she just looks fucking sexy. Coupled with her being on the back of a horse and damn, she’s Montana perfection. I stop my horse, Trumpet, just at the ledge that overlooks the valley and mountains and take it all in.
“Oh my God,” she breathes out. “Jake, this is…I’ve never seen anything so beautiful before,” she states.
“I have,” I reply, looking over at her, but she seems to ignore my comment as the scenery takes her in.
“Why didn’t your family build the house here? This is perfect!”
I love this woman, I mean, for real.
“I know, isn’t it, but they didn’t own this land originally. I’m kind of glad they didn’t, I’ve always wanted my house here.”
“You better build here, it’s too amazing not to.”
If there’s a God, he made her for me.
We get off the horses and let them graze on the grass, while I take out the blanket and sandwiches I’d packed when I was in my parents house earlier.
“Oh look at you, always prepared,” she smiles.
“I figured we’d get hungry,” I say, setting everything out.
I don’t know how long we spend on the grass, talking and laughing, kissing. It feels like the world could end around us and we wouldn’t notice. D.C., L.A., our lives outside of this moment don’t exist. I keep wanting to bring up what happens after this, but don’t want to ruin the moment, fearing Cass will shut down like she’s been known to do. Even though we’d walked over one bridge last night, I still feel like hers are the Great Wall of China sized bridges. I’m fearful to overstep or push too hard and drive her away. So instead I listen to her laugh, feel her fingers on my stubbled jaw, her lips on mine and log how I feel and how she makes me feel so I can remember it forever.
We make love in the place I plan to build a house and I wonder if this will be the foundation on which I can make a home for us. For us. I’m not rushing, just thinking and hoping. I can’t ignore how she looks at me when I’m inside her, how her lips linger and her hands always search for mine. Maybe I’m being foolish and she’s this intimate with every guy she sleeps with, but I don’t think so. Then again, I’m trying to grasp on to anything so this time between us doesn’t end.
When we get back to the ranch it’s nearly dusk, and when I see no one outside I assume its dinnertime. Entering in the back door, sure enough my family is sitting at the table and I smell the food I’ve been craving since I left here.
“You ready for this?” I ask Cass as we enter the room.
“What?” she questions, excitement sparking her eyes.
“Grandad made bison burgers,” Mom says, and I see the moment realization dawns on Cassie and it’s like she immediately begins salivating.
We take our seats as we’ve just come moments after everyone else and they’re all still trying to fix their plates. I tell Cass I’ll make her burger because after eating these for years, I know all the right combinations to make these burgers the absolute best. I get everything plated, going light on the ketchup since Cassie isn’t a huge fan, and slide the burger over to her. Taking it in both her hands she raises it up and opens her mouth, taking a massive bite. I watch and wait for her reaction. Slowly, she closes her eyes makes that little moan in the back of her throat that only I can hear.
“This is amazing,” she moans.
My family smiles and takes note of her as they carry on their own conversations and I nod.
“Told you,” I state.
“This is probably the best thing I’ve ever put in my mouth,” she adds.
“Oh yeah?” Jace asks from across the table and I toss my napkin at him.
Dinner is spent eating, and my family regaling Cassie with embarrassing stories about my childhood. She laughs at me and occasionally pats my back when the story is exceptionally mortifying. This feels easy and relaxed, too good, too perfect. My grandad and dad talk more with Cassie than I’ve seen them talk with anyone and I can’t ignore how right it all feels.
“You’ve never been cow tipping before?” Jace asks, horrified.
“People don’t still do that,” Mom says.
“Sure they do,” he defends.
“No,” Cassie laughs, “I never did.”
“I know what we’re doing tonight.”
I shake my head, but tell him that maybe we can just take a drive around instead.
The three of us get into Jace’s truck, sitting in the front row together, me in the middle. My mom tells us to have fun; shaking her head at the immature behavior my older brother has yet to grow out of. Cassie laughs at the stupid shit he says and humors his stories by playing along and asking him questions all while I sit there and listen.
Yup, she’s perfect.
We drive around down back roads and deserted main roads, finding no cows to satiate my brothers hankering for being a true country boy. Disappointed but not ready to go home, Jace suggests we hit a local place, the Cadillac Ranch Club, for a drink. We get settl
ed at the bar with some beers, which leads to tequila shots, but only for Jace and Cassie since I somehow was volunteered to DD, but it’s still a good time. I love this side of Cassie, carefree and having fun, a smile a mile wide on her lips as she hears Jace regale her with stories of our youth. When he mentions something embarrassing, she keeps looking at me, tenderness in her eyes before she strokes the back of my hair or down my chest before she kisses me tenderly. It’s because of this I let Jace continue.
A song Jace likes comes on and next thing I know he’s pulling Cass out to the dance floor by the hand as they begin to dance. I smile at them and shake my head repeatedly every time Cass waves me over.
“Your brother was always a good dancer.”
The voice filters over the music, a voice that has my body completely affected the moment it hits my ears. Brooke. I don’t look at her, but reach over and grab my beer from the bar as I train all my attention on Cassie dancing, oblivious to what’s going on over here. But no matter how hard I try to pretend the woman who shattered me isn’t mere feet away, her presence feels radioactive, pulsating with some sort of energy I want to get away from.
“How about a dance, for old time’s sake?”
Her voice closer this time and instinctively my head turns in disbelief, was she serious? Brooke’s only a few inches from me, she’s looking up at me with big chocolate eyes decorated with thick layers of makeup, her lips glossy and pink as she tugs at the bottom corner with her teeth.
“No, Brooke,” I say firmly, before stepping away to get some distance.
“Oh, calm down, I wasn’t being for real. How are you? Had enough of D.C. I see.”
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