Rough Terrain (Vista Falls #1)

by Cheryl Douglas

  “Yeah, me too.” He chuckled. “But then I got a text from him, and it reminded me that it was real.”

  “He texted you?” Sage asked, sitting up. “What did he say? Why didn’t you tell me?”

  He pulled her back down beside him, cradling her in his arms. “I was going to tell you. He said he talked to his mom and she’s fine with him coming to Vista Falls next week, assuming we still want him to.”

  “Oh my God, of course we do! You told him that, didn’t you?”

  “Yeah, I told him.” Wes smiled as he brushed her hair off her forehead, silently soothing her. “He has a game on Friday night. It’s an away game between here and Brock, actually. So I told him I’d come to the game and we could leave from there.”

  “Oh, okay.” Sage was glad that Nick had reached out to one of them and seemed so receptive to seeing where and how they lived, but she couldn’t deny she felt a little left out.

  “I know what you’re thinking,” Wes said, rolling onto his side to face her. “And he asked if I thought you’d be able to make his game too.”

  “Really?” Sage asked, grinning. “He asked about me? He wants me there too?”

  “Of course he does, baby.” He shifted her hair so it was over her shoulder and draped down her back. “I really think he wants us in his life.” He closed his eyes. “And honestly, I don’t know what the hell we did to deserve this, because in his position, I don’t think I’d be so understanding. I’m just glad that he is.”

  “Me too.” She wrapped her arms around him, tilting her face up to meet his. “I’m so grateful for this, Wes. You and me. Nick. It seems almost too good to be true. I’m afraid to think it could possibly get better.”

  “Ah, but it can,” he said, shifting so she was on her back and his body partially covered hers. “Let me show you.”

  Her eyes fluttered closed as his mouth settled on that secret spot where her collarbone and neck met, the spot he’d discovered years ago and been the only man to find. “I almost forgot how good you make me feel.”

  “Mmm, I guess it’s a good thing I have all night to remind you then.”

  His hands caressed her body, lingering on her breasts before dipping between her legs. She was already shamelessly aroused, and she was certain that was obvious to him by the wicked gleam in his eye when his fingers dipped inside her.

  “You make me crazy,” she said breathlessly, gripping fistfuls of his hair. “In the best possible way.”

  Instead of responding, he used his mouth to communicate in other ways. It closed over her nipples, licking leisurely until her skin felt stretched too tight.

  “Wes, I’m…” She didn’t even have time to tell him, though she knew she didn’t have to. He’d always had the uncanny ability to read her body and mind. When she finally regained the ability to speak, she said, “You have to let me repay the favor. I feel like you’re doing all the giving and I’m doing all the taking tonight.”

  “There will be plenty of time to even the score.” He reached into the nightstand and extracted a condom.

  “When did you have time to stash that in there?”

  “You took forever in the bathroom,” he grumbled. “I had plenty of time.”

  But as he rolled it on, he didn’t look annoyed. He looked aroused and maybe a little wistful, as though he couldn’t believe this was happening either.

  “Did you ever think we’d end up back here?” she asked, looping her arms around his neck as he was poised above her.

  “Only in my fantasies,” he whispered before closing his mouth over hers.

  He took his time inching inside her. Though she was more than ready, it had been a while since she’d been with a man, so she didn’t make it easy for him.

  “Sorry,” she whispered, biting her lip when he drew back to make sure she was okay. “I just need a minute.”

  “Take all the time you need.” He brushed his lips across her cheeks while his forearms framed her head, supporting his weight. “I’m in no hurry.”

  “It’s just, uh, been a while for me.”

  “Good.” He laughed when she smacked his back. “You’ll never hear me complain about that. I can’t remember a time when you treated sex casually. It’s nice to know that hasn’t changed.”

  “It hasn’t.” She kissed him briefly while composing herself. As hard as she tried not to let it fall, a tear slipped down her cheek. “It still means something to me. And you… well, you mean everything to me, Wes.”

  “I love you, baby. I’ll never give you reason to doubt that again, I promise.”

  It sounded as though he was alluding to the future, but Sage was determined to savor the moment, one she’d waited so long for. Her eyes locked on his, the intensity in his hooded gaze growing with every powerful thrust.

  The last time they’d made love, he’d been caught somewhere between a boy and a man. Now he fulfilled her in ways she couldn’t even have imagined then.

  “I didn’t think it could get any better.” His rhythmic prodding made it difficult for her to think, much less speak, but she had to say it. “You were always the standard, you know. No other man has ever measured up to you.”

  He rewarded her with a cocky smile, slowly his frenetic pace slightly. “Oh yeah?”

  “I’d almost convinced myself you couldn’t possibly live up to the memory of what it was like.”

  He leaned back, gripping her hips. “And now?”

  “You’ve set the bar even higher.”

  He narrowed his eyes while resuming his pace. “You’ll never have reason to judge me against another man again. At least I hope you won’t. I’m not playing around here. You, this, it’s all I want.”

  Curling her hands around his biceps, she lifted her hips off the bed, taking all he could give, though she knew she’d pay for it in the morning. “You’re all I want too, all I’ll ever want.”

  “Baby, please. I can’t…”

  Just as he could decode her body, she could do the same. Letting go, she felt him do the same, and the experience was like nothing she’d ever felt. Not only were their bodies united, but this time their hearts were too. They weren’t kids anymore, with parents trying to keep them apart. They were adults who’d learned from and paid for their mistakes and had come back together better and stronger because of them.

  “Jesus.” He half laughed before staggering to the bathroom. She must have been wearing a self-satisfied smile when he returned a few minutes later because when he climbed in next to her, he said, “Feeling pretty good about yourself, huh? Happy to have ruined me for all other women?”

  She smiled as she pressed a kiss to his chest. “Absolutely.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Colt was sitting alone in the dining room the next morning, scowling into his coffee when Wes found him.

  “Uh oh, I know that look,” Wes said, claiming the chair across from him.

  “Yeah,” Colt said, frowning. “And I know that stupid look you’re sportin’ too. I guess I don’t have to ask what happened between you and Sage last night.”

  “I’ll fill you in about that in a minute,” Wes said, helping himself to coffee from the stainless carafe in the middle of the table. It was a little late for breakfast, so the large room was empty save a few diners seated near the buffet table clear across the room. “I want to hear about what happened between you and Gabby. Y’all didn’t try to kill each other, did you?”

  “I am such an idiot,” he said, rubbing his hands over his face.

  “No arguments here.” Wes took one of the untouched blueberry muffins from Colt’s side plate and bit into it. “So what’d you do this time?”

  Colt looked behind him to make sure no one was within earshot before he whispered, “I slept with her.”

  Wes was stunned. He suspected they might have fooled around, but he’d never guessed either of them would have let it go that far. “You’re kidding?”

  Colt grimaced. “Do I look like I’m kidding? But that’s not the w
orst of it. This morning she started talking about what would happen when we got back home. She said she could cook dinner for me tonight, started talking about some family wedding she had to go to next weekend, asked me if I wanted to come as her date—”

  “I don’t think I like where this is going.” Colt had always been like a brother to Wes, but if he’d hurt Gabby, who was a big part of the reason he had Sage back in his life, he’d have to kill him.

  “I panicked, okay?” Colt sighed. “I told her last night never should have happened, that she should just forget about it and me and—”

  “What did she say?”

  “Nothing. She just left, stormed out of the room.”

  “You are one stupid son of a bitch. I’ve watched you screw around for years with women who didn’t have a brain cell or ounce of morals between them. You finally have another chance with a good girl, one you clearly haven’t gotten out of your system, and you manage to screw it up. How? Why?”

  “Look, man, don’t judge me,” Colt said, pushing back his chair. “You don’t know the shit I’m dealing with right now.”

  “I know you’re trying to do right by your family,” Wes said, leaning in. “But that doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to have a life of your own.”

  “It’s more than that.” He looked around. “Your family’s always had it all together. Mine are a bunch of screw-ups. I keep trying to run from it ‘cause honestly, I’m afraid to end up just like them. But being back here means I can’t go on pretending anymore. I have to face it, and I don’t want to face it.”

  Wes knew he was the reason Colt had come back to Vista Falls at all. “Buddy, anything I can do to help, you know I will. But do you honestly think shutting Gabby down is going to make this situation any better?”

  “My old man used to tell me all the time that she was too good for me.” He covered his mouth with his hand. “He used to say she’d leave me when something better came along.”

  “What the hell does he know? You should know better than to listen to him. He was probably drunk when he said it.” Wes became incensed every time he thought about the way Colt’s father had tried to tear him down instead of building him up the way Wes’s father had.

  “Maybe he was right. Think about it. What would someone like Gabby want with me? We both know I’m not what she needs.”

  “I’m no expert on women, but one thing I know for sure—they don’t like to be told how they should feel. They like to make up their own minds about that. And my guess is if Gabby slept with you last night, it’s because she’s already made up her mind.”

  Colt looked out the window as the cleaning lady hauled her trolley across the paved parking lot to clean the small guest cabins. “I was crazy to think this could work.”

  “What do you mean? You’re not sorry you came back here, are you?”

  “I think I may have to head back to Texas, Wes.”

  “Wait, what?” Colt had been the one constant in Wes’s life since they’d decided to take on this crazy challenge together. He couldn’t bail now.

  “This may be the right place for you, but it’s not the right place for me.” He sighed. “I’m more certain of that than ever. If I stay here, the past will continue to haunt me. I’ll keep hurting the people I care about ‘cause I just don’t know how not to.”

  Wes hated to see his best friend in pain, but he couldn’t fix what was broken in Colt’s life. He could only be there to support him while he figured it out for himself.

  “At least consider splitting your time,” Wes said, hoping they could reach some compromise. After working side-by-side for so many years, imagining not seeing Colt every day was tough for Wes.

  “We’ve still got the flagship store and a small office there,” Colt said. “And since we haven’t found a new operations manager yet, I could take care of things until we find someone.”

  “Then you’re talking about a temporary move?” That made Wes feel marginally better, but he still didn’t want to see Colt go. Their phenomenal growth over the past thirteen years had been due to the fact they were an unstoppable team. Wes didn’t want to think about what might happen if they went their separate ways.

  “I don’t know yet. I just know I need to get out of here.” He sighed, tipping his head back. “I’m sorry to leave you in the lurch like this, buddy. If there was another way…”

  “Hey, you deserve to take some time. You’ve barely taken any personal time in a decade. Maybe that’s what this is—you’re burnt out. Could be some time off will give you some perspective.”

  “I’m not talking about taking time off,” Colt argued. “That’s the last thing I need. I’d go crazy if I didn’t have anything to do.”

  Wes was guilty of working too much too, but he was beginning to realize how important balance was, especially now that he had Sage and Nick in his life. “Well, maybe think about cutting back on your hours some if you plan on going back for a while. I’m all for you being the one to interview and hire the new manager. In fact, I think that’s a great idea. Just don’t take on too much.”

  “It’ll be okay, you know,” Colt assured him, as though he sensed Wes’s apprehension. “We can video chat every day, deal with any issues that come up. Maybe this arrangement will work even better. Think about it. We still have the building in Houston. We haven’t sold it yet. Maybe we could ramp up production again, bring a lot of our employees back.”

  “What are you talking about?” Wes asked, shaking his head. “They’ve all got other jobs now. Besides, it sounds to me like you’re talking about making this thing permanent, and I can’t see how that’s going to work. We can’t run this business from separate states indefinitely, Colt. You know that.”

  “Whatever, we’ll work it out. I just know I need to get out of here.”

  “Do you plan to let Gabby know you’re leaving town?”

  “I was hoping you could tell her.”

  “You’re not a coward, Colt. Quit acting like one.” Knowing this could be the last time he saw him for months, the last thing Wes wanted was to argue with him, but he’d always been the one to give Colt a slap upside the head when he needed some sense knocked into him.

  Colt’s jaw tensed as he shoved his hands in the pockets of his faded jeans and withdrew his keys. “I gotta go.”

  Wes stood and clasped Colt’s hand while pulling him into a half hug. “Anything I can do. You know that, right?”

  “Yeah, sure.” He cleared his throat before he muttered, “I’ll call you later. Say bye to Sage for me.”

  Wes was grateful he had a few minutes to collect himself before his brother approached. He still couldn’t believe Colt was leaving.

  “You look like you just lost your best friend,” Rush joked, grabbing a clean mug off the table next to them before he sat down and poured himself a coffee.

  “I fear I may have.” But Wes knew it would never come to that. Even if Colt never set foot in Vista Falls again, they would always be business partners and friends.

  “What’re you talking about? Did something happen between you and Sage? I hope I wasn’t out of line suggesting you guys stay here last night. I was just trying to help.”

  “You did, man. Thanks.” If not for his brother’s meddling, it may have taken months for Wes and Sage to get to where they were now.

  “If it’s not Sage, what’s the problem? And don’t tell me nothing. I can read you better than that.”

  “Colt’s headed back to Texas. I really hoped we could work it out here. I thought it was only a matter of time before he’d be as happy to be home as I am.”

  “What happened to make him change his mind?” Rush asked. “We were talking yesterday, and he didn’t say anything about heading out. In fact, I got the impression he didn’t really mind being back. Course, I think that might have something to do with Gabby.”

  Wes would never have betrayed his friend’s confidence, but his silence must have spoken for him.

  Rush nodded slowly. �
��I get it. Whatever happened between him and Gabby last night is the reason he’s so anxious to get out of town all of a sudden, huh?”

  “Those two have a lot of history,” Wes said, trying to remain noncommittal.

  “They’re not the only ones.” Rush smirked. “You gonna tell me what went down between you and Sage last night, or are you gonna let me guess?”

  Wes had never been one to kiss and tell, not even in high school, and he sure as hell wouldn’t disrespect Sage now by talking to his brother or his buddies about what had gone on behind closed doors. “Let’s just say we’re on the right track.”

  Rush smiled. “Mama’s gonna be real happy to hear that. You know she loves that girl.”

  “She’s not the only one.”

  “So it’s like that, is it?” Rush asked, looking at Wes intently.

  “It’s always been like that.”

  Rush nodded. “Yeah, I guess it has. I’m happy for you, man. For both of you. You and Sage are good together. I’ve never seen you two happier than you are when you’re together.”

  “Hopefully we’ll be together from here on out.”

  “Then you talked about the future last night?” Rush brought his coffee cup to his lips to hide his smile. “Or did you have time to talk?”

  “Shut up, dumbass.” Wes was used to his little brother busting his chops, but when it came to Sage, he was still sensitive.

  “Hey, there,” Sage said, wrapping her arms around Wes’s neck from behind. “Is that any way to talk to your brother?”

  “Thank you for jumping to my defense, beautiful,” Rush said, standing. He bowed gallantly before pulling out Sage’s chair. “I’m counting on you to teach this heathen some manners.”

  Sage giggled when Rush kissed her cheek after tucking in her chair. “What was that for?”

  “Putting that smile back on my brother’s face. It’s been too long.”

  Whenever Wes thought about levelling Rush because he’d said or done something to piss him off, he reminded Wes why he put up with his BS—because he loved him. “Would you get out of here and give me some time alone with my lady?”