American Honey

by Heidi McLaughlin

  “I’ve never had anyone say something like that to me before.”

  Tyler moves up to rest on his elbow. “You’re so freakin’ beautiful and I’m one lucky bastard to have you in my arms. All the guys tonight, they wanted your number and all I could do was laugh at them because you were goin’ home with me. I’m gonna take you out tomorrow, just you and me.”

  “As long as I’m with you, Tyler, no one else exists. You can take me to the carnival for all I care. I just want you, by my side.”

  As soon as the words leave my mouth I know I’ve just bought myself a whole lot of heartache.

  Chapter 15 – Tyler

  With one last look in the mirror, I run my hands down the front of my white button down and make sure it’s tucked into my Wranglers. My sleeves are rolled up and my black Stetson is on. I’m ready for my first, of what will hopefully be many, dates with Savannah. I need to make the most of her days here on the ranch. I don’t want her to forget me when she’s off “decorating” Paris. The thought of asking her to stay a little longer has crossed my mind, but it’s not fair of me to ask. She needs to see that she belongs here, that this is her home. I can’t force her to see what I’m seeing if she’s not ready.

  Last night, I almost took it too far. She was there, urging me, but taking her like that – our first time – is not how I pictured us finally connecting. I’m not trying to be some poor romantic, but dammit if the girl doesn’t deserve something better than a pick-up truck fuck.

  I take one last look around my bedroom. I tidied up last night after I dropped her off, dusted and vacuumed – two chores that I never think about doing. I made my bed this morning, thinking that my mom would be proud of me if she were here right now. I’m hoping to take Savannah to see my mom. I know she’d like to see Savannah, but I’m sure the feeling that she lost her best friend will surface again. It took my mom a long time to get over the total break in communication that took place when they left for New York. We were all hurt.

  The flowers that I bought earlier this morning are sitting by the door, waiting for me to take them to Savannah. I never brought Annamae flowers; maybe that was where I went wrong. Either way, I don’t want to mess up with Savannah. I close my eyes and lean my head against the door. I need my mind to stop thinking that she and I have a future after this summer. She’s leaving. I’m staying. Paris is no place for a guy like me. I’d be lost unless we’re out in the country with a few horses and a cow or two. But that’s not what Savannah wants. I heard her talking last night to some of the girls; she wants Paris for its culture, fashion and cobblestone streets. She’s excited to sit in the little cafés and sip fancy coffee with her pinky finger in the air. None of that appeals to me. If anything, I need to reeducate Savannah McGuire on why her place is here.

  I know I need to show her everything that she can have here. There’s the pond, the horses and the long nights under the cover of stars. And there’s me. She can’t have this in Paris. Tonight after dinner, I’m going to take her out on horseback to the pond to remind her that she once loved it here and never wanted to leave. If that doesn’t work, I’ll need to convince myself that I can let her go when the time comes. After only a few weeks of her being here and days of being with her, I’m in deep and don’t know if I can survive her leaving me again.

  The drive over is short and doesn’t really afford me the opportunity to settle my nerves. I need to shut off my mind and stop thinking about what will happen at the end of the summer. Even though the situation feels out of my control, I need to do everything I can to try and change her mind.

  As soon as I slam the door to my truck, the front porch door is shutting as well. With each step I take, she’s taking one. When I reach the bottom step she stands before me, six stairs away, staring down at me. I swallow hard as I appraise the sheer beauty before me. Her long blonde hair is curled with half of it pulled up, accentuating her neck. Thin straps are all that cover her shoulders, making my mouth water with thoughts of how much freedom my lips will have. Savannah’s dress is white, stopping at her knees and perfect against her tan skin. But what does me in are the brown boots that she’s wearing. She’s the most gorgeous cowgirl I’ve ever seen, even if I can’t get her to wear a hat. With her standing before me like this, it solidifies my belief that she belongs here.

  Savannah’s gaze falls to the flowers hanging by my side. I look down and smirk. I can’t believe I forgot about them. “Um…” I clear my throat, ridding myself of the imaginary frog playing around with my voice. I don’t know what this means, but standing here in front of her makes me nervous. “These are for you.” I hold out the bouquet of sunflowers. The florist in town said I should go for roses, but Savannah doesn’t look like the “roses” type. She’s more sunshine and happy.

  “They’re beautiful.” Her steps are painstakingly slow as she walks down each stair to me. With her standing one step above, she’s almost my height and my instinct is to wrap my arms around her and carry her to my truck. It dawns on me right there that a night in town at a restaurant where people can see us just won’t work for me. I want to be alone with her, surrounded by what’s brought us together.

  “Can you wait right here for a minute?” I thrust the flowers at her, causing her startle slightly. “Shit, sorry,” I mumble as I climb the stairs two at a time. As soon as I get to the door, I turn to see Savannah admiring her flowers and I can’t help smiling.

  Rushing into the house and right into the kitchen I find Aunt Sue taking an apple pie out of the oven. It’s hotter than blazes outside and she’s in here cooking, God bless her.

  “It smells delicious, Aunt Sue,” I say, inhaling the smell of applies and cinnamon. I’m surprised Uncle Bobby doesn’t weigh three hundred pounds with all the cooking she does. I know I would if I ate here every day.

  “It’s on the table,” she tells me without looking in my direction. My brows furrow in confusion as I look at the table and find exactly what I’m looking for.

  “How’d you know I wanted the picnic basket?”

  She stops and turns. “I saw her gettin’ dressed and you aren’t a boy who likes fancy dinners. It’s all in there.” I walk over to the basket and lift the lid to find fried chicken, green beans and cornbread. Surprisingly, there’s a bottle of wine even though we’re still underage. The fact that she’s okay with it shows me that she’s okay with me pursuing her niece.

  My head shakes slightly. “I’m going to take her over to the pond. I think she’ll like it better than going to some stuffy restaurant.” Picking up the basket, I head to the back door. “Thank you.” Aunt Sue nods and moves on to her next pie, leaving me with too many thoughts running through my mind.

  I hustle to the barn and saddle Sundance. She has a fondness for Savannah and won’t mind if we ride tandem. I have to transfer the basket that Aunt Sue put together into some saddlebags. Not ideal, but there’s no way I can strap down a picnic basket onto the saddle. I pull a blanket out of the tack room and make sure it’s secure before leaving the barn. I’m sure I’ve forgotten something, but I’ll improvise.

  Leading the horse around the front, I find Savannah sitting on the steps, twirling her flowers around. Honestly, I’m surprised to find her still sitting there, but she’s waiting for me just like I asked.

  “Hey, sweetheart.” She looks up and her mouth drops open. “So I had this big fancy dinner planned in town, but that’s not me.” I shrug, hoping that she’s okay with this. “Truth is, I don’t know what type of date guy I am, but horseback riding out into the sunset seems like a pretty good date to me.” I look over my shoulder before looking back at her. “I have some dinner here and thought we could ride out to the pond.”

  I pull my hat off and run my hand over my hair. “I think I have everything for a –” Savannah is in front of me before I can finish my sentence and places her fingers over my lips.

  “It sounds perfect,” she tells me with a smile. When she removes her fingers, I take advantage of the moment an
d kiss her.

  “I’m really nervous,” I add for good measure so she doesn’t think I’m a fumbling idiot.

  “Why? I’m just me and you’re you. This date sounds perfect.”

  I shake my head. “It’s not that. To me, you’re this beautiful woman who has captured my heart with the force of a thousand thundering bulls. I’m trying so hard to impress you, but I know the usual wine and dine isn’t going to work with you. You need special, but I don’t always know what special is… at least I didn’t until I met you. When I look at you, Savannah, all reasoning doesn’t exist. You’re not your typical girl, you’re so much more and I want to do everything I can to make you happy and see you smile.”

  “Well, you’re doing a damn good job with that, Cowboy.”

  I try to hide the devilish smirk, but to no avail. She lightly punches me in the arm and starts laughing. “I only know Sundance; am I riding her?”

  “Do you remember how to ride?” I ask, moving Sundance’s reins in my hand.

  “I do. I rode her the other day.”

  “You did? Where was I?”

  “I’m not sure,” she says as her hand trails down the horse’s neck. Savannah steps closer and rest her head against the gentle mare. Sundance moves her head slightly, acknowledging Savannah.

  I clear my throat. “I was hoping we could ride together.”

  She nods. “Yeah, I’d like that,” she says seductively.

  It doesn’t register what she just said until I see her mount Sundance. I quickly move and heave myself up behind her. Still holding the reins, we trot off toward the river that we have to cross to get to the pond. I’ve known this land for most of my life and I still haven’t been to every part.

  Savannah leans back against me, allowing me to guide our way. Having her in front of me like this, it’s indescribable. I can’t get enough of her and I know it’s dangerous, but right now I’m willing to accept the consequences.

  When we get to the river, I feel her freeze. I stifle a laugh, as Sundance knows just what to do and starts walking across.

  “It’s so beautiful out here.”

  “Nothing’s as beautiful as you.”

  She giggles and tells me to stop it. I won’t ever.

  “Sometimes I think I want to build a property out there, but then I’d have to build a bridge and put a driveway through the land. It’d ruin it. I could always just ride out there, but you can only do so much on a horse, ya know?

  “You could build a cabin and pretend you’re on vacation.”

  “I could,” I say just as we climb the hill leading to the pond. The sun is casting the perfect glow and I have a feeling the water is going to be perfect at this time of night. As soon as Sundance brings us to the crest I know what I want to do next and once again the perfect date in my mind could be shot to hell.

  “Want to go swimmin’?”

  “What?” she scoffs. “I don’t have my suit and where would we go?”

  The pond comes into view and from where we are the sun is casting an orange glow over the valley.

  “I thought we could swim here and I’m fairly certain no one is going to see us.”

  Savannah looks around and turns slightly to look at me. “You know, I think I do want to go swimming.”

  Hallelujah! I scream on the inside. Now the only question left to answer is – what will she wear?

  Chapter 16 – Savannah

  Tyler helps me off Sundance and right into his arms. I let my hands slide ever so slowly over his shoulders before taking off his hat, setting it on my head as I wink at him. He presses his lips to mine, his tongue moving fluidly with mine. He holds me in his arms with his hand spread across my back, keeping me pressed tightly against his chest. My legs wrap around his waist causing my dress to bunch. Had I known we were heading out on the horses, I would’ve changed into shorts. Somehow I have a feeling that Tyler didn’t want me to know and I’m okay with that.

  His lips move to my shoulder as his arm goes under me for support. I want to kiss him back, but his hat is blocking me. The thought of taking it off, now that I have it on, doesn’t appeal to me, but I need to kiss him.

  “Leave it on,” he mumbles against my skin as if he’s reading my mind. The words sexy, beautiful and gorgeous are coming out of his mouth and each word ignites a slow burn inside of me. The strap on the dress is slowing being moved down my shoulder

  “I need to stop before I do something we’re not ready for.” He sets me down gently even though I’m not ready to let him go. I pull my bottom lip in between my teeth to keep from balking. “God, you look sexy in my hat. Are you sure I can’t buy you one?”

  I shake my head, pursing my lips. “I like yours just fine.”

  “Of course you do,” he says, playfully. “Do you want to eat first or go for a swim? The pond is warm and it’s clean. Jeremiah ran a pump to keep the water fresh.”

  My eyes fall upon the pond and notice there’s a beach-like landing. “What about fish? I’d really hate to get bitten by a fish.”

  Tyler laughs as he steps away and starts unbuttoning his shirt. I’ve seen him almost naked, but standing here, watching, makes my heart beat a little faster. A gentle warmth spreads across my stomach, causing my cheeks to flush, and I bite down on my tongue and twist my hands together to keep from reaching out to touch him. He kicks off his boots and pulls his belt loose. I focus on his fingers as they undo each button on his jeans. He removes his shirt, letting it drop to the ground. I look around for any prying eyes or Jeremiah. I wouldn’t put it past him to follow us out here.

  “No one here but us, sweetheart.”

  “And Sundance,” I add for good measure.

  “She’s not going anywhere.”

  “Well, that’s good to know,” my voice cracks and even though I want to be here with him, I’m nervous.

  Tyler pushes his pants down, letting them pool at his ankles. He hops on one foot while trying to remove each pant leg. I laugh and cover my mouth.

  “Darlin’, I can assure you that looked a lot sexier in my head.”

  “You’re sexy,” the words pour out of my mouth before I can stop them. His eyes widen and I know there’s no taking it back. I don’t want to. Tyler’s eyes gleam as he steps forward and I try to keep my eyes focused on his, but they trail down his chest and below his waist. His dark briefs are holding back his bulge. I take a deep breath at the realization that I make him that way. That knowledge alone is exhilarating. My body temperature rises. Even in this heat I can feel myself getting hotter, even though when he brushes up against me I get goosebumps.

  “Savannah,” he whispers huskily as his hands trail up my arms and over my shoulders. My head turns slightly to watch him pull down the thin straps of my dress. They rest just above my elbow and I know he’s waiting for me to take the next step. I turn, pulling my hair to the side and wait.

  Tyler’s lips dance along my skin while his fingers pull the zipper down. I don’t know how far we’re going tonight, but everything feels right. Being out here, in the open with him… this is where I’m meant to be.

  His hands gently push my straps down, allowing the dress to settle at my feet. “Can I see you, Savannah?” he asks, with his chest touching my back. I nod and step out of my dress to turn and face him. I’m bare-chested with nothing but panties and boots on and the man in front of me is mesmerized by me. My face flushes as he takes me in. I try to cover myself, feeling self-conscious, but he holds my hands in his.

  “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”

  “Thank you.” My response seems lacking, but he’ll never understand the magnitude of that compliment. After being called a slut and a whore by my friends, he’s working to reverse the damage that has been done.

  “What do you say we go for a dip in the pond before we eat? It’s blazing out here and I think we could both cool off a bit. Besides, we’re both almost naked and it seems like the best thing to do,” he chuckles lightly.

  I agree
and slip off my boots before taking his hand. He leads us to the edge and kisses me lightly before pulling us into the water.

  Tyler and I hold each other in the pond, basking in the mellowness of the water. We’re all lips and hands as we make-out in the water. I love being in his arms and know I want to take things further with him. I don’t want him to be hesitant or afraid I might rebuff him, I won’t. I’m just not sure how to tell him.

  The pond is refreshing and a welcome relief from the heat. I thought when I arrived, I’d hate it here. Truth is I’d take Rivers Crossing over New York City any day. There’s so much freedom to be who you are without being someone fake. I’m not blind; I know people judge you no matter where you live, but at least here, with Tyler, Jeremiah and my aunt and uncle, I’m not judged because of what I did.

  When we get out, dripping wet and rejuvenated, Tyler pulls a blanket from the horse and lays it on the ground. I pick up his shirt and slip it on, leaving the top buttons undone. He sets out our food and while it all looks delicious. I want something else from him but only after I tell him how I feel and what’s weighing on my mind.

  Sitting cross-legged in front him, his eyes widen when he takes in my attire. He trails his index finger down the exposed valley of my breasts. Everything I experienced in New York has been nothing compared to the way Tyler is with me.

  “I have something to tell you and I’m not sure how to say it. Actually, it’s a couple of somethings.”

  “You can tell me anything,” he says as he moves closer to me. His fingers caress my skin and he laughs when it pebbles.

  “Well…” I start, wringing my hands together. “I want to be with you.”