The Stars in the Sky (Giving You ... #2)

by Leslie McAdam

  There was a reason why Amelia was my best friend and this was it. I told her to bring boots and jeans in case she wanted to ride a horse, and stuff to stay overnight and go out to dinner.

  Two hours later, she and Ryan pulled up in Ryan's SUV, a surfboard tied to the top.

  "I totally have to pee!" exclaimed Amelia, as she burst from the car and gave me a rushed hug.

  I laughed. "I know the feeling. Go into that ranch house, down the hallway, two doors down on the left, and don't forget to knock first."

  As she ran off, Ryan stepped out of the car.

  I mentioned it before, but Ryan was so hot. Tall and lanky, but muscular, dressed in jeans—Levi's, thank you very much, that hung down nicely on his hips—and a plaid shirt over a white t-shirt. He had wild, curly blond hair and tanned skin, and when he smiled he had dimples.

  He was Amelia’s, but I had eyes.

  "Hey, Marie," he said, in his low, sexy surfer voice, and pulled me into a tight hug.

  Just then, Will walked around the barn, wearing a fitted, but faded black t-shirt that showed off his chest, a trucker hat squashing his waves, and his usual Wranglers and boots. Even from this distance, he affected me in the worst way. He saw us, and a strange look came over his face as he strolled over.

  I called out to him, waving, excited, "Will, this is Ryan Fielding, my best friend Amelia's fiancé. She's using your bathroom." Will looked at me, and I could read a bunch of emotions that passed over his face—apparent relief that Ryan was not with me, surprise that my friends were visiting, and humor at Amelia being just like me.

  The guys shook hands, gripping firmly. "Will Thrash."

  "Ryan. Nice to meet you. This ranch is great. I work with coffee growers in Kona," and with that Ryan was off chatting with Will as if they’d known each other forever. Ryan was the type of guy who would be equally comfortable talking with drunkards at a demolition derby or at a formal dinner with the Queen of England, just a cool guy. So perfect for my girl, and he’d really helped her through her personal issues. I also knew from Amelia that he was dynamite in bed, so I was happy that she’d finally found her partner for life. They really were meant to be together.

  The ranch house door opened and Amelia walked down, got a glimpse of Will, her violet eyes wide, and mouthed "Holy shit" to me.

  "I know," I mouthed. Then I turned to Will. "I invited my best friend up to visit and I thought we could all go out to dinner. Would you like to come?"

  "Sure, darlin'," he drawled, and Amelia got a look on her face that wasn't hard to figure out. She liked him.

  "I'd like to take them horseback riding too, if I can find Jimmy or one of the wranglers."

  "Sounds good."

  Amelia walked up and I introduced her to Will and she shook his hand. She seemed to tremble in his presence, and I didn't blame her.

  We agreed on a time to meet up for dinner. Ryan unstrapped his surfboard, saying that he was going to explore a secret surf break that was supposed to be around here. Amelia, who was already dressed for riding, and I headed over to the horses. Jimmy got us saddled up, me on Happy, Amelia on Astrix, and we headed out on one of the well-worn trails.

  Once we were out of earshot of everyone at the ranch, Amelia started. "Marie, he's mesmerizing. No wonder you wanted to tap that. I’d want to, too."

  "I know. He's stunning. I feel this overwhelming attraction to him, but also this repulsion because of his backwards politics. It's like we're both magnets, and if we get the sides right, there's no separating us, but if we turn the magnet around, there's no getting us together."

  Our horses walked past sagebrush on the hills, which scented the air. The sun overhead warmed us.

  "So is the issue that you may want to be with him for more than just the summer?"

  "That's part of it. Part of it is that I feel like I’m a hypocrite. Like on the outside I’m all green and on the inside I’m not.”

  “But does he respect you?”

  “I don’t know. His politics tell me he doesn’t, but his actions tell me he does.” I paused. “Isn't it crazy? He's not my type. I mean, remember Jeremy?"

  We rode on, through a lemon orchard and out to the rangeland where cattle gathered under the oak trees.

  She laughed. "Man Bun. He wasn't enough of a challenge for you. What does your heart say?"

  "My heart says that if I don't protect it, I could fall in love with him," I said, admitting and articulating thoughts that were buried really deep. "And then what would I do? I'm only supposed to be here for the summer. I can't be with him, I have to finish my school. I'm the girl who always moves on. I don't stay still."

  "I think you're getting ahead of yourself and you have to trust what you feel," said Amelia gently, "and not worry about the consequences yet. There are ways of still going to school and seeing him, if that's what you want to do. This isn't all that far away from home."

  "No. But what about this feeling that I'm turning into a cavewoman if I hang out with him. Is he going to start ordering me around and making me eat dinosaur?"

  Amelia laughed. "Well, a certain amount of being bossed around is hot. There's a balance. If he respects you, and despite what you think, I think he does, then you'll work it out. You wouldn't be attracted to him if he treated you shitty. I think you guys just argue because you like each other. And cavewomen didn't eat dinosaur."

  "I still feel the need to remind him that I am a modern woman. He's only two years older than us, but some of his attitudes are from a different generation."

  She smiled.

  "But he's fucking hot in bed."

  Amelia laughed, a full-on laugh, and said, "Girl, now you must spill."

  So I told her. I went into detail about Will's immensely huge junk, which made her eyes flash. I continued with a discussion about the way he went down on me at the beach, how he had me riding reverse cowgirl in his bed the first time we did it, how I then sucked him off in the bathroom, then he nailed me in his shower, and then he made gentle love to me first thing that morning.

  "All of this since yesterday?"

  "Yes."

  "Ohmigod."

  She needed time to recover.

  Once she had been fully briefed on the situation, she said, "I have an idea."

  "Yeah?"

  "I think we need to throw these guys off their game. Ryan can be very take-charge too. After dinner, we need to do something that they wouldn't expect. Make them be along for the ride instead of us, for a change."

  "Will likes to drive."

  "So does Ryan. Okay, here's what I'm thinking," she said in a rush. "I'm thinking we take them to a strip club and see how they act with modern females getting lap dances from strippers."

  I snorted. "Amelia! You're starting to think dirty, all the time, like me. And, um, that's random. How does going to a strip club with them serve any purpose?"

  She looked a little embarrassed. "I've been talking about them with Ryan. I've never been to one and I think I should."

  "Part of your rule-breaking is it?" I asked.

  She looked at me, exasperated. "It was never a Rule but yeah, kind of." Then she said in a rush, "Okay, I have a list of reasons, wanna hear them?"

  That's my girl, with her lists. I nodded.

  "One, they're used to telling us what to do and so, for once, we can tell them what to do. Two, it's hot. Three, I want to see their faces. Four, strip clubs aren't just for men. Women can enjoy them too. Five, I think they won't be able to stand it and I totally want to torture them, especially if Will is anywhere near the horny bastard Ryan is. What do you think? Surprise them?"

  "Totally. I can't wait to see the looks on their faces."

  "Or what’ll happen afterward."

  Blue Clear Sky

  SO, WILL TOOK US all to a steakhouse.

  After Amelia and I returned, helped Jimmy put the horses away, and cleaned up, and Ryan finished surfing and showered, we all dressed to go out. Amelia and I both put on little dresses, mine electric
blue, and shorter and tighter than her longer, strappy, black one, but her red platform heels were higher than my silver stilettos. Will wore a black western shirt and his usual jeans and boots and looked yummy. When I saw him, I couldn't help but whisper in his ear, "I dare you to wear a cowboy hat."

  He looked me up and down in my dress, planted a wet kiss on my lips, grinned, and went into the house. He returned with a black cowboy hat, the first time I'd ever seen him wear one, which made him look dangerous, in addition to his usual sexy. Ryan wore his surfer jeans and button down plaid shirt and looked lickable too.

  Then we piled into Will's big truck, boys in front, girls in back, because we were with cavemen, and drove up north to Santa Maria to a restaurant that Will liked.

  We walked into the steakhouse and I could tell immediately why he liked it. It was the epitome of "Beef, it's what's for dinner." It felt Western, with low ceilings, dark wood paneling on the walls, and branding irons as decoration. The home of some famous Santa Maria steaks, both Amelia and Ryan seemed excited to check it out.

  But Will told me, with undisguised disgust, that he had gone online beforehand to make sure that they had a vegan meal, which, I found out, consisted of all of the side dishes that the restaurant had on one plate—baked potato, mashed potatoes, sweet potato fries, broccoli, mixed vegetables with broccoli, and corn. Like Will, the restaurant didn't know what to do with me. Good thing I thought this was funny and I didn't really care what I ate this evening.

  It was also thoughtful of him to find out beforehand.

  We were seated in a booth, all squished together, and ordered drinks, Amelia and I going immediately for cosmos because that's the kind of girls we were, the guys ordering beers.

  After dinner, this restaurant became a saloon with a dance floor, which started immediately adjacent to us and ended up at a full bar. Country music played, ghastly twangy stuff, but a few people were dancing, which was fun to watch. Those country boys can move, swirling their partners around, unafraid to be seen dancing. Will had only had one beer, Ryan, two, while Amelia and I had three cosmos each. There was no way around it, it was going to be a sloppy evening.

  After we ate our meal, and were relaxing, talking, and drinking, a new song came on. Will grabbed my hand and pulled. "C'mon. We're dancing."

  I'd never danced to country music before, but I loved to dance, so I didn't argue. I was curious about what made him want to move.

  "Why are we dancing?" I asked.

  "Because I like this song," he said. "George Strait."

  There was that George Strait again, he must be his favorite singer. The song said something about how you were giving up on love, when it fell out of the blue clear sky.

  This was how I learned that Will could dance. Even in my heels, he towered over me, and spun me around easily, moving me where he wanted me to go, gently leading and guiding me with one hand on my waist and the other holding my hand. For such a bulky guy, he moved really well, which I should have guessed given how good he was in the bedroom.

  I'd never had this much fun dancing with a guy before. Most guys I knew just sort of jerked around spasmodically or moved like they were in a trance. They danced next to you, not with you. But Will knew what he was doing and moved me around the floor, like he'd spent all of his life on a dance floor. It was simply fun to dance together, as a couple, as partners. Yeah it was country music. I got over it. He smelled good, he looked wonderful, and he moved so gracefully, in charge and having fun.

  At the end of the song, he smiled, dipped me, then pulled me up and kissed me deeply.

  I wondered if my internal swoon was audible.

  The bill came and everyone argued about who would pay for it. Will won because he said that he’d invited everyone out, which earned him a kiss on the cheek from me and an "I got the next one" from Ryan.

  And then Amelia said, "Marie and I have an idea. We know where we want to go next. It's a surprise. Are you guys up for it?"

  Will and Ryan looked at each other and at us and Ryan shrugged and Will muttered, "Oh shit," and put his cowboy hat low down on his face.

  I clapped my hands. "Excellent."

  Once we got back to the truck, I pulled out my phone, found the link to the strip club that Amelia and I had scoped out earlier online, and gave the guys directions, street by street, without telling them our destination.

  When we pulled in the parking lot, both of them turned around to look at us, and the looks on their faces were hilarious. Ryan looked turned on, Will looked both amused and aggravated.

  We walked into the Peppermint Panda, a large club, with a bizarre-looking, randy panda bear as a mascot. Amelia and I, three drinks in, both thought that the name and mascot were awesome. Hilarious. We talked with the bouncer, and found out that there was no cover charge, but a two drink minimum—and each drink was twenty dollars. A hostess escorted us into the club, music throbbing, Will holding my hand, Ryan holding Amelia's.

  Oxblood leather half-booths lined all the walls of the club. In the center, to one side, a dozen mostly naked girls occupied bar stools, waiting their turn. In the center, on the other side, perched a raised catwalk with multiple poles, lined with bar stools on all sides, presently being used by a lithe, athletic blonde who could really hold herself up on the pole. What was clearly a bachelor party on one side of us watched her carefully; a bachelorette party on the other side seemed more interested in their drinks. Looking around, it was a comfortable crowd, not intimidating or scary, with groups of guys, single guys, and couples.

  The hostess stopped us at four bar stools right in front of Ms. Athletic Blonde, and a scantily-clad waitress immediately came up and took our drink order, two more cosmos each for me and Amelia, beers for Ryan and Will, two each. The waitress brought back eight drinks for the four of us and I looked at all of the alcohol and giggled uncontrollably. After an argument between Will and Ryan, Ryan paid.

  Then Will leaned over to me and whispered in my ear, "I don't know whether to spank you or fuck you for this."

  "Both, I think," I whispered back and he let out a groan.

  I noticed that almost immediately, Amelia and Ryan got stuck together at the lips and stopped paying attention to anyone or anything around them, but I was having a blast checking out the scene. A younger guy in the corner received a very invasive lap dance by a busty brunette with long, curly hair. When she was done, he didn't move for three songs.

  While we drank our drinks and watched, a number of girls approached, asking if we wanted to have lap dances. I waited for a cue from Will as to the right one. One girl was Gothic looking, with spiderweb leggings and black hair with harsh bangs. Not his type. Another was maybe Russian, with an elegant accent. Again, not his type. Another a slim Thai, another a curvy, freckled redhead, another an athletic African-American. Still, watching Will's reaction, I politely turned them all down, even though they were all beautiful.

  But then, a seriously busty raven-haired girl came up, and kissed me on the boobs and said enthusiastically, "Are these real? Oh my God, they're huge!" and Will's eyes popped out of his head.

  Her.

  I looked over at Amelia, who was negotiating with a slim, leggy blonde, and we all moved to two adjacent booths, taking our drinks with us.

  I smiled a wicked smile at Will and told her, "One dance for me, and another for him."

  Again, he leaned over, and said, "You’re getting it when this is done."

  "That's what I'm hoping, cowboy," I replied saucily, and the music started.

  In a flash, the girl took off her bra and shoved her breasts in my face. I couldn't help but giggle. She gyrated on my lap and kissed me on my boobs, completely feeling me up as I stayed still. I could smell her sweet perfume and feel her soft skin brush against me. She left bright red lipstick marks all over my chest.

  I glanced over at Will, who seemed paralyzed. She gyrated, all in my business, her g-string inches away, her lips almost to my neck, high heels kicking out. I couldn't help myself
, but five cosmos in, it was smutty, but also funny, and I giggled throughout. The song ended pretty quickly, she gave me a hug at the end, and told me that my giggles were cute.

  Now it was Will's turn. She turned to him, took off his cowboy hat, and put it on, then straddled him. He looked over at me, a very heated look, and stayed still, as she moved over and around him, feeling up his chest, rubbing her breasts in his face, showing him her ass. Then she put his hat back on him and flipped her hair around and I lost him in a mane of her hair.

  I was so going to get it.

  Looking over at Amelia and Ryan, Ryan was faring no better than Will, hot green eyes on Amelia and then back to the blonde grinding in his lap.

  We were both going to get it.

  Just Gettin' Started

  "OUTSIDE, NOW," WILL GROWLED in my ear and pulled me by my hand. I tripped after him in my silver stilettos, waving merrily at Amelia, who glanced at me, sized up what we were doing, smiled, and then was immediately yanked by Ryan in the opposite direction.

  The expressionless bouncer stamped our hands and we went out to the dimly lit parking lot. He'd seen this routine before. Will didn't say anything outside until we got to the truck, when he pressed me up against the side, one arm on one side of me, the other arm on the other, his entire body melded to mine, and said, "All I could think about in there was how I wished it was you doing the lap dance."

  "That could be arranged," I said coyly, and wiggled under him.

  His dark chocolate eyes turned molten under the orange, sodium-vapor light. Opening the back door of his truck's cab, he ordered, "In. Now."

  I clambered in the back seat of his enormous truck. He climbed in after me, sat down on the bench seat, and shut the door.

  Before he could open his mouth again, I purred, drunkenly, "You want a lap dance, cowboy? I'll give you one." And I lifted up the skirt of my dress, way over my hips, and shimmied out of my black lace thong, keeping my shoes on. Then I unzipped my dress a little in the back and pulled the shoulders down, showing him my matching bra.