by M. Mabie
Yeah. She was definitely worth all the hell I might hear from everyone. She was worth the uncomfortable looks from my family. The talk and chatter, when people didn’t think I could hear, didn’t really matter that much. Because, at the end of the day, Sunny had kissed me and wanted to spend time with me—even if she had to bag sand just to do it.
I’d take the teasing if I got to touch her. If I got to be with her.
My hands slid under her arms and knees. She fell easily against my chest as I lifted and walked her down the hall to her bed. When I docked her into her bed, she peacefully rolled to her side. Pulling the blankets over her feet then up to her shoulders, I folded them beneath her chin.
The urge to reach out for her once more before I left was too powerful. My fingers ran over her cheek, over her messy blond hair.
I hadn’t been in many relationships, so I hoped there was a learning curve that wasn’t too noticeable from her end, but seeing her in her bed, sleeping, I had a potent desire to either be the man she deserved or become him. She deserved someone who respected her, who really thought about her, and took the time to realize she wasn’t only a beautiful face.
Bent over, my lips met her temple and my eyes shut to absorb her warmth and scent. A lovely hum exited her with her next breath.
“I couldn’t name the things I like about you earlier, Sunshine. There are just too many. That list gets longer by the minute. Some things never change.”
The thought of crawling into bed behind her, and putting my hands all over her body simply to find out if she fit around me like I knew she would, was tempting. There’d be time for that another night, I prayed.
Besides, I liked when she came to me better. There wasn’t anything like watching her step up and put her hands on me.
“Good night,” I whispered and twisted the knob on the lamp until the room went dark.
I was a patient man. Hell, I’d already waited my whole life. What was a little more?
After I let Andy out for a stroll through the yard, I watched him march down the hall to sleep with our girl. He was the second luckiest dog I ever met.
Before I left, I stood in front of her refrigerator staring at Mike’s phone number. On one hand, it wasn’t my place to remove it. But, on the other hand, it totally fucking was, and that hand was stronger. It landed in the trash on my way out.
We were about halfway down the hall when I realized he was carrying me to bed. I was so tired, but I desperately tried to cling to the way he felt. How firm his chest was under my head. How strong his arms felt holding my body to his. But, I was in that place between sleep and awake, and I couldn’t move.
I felt the cool sheets on my legs as he covered me.
Lucid and partly dreaming, I let myself fall back into a dream where he climbed into my bed and took my clothes off. I could almost feel his hands on my body, and I felt a vibration leave me as I sunk down further into the sensation of him.
In my dream he told me he liked so many things about me he couldn’t name them all and told me some things never change. But, I think all he really said was, “Good night.”
That was the last thing I could remember the next morning as I ate a yogurt and waited for Andy to come back in from making his morning lap around the yard.
Usually, I wasn’t much for ballads. I’d play the popular ones, but that morning at my kitchen table I noticed myself flipping through online playlists and flagging lots of slower songs for future use.
That day’s music on WDKR was already programed, and mostly the standards I relied on, but for fun I ran over to the station and threw in some songs about kissing. I hoped Rhett was listening and that they’d subliminally make him want to make out with me again.
That guy knew his way around a kiss. Wow.
It was all I could focus on that morning and all the way into town on the way to my mom’s.
“Mom,” I called as I walked through the back door into the kitchen. My dad wasn’t there, his car missing from the driveway. Both of them worked the occasional Saturday, but they never worked on Sundays. We had lunch together almost every week.
She had the griddle out, the butter, cheese and bread. My mom’s grilled cheese was worth driving into town for. It was one of the only things she didn’t try to make healthier. I guessed she was deep into a project and knew it would be the fastest thing. I didn’t mind.
“Hey, Sunny,” she answered from somewhere upstairs. “I’ll be right down.” I followed the sound of her voice all the way up to my old room.
“What are you doing?” I’d left some of my things when I moved out for college, and even though they’d repurposed the room, some of my stuff still hung on the wall. There were a few boxes on the day bed, and when I stepped in she was reaching up into the closet for something.
“I was looking for a box of pictures. BJ, from your class, called and wanted to know if I had any pictures of you cheerleading from high school. She said they’re doing some slide show for your reunion. When she was in the salon last week, I told her I’d look. I thought you still had some in here.”
On her tiptoes, she pulled an old shoebox off the top shelf and I immediately remembered what was inside.
“That box should have some. I wonder why she didn’t just call me?” I hadn’t been asked to help with the reunion at all and would have helped, but I assumed they’d let me know if they needed anything.
Taking the box from her hands, I sat down on the ottoman by the window where I used to do my homework. The Nike box was full and there were notes and programs from our senior year.
The first picture was one of Hannah and me. My mom babysat Hannah in the summers before she went back to the salon full-time. We were so little. I had braces, knobby knees, and an NSYNC shirt on.
“Oh my God, not this one,” I laughed and showed it to her.
“Bring that with you. We’ll look at the table.”
In the kitchen, she busied herself with buttering the bread and making sandwiches. I heard my dad pull in the drive as she said, “Hey, your dad said you were at the Caraways’ yesterday.”
I had been there, but with the mention of Caraway, my mind went back to the kiss and my cheeks felt hot remembering his tongue sweeping over mine.
When my dad walked in, she met and kissed him like always, still holding the spatula.
“The Caraways needed help,” I explained, then started to work my way through the box again, pulling a few pictures out to let Mom give B.J.
At the bottom, I found an envelope with the flap tucked inside itself. I opened it and a flutter of something swam through my belly. They were the cards I’d saved from the flowers I’d received. The top one was from my mom and dad on my sixteenth birthday and under it was the first of many from Rhett. I smiled thinking about how many times he’d sent me roses or daisies. For a young man, he sure had game.
At the time, they were sweet and a little embarrassing, but they always made me smile. I didn’t care. Getting flowers—from anyone—is usually pretty nice. And, now that things had been turned upside down, I felt something completely different, and the thought of him sending me flowers inflated a warm sensation in my chest.
“Yeah, they needed help,” my dad teased.
“What?” I shot back, pretty much knowing where he was going.
“You and Rhett seemed to work well together,” he said, pretending to be more interested in the cheese my mom was slapping on the bread.
She bumped into his shoulder to either get him away or to quit being a smart ass to me, probably a little of both.
“Don’t listen to him, Sunny,” my mom argued over her shoulder. “He just said it didn’t look like you minded Rhett paying attention to you anymore. Your dad is being a shit.”
Well, he was a shit who was totally freaking right. I liked when he paid me attention. In fact, I was hoping he’d have texted or called me by then, but he hadn’t.
It was nice out and he was probably busy as hell finishing up the last few spots on the levee. Tha
t or maybe it was just Sunday and he was relaxing.
Sure, I’d fallen asleep by nine the night before—I wondered how late he’d stayed.
I wanted to talk to him, but I didn’t want to seem like a crazy girl all up in his space either. I’d decided I was going to wait for him to call me. Let him make the next move.
Yeah. That would be best.
Then, if and when he did, I was going to kiss him again. It was nearly noon, and I was hoping to get the chance that day.
“Hey, Rhett isn’t a kid anymore,” my dad said. “I seriously doubt he’s chasing the girls like he used to. Bet they’re all chasing him. Right, Sunny?” He poked my side as he sat down next to me.
I gave him a warning look, then waited until he filled up his glass with tea and went to take a drink. When the time was right, I bumped the bottom of his glass, causing him to spill.
“Shut up,” I told him. I didn’t want to talk about it with my parents, but my dad was on to me, and he no doubt had already fed my mother his findings.
My mom handed us each a paper plate with a grilled cheese—split in half corner to corner like always. She grabbed her plate and took a seat with us and said, “He is handsome though.”
I cocked my head to the side. I thought she’d be on my side, but they were double-teaming me.
“Both of you stop. Yes, he’s handsome. Yes, I was there yesterday helping.”
“Yes, he’s single,” my prying mother added.
“I’d hope so,” I remarked then tried to smooth over. “I mean he just got back and everything.”
They both laughed at me, my dad covering his full mouth with a fist not to choke.
“Whatever you say, Sunny,” my mom teased, but luckily that was the end of it.
It was Sunday, but the town was busy. People were in the park and walking along the streets taking advantage of the sun.
I’d hung out with my folks for a while and gave a few things to my mom for the slide show, then went to the truck stop to get a Coke and decided I’d just drive around a while. See who was out and about.
Besides, he still hadn’t called, and I was still constantly thinking about the kiss. I was merely wasting time until the next one. But, I didn’t want to call him.
It was weird—usually I didn’t give a shit to talk to a guy so soon after I’d just seen him the night before. With Rhett, I just wanted to know what he was doing, what he was thinking about, and if he was thinking about me.
I’m sure it wasn’t healthy or sane, but there wasn’t much I could do about it.
That damn kiss.
After about thirty minutes of driving around aimlessly with nothing to do, I gave in and picked up my phone. Stopped at a four-way on some back road, I let it ring three times and then chickened out and sat it down in the passenger seat.
He was probably busy. Or sleeping. Or doing something and didn’t want to be bothered. Why couldn’t I just wait for him to call me?
God, I was a loser.
Then my phone rang and it was his name on the screen. Shit.
I slid my finger across the screen and answered the call.
“Why’d you hang up?” he asked, and the sound of his voice made me smile like a fool in my car on the gravel road.
“I don’t know,” I confessed.
“What are you doing?”
I looked around. Telling him that I was going stir-crazy waiting for him to call wasn’t smart. “Not much. Just riding around bored.”
“Bored? What did I tell you about that?”
I laughed. “I don’t think I remember. What are you doing?”
“We got done with the levee pretty early, so I took the tractor down a few roads that were getting a little rough. Almost to the shed down from my place.”
Ask me to come over.
Ask me to do something.
Cure my boredom with your mouth.
“I’ll be back there in about ten minutes. Wanna meet me? We can’t have you bored.”
I pulled my foot off the brake and turned toward his place, the phone still to my ear.
“Okay. Sorry I fell asleep on you last night,” I admitted.
“Did you just get up?”
“No. Actually, I was up around seven. I got a lot of rest going to bed that early. And on a Saturday night, too. I’m sure you’re so impressed with my party skills.”
“Oh, your skills are impressive.” I heard the loud roar of whatever kind of machinery he was on. “Hey, I’ll see you in a minute. This thing is loud.”
“All right,” I said.
“Just pull in behind my truck. It’s pretty muddy down there.”
“Okay, bye.” I threw my phone into the seat again and flew down the road.
When I turned into the shed, he was already off the tractor and had it pulled into the stall behind a big overhead door. Jeans and muddy boots, sleeveless t-shirt and ball cap.
He met me in the drive beside a four-wheeler. “We’re gonna move a couple head of cows over tomorrow, and I need to go check a few fences. Wanna go?” he asked and unscrewed the cap on the gas tank of the four-wheeler, then rocked it side to side to see how full it was.
If going meant getting on that thing with him, then yes. I definitely wanted to go.
She was becoming my favorite lucky penny, showing up around every corner.
“I’ll go,” she answered.
“Good. Get on up there, I’m going to grab a few things.” If I could fix anything minor, I’d want to do it while I was there and save time. My dad and I had planned on working on it the next day, but I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to take her for a ride.
Luckily it was a beautiful afternoon, and it wasn’t supposed to rain for the next few days. Although the river was still high and climbing, forecasts predicted it wouldn’t crest later that week.
I didn’t wait to see her get on the four-wheeler, knowing I’d only be testing my limits if I stuck around to watch her straddle the seat. I’d already spent most of the night before hard, and it wasn’t much better that day.
With a sledgehammer and a few tools I could use if I saw anything that needed a mend, I’d have what I needed. I left the overhead door open, then set the tools on the wire rack behind her and strapped them down with a bungee cord.
Her hands were out to the sides already holding onto the rack. That would be the first thing I fixed. She’d be holding onto me.
Sunny watched my every move, and before I climbed on, I turned my ball cap around.
Her tongue peeked out and wet her lips. She had kiss me all over her face, and I fucking loved it.
“I would have called you this morning, but I knew you were tired.”
She leaned in and her blue eyes locked on mine.
“That’s okay. I didn’t want to bother you. Or…” I didn’t let her finish. I’d thought of little else than her mouth, and she could talk in a minute. I needed to taste her so I could focus on driving.
A short, sweet kiss wasn’t going to be enough, but it would satisfy me for the time being. Holding back from deepening the kiss, I pulled away before she could even open her eyes. Her pretty neck reached out and her lips puckered for more.
God, she always looked so good to me.
I planted another quick kiss to her lips and climbed on, started the four-wheeler, and popped it into gear before I sat down in front of her. We moved forward, but her hands didn’t wrap around me like I wanted them to. Like I thought they would naturally.
So, I stopped.
“I want you to hold on to me, Sunny.” I pried her hands off the rack on her sides and brought them around my stomach. I turned my head to the side so I could hear her over the rumble of the machine. “Okay?”
Her fingers latched and I felt her chest press against my back as she slid a little closer to me on the seat.
“Okay,” she said. “I will.”
The field behind my cabin met up with a creek that butted up against a meadow where we let our cows graze sometimes. I
rode along the field a little slower than I would have, had I been alone, watching for muddy spots and careful to go around the bigger ones. Nice and slow.
Besides, I was doing the next day’s work with the girl of my dreams holding on to me like we were flying down the path.
There was no rush at all.
When the fence line met us it looked to be in pretty good shape. Yet, as we got closer to where it ran through the creek, I could see where the water had repeatedly battered it, but it was too steep in that spot to get down there to fix it. The other side looked like easier access, so I made the tough call to go the long way around to get to it.
More riding. What a shame.
“It’s so pretty out here,” she said in my ear. Her chin perched on my shoulder as she leaned up to see around me. The back of the seat was somewhat higher and a hell of a lot less worn than where I sat.
“It is.” Although I loved our land and was committed to it, I knew the best view on my property was right behind me. Her.
“How good are your shoes?” I asked, knowing we were about to go through some nasty spots.
She kicked her leg out to the side and inspected it. “They’re just tennis shoes. Nothing special.”
I pressed forward on the throttle to get us up the ridge that led to a clear spot on the creek where we’d cross over at a gate.
“You can swing your legs up on my lap if you don’t want to get them messed up.” Topping the hill, I slowed to let her readjust. Like I’d said, she wrapped her legs around my waist and her feet met between my legs over the tank. “Ready?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she said, and I felt her head nod at the same time.
I took it slow going down the grassy side of the hill on the way down, and my free hand held tight to her feet to keep her from sliding around. The steep decline pushed her middle even closer to me, and while going down I instinctively arched back into her chest as I inched down to the water line.
It was clear enough to see the rock pass we’d built up. A lot of it had washed out, but there was enough to get through, even though the water was much higher than usual. I kicked my feet up on the front fender and watched where I was going for loose rock, making my way slowly across the creek.