by Ana Lewin
“It’s just… this evening wasn’t supposed to be good. Tonight was supposed to be stressful and terrible but then you came back and I… well, I finally stood up to them. I finally told them that I don’t want to be their puppet to make them seem like better socialites.”
One arm wrapping around her waist, he smiled. “I’m glad we were both able to face our demons instead of letting them eat away at us. Can you be ready to leave New York tomorrow? The city makes me more than a little bit uncomfortable.”
“I’ll have to pick up the rest of my things from my parent’s house because I don’t think I’m ever going to be going back there after today. But we can do that right now and pack it all up in the truck and I can start driving back tomorrow. Did you… did you drive here, or..?”
They’d started walking towards a parking lot down the street, where he assumed Olivia had parked to avoid paying for the valet. “I booked a one-way flight ticket,” he looked over at her sheepishly. “I guess I may have been a little bit too confident that I would be able to convince you to come back and we’d be driving back together.”
She laughed again, her happiness contagious as he pulled her tighter against his side. He’d missed her warmth and the softness of her skin during their time apart. “Confidence is a good look on you. I’ve always thought so.”
Nothing else was said as they got into her truck, simply enjoying each other’s company as everything finally sunk in. He had the love of his life back, hopefully for good.
***
“Maeve said that she was going to come and visit in the summer,” Olivia murmured, her fingers playing with the hair on his bare chest. “That’s fine, right? We have that spare bedroom in the basement she could stay in, or that little den beside Oscar’s room has the pull-out couch.”
“Princess, you don’t have to ask permission to have guests over. It’s our house, and there are at least ten places Maeve could sleep if by some miracle we don’t have a bedroom available for her.”
They were sitting in the dim light of a motel room in the middle of nowhere, the silence surrounding them except for the gentle background noise of a nature program on the ancient TV. Olivia had insisted on stopping halfway through their drive home, even though Grant knew that he could do it in one go if he wanted to. He had a feeling that she’d just wanted to have sex because she’d attacked him the second they’d gotten into the room. Not that he minded at all. “It’s still your house and I wouldn’t want to intrude,” she said, a soft flush to her cheeks that made his cock start to wake up again.
“No, it’s our house. Mine and yours. Everything that’s mine is yours now.”
“It’s not like we’re married, you don’t have to do that.”
“The only reason I’m not asking you to marry me right now is because I figure you might want to wait until you graduate university. But if you’d prefer to get married that can be arranged.”
“No,” she laughed. “Part of me is tempted but it’s a little soon. And… even though I know it probably won’t happen I want to wait and see if maybe my parents change their minds.”
Grant doubted that they would, but he wasn’t going to tell her that. She already knew. “Then I’ll wait to ask you until after you’ve graduated.”
“You might be waiting a while, considering how much money I have to save up first.”
“You’re starting in September or January, or as soon as you can. I’ll pay for it. My parents were frugal and they left me a lot of savings, plus the ranch is doing well enough,” she opened her mouth to say no but he lifted a finger and placed it against her lips. “I’m not going to listen to an argument here. If you’re that insistent on paying for it yourself, you can pay me back. Think of it like a loan without interest. But it’ll be easier for you to pay me back once you’re doing what you love and not making minimum wage.”
Olivia still looked hesitant, biting her lip in a way that made him want to lean in and bite it too. “Fine, but only because you’re so damn demanding. But I’m getting a job in town so I can pay for as much as I can by myself.”
“Me? Demanding?” Leaning down, he pressed a kiss against her lips and brought his hand down to tweak at one of her nipples. Her back arched right off the bed just like he knew it would and her lips parted on a gasp. “Never.”
Not bothering to deal with his attitude, she instead reached out to grab his cock and nurse it back to its full hardness as he played with her tits. He’d come inside her during their first round so she was still wet and ready for him, but he’d been planning on playing with her a little bit before jumping straight to the sex. She had different plans, tugging playfully on his cock until he did what she wanted and moved to hover over her. “Now you’re being demanding, princess,” he pressed the tip of his cock against her entrance, rubbing it gently back and forth.
“Me? Demanding?” she smirked at him, repeating his words. “Never. Now put it in, I want you inside me.”
He didn’t bother to point out how the demand proved his point, especially because he’d denied being demanding earlier when that was exactly what he was. Shifting his hips forward it was easy to slip his length inside of her and they both groaned in pleasure when he bottomed out, balls resting gently against her ass. They’d missed each other when they’d been apart. Still, considering it had only been four days they really shouldn’t be this horny. It felt like they were making up for lost time, and the sex felt almost different than it had before. Since they’d admitted that they loved each other, it felt even more like love-making than sex. Not that he’d ever noticed a difference with any other woman he’d had in his life.
“Grant, move,” she shifted her butt to try to fuck herself on his cock, but with the angle it wasn’t an easy feat.
Briefly he contemplated teasing her, but it didn’t feel like that kind of night. Right now he just wanted to make love to her and remind them both that he’d been an idiot but he’d fixed it. He’d be working on fixing his insecurities for the rest of his damn life, but he’d taken enough of a leap to get her back and that was all that mattered.
So he pulled out and slammed back in, causing the whole bed to shift and bang against the wall. He didn’t care, and neither did Olivia because she wrapped her legs around his waist and urged him to go faster, harder. They’d already had their fair share of people getting mad at them for fucking too loud in hotel rooms, surely getting called out another time wouldn’t matter.
His hips pounded against hers, his lips touching her anywhere they could reach. Her neck, her tits, her shoulder, her lips, her forehead. Not touching her simply wasn’t an option. When she brought her hand down to play with her clit he knew she was close and he picked up the pace even more, racing her to orgasm with the hope that she would win. She did.
“Grant!” she yelled his name as her hips bucked off the bed, pussy clenching and fluttering against his length. Her orgasm triggered his and he cursed as he came deep inside of her, thrilled that he could claim her as his own every damn night.
When they were both spent he collapsed beside her again, grinning when she threw a leg over his hips and cuddled against his side. The room was warm enough but as the sweat dried on his skin a few goosebumps rose and he pulled the blanket over top of them. “I love you, Olivia. I’ll love you forever,” he said, pressing a kiss to the top of her head, forever in awe of the striking color of her hair.
“I love you too Grant. Forever.”
Epilogue
Olivia
Four and a half years later
The clapping was deafening as she walked across the stage, smiling out at the crowd. Everyone she cared about was there to see her graduate, and in her time in Pelmsemet that had grown to be a large number of people. Regulars from the diner where she waitressed had made the trek out to Knoxville for the ceremony, along with what seemed like everyone she’d ever worked with at the ranch. Half the town was out in the crowd cheering for her.
But of course her eyes immediately
found the one person that she was looking for, finding him grinning from ear to ear and clapping like mad. Grant. He’d made good on his demand to pay for her schooling while simultaneously refusing to accept any money back even though she had thousands sitting in a savings account right now. At least she’d gotten away with paying for her own books and supplies, though she was pretty sure he’d slipped cash into her wallet on more than one occasion. Her moment didn’t last long as she took the diploma and walked off the other side of the stage, but the high lasted for the rest of the ceremony.
When it was over people flocked to her, issuing their congratulations and well wishes. Hank, the owner of the shop she’d gone in to get that first pair of boots and a diner regular, came up to clap her on the back. “You did good, Liv. How are all the horses doing?”
“You know they’re all doing fine,” she laughed, grinning. “Someone from the ranch comes into your store at least every few days.”
“Yeah, yeah,” he waved it off. “But I care more about your opinion than the boy’s opinions.”
Laughing some more, she shrugged. Riding horses had become enough of a passion for her that Levi had her teaching people to ride now, despite her rough start. When she wasn’t working at the diner or studying, she was teaching people to ride or doing menial tasks around the ranch. She liked being busy, particularly because it wasn’t New York busy. The vibe was so different she couldn’t even explain it. “Well I think Daisy is a little sad that I haven’t been around as much recently with my last round of exams, but now that I’m done school I’m sure she’ll be fine.”
“See, that’s the kind of insight I wanted,” Hank chuckled and wandered off, leaving her to the long line of other people wanting a word.
She was just starting to wonder why she hadn’t seen Grant when he appeared behind her, hands resting on her hips on top of her graduation gown. “You got the whole town to come,” he stated, chuckling.
The ceremony was outdoor and the weather was spectacular, so the university hadn’t much cared about how many people came. Most of the people she didn’t know well had opted to stand at the sidelines, leaving the chairs for people who didn’t have fifty people coming to support their achievement. “No no, that was you,” she spun around to give him a quick kiss. “You’re the one who went around mentioning it to everyone. As soon as Hank knew the date and location it was practically gossip and a free-for-all for anyone to come.”
“But do you mind?” he teased, glancing around at how happy everyone was, chatting with each other.
“No, not really.”
Soon more people came up to her and she had to accept their congratulations and she lost Grant in the crowd for a while, until they came back together for the hour drive back home. Driving an hour each way into Knoxville for classes hadn’t exactly been ideal for the past four years, but it had been more than doable. She listened to a lot of podcasts and recorded lectures and music. She’d come to enjoy driving, something she never would have imagined back when she was still living in New York. But when it’s only the open road ahead of you, without the congestion and traffic of a giant city and millions of people, it was different.
“I’m proud of you, you know,” Grant said, reaching out to put a hand on her leg as he drove her truck. She was shocked the thing had made it a full four and a half years without completely falling apart, but even so it might be time to use some of those savings to buy something a little more reliable. Especially since Grant refused to accept the loan money back.
“I know you are,” she said, staring out the window and watching the trees and fields whip past them. “Part of me still wishes that they’d come.”
His back stiffened, knowing exactly who she was talking about. “I understand, but I’m glad they didn’t.”
Her parents. They’d never accepted the two of them being together or understood the fact that Olivia wanted to live her own damn life. But what was worse than them not understanding it was the fact that they’d pretended. For a week they’d stayed in their house, acting like they wanted to make things better, like they’d taken time off from work and the New York social scene just to visit her. That would have been unheard of, if it had been true.
None of it had been true. After a week of staying with them her parents had started trying to whisper things in her ear about how she should get married and convince Grant to sell the ranch, moving them to New York. Oscar’s social media skills had quickly revealed a fact that they had been hiding from everyone on the ranch. They were declaring bankruptcy. They’d burned through the legacy money that their parents had left them, they were losing the house and to top it all off, somewhere along the way both of them had lost their jobs. Reconciling with her had been some kind of last-ditch attempt to stop themselves from going completely under.
That had been two years ago. They hadn’t spoken since.
“You’re right and I know that,” she tried to shake off the negative feelings and focus on the happy ones. She’d graduated from a university that she loved with a degree in a field that she would be happy working in for the rest of her life. The man of her dreams was sitting in the driver’s seat right next to her and she had some news for him tonight that was bound to thrill him as much as it thrilled her.
When they pulled up to the diner it was already packed, but Levi had saved them a couple of seats at a table in the corner, about as far away from all the action as they could get. Then again, she was the action, so she had people coming up to her that she barely knew to let her know how proud they were of her. The support of the community had made up for her shitty parents a thousand times over already, and tonight was proving it for her all over again. Laughter filled the air and her coworkers brought her a whole pie, on the house. Their pies were famous in Pelmsemet for being the best and with how many she’d eaten in her time here… well, she could attest to that.
As the party was winding down, Grant pulled her outside for some air, walking a block down the road to get away from the hustle and bustle. By now dusk was falling and the rest of the downtown core had shut down for the day except for a few pubs down the street. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind that they were filled to the brim with the older farmers who loved to spend their Saturday nights shooting the shit with every other farmer in town. She turned back to Grant after looking around but instead of finding him standing where he’d been right beside her, she found him down on one knee, holding a black velvet box.
“Oh my God,” she whispered, grasping at the hem of her dress. “Grant?”
Smiling up at her, he cocked an eyebrow. “You weren’t expecting this? Don’t you remember, princess? Four and a half years ago when I brought you back here from New York, I said I wasn’t going to propose until you’d graduated. I’ve been waiting forever to be able to ask you this, so I didn’t want to wait any longer than your graduation night. Olivia Montgomery, will you marry me?” he flipped open the box to reveal a ring with small diamonds that glinted in the dim light of the dusk and the streetlights, a gold band holding them. It wasn’t anything extravagant or gaudy — he knew she wouldn’t like that. But even in its simplicity, it screamed ‘engagement ring’ and it drew her eye enough that she couldn’t stop looking at it.
“Are you going to answer, or just stare in awe at the ring?” Grant was joking around, but he sounded nervous.
“Oh, yes. Yes. A thousand times yes. How could I possibly say anything else?” she knelt beside him and pulled him into a kiss, not caring that she was probably getting dirt on her dress. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was the man in front of her and the fact that they were going to have the future together that they’d both always dreamed about. When she broke the kiss she spoke again. “I didn’t think you were going to ask me this tonight but… I have some news too.”
He looked confused and they both stood up from the ground. A small group of people had gathered around their proposal, taking pictures and videos, but it still felt like they were completely alone. Lea
ning in, she whispered the secret she’d been keeping straight into his ear. “I’m pregnant. We’re going to have a baby.”
Grant pulled back to look at her in shock as if she was going to tell him she was kidding. Instead she met his look with a wide grin. “You’re serious?”
“One hundred percent serious.”
This time he believed her, grabbing her and lifting her into his arms princess style. “We’re going directly home. Right now.”
“Why?” she asked, relaxing against him as if she was picked up like this every day.
He lowered his voice enough that no one could hear. “Because I need to fuck you senseless after news like that.”
“Why do I get the feeling that you’re going to be all over me this whole pregnancy?” they’d gotten far enough from the cheering crowd that she didn’t need to lower her voice quite as much.
“Because that’s absolutely what’s going to happen. You’re mine and I’m yours and this baby is going to be the start of the rest of our lives together. It’s more than I’d ever dreamed of before I met you and now I have it. I need to keep reminding myself that it’s actually real.”
Sometimes she had to remind herself of that too, but as she looked up at Grant with their whole life laid out in front of them, she knew it was real. It was too perfect to be anything else.
THE END
Also by Ana Lewin
Riled by the Rider: Honeydew Ranch Book 1
(Coming soon: Available June 2020)
Maeve has a problem. And it’s not just her dad’s endless helicopter parenting or the fact that everyone she’s interviewed with has seemed more interested in fucking her than hiring her.
No, her problem is the sexy, bearded, much older riding instructor she impulse-fucked in the back of a truck. The one that just so happens to live and work at Honeydew Ranch, the same ranch that she’s going to be staying at for the next three weeks.