by Bowie, Emily
“Ignore her,” Luke tells me as he begins pulling me away from her direction.
“How do bad people like her still always get what they want?” I’m not necessarily asking, more so talking to myself.
“It’s all about perception. Don’t let her get under your skin. Nothing good will come of that. We both know that we are better than her.”
I stare at Luke and his perfectly calm and reasonably mature answer. “I think you’re getting soft on me, Luke Rogers,” I tease him.
“Trust me, there is nothing soft about me,” he tells me with a sexual innuendo.
“Shay, Luke!” Molly hollers at us as she waves in the back of the box of Joel’s truck. He slows down and Luke heads to his window as I go to Molly.
She tosses me a bottle of water, already knowing I wouldn’t have accepted a beer.
“So you and Luke in public.”
I shrug like it’s no big deal.
“Cheers.” We clink my bottle to her can. The music is suddenly off mid song, and I can hear Kellen.
Whipping around to look back at the stage, I can see Kellen and Cynthia facing off together in the middle of the dance floor. Everyone’s eyes are on them.
Even the band starts to ask them to move from the dance floor but they are ignored as more people come to the fence to watch the spectacle.
This just might be the gossip that fuels the town for the rest of the year. My poor parents, here they probably thought I was their only problem a few hours ago.
I can see the people talking.
Did you hear Kellen stole Cynthia away from his older brother?
What type of family shares girlfriends?
I hear that the baby she lost was Kellen’s.
Every one of those sentences is false but no one cares. They would rather a good story. I’m torn as my body waffles left to right, deciding if I should head on over there.
“Kellen is a big boy, he can handle himself.” Luke’s whisper brushes past my ear, making me jump. My thoughts must be written all over my face.
“Those brothers of yours sure like to stir up trouble, don’t they?” Molly says, but she’s not judging, if anything I think she is more in awe with Kellen than before.
“Well I think that’s our cue to head out.” I tap the back of the truck, finalizing my thought on leaving.
CHAPTER 29
Stepping closer to the truck, I pick up Shay without warning, loving the way her arms wrap around me immediately before twirling her in a circle. Her eyes dance with excitement and happiness, a feeling I am happy to think I have put there. She doesn’t allow me to push away, tilting my head toward hers.
My arms go to her legs, placing them around my belt before my lips take over. Her shiver does not go unnoticed by me neither does the soft moan that escapes her when I push her back to my truck and kiss the hell out of her. My dick instantly responds to kissing her like it always does. I’m done with holding back.
Pushing the loose strands from her face I look at her, no girl has looked at me the way she does. She looks at me like I’m her Prince Charming. No one has ever said I was charming, in that type of way before. I’m the bad boy who all the mothers tell their daughters not to get involved with. Then when they fight with Daddy they all run to me, making a point.
When the girl really hates her parents, I’m the guy she walks into church with. But not Shay, she’s not like that. She sees something else in me, and I plan to prove to this whole town that Shay Steele was right about me.
Opening the door with one hand, I lightly toss her into the cab, playfully showing off how easily I can maneuver her body. Tonight is going to be the night we remember, the night that starts it all.
I jump into the other side, ready to show her my surprise for her tonight. Shay has taken the seat right beside me. I don’t care that it might look silly that she’s not in the passenger seat. I like her close to me.
Turning left onto the dark road, I feel Shay’s hand on my thigh close to my cock. I feel her fingers graze my hardening dick and it causes her to continue to venture farther down. Yet another thing I love about her. I have no problem with her taking charge at first. But when it comes time to get serious I am the one taking charge. The way she touches me shows me she is more ready than I gave her credit for all those months ago.
Her hand strokes the outline of my pants before I feel my button being released. Her hand sinks under my boxers and grabs ahold of my now fully hard cock.
Without any trouble she frees my cock from my pants, then those delicious lips kiss my twitching dick. Her tongue swirls around it, massaging my shaft. I think I have died and gone to heaven.
Within a few seconds I have found an old ranch driveway to hide in. Putting my truck in park, I release my steering wheel and push it backward to give us more room.
My hands thread through her hair, my blue eyes starting to roll in the back of my head.
“Shay.” Her name rolls off my tongue and she sucks harder. The moment she comes up for air I pounce, taking my moment. I lean her against the passenger window, lifting her shirt up and clamp on to her bare breast, my other hand presses against her perfect tit. The weight of it in my hand makes me even harder, something I didn’t know was possible.
As I nip and suck on her nipple, my other hand rolls her hard pink nub with my fingers. Her moans encourage me. Unlatching, I pay the other tit attention while I fumble with her pants button, managing to pull her pants to her ankles.
I have come to the conclusion that flip-flops are a pain in the ass.
Playfully, I lower her until her upper back is against the door. “Spread your knees,” I command.
Slowly her legs part and her pink beautiful cunt is staring back at me.
“You’re perfect,” I tell her. I take my time touching her. My fingers slowly venture up the inside of her thigh to grace her glistening lips then back down her other thigh.
My other hand stays on her tit, pinching her nipple. Fuck I love her tits. I watch as her head dips backwards, her chin lifting toward me as her body responds to each of my touches.
I lightly touch her with the tip of my tongue before using my hands to open her up. Now it’s her turn to thread her fingers through my hair.
I lick and suck on her clit, feasting on her like I’ve been a starved man. My right hand has to stay on her stomach to keep her from hitting the roof of the truck while my other hand’s fingers gently push inside of her.
I keep finger and tongue fucking her until I feel her inside walls starting to clamp down on me.
Her scream bounces off the walls of my truck.
“Holy shit.” She pants, making my ego soar right now. Like a sex slave, placing her hot lips on my neck, her fingers wiggle at my jeans, edging them lower.
Taking me by surprise, she straddles my legs so her pussy is kissing my cock that is fully erect. She has this confident smirk on her lips, and then her lips are on mine. Her hips rub closer to mine, her slick pussy making my cock wet.
A husky moan leaves me. I’m just about to tell her I don’t have a condom because I wasn’t expecting this when she begins to move up and sits on the tip of my cock. Just the tip, but it feels so fucking good right now the words are lost on my lips. She lowers herself slowly until my cock is completely swallowed. Fuck she’s tight.
My eyes close with the pleasure of feeling her tight pussy clamp down on my cock. Then I open my eyes, needing to see her face. Her eyes are closed as she continues to move up and down. Just that look of pleasure on her face has my body jumping with her movements. My hands go to her sides, helping her with each thrust.
Then our lips find each other. We kiss hard and rough, like we’re claiming each other. I can feel her clit push against the top of my cock with each down motion and I want to put her right back to when she was screaming my name.
My lips find the column of her throat and kiss her there, making her movements more frantic. Then she’s screaming my name out, and I’m about ready to
explode. Lifting her off me and back down to the seat, I jack off with my hand, spraying myself onto her stomach.
Bending down, I give her another kiss before I take my pants fully off. Using my boxers as a towel, I clean her up. “Sorry, this is the best I can do,” I tell her, and she is smiling like a cat who ate a canary.
By now, no one would be able to get a look into my truck because the windows are so fogged up. We barely have all of our clothes back on when a loud banging smashes into Shay’s passenger side window.
“Luke, that you in there?” The words are slurred but strong enough to hear him perfectly.
“Is that your brother?” I ask Shay, turning on the defogger in my truck.
“Brax?” Shay questions as she begins to manually roll down my window.
Sure enough, Brax is trying to stand by my truck, swaying from side to side. His eyes are brimmed red, and I can smell him from here. A lot of whiskey and a little bit of vomit.
“You stink.” Shay comments on the obvious.
Looking him over his shoes are full of dirt, his clothes look as if he has taken a fall or two. I would say he must have been walking awhile to look like this. I assume he’s been trying to make it back home.
“Can you drive me home?” He looks from Shay to me, completely oblivious of what was happening in here a moment ago. My truck definitively smells of sex and sweat.
Brax sways again and his hand goes out to catch himself on the open window. Stepping out, I put on my clothes. Brax is still swaying, clueless to our moment, as I round the other side of my truck to ask, “What all have you drank tonight?” I start to guide him into the now open door, Shay being fully clothed again.
“Cynthia lost the baby, my baby,” he mumbles, stating what Shay had already told me. He’s acting shocked but I have a hard time understanding since it’s been a few months and she still wasn’t showing.
“Sounds like she’s giving you a way out.” I look over to see Shay roll her eyes.
“That’s because she wasn’t pregnant,” Shay says in exasperation, shaking her head. I think Shay hates Cynthia the most out of everyone in this town.
“I thought we had something real.” He goes on like we have said nothing.
Shay pretends to choke on her vomit at his words. I watch as he pats her leg. “Shay, you will understand when you fall in love.” I guess Kellen hasn’t filled in the rest of the family yet.
“She has been playing you.” I watch as Shay lowers her voice and tries to break this gently to her brother, but he’s too drunk to remember any of this.
“Shay, maybe you can talk to her for me?” he asks, his eyes slowly starting to close. Then he starts to chuckle. “But don’t murder her.”
I can’t help but to laugh at that imagery.
Stopping in front of their house, I turn to Shay. “Can you meet me in our spot in an hour?” I ask her, referencing the waterhole.
“I would meet you anywhere.” She moves and kisses me.
“Good.” Those are our last words as we begin to haul Brax’s unconscious body into the house to set him on the couch before I head out.
CHAPTER 30
I make sure Brax is on his side and a bucket is on the floor before I leave him behind. I don’t want to spend too much time in the house, scared my ma will wake up. I know she will make sure I never leave this house until I am an old spinster.
“Who you sneaking out to see?” Kellen’s voice startles me and I let out a small scream. My body tenses, wondering if I woke anyone up. I sigh, knowing that I won’t lie to him.
He’s sitting in the lazy boy with a dark drink in his hand, his eyes never leaving me. It’s intense and unnerving.
“Kellen, I love you but I am in love with Luke. Don’t make me choose between the two of you. You know who I am going out to meet,” I tell him, hoping it will register.
He grunts, taking a slow sip of his drink.
“Cynthia is trying to run rumors about her and me.”
“I know.” I don’t believe them and refuse to ask if they are true. I have that much trust in him.
“You’re the only one not to question me,” he tells me as I watch his eyes go to Brax. “Brax came to me to ask if it were true.” Kellen takes another drink, his words seeming lost on his tongue.
“We all know you would never do that.”
His hand swipes through his hair. “It looks bad on my part. Especially after I tried to talk some sense into that girl at the rodeo.”
“Yeah, I saw the commotion.”
He lets out an unenthusiastic chuckle at my words.
I walk over to him and give him a quick peck on the side of his forehead.
“You know I am here for you,” I tell him in all honesty.
“I would do anything for you too, LS. Don’t make me shoot Luke anytime soon.” He jokes but I know he means each word.
I begin to walk out the door but turn around. “I love you.”
“I know.” With that, I watch as he downs his whole glass before I close the door slowly and am off running to Luke and our special spot.
Like I have done many times before, I start my jog across the ranch toward the trees that form a path to the watering hole.
It’s dark, as the animals and the rest of Three Rivers sleep. I find the silence comfortable. I am so excited for this summer to be with Luke. My mind wanders to what type of jobs I could come up with here.
I could get a job at the diner as a waitress, I think. I feel like I need to consider what I am good at and make that into a career.
Coming to the opening, I go to our tree to lie on the picnic blanket we have kept here. Lying on my back I look up at the stars. I want to shine as bright as they are and have people looking back on my life with pleasure, like I am doing right now to those bursts of light.
Slowly, I turn over to my stomach and draw out our names in the dirt then wrap a heart around them. Shay and Luke forever. I like the ring to that.
I wait and wait for Luke to come. Reaching into my pockets, I realize I have forgotten my phone at home. Looking up into the sky, the darkness is slowly turning a lighter blue with red and orange streaks lighting the first bit of sky that kisses the land.
Something must have happened where Luke couldn’t meet me anymore. At that realization, I get a shiver that runs through my body. I feel like someone is watching me. Looking around, there is a slight rustle to the leaves from the gentle breath of wind that will slowly wake up the world.
Leaves rustle and a twig snaps. Calm down, I scold myself. No one is here. In another hour our ranch will be bustling with activity. I need to get into bed before my mom realizes I was out all night, although she probably already knows. Maybe I can sleep off her lecture. I don’t care what they say. I am staying home so I can make a life with Luke. I have never been so certain of anything in my life before. It feels right and natural.
Life without Luke won’t be a life worth living if I am forced to be away from him, I can feel it in my soul. Kellen will come around, I tell myself. Once he sees how happy we are and that this is the real thing, he will back off. I am certain he and Luke will start back off to where they left off. I can’t wipe the smile off my face as I think about the future and how I know it will work out.
I’m excited to grow with Luke and Kellen by my side. I’m already picturing double dates and beers by the campfire.
My steps through the dense trees have an extra pep in it as I make my way back to the house. But with each step I take I hear more footsteps. My heart jumps, thinking that Luke finally made it.
With a smile on my face, I run through the short battered grass on the path that is starting to dry into what looks like withered up hay. The lush green field sings a whispering whistling sound as the start of the summer wind dances across the top. The warm air tangles with the smells of tree sap and the change of the fields that come every end of spring.
Even with dawn fast approaching, I know my way; I would even if my eyes were closed. Screw
college, I have bigger plans. This is my year and nothing will stop me.
That’s when I crash into another body, one that shouldn’t be here. The solidity of a warm body bounces me down to the ground, and I land hard on my tailbone and palms of my hands. In a daze from the sudden wall in front of me, my hands swipe down across my now pebbled goose bumped legs, trying to brush off the dirt that immediately took to me.
“Aren’t you a little past your curfew?” Cynthia mocks as she glares down at me.
“Why, I am so sorry about you losing that fake baby of yours.” I give it right back to her, knowing full well she is a lying piece of shit.
An eerie laugh escapes her as she towers over me. “I can’t decide who to pin this fake baby on.” I watch as she tilts her head to the side like she is debating my brothers’ futures. “Maybe I will let them decide who the father was?”
“We both know Kellen would never step up because he never touched you.”
“So naïve, little Shay. I thought I taught you better than that.”
I hate Cynthia for making my brothers’ lives miserable, for making me miserable, and for her presence in our town. I try to rein in my hatred, striving to think clearly. But when I see her I only see hate. She uses people for her pleasure and entertainment. Knowing she is trying to use my brothers as puppets makes me want to hit her hard. I’m not a violent person, yet I want to hurt her. That is how much I hate her; I can’t even use the word dislike.
“Would you rather I set my sights a little lower and aim for Luke?” Her voice is gentle and warm, like we are discussing the weather with sweet tea on church grounds.
Dropping my hands beside me, I try to push up on the ground, instead of the ground welcoming my approach to get up, my hand rests on a blunt metal object that has fallen beside me.