I spin the meat and veggie filled concoction with my spoon, blowing on it to cool. Just as I’m about to take a bite, Reid stops me. “You know I’m starving, right?”
“Yeah, you’re just wasting away, aren’t you? Just try it like this.” He grins as he crumbles some cornbread on top.
I start the whole process again, mixing and blending it before I take my first bite. Not caring if he’s going to try and stop me again, I shovel a spoonful of chili in my mouth. I think I’ve just died and gone to Heaven. My eyes roll back in my head as I groan. It tastes even better than it smells. “Oh… my… gosh… this is so good,” I praise him around a mouthful of food.
When I finally open my eyes, Reid stands there with his arms crossed over his chest, and a proud smile across his face. “The best in town, huh?”
“I don’t know about that, but I’ll tell you anything you wanna hear as long as you keep feeding me.”
“See, a keeper,” he says, turning his eyes to Wes.
Wes and I talk with Reid as I finish my chili. When Reid mentions that they are about to judge, we decide to walk around.
“Aren’t you gonna stay and see who wins?” Reid asks with a pout.
“From what I just tasted, I have no doubt that you’ll win.” I lean up and kiss him on the cheek. When I pull back, his cheeks are tinted a light red. “Good luck, even though I don’t think you’ll need it.” Wes grabs my hand in his, interlaces our fingers, and pulls me behind him as we laugh at a speechless Reid.
“That fucker’s gonna win it. I don’t know what he’s so worried about. He’s been competing every year since he was ten.” As we break through the barriers of the crowd, orange and red hues begin to light the evening sky as the sun starts to set.
“He’s been competing since he was ten?” I’m intrigued as we continue down the center of the street.
He nodded. “Yeah, it’s a thing him and his dad did together. But now, his dad’s retired and has handed down the ladle and the stock pot to his son.”
Just then, I hear the gravely, husky sounds of Gary Allan’s Man of Me, and crane my neck, looking around for the source. Noticing what has captured my attention, Wes gently tugs on my hand, making me look at him. “Wanna dance?”
With a grin, I jerk my head in a nod. He pulls me toward a roped off area where a band is set up, obviously singing cover songs because the lead singer definitely isn’t Gary Allan. But damn, did he sound close enough. The ropes connect to large wooden pillars placed around the band and makeshift dance floor. Lanterns hang, suspended from wires that stretch from one wooden pillar to the next, above people dancing. Wes leads me out onto the dance floor. Underneath the soft glow, he wraps his arms around my waist. I wrap my arms around his neck just as the singer announces the next song, It Goes Like This by Thomas Rhett. With the snap of the drum, and the strum of the guitar, I pull Wes as close as possible, laying my head against his chest. I’ve never felt more relaxed as I do at this moment with his arms holding me close, him singing softly in my ear, and us swaying to the music. When the lead singer belts out the lyrics about being all messed up and sounding crazy, I lift my head off his chest and reach up, softly stroking his cheek. I gaze into his stunning, cobalt blue eyes as his lips pull into a smile. I love him. Leaning down, a hairsbreadth from my lips, he whispers “Come with me?”
I lean in, closing the minute distance left between us, my lips meeting his. After a long, slow, tantalizing kiss, he pulls back and I answer, “Let’s go.”
As Wes leads me off the floor, he takes my hand in his. On the way back to the truck, a group of kids stands next to a fireworks stand playing with their sparklers. I watch in fascination as they spin the shimmering sticks. Designs of all sorts light up the nighttime. “You want to get some?” Wes asks from beside me as he notices what has caught my attention.
“Hell, yeah! Who doesn’t love sparklers?” I reply excitedly. When we reach the stand, I release Wes’ hand and walk over to the group of kids.
A little boy with short brown hair, brown eyes, and rosy red cheeks smiles at my approach. He shows off the cutest set of dimples I’ve ever seen as he smiles and waves me over. When I get closer to him and the others, he says, “Hi. You’re really pretty.”
I chuckle at that. Kids always speak the truth.
“Hello. Thank you. And you’re really handsome.” I kneel down to match the boy’s height.
“I’m Adam.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Adam. I’m Kenleigh.”
“Do you like sparklers?” He spins his so that its light makes a circular shape.
“I love sparklers.”
He looks at me with his eyebrows dipped, and his nose scrunched, and I can’t help but smile at his cute little face. “But you’re a grown up.”
“You’re right, I am, but you can never be grown up enough not to play with sparklers.”
“Never grown up enough?” he asks, mystified.
“Never.” I shake my head.
“You wanna try?” He offers his sparkler to me.
“Sure. Thanks.” I reach out and take the metal stick that’s still on fire. I wave it back and forth, creating the illusion of ribbons floating in the air. Next, I write Adam’s name in one swift motion, joining the letters.
“Wow! That was so cool,” he squeals with a look of awe on his face.
“It was.” I look over my shoulder to see Wes standing there with a smile on his face. In one hand, he holds a bundle of sparklers, and in the other, he has a snow cone. Still knelt down, I turn my attention back to Adam. “Here you go.” I hand him back his barely lit sparkler. “I have to go, but don’t forget that you’re never too grown up to play with sparklers, okay?”
I stand up, turn around, and walk over to Wes. “Is that for me?” I look at the snow cone.
He nods. “It is, but you have to kiss me first.”
I scrunch up my face and shake my head. “In that case, I don’t know if I want it.”
“Oh, you want it.” He drops his voice an octave as I stop right in front of him.
“And how do you know that?” I ask quietly, peeking up at him through my eyelashes.
“Because it tastes delicious.” He grins a smug, cocky grin.
I take it out of his hand and wrap my lips around a portion of the cold, crushed, colored ice, tasting a hint of watermelon. The veins in his neck bulge a little, and as I watch, his back straightens. On the inside, I do a little victory dance, knowing that I have some kind of effect on him. “Mmmm… You’re right. It is delicious,” I say huskily. “Would you like a taste?”
“I would, but not here.” His voice is strained. Who’s cocky now? Wes grasps my hand in his and pulls me toward the truck. “Come on, I have somewhere I wanna take you.”
After we get in the truck, we make our way toward the outskirts of town. Wes rolls down the windows since it has cooled off a little. “Where are we going?” I ask over the sound of the wind swooshing through the cab of the truck.
He turns off on a dirt road, and points at a spot nestled between two trees. “Right over there.” I can’t help but giggle as I watch him maneuver the truck around potholes. He looks at me and asks, “What?”
“You do know you’re in a truck, right?”
“And?” He gives me an ‘and-what’s-your-point’ look.
“And… it is okay to hit a pothole every now and then.”
“Nope, not in this baby.” He taps the dashboard a couple of times as he pulls the truck between the trees. I chuckle softly at the way he admires his truck. He shoves the gear shifter into park and switches off his headlights. He plugs in his iPod, setting it to shuffle, and then opens the door. With a wave of his hand, he motions for me to join him outside the truck. “Come on.” Jason Aldean’s Night Train comes through the speakers, drowning out the sounds of the chirping crickets.
I throw open my door and run around the front of the truck to catch up with Wes. He reaches for my hand as we walk out from under the trees into
a clearing. The full moon above shines down, illuminating the ground below us. I look around and take in the simplicity out here. Tall trees line up behind us, and bushes lie scattered about. Off in the distance, is nothing but grass. The vastness of this clearing humbles me, making me appreciate my place in this world. “What are we doing all the way out here?”
“Every year since I’ve been able to drive, except for when I moved to Dallas, I would come out here to this exact same spot to watch the fireworks. There’re no sounds of people shouting and kids screaming, no lights to ruin the effect of the colors of the fireworks. It’s amazing.” He sits down and drags me with him to settle in-between his legs. I snuggle back against his chest and rest my hands on his jean-clad thighs.
“I like it. This is so peaceful,” I whisper, tilting my head up to look at him.
He looks down at me with a sweet smile, and I smile back. Both of us sit there like that for a little while. Song after song bleeds into the next. It’s just him and me. The peace and quiet. No one else. Exactly what I had hoped for today. “You know, I was supposed to arrive at the ranch a week before you did,” Wes offers quietly, gaining my attention as he breaks our silence “But a good buddy of mine, Blaine, wound up in the hospital. He had to ride the night before. I was supposed to go and cheer him on, but I got held up packing and didn’t have a chance to make it to the rodeo.” I look up at him, but he’s off in another world. I let him have his moment. “Later that night, or early that morning, whichever way you look at it, I woke up to my phone ringing off the hook. As soon as I heard his wife, Devin, crying, I knew something bad had happened. I rushed around my room, pulling on my jeans and shirt. I slipped on my boots, grabbed my wallet, and keys, and raced to the hospital before she had a chance to tell me what had happened.”
“What happened?” Lightly, I begin to caress his thighs, offering my support. Obviously, his friend getting hurt is a big deal to him, just by his facial expressions. The faraway look in his eyes and tight jaw makes my heart for him.
“When I told her I was leaving my house, she told me what hospital he was at and his room number.” He stops for a second to take a deep breath. When I don’t think he’s going to continue, he does. “When I walked in, I saw my friend lying there with a white sheet draped over his body. He was sleeping, but dried blood was still caked on his face. Then I saw Devin in a chair next to the bed, holding his hand, and quietly crying. I cleared my throat before I asked what happened. She gestured for me to take the seat on the other side of the bed. That’s when I noticed a tube slipping out beneath his sheet connecting to a container collecting his blood.” Wes shakes his head. “Devin told me Blaine had been bucked off the bull, and before he was able to get up, the hooves of the bull’s back feet came off the ground, kicking him in the face, and stomping on his chest. It broke a couple of ribs, which, in turn, actually punctured a lung. Then the tubing and container all clicked. She didn’t have to tell me he had a chest tube. That much was obvious. But what Devin said next wasn’t what I was expecting. The bull did it a second time, but this time, it landed on his pelvis, breaking the Ilium bone clean in half.”
I feel bad for Blaine and don’t even know him. I couldn’t ever imagine breaking any bone in my pelvis. What I don’t understand is how his friend had two ribs broken. I’ve seen other bull riders wearing protective gear. “Don’t you guys have vests and helmets and all that stuff you have to wear?” I ask.
“We do, but there are two different kinds of vests. The one Blaine wears is made of high-density foam. It absorbs the shock when impact occurs. For instance, if we get bucked off, and the bull stomps on us, it helps prevent the severity of injuries, but it doesn’t diminish the possibility of injury all together. Anyway, I sat there watching how Devin filled a bucket with soapy water. When she came back to the bedside, I watched how attentive she was to her husband as she cleaned the dried up blood off his face. And all I could think about was what would have happened had I been in Blaine’s shoes? Who would have taken care of me like that? Who would have been there beside me to hold my hand and cry over me? All I could come up with was no one. A switch flipped inside of me at that moment, and all I could think about was how I don’t want to be that person, alone, with no one to cry over, no one to take care of, and no one to love.”
I twist around and get up on my knees to face him. I sweep my fingers through his hair before I cup his face between my hands as a single tear glides down his face. At that moment, my heart breaks for him. I swipe my thumb across the tear, wiping it away. “You’re not alone anymore. I’m here,” I whisper.
He grabs my hips and pulls me closer to him. Staring into my eyes, his gaze never falters when he whispers, “I know you are. I am so lucky to have found you. I know this is fast, this… thing happening between us, but… I love you, Kenleigh. I’ve never loved anyone the way I love you.”
A slow smile spreads across my lips and my heart rate spikes at hearing those words escape his lips. “I love you, too, Wes,” I whisper as I capture his lips with mine. My hands slide from the side of his face only to weave back into his hair, holding him to me as I drown in him. I moan when the tip of his tongue sweeps across my upper lip and thrusts into my mouth. His hold on my hips tightens, and I’m sure there will be a bruise there tomorrow. I am so in love with him. Before we have a chance to take things further, a loud crack startles us apart. I turn back and look at the night sky. Different colored fireworks explode forming shapes of all sorts. I bring my attention back to Wes, resting my forehead against his, and stare into the bottomless depths of his blue eyes. “Happy Fourth of July, Love.”
“Happy Fourth of July,” Wes says, seeking my lips once more. After a few minutes sharing a soft, romantic kiss, we lay down and stare up at the magical display of fireworks, wrapped up in our love.
“How do you feel about a movie under the stars tonight?” Wes murmurs against my neck while I lay on top of him on the couch. The sounds of Duck Dynasty drown out the silence in the living room.
With my arms tucked beneath his hard body, his warmth radiates against my cool skin, and I nod against his chest. “I’d love that.”
The past couple of days have been amazing. Mrs. Sandy called Friday morning to say that she and Mr. Will would be back sometime tonight. So, with them gone, Wes and I have taken advantage of the situation. He’s slept in my room every night since Thursday. We’ve made love more times than I can count, and the ecstasy of it all has me on cloud nine. We have lounged around on the couch just enjoying each other’s company. He took me out to this one spot on the creek where a rope swing hung from a branch. We jumped, swam, and laughed a lot. I don’t think I’ve ever had so much fun. I know that once his parents return, things will change for us. We’ll have to go back to sleeping alone once again. To be honest, I like being curled up next to him. I love the feel of his strong arms surrounding me and our legs tangled up together.
A deep sigh escapes me when another thought hits me. The last week of camp is coming up, and that means the summer for me is almost over. I can’t help the twinge of pain that pierces my heart knowing that Wes and I will have to have a talk about us all too soon. Tears prick the backs of my eyes as questions of us race through my mind. What happens to us when the summer is over? Will I be okay if this amazing thing between us just ends? Are we strong enough to try and make a long distance relationship work? Do I want a relationship where I barely see the one who makes me feel alive? Does he? A shuddering breath escapes me when I realize that I’m crying. “What’s wrong, Babe?” he asks.
I shake my head vigorously, afraid to say anything. I don’t want to bring it up, but then again, I do. My emotions on this impending topic are all over the place. I know we need to have this discussion. I need to know what will happen when I have to leave, because I will have to leave. My body slides between him and the couch as he rolls over to look at my face. When he cups my cheeks, the gesture is so tender that I can’t help but look at him. Two, single tears glide eff
ortlessly down my cheeks as I take in this amazing man. Tall, sexy, sweet, sincere, genuine, and loving. “I love you. You know that, right?” My voice strains as I whisper the words. I turn into his hand to kiss his palm.
His eyebrows furrow, and I watch as his eyes search mine. Love and fear shine back at me. I don’t want to be the one to put fear in his eyes, only love. That’s all I need to see reflecting back at me. “I love you, too, but talk to me. I know there’s something wrong. I can see it.”
I take a deep breath and ask on a slow exhale, “What’s going to happen to us when the summer’s over?”
A grin tugs at the corners of his lips; the fear that I just saw in his eyes now shine with relief. “Is that what has you so worked up?”
I nod, feeling like a fool. Obviously he has enough faith in us that he’s doesn’t seem to be concerned at all. “I care for you so much. I’ve fallen in love with you, Wes. I’m just scared of what the end of the summer signifies for us. You are the first good thing that’s happened to me in a long time, and I don’t want to lose that.”
“You won’t lose me. I’m here, Kenleigh, right here.” He lifts my hand and places it over his beating heart. “We still have a few weeks left. Why don’t we take it day by day? Believe me, you’re the last thing I want to lose, too. But, I don’t want to spend the rest of the summer with us worrying about what’s to come. Okay?”
“I get what you’re sayin’. I do. Eventually though, we will have to discuss this.” I lean up on my elbow to kiss him.
“I know,” he murmurs around my lips, “but just not tonight. I do not want there to be a scared feeling between us, like we’re trying to savor each other because we are terrified of what’s to come. Let’s just be us. Kenleigh and Wes. Two people who love each other.”
“Okay.” I agree with him grudgingly. Deep down, there is a nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach that’s telling me that when we do have this discussion, it’s not going to turn out like I plan.
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