by Lana Dash
Dani tries to step around me, but my arm shoots out to stop her.
“I was only ten the last time I saw her. I don’t think that she’d remember me if I walked up and started talking. You have to introduce me to her.”
“I really don’t.”
"Come on. You know you want to talk to her." Dani pushes on my arm, but I don't budge.
“I said no,” I whisper. And even though I’m talking in a hushed tone, Dani can hear the seriousness in my voice.
“Fine.” She lets go of me, hurt evident in her expression. “Forget I asked you to do anything to help me.”
It's incredible how quickly she seems to forget that I was already in the middle of the last favor she asked me to do. But somehow, I still feel guilty the instant she walks away. I know how important it is to Dani to make this summer's festival the best it can be. And even if it might shatter my heart again to be face to face with Diana, I'm willing to do what I can for my sister.
“Wait,” I call after her.
She’s already smiling when she turns around, and I’m already regretting this on so many levels.
“I will introduce you to her. That’s it.” I point at Dani. “It’s up to you to convince her to participate in the festival. Agreed?”
“Would it kill you to—”
"Yes, it just might." I cut her off. "Do you want an introduction, or am I heading back to the ranch on my own?"
I can almost see the wheels turning in Dani's head as she tries to think of a way to get everything she wants, but I won't budge on this. She lets out a breath like she's come to terms with the fact that she's isn't going to get anything else from me today.
“Okay, please make the introduction.”
I turn without another word and nearly plow right into Diana. I reach out and catch her in my arms before she hits the ground. The familiar scent of her jasmine perfume fills my nose, and I'm taken back to when I was seventeen again. Holding her soft body in my arms, so close to me, is enough to make my dick twitch in excitement.
"Whoa," I say as I pull her upright. “Sorry about that.”
Her dark eyes stare up at me from underneath impossibly long lashes, and I have to remind myself to breathe.
“I was just coming over to say hello,” she says as she runs her hands down her shirt to straighten it.
“Hi.”
She swallows hard. “Hi.”
"Well, if my brother is done being rude," Dani pushes in between us. "I'm not sure if you remember me."
"Dani, of course." Diana smiles. "I can't believe how grown-up you look now."
“It’s been a long time,” Dani says.
Diana’s eyes meet mine when she says, “It’s been a very long time.”
"I was hoping to talk to you about the Centennial Springs Summer Festival," Dani says, pulling Diana's attention back to her. "You see, I've taken over as leader of the festival committee, and this is my first event. Is there any chance that you'd be willing to perform to help raise funds for the town?"
“I wish I could, but I’m not in town for long. I have to be back in Nashville at the studio on Tuesday.”
Just the mention of her leaving is like a razor blade to my heart. It's not like I didn't know that she would eventually go, but hearing her say the words is enough to make me want to get out of here.
“You know what,” I interrupt and start backing up towards the direction of my truck. “I’ve got to head back to the ranch for some supplies, so I’m going to leave you all to it. Diana, it was nice seeing you again. Welcome back.”
I don’t bother to wait for her response. I turn and walk away as quickly as I can. I’ve reached my limit of restraint. The urge to ask her to stay is caught in my throat, and I don’t think I could survive her leaving again.
4
DIANA
I remember Rhett telling me stories about how Dani had an uncanny way of convincing people to do what she wanted. But I didn't believe him until now.
It’s been two days since I saw Rhett, but he’s been at the forefront of my thoughts ever since. He looks so good. How is it possible that he looks better after ten years? His shoulders have filled out after years of working on his family’s ranch. And the way his blue jeans hug his thick thighs and firm ass had me working to give myself some release when last night when I couldn’t sleep.
But there was a look in his eyes that I couldn’t read when he excused himself from run in and left without another word to me. I could only stare after him in shock. I’d imagined the moment we’d see each other again in my head a thousand times, but it did not go down at all how I expected it.
“Okay, Diana, I’m going to have to go up on the stage, so we can get an idea of how it’s going to look opening night,” Dani says.
Despite her young age, Dani has impressed me with her ability to juggle all her responsibilities to organize this event. If she wanted to, I could see her turning this into a career.
I walk up the steps and pretend that I don't notice Rhett working in the back corner of the stage. There's a young man, not much older than Dani, hanging lights above me on the stage. I stand on the “X” marked with tape, so I know where my mark is for my performance.
I’m barely standing there for a few seconds before the man above me cries, “Look out!”
Before I can even react, I'm knocked off my feet by someone and rolling across the wood planks of the stage. There's a sudden crash to the left of us where I had just been standing. It takes a moment to catch up before I realize that it was Rhett that just saved me. I didn't think he was close enough that he could've gotten to me in time, but he did.
“Are you okay?” he asks, pushing the hair out of my face.
“I can’t,” I gasp. “Breathe.”
Rhett's brow furrows in concern, and he looks down at the parts of my body that aren't under him for any sign as to why I can't breathe. He completely misses the obvious reason.
"You're crushing me," I gasp, pressing my hands against his hard chest.
“Oh shoot.” He pushes off me and holds out his hands to help me.
I reach out my arms and let him pull me up to my feet. Suddenly I'm aware of all the people surrounding us.
“Are you okay?” Dani asks.
“I’m fine,” I turn to look at Rhett. “Your brother saved me.”
A few of the other workers around him clap him on the back. He shrugs like it was no big deal, but I still know how to read most of his expressions even after all these years. He's concerned for me and a bit embarrassed at all the attention we are getting.
Dani seems to be able to read her brother just as easily and quickly tells everyone to get back to work.
“You know you aren’t paying us, right?” The man who was hanging the lights mumbles under his breath.
“Teddy O’Brien, do you want me to call your mother and explain to her how you almost killed the beloved darling of Centennial Springs?”
"I wouldn't go that far," I try to interject, but Dani holds up her hand to stop me.
"She just said—" He points to me, but Dani continues to lay into him.
I smile at the apparent way Dani and Teddy are flirt-fighting with one another.
“I don’t think that we are needed here for this,” Rhett whispers to me.
“You aren’t worried about your younger sister?”
He chuckles. "Look at her. She'd eat him alive if she wanted."
“I don’t doubt that.” I laugh and look up at Rhett. I didn’t realize how close we were standing until this moment.
We both clear our throats and step back from one another.
“Can I buy you a cup of coffee?” Rhett points at the coffee cart parked not far from the town center.
“Sounds good.”
We walk over to it in silence. But for the first time since seeing each other again, the silence isn't laced with awkwardness but comforting. It's starting to feel like it did when we were teenagers.
We get our orders and
walk them back over to the gazebo. Dani hasn’t given us the okay to leave, and neither one of us want to get on her bad side today.
“I know this is going to sound like I’m really full of myself,” I say as we sit down next to each other on the steps. “But there aren’t as many people staring at me or asking to take a selfie with me as I expected.”
Rhett doesn't say anything at first, and I'm worried that he might think that I'm full of myself or something.
"I'm only trying to say that it's a nice break just to be me and not image people have in their head of me."
"I think the people understand that on some level. Word has spread pretty quickly about the performance you are giving to help the town, and they appreciate you giving back to this place."
I relax when I realize that Rhett is one of those people. Maybe he thought that I’d changed into some diva that couldn’t be bothered to help the town she grew up in, but I’m still me.
I gasp and grab his arm when I realize something.
“What is it?” he asks.
“I never thanked you for saving me.”
He shrugs again like it’s no big deal. I lean close to him and wrap my arms around his neck.
“Thank you,” I whisper to him.
The cedarwood scent of his aftershave surrounds me, and I close my eyes, wanting to remember everything about this moment. His hands encircle me, and all at once, I feel the part of my heart that's been missing for so long is whole again. I know he feels it too, the way his breath quickens to match mine.
“What are you doing tonight?” he asks. “I’d like to show you something on the ranch.”
5
RHETT
I wasn't sure when I asked her if Diana would agree to come over tonight. I couldn't help myself. The moment I was holding her, all the defenses I put up around me to protect myself from being consumed by my feelings for her rose up and swallowed me whole.
It was so nice seeing the Diana I fell in love with all those years ago sitting right in front of me. I couldn't have imagined I would have the opportunity to be so close to her again, and when the moment came, I had to take it.
I run my hands down the front of my jeans and look around at my small cabin. I'm usually pretty tidy, so it didn't take much to pick up when I got home.
There is a soft knock on the door. I take a deep breath, trying to calm my racing heart. This could be the biggest mistake of my life. Revisiting the past hardly ever works out. It's never how you remember or idealized it in your head, and you're destined for disappointment. But nothing in this world can keep me from opening that door.
“Hey,” Diana says with a warm smile when I push open the screen door for her to come in. She’s changed into a summer dress, boots, and a jean jacket. She looks so much like her old self dressed like this. “I’m not sure I would have found this place without your directions.”
“That was kind of the point when I picked this spot. I wanted to have the privacy that this part of the property allotted me.”
“Can you handle being so close to Mountain Creek Ranch?” she asks.
I chuckle, thinking about how much has changed around here since she left.
The feud between the Holloways and my family, the Montgomerys, goes back generations. There have been many stories about why the feud between the neighboring families started, but I don't think anyone can be sure. All we knew growing up is that we didn’t socialize with the Holloways. But all that got blown to pieces when my brother, Beau, fell in love with Willow Holloway.
“What’s so funny?” Diana asks.
“The Montgomerys are on speaking terms with the Holloways now.”
Diana’s eyes widen in surprise as I tell her about Beau and Willow. When I’m finished telling her the story, she shakes her head in disbelief.
"You're gone ten years, and everything up and changes on you," she jokes to herself.
“Not everything,” I say, but my voice is barely above a whisper.
I can tell by the way she looks at me that she understands my double meaning.
There are no distractions here tonight. It's kind of why I asked her to come here instead of meeting in town, where we would most definitely have an audience.
The pull between us is just as strong as it was when we were seventeen, maybe more. My hands ache to reach out for her, but I still wonder if there is a chance I’m reading all of the signs wrong. She could just want to catch up with me.
We stare at one another, her gaze searching my face for something, but I don’t know what.
“I told myself I wasn’t going to do this,” she says before grabbing hold of my shirt and pulling my lips down to meet hers.
The moment they touch, it’s like the years that separated us melt away. I always knew that the connection and love we shared wasn’t just puppy love like our parents told us. It’s possible to find the love of your life at seventeen.
I pull her into my arms, pressing her against mine, needing to close the distance between us. I run my hands slowly up and down her body, reintroducing myself to the soft curves that fill my fantasies.
I grip her ass and lift her into my arms. Diana wraps her legs around my waist and pressing her pussy against the bulge of my hard cock. The unforgiving denim, making the pleasurable ache nearly unbearable.
I walk us over to the oversized sofa and lay her down, settling myself between her legs.
"What are we doing?" I breathe out as I kiss a trail down her next to the swell of her breasts.
"I don't know. But I know I want this," she says and moans in pleasure as I thrust my hips forward against her. "I want you."
She tugs at the pearl snap buttons of my shirt and runs her hands over my bare chest. All the years of working on the ranch have been worth it when I see the look of lust fill her eyes, and she bites down on her bottom lip. My cock reacts, screaming for release. I crush my lips against hers in a bruising kiss. I'm desperate to make up for the years of kisses we've lost in our time apart.
Diana runs her hands down my chest between us and works my belt and blue jeans open. I groan with relief into her mouth when she grips my cock and squeezes. She nearly brings me to the brink of release. The need to be inside her takes over.
I lean back and like to magnets our lips stay locked as she sits up with me. I grab the bottom of her dress and lift it over her head, breaking our kiss for only a moment. I cup her breasts, and Diana throws her head back in pleasure as a squeeze and pinch the pebbled peaks through the lace bra.
Diana opens her eyes, and I can see her gaze that her need for me is just as I feel for her. She pushes on my chest, and I fall back into a sitting position on the couch. I watch as she stands up and reaches behind her, unhooking her bra. The straps fall free from her shoulders, and she lets it fall to the floor at her feet. I lean forward and run my hands up the sides of her thighs, hooking my fingertips in the fabric of her panties and pulling them down for her to step out.
I can barely breathe as I stare at the stunningly beautiful woman standing in front of me.
Gently, she pushes me back and straddles my lap. Her hand dipping between us as she pulls my cock out and pumps her hand up and down.
“Don’t tease me,” I say, unable to take much more of this moment without coming in her hand.
Diana leans in and kisses me as she guides my eager cock to her damp entrance. She pushes down slowly, allowing her body to adjust to me inside her. I let her lead as best I can. The way my release is nearly ready to burst from me if it were to take over, I'd already be pumping in and out of her.
“You feel so good,” she cries out, running her fingers into her hair and thrusting her breast closer to me.
I latch on to one of her nipples and circle my tongue around it. Then move my attention to the other.
Diana begins to circle her hips slowly at first before picking up the pace. I do everything I can to hold back my release. I want to share this moment together.
The pleasure builds high
er and higher with each twist of her hips. I hold onto her, ready the moment she lets go, and I can let go too. I feel the tightening of her body around me as she gets closer.
“Are you ready?” she asks.
I nod and focus my attention on her beautiful face. I watch as she reaches the brink of orgasmic bliss and falls over the edge. I plunge with her. I am lost in the release but holding on tight to her.
I can't know for sure what our future holds, but I know that I can't let her go. We've lost so much already. Before, the decision was made for us when our parents separated us, but now the only thing holding us back from being together is ourselves.
6
DIANA
Rhett holds me in his arms as I listen to the soft sound of his breathing as he sleeps. We spent the night talking and making love. The urgency to make up for lost time consumes us both, but the one thing we don’t talk about is the night we tried to get married.
I knew, even then, that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. But after my parents showed up at the church and dragged me away, I never heard from him. The painful memory I’d been avoiding bubbles up inside me as I think about how he just stood there and watched me go.
I thought for sure that we would try and run away again, but he never came. I wrote him a letter the day before my parents sent me away to Tennessee to live with my aunt. They wanted me to finish out my senior year of high school there, but I had other plans.
I left the letter on the windshield of his truck, knowing he'd find it, and come to get me—but he never came. I convinced myself that the wind blew it away. In my mind, I couldn't fathom an alternative reason.
Anger from the past hits me like a wave and threatens to pull me under.
I pull out of his arms and grab one of Rhett's shirts lying on the bench near his bed and slip it on. I tiptoe out of his bedroom and into the living room of his cabin. I pace the length of the small room, needing time to think.
A shoebox sitting on the seat of one of the chairs catches my eye. It's a shoe brand that has long since gone out of business, and I get curious.