by Ellie Rowe
As I leave for the airport, I kick my cowboy boots out of my way.
I buy myself a last-minute first-class seat to avoid any more aggravation, but I quickly regret my decision when an older man who looks like my father sits next to me. I can tell he wants to talk before he even says a word.
“Country girl going to the city to become a model?” he guesses, after grossly looking me up and down.
“Gee, I hope so. I have the name of a casting agent who works for a role for something called an escort. I hope I get it!” I mention in a ditzy voice.
“I see. You know, jobs come and go. I can get you consistent work as my assistant and help me when I make business deals. I think my constituents will like you,” he proposes with a Cheshire cat grin.
“Boy, I hope I can get personal attention from you. I need to learn the ropes,” I tease, moving in slightly closer to him.
He puts his hand on my thigh and continues to penetrate me with his hungry gaze.
“As long as you unbutton the first couple buttons of your shirt to show off those beauties on your chest, I will give you all the personal attention you want,” he solicits me.
I smell tobacco chew on his designer suit.
“Sir, I have a wholesome Texas background, but I have a bad New York attitude. I will castrate you like a farm animal right here on this plane if you don’t remove your hand from my leg and move back to another seat right now,” I threaten him.
The man quickly turns from predator to prey and obeys.
When I get off the plane, I immediately recruit a taxi to take me to Gabriella’s.
“You can turn two streets up. Clyde always gets backed up at this time,” I tell the cab driver automatically. I surprise myself by remembering the streets and different routes.
Gabriella stands outside her apartment with a giant smile and an even larger piece of pizza in hand. We both scream when we see each other.
“You didn’t have to wait outside for me, Gabbi! And how did you know I wanted New York pizza?” I ask, thankful for her sweet gesture.
“Welcome home!” Gabriella says, hugging me and getting grease from the pizza on my brand name shirt, but I don’t care.
“It certainly feels like home,” I tell her. “Sometimes I feel like I made a mistake going back to Texas.”
“You know you have a home with me for as long as you need it,” Gabriella offers, and I believe her.
“I might take you up on that. I think I belong in New York. However, I feel overwhelmed. I don’t know what I want yet,” I tell her.
“Missing the larger-than-life Texas boys?” Gabriella teases.
“Girl, not everything is bigger in Texas. However, it applies when it comes to my guys,” I joke with her.
“Well, forget about them. I scheduled bottle service at the club. We only have four hours to get ready. I have the perfect dress for you, but it doesn’t have much of a top,” Gabriella informs me.
“That is more than okay,” I tell her.
We giggle and enter her apartment like normal.
Thirty-Four
Asher
For two full days, I think about the way I spoke to Sam. I know better than to yell at her like that. She doesn’t understand how I feel about the situation. How could she? She only wanted to help, and I took my anger out on her.
I regret the whole situation, but I don’t know exactly how to make it better with her. I need to come up with a plan. Maybe I can bring her flowers and candy. No, she prefers healthy food. Plus, she has flowers all over her property. Maybe I can take her to a fancy dinner. Maybe I can pay her back sexually…
My plan is to avoid the topic of Liam and me altogether. I don’t want to put myself in a position to act out again. I don’t want to ignore my feelings for Liam. However, I need to clarify them for myself before I start talking about time or making decisions.
While I don’t have a perfect plan in place, I put my boots on and decide to go speak with Sam. At the very least, I can show her that I care about our friendship.
Before I finish tying my boots, I see someone aggressively walking up to my ranch home’s front door. As the figure gets closer, I see Liam’s toned body and an angry expression on his face.
Liam storms into the front door rather confrontationally and throws down a magazine on my table.
“Well, hello to you, too,” I say.
The anger surprises me a bit. Liam never approaches me this way.
“What the fuck is this?” Liam asks.
“What are you talking about?” I want to know.
“Just read the damn magazine, will you?” Liam demands.
I look down at the magazine on my table and immediately see Samantha on the cover in a silver dress with a plunging neckline and another model friend with her. I can only assume the friend is the infamous Gabriella Sam constantly talks about. That and the title of the magazine, New York NightLife, lets me know the pictures come from New York.
“You want to explain what the fuck happened?” Liam inquires of me.
“What do you mean?” I wonder casually.
“I know that Sam and you got into it the other day. Now she’s back in New York? You think that’s just a coincidence?” Liam points out.
“Look, we did have a bit of a disagreement the other day. I also admit that the majority of the fault lies in me. However, I don’t know why you blame me for everything. She makes her own decisions,” I inform Liam.
Liam sighs and sits down.
“Do you have a drink?” he asks.
“I actually planned to go over to Sam’s right now, but I guess we have time for a drink now,” I say.
I go to the bar and make Liam a drink. I shock myself a bit that I know Liam’s favorite drink already, but I continue to make it according to his preferences.
“Here,” I say, handing him the drink.
He takes a sip, and I can tell he approves. He looks a little less angry at me now that I gave him a bit of alcohol.
“So, why did you two fight?” Liam asks me.
“I take full responsibility,” I confess.
“Can you please just tell me what made you yell at her?’ Liam pleads.
“What does it really matter?” I ask.
“If we know what got you so upset, we can prevent the topic from coming up again in the future,” Liam explains.
“I will not let it happen again,” I promise.
“You really don’t want to tell me, huh?” Liam notices.
“Look, it is between Sam and me,” I tell him.
I don’t want him to know that I have feelings for him that I don’t understand. I fear he doesn’t share the same feelings. In a weird way, I also fear he does share the same feelings.
While I want to tell him the truth, I want to verify that I understand my own emotions before I fill him in on how I feel.
I can feel Liam stare at me for a moment. I know he wants to look for clues about what happened. After a moment, he releases his gaze and takes another sip of his drink.
“Fine,” Liam gives in. “I won’t push you for more details. However, we need to make things right. You push Sam away, and we never stand a chance of making a deal with her father.”
“I want to make things right with Sam for our friendship. I don’t care about her father or the deal,” I state.
“Sam and I have a strong friendship, too. I care about her as a friend. However, we need to maintain focus. If we don’t stay on track, we will let a lot of time and money go down the drain for absolutely nothing,” Liam explains.
“So, what do we do?” I ask.
“You need to take the reins here, cowboy,” Liam tells me. “Call her and tell her you feel badly about how you left things. Ask her to come back to Texas and talk with you.”
“She won’t stay in New York for too long. She has work to do here. I will see her when she gets back,” I declare.
“I don’t know if you understand the gravity of the situation here,” Liam r
aises his voice. I can see his glass shaking in his hand a bit, and I realize just how angry he feels.
I feel a desire to please Liam, and I don’t want him mad at me. It doesn’t necessarily matter how we define our relationship. I do know that I care about him and don’t want to cause him any stress or pain.
“Sam deserves a phone call. I will tell her that I apologize. I will do whatever it takes to get her to come back here,” I agree.
“Thank you,” Liam says.
I notice he looks particularly good today while he finishes his drink, but I don’t want to let his body distract me.
Thirty-Five
Liam
Asher is standing in front of me, and it is all I can do not to punch him in the face. I am so aggravated by his attitude.
“I can’t believe that you made her leave,” I say.
“I didn't do it on purpose,” Asher says.
“Well, you did it. Now you’ve got to fix it.”
Asher takes out his smartphone.
“I’ll call her now.”
I grab the smart phone out of Asher’s hand.
“Calling her isn’t going to make her come back. We need to do something more substantial.”
“We?”
“Do you think I’m going to let you mess this up? I'm serious. We need to get her back. No taking chances on one of your dumb moves.”
“I won’t mess this up because there is a lot at stake.”
“Exactly, if we don’t get her back, Laurier is going to ruin our reputations.”
“Don’t tell me that you're more worried about your reputation than losing our relationship with Sam.”
“I didn't mean it that way. Of course, Samantha is an amazing woman. It’s just that our reputations are especially important in this town. A bad reputation could cost us business.”
I begin to pace up and down the kitchen floor. I’m trying to figure out what we can do to get Samantha back. Then I realize there is only one thing to do: bring her back to Texas.
“We need to go to New York City and bring her back.”
Asher doesn’t say anything for a minute. I wonder what is wrong.
“How do we get there?”
“By plane you idiot. You didn’t think we were going to drive all the way from Texas to New York City?”
“I’d rather drive.”
“It will take time that we don’t have.”
Asher sits down on my sofa.
“I can’t afford the ticket to New York City.”
This statement is shocking to me. Asher must have it worse than me financially. It figures that he would be having trouble making money off his ranch. I’ve seen the way he manages people. He probably isn’t any better with livestock.
I’ve been doing well financially, so I tell Asher that I can afford his ticket.
“I don’t want to take charity from you,” says Asher.
“Oh, I’m not giving you the money. It’s a loan.”
Asher rubs the whiskers on his chin.
“Okay I’ll let you loan me the money.”
I sit down on the recliner that is across from the sofa.
“Don’t worry about it,” I say.
Asher doesn’t answer me. He looks down at his shoe.
“I really hate that she left without saying goodbye. What if she really hates us now and won’t come back to Texas because of that.”
“I don’t think she hates us. She’s just upset about our situation. We were pretty harsh leaving that note.”
We don’t say anything for a while. I take out my smartphone.
“I better get us some tickets now.”
I download an app for buying cheap airline tickets and I begin to search.
“How soon can we get the tickets?” Asher asks.
I don’t say anything for a minute. I am scrolling through our time choices.
“We can forget about packing, we’ve got to leave as soon as possible,” Asher says.
“I can get us on a plan in two hours.”
“But it takes two hours and change to drive to the airport.”
“This is true.”
“Plus, you need to add time to go through security.”
I reload the page on my phone, and I look for a departure time that will suit us. At first it doesn’t look promising. Then I scroll through again and I find a flight that stops in New York City on its way to the U.K. that leaves in four hours.
This is perfect for us. We can just not get on the connecting flight.
“I found one in four hours. Let me change my shirt and we can get going.”
“I’ll go home and change into something more presentable.”
“We don’t have time to stop at your house. I’ll just lend you something of mine. Will that be okay with you?”
“I guess,” Asher shrugs.
I go to my room and pick two shirts that will be suitable. I go back to the living room and give Asher the shirt. He takes off his old shirt to put on the new one. I can’t help but stare at his abs. They are incredible.
“What are you staring at?” Asher asks.
I feel my face get hot. I must be blushing like a schoolboy.
“It’s nothing.”
I look away from Asher. I can’t look him in the eye. Ever since our threesome session, I’ve been thinking about Asher and his body. Every time I close my eyes, I see his naked body. And now to see his body again, I can’t look away.
I’ve never felt this way. I am embarrassed. What if I am attracted to Asher? What if Samantha has been right all along?
“We better get going. I’ll go wash up quickly.”
I am relieved Asher doesn’t question me.
After about twenty minutes, Asher and I leave my house. We decide to take Asher’s truck since he has two gas tanks in his truck. Both tanks are full so we will save time by not getting any gas.
It takes us exactly two hours to get to the airport. I am relieved when we finally get on the plane. I have never been so unsure about a situation like I am about this one. What if she doesn’t open her door when we get there?
I worry that we won’t be able to get her to come back. Asher is also in deep thought. He is probably thinking the same as me. If we get a second chance with Samantha, I will do what I can to make her happy. I wonder if Asher feels the same way.
Thirty-Six
Samantha
It is great to be back in New York City. I’ve had nothing but fun since I got back. There’s been plenty of work and the parties afterwards have been wild. I don’t know why I ever got it in my mind to leave.
This is the first time I’ve had some downtime since I’ve been home. I look at my nails and notice that the color is chipped. I get up to grab my manicure kit from my bedroom but stumble on a bag that I left in the hallway when I arrived. It’s the patchwork quilt that Asher bought me at the Farmer’s Market.
I open the bag and take out the quilt. I can smell the warm Texas sun on the quilt. Something inside of me longs to be back in Texas. I love New York City but there has been something missing since I got back.
I take the quilt with me into the living room and lay down on the sofa with it. I unfold it and wrap myself into the quilt. I remember Asher’s face when he gave me the quilt and how I flirted with him.
I wish things had worked out for me in Texas. There is something about Texas that is home for me in a way that New York will never be. I feel a tear go down my cheek. What’s wrong with me? I love my life here in New York.
Just the other day I was at a party brushing elbows with the rich and fabulous and someone recognized me from my modeling work. It was almost like I was a celebrity. No one noticed me the entire time I was in Texas. Here in New York, I am special but in Texas I’m just a regular person.
I close my eyes and the first thing that comes to my mind are Asher and Liam. They are the classic kind of Texas guy that you can’t find in New York. Asher and Liam are decent men that are both kind and generous. I realiz
e that my heart aches for them.
Before I am completely asleep there is a heavy knock on my door. My heart skips a beat because the knock is strong and loud. I’m not expecting anyone. Especially not anyone that would be knocking on my door like that.
I unravel myself from the patchwork quilt and go answer the door. When I open the door, it is a surprise to find Asher and Liam there.
“What are you guys doing here?”
Asher steps inside my apartment and Liam follows. I shut the door behind them.
“You’ve got to get yourself home ASAP,” says Liam.
“I am home,” I say.
“No, you are most definitely not,” Asher says.
I pick up that Asher and Liam are in a mood. Asher notices the patchwork quilt.
“That quilt belongs on your bed in Texas. Let’s pack it up with the rest of your stuff.”
I go to the sofa and sit down.
“Guys, please sit down for a moment, we can talk about this.”
Both Liam and Asher come into my living room area and sit down on chairs that are in front of my coffee table and sofa.
“Why did you leave, Samantha?” Asher asks.
I close my eyes and try to figure out how I am going to answer their questions. I don’t want to hurt their feelings, but I can’t lie either.
“I left because I had to, Asher.”
“I thought everything was going well. You seemed to like being with us. Did we run you off?” Asher says.
“I don’t know, Asher.”
I look over at Liam who looks angry and hurt. I’ve hurt both of these men without realizing it.
“Guys, it’s true that we had a good thing, but it just wasn’t going to work out for the three of us. You guys made it noticeably clear to me that you felt uncomfortable.”
Liam and Asher just look at each other. I wonder if they still hate each other to the same degree as when I left.
