by C. A. Harms
Reluctantly, I entered the barn to find Penny where she always sat, tucked back in the far corner. I kicked at the dirt along the ground, dread swarming through me. Had it not been a few miles out to where the creek was, I would have just walked.
Turning the key in the ignition, I swore the damn turd fucking laughed at me as she sputtered before grabbing hold. Gramps needed to retire this pathetic excuse for a wheeler; it was sad, really. More for me because I was stuck riding it, but still, sad.
She coughed and grunted the entire distance, leaving a trail of smoke behind her. There was no way I was riding this thing back. I’d dip her in the creek and give her a proper sign-off before I climbed back up on her to drive back.
As I came up over the hill, I saw the group look up at me, and instantly, Rhett started laughing—the bent over at the waist, holding his gut, shaking from the intensity of his humor kind of laughter. Mad stopped what she was doing, turned around to face me, and placed a hand on her hip in that way she’d always done, and just that reaction alone felt like a kick in the stomach. Her beauty did that to me every damn time, no matter how hard I tried to ignore it. A look of satisfaction covered her face, and the thought of tossing her ass in the creek seemed like more fun than Ol’ Penny at the moment.
Mad had always been a sassy shit. There was so much fire in her. In that moment, seeing a side of her that over the last six months or more I’d missed so much it hurt, I told myself I was done fucking hiding. If I wanted to hassle her, damned sure I was gonna. If I wanted to flirt, I was gonna flirt, and there wasn’t a damn thing she was gonna do about it. I was tired of hiding.
When I cut the engine, it gave me a fit in the process, throwing out what sounded like a desperate gag before it died. I closed my eyes tightly, fighting the urge to kick the piece of garbage, which would only give all these assholes around me even more to laugh about.
“You look good on Penny.” I noticed the way Maddison tried to hide her smile. “Right at home, really.”
“You’re driving that damn thing back to the house.” I stepped past her, and she pushed against my arm.
“Hell, no.” She finally let out a laugh. “You brought her out here. You’re taking her back.”
“We’ll see about that.” Looking back over my shoulder, I was pleased with the glare she was tossing in my direction. There had always been a great thrill I got simply by pissing off Mad. She made it fun. How she’d stutter, even though she was doing her very best to remain in control. She’d also do this open-closed-open-mouth thing that reminded me of a fish under water.
I heard Rhett whistle low. “She’s gonna whip your ass if you make her ride that thing back.”
“She can try.” I was still meeting Maddison’s death glare, doing my best not to laugh at the way her eyes were now in angry slits. “I may even let her have her way and pin me, for a few seconds, anyway. Gotta let the woman think she’s winning every once in a while, to keep the peace.”
“I could beat your ass with one hand tied behind my back and a blindfold on,” she challenged, making the older men chuckle. “You may be bigger than me, but I’m faster.”
“Is that right?” I turned completely around and held my hands out to my sides, taunting her. “Give it your all, pretty girl. Let’s see whatcha got.”
I noticed the way Mad tilted her head to the side, and I rolled the words I’d spoken around in my mind, realizing how I’d called her “pretty girl” without a second thought, even in the presence of everyone around us. Don’t get me wrong. Maddison was a goddess. There wasn’t a boy in our family who hadn’t had a Maddison-driven fantasy at least once, maybe twice, but she was family, and it hit me in that moment that, though I felt my attraction to her was okay, others may not. Was I prepared for the backlash? Was I ready to disgrace our family, if that was what it took to be with her? Was she blood to me? Her momma marrying Uncle Colt gave her and most of the kids no blood ties. Colton, Jr. was the only one, but we were raised as cousins, tormenting one another as cousins. For what it was worth, we were cousins.
Taking the fantasies to another level was just wrong. But her beauty and her confidence sure did make it hard not to let my mind wander there on occasion.
We’d flirted a lot since I’d returned home, but that’s all it ever was—flirting. At this point, we’d never take it any further. At this point, we hadn’t crossed that line.
Especially now, with her staring at me with that sultry look in her eyes. I was sure she wasn’t intending to come off as such. Her hair was a damned mess, piled up on her head but sticking out in a hundred different directions. Dirt and sweat stained her light gray shirt and jeans. Even her knees bore evidence of grass stains from kneeling. Her boots were so muddy, I wasn’t sure what color they were any longer.
The woman was gorgeous, even when she was a disaster.
Chapter Ten
Maddison
I had to look away from his intense green eyes. The way he was watching me made my heart race. Growing up, Mike had always been the quiet, brooding kid, the one who was hard to read. He had the right to be, though, with the loss he’d already experienced at such a young age. Losing his parents and being tossed into the system had to have been scary. It took him years to feel comfortable around our family, but with his adoptive mom and my stepdad being brother and sister, we were always together.
When he enlisted, we were all surprised, but then again, he was always surprising us. He left a scrawny boy, so quiet and lost in his own mind. When he returned the first time, the changes in him were like night and day. He was still quiet, but now he was strong, with a confidence in him he lacked before.
Each time he came home, I could see he’d gotten just a little bigger, a little more intimidating. Then this last time, the changes were so drastic that I was still taking it all in.
His size, his attitude, the master of broody now had this unbelievably consuming way about him. Alluring, that pull that captivated me, and even when I tried to remind myself that I just couldn’t go there, it still fought against me, forcing me to think just maybe I could.
I’d chalked up our past encounters to him simply being lonely and confused. We’d been away from each other for so long, and we’d both changed so much. That had to be the reason behind our little moments.
“Maddison, grab that bucket of nails off Gramps’s four-wheeler.” I jerked at the sound of Colt’s voice. Colt, the man who loved my mamma fiercely. He raised me as his own. Had saved me and my mother. He refused to let us run back home to my grandparents when we thought it was our only place to go. He’d wanted us, he’d come for us, and I’d never be able to thank him for the life he’d given us.
“You got it, Pops.” I pulled my eyes off Mike and moved toward the four-wheeler. Just as I wrapped my hand around the handle and started to lift, someone reached over my shoulder and gripped the handle too. Warm, callused fingers brushed mine, and I froze, not really needing to look in order to know who it was.
“I've got it.” His deep, husky voice filled my ear, and chills broke out instantly over my skin. The feeling of his chest brushing against my back didn’t help matters either.
I didn’t move. I didn’t look over my shoulder. I simply released the handle and waited for him to step back. When he did, I released the breath I didn’t even realize I was holding, and my shoulders relaxed. As I placed my hands on the seat of the four-wheeler to steady myself, I took a moment to slow down my breathing.
I got back to work, doing my best not to look in Mike’s direction. I could feel him watching me, noticing the way he too was quietly working in order to ignore what had just taken place.
I really didn’t know what was happening, but I did know it felt so much different than it had ever felt before. The rush of excitement, the adrenaline coursing through me as my hands shook, even though I tried to calm them. It was an entirely new experience. One I’d never felt when it came to Mike.
***
“Where’s the key?” I st
ood still, looking around on the ground next to the four-wheeler. I’d left the key in the ignition when I originally pulled up and knew I hadn’t moved it since.
“You mean this key?” Looking up, I found Mike dangling a keychain from his finger with a gleam in his eye. Almost everyone had already driven off toward the house. The only ones left were me, Mike, Rhett, and AJ. The three of them stood a few feet away, watching me, probably to see my reaction. They obviously didn’t want to miss the moment Mike announced he’d snagged the key to my four-wheeler.
When I climbed up on the ATV, the one I knew going in Mike had claimed as his own, he continued to stare. “I told you I’m not driving that crap wheeler back.” I challenged him with my stare, and he took a step toward me, still holding the key.
“Neither am I.” With that, he placed his hand on the tank of the four-wheeler I was currently on and slowly threw his leg up and over, sitting on the seat behind me. “Looks like we have a problem here.”
“No problem.” My voice sounded breathy. “We can sit here all night, doesn’t bother me.”
I heard Rhett say something, and I looked up just as he gave AJ a chaste kiss before walking off toward Penny. AJ climbed onto the four-wheeler that she and Rhett drove out there, and without any further delay, she turned the key. Rhett did the same to Penny, and suddenly, the two of them were moving toward the house, leaving Mike and me behind to sort this out for ourselves. My nerves came alive because we were now alone, and I had no one left to serve as a buffer.
“Seems you and I are riding together.” Mike reached around me and shoved the key into the ignition. The way his body formed around me, his chest firmly pressed to my back, was overwhelming in the best kind of way. His arms encircled me, making it difficult to breathe at an even pace.
I shouldn’t be getting these feelings when it came to Mikey. I shouldn’t.
“Go ahead, Mad.” He said this so close to my ear I felt his lips skim against its lobe. “Drive us home.” I froze when he leaned back, and in the process, his palms glided over the outside of my thighs. My breath hitched, my palms felt clammy, and I still couldn’t understand how things between us could shift so quickly.
My hands shook as I gripped the handlebars and gently twisted, the jerk of the ATV surprising us both.
“Careful,” he cooed in my ear, and I reminded myself to just focus on breathing evenly.
I was so confused but intrigued.
When we pulled up at the house, everyone was standing around talking. The sound of us approaching pulled all their attention toward us, and Rhett was the only one with a skeptical look on his face. The others didn’t seem to sense the change in us.
“Thanks for the ride.” Mike climbed off and left me staring after him as he walked toward Rhett without even a quick glimpse back. It didn’t stop Rhett from watching us both closely. His gaze shifted over and over between me and Mike, as if trying to figure something out.
I felt like telling him to let me know too when he figured it out. Things had never been this unsettled with Mike and me. We were always at one another’s throat in a playful way. Getting the best of each other was just our thing. It was something we all did on a regular basis. But this—the sultry whispers and the lingering glances—those were all something new. Something I wasn’t sure how to handle.
I was so confused.
Chapter Eleven
Mike
“A girl can only ask so many times before she’s convinced she’s getting the brush off.” I held the phone to my ear, looking out over the courtyard of the hospital. The sound of Raven’s voice was in my ear, and the weight of a hundred pounds, or so it felt, was pressed upon my chest. “You keep saying we’ll get together, then you make up some excuse each time I attempt to set something up.”
Part of me felt guilty, but in my defense, the woman terrified me.
In most cases, a female praying mantis or even a black widow spider ate their males after mating. While trying to escape, they were eaten alive after recently getting laid. Seemed extremely cruel when I thought about it. To get pleasure, someone had to die.
This definitely felt like something Raven could be capable of. The idea of it made me chuckle.
“Mike, are you laughing at me?”
“I would never.” I hadn’t meant for her to hear me. “You just get all kinds of fired up.”
“A girl can get a complex when a guy plays them.”
“Not playing ya, Raven.” At least, I wasn’t meaning to. “I honestly have been busy. Working here at the hospital and helping my dad at the farm on the side. A guy has to sleep at some point.”
“I’m gonna give you another week to take me out,” Raven declared, and I could sense the smile on her face. Raven was a pretty girl, there was no doubt about that, but she wasn’t the certain beauty who had managed to invade all my thoughts lately. “Then, I’m gonna move on and file this under a lost cause.”
It was my turn to smile.
“Soon,” I told her, and instantly, my stomach bottomed out. “Maybe Saturday we can meet up?”
We talked a little longer, her, of course, turning everything I said into a sexual innuendo. The woman had the dirtiest mind I had ever witnessed in a female. Some men may have found that kind of fun, alluring even, but it did nothing for me. Raven was a flirt; that part was pretty clear. She wasn’t subtle about telling me she was attracted to me. Life would be so much easier if the feelings were mutual, and I couldn’t lie and say that I hadn’t toyed with the idea of taking her up on what she was offering. A distraction may have been a good thing, considering my focus had been overpowered by a certain dark-haired beauty. But Raven couldn’t be that person because she wanted more. More than I was ready to offer her or ever thought of offering.
“I’d say I’ll hold you to it, but then I’d be left disappointed once again. So, instead, I’ll say this.” I could almost picture her biting her lip. The strangest thing was that I had never really been into that lip-biting thing girls did. “I’ll be at Lucky’s, and if you show up, great. If you don’t, I’ll find someone who is willing to accept that I’m a woman who is ready to play.”
I waited for my dick to react. Hell, even a slight twitch, but there was nothing. No dirty thoughts in my mind. Nothing at all.
“Later, Raven.” I lowered my phone and ended the call.
I spent the remaining half of my thirty-minute break shooting the shit with Rhett and listening to his little guy make whining noises because, apparently, he was hungry, and Mommy wasn’t out of the shower yet to feed him.
It still amazed me that Rhett had a son. Blake was a surprise, and I could honestly say that, even if he hadn’t been here, AJ and Rhett would still be just as in love. Rhett had it all, and at times, I’d allowed myself to imagine what a life like his would be like. One with a girl by my side, looking at me the way AJ looked at him. Like he was her everything. Waking up every morning with that same woman by my side, as we lay still listening to the sounds of our child echoing through the monitor.
My visions had always been unclear, the face of that woman always unseen…until lately. The last couple of weeks, I’d surprised myself when I’d pictured Maddison as the one staring back at me when I dreamed of rolling over and grabbing her by the waist to pull her close.
The most astonishing thing about those visions was the fact that they didn’t scare the fuck out of me. Instead, they had me wishing for more of them, looking forward to the time when I would close my eyes again so they would return.
Chapter Twelve
Maddison
Digging through my closet, I found the shirt I was in search of and pulled it out from the back, turning around to face Raven, who sat on the end of my bed. She jumped up and grabbed the hanger out of my hands.
“Yes, this one.” Her eyes roamed over the sheer red top with excitement. “I love this shirt. It makes my boobs look amazing.”
It would make anyone’s boobs look amazing, but I’d let her have her moment.
“Paired with my tight black pants and my heeled boots, it’ll be perfect.”
“Perfect for?” I still wasn’t sure why she had showed up at my place just before nine at night to beg for the top of mine that I had to steal back from her the last time she borrowed it.
“So, he hasn’t actually agreed to a date, per se, but I plan on seducing Mike in this top.” My stomach felt sour, and I fought the urge to snatch my shirt back and to tell her hell no and to get her own fucking clothes.
“How exactly do you seduce someone who may or may not even be present while doing so?” I stepped past her and walked out of my room, hearing her footsteps following closely behind.
“He said maybe we could hook up this Saturday, so if that pans out, I want to be prepared.” I focused on taking one calming breath after another. “Do you think I should buy new panties too?” Crack. My heart split right down the middle, or so it felt when I thought of her and Mike together. “Then again, maybe I should just forego them, because they’d only get in the way. I imagine him to be aggressive, hurried, demanding movements. I bet he likes control.”
“Not really something I want to think about.” It was making me nauseous.
“Come on, girl.” Raven flopped down in a chair at the island that separated my small kitchen and living room, placing her hands upon the countertop. “Don’t for a minute try to convince me that you haven’t thought of what that man would be like in the bedroom. If I recall, once, during a late-night drink session with my sister, we discussed that very thing.”
Just let it go already.
“First it was Rhett, but quickly we shifted to Mike. At which time, you expressed a great interest in how you believed him to be a ravishing lover.”
