by Terry Towers
“Why would he do that?”
Planting my hands on my hips, anger began to well up within me. Was he calling me a liar? “Do you think I snuck into his closet and helped myself? Do you really think I’d do such a thing?”
Ryker released a loud huff of air, raking his fingers through his hair. “No. I’m sorry. I just… You don’t understand how Calvin can be when it comes to Allision.”
“Since you asked so nicely, I asked him what was suitable to wear tonight and asked him to help me find something.”
“You asked my brother for fashion advice?” He cocked an eyebrow up at me, disbelief in his eyes.
I shrugged. “You were busy. He said nothing I had would be suitable and then took me to his room and found me this dress.” Looking down at myself, I frowned. Maybe it didn’t look as nice on me as I thought it did. Lifting my eyes, I asked, “You don’t like it? Would you rather I change?”
“No. No.” Stepping up to me, he took my upper arms in his hands. There was sincerity in his tone and gaze when he said, “You’d be beautiful wearing a potato sack. I was just surprised to see you in one of Allison’s dresses — that’s all.”
Chapter 14
Ryker
The Rockin’ Rodeo. Fuck. The place was a mecca for rednecks. But Nina didn’t know that and she wanted to experience the town so, I suppose, why not? I’d grown out of going there a long time ago but there wasn’t much else to do in town other than the small movie theater and bowling alley. The Rockin’ Rodeo even doubled as our pool hall so there wasn’t much else to do. I had a feeling I couldn’t sway her to go bowling.
The biggest problem was that there would be a number of women I’d slept with there. Some of the women would have been from many years back, some not so long ago. I really didn’t know how jealous Nina was or could be. It made me wish I’d been a little less promiscuous when I was younger.
But she had a ring on her finger. She was the one I planned on marrying so that should amount to something. I’d remind her of that if she got antsy. Don’t get me wrong; I wasn’t about to throw it in her face, but rather remind her that she was the one I wanted to be with.
“What’s wrong?”
Pulled from my thoughts, I took my eyes off the road long enough to glance at Nina and smiled. “Nothing. Just thinking. That’s all.”
“About what?”
“Are you sure you don’t want to do something else tonight? Maybe catch a movie?”
“No, I want to go there. Is there a reason you don’t want to go there?”
“Of course not.” As I spoke the words, the Rockin’ Rodeo came into view. It was a large building which was decorated to look like an old-time saloon, right down to the wooden railings and troughs that would have been used for horses to drink from, but instead contained flower beds with cactus.
Nina sat up straight in the seat and grinned. As we drew closer, you could hear the country music playing. “This looks fun.”
“If you say so,” I replied dryly.
She patted me on the thigh. “Stop being so grumpy. You said I should meet new people. What better place than here?”
I didn’t reply as I pulled into a parking spot and cut the engine. Scanning the dozen or so people milling about outside of the bar, I counted two that I’d slept with, one of which hadn’t been too long ago. But whatever. I guess she’d meet them all eventually anyhow.
Opening the door, I slid out and went around to the other side of the truck to help Nina out.
“Thank you.” She slid out and then pulled at the hem of the skirt, adjusting the garment around her.
“Don’t mention it.” Once she was out of the way, I closed the door and then took her hand, leading her to the front door, unsure of whether I was going to just jump on in and introduce her to everyone, my former lovers included, or allow them to come to us.
~*~ TT ~*~
Nina
The bar looked like something right out of the movies, which was really cool. I wasn’t much of a drinker so that aspect wasn’t appealing to me but meeting the people of the town certainly was. I could do without meeting that Buffy woman again though.
How many more women would there be? I nibbled at my lower lip as we proceeded across the parking lot. I had a suspicion that Ryker was a bit of a ladies’ man. From my understanding, along with some assumptions I made along the way, he was the stereotypical high school jock, and from what I could tell, this was a town that idolized football, whether it be high school, college ball or professional.
“Ryker, man, it’s been a while.” As we approached the front door, we were stopped by a slender dark-haired man, who I would guess to be roughly Ryker’s age. Standing with him was a petite brunette, wearing a jean skirt and white t-shirt which seemed a little sheer for me considering I could faintly see her purple bra underneath.
“Yeah, it has.”
“Where have you been?”
“Been working a lot. We’ve got some new equipment that we’ve needed to set up and test. Normal stuff, I suppose.”
“And who’s this pretty thing you have on your arm?” His gaze fell onto me.
“Hello, I’m Nina.” I offered him my hand.
“Nina. I’m Brent and my lady friend is Rebecca. Ryker and I go back to our high school days; we used to play ball together.” He took my hand and gave it a shake that lasted a little longer than I would have preferred it to. “I haven’t seen you around here before? Where are you from?”
“Russia. I just moved here.”
“Really? How long have you been here and how did you two meet?”
“I’ve only been here a couple of days. We —”
“It’s a long story.” Ryker cut me off in mid-sentence, releasing my hand and placing it at the small of his back, ushering me forward. “We’ll catch up more later if that’s cool.” He didn’t wait for a reply, hustling me towards the entrance.
“Are you ashamed of how we met?” I asked after he’d paid the bouncer our entrance fee and walked inside. There was a live band playing in the back corner and they were pretty good. While the first couple songs I’d heard were country, they’d switched it up and were now playing some rock and roll.
“No.” He groaned out loud. “A little bit. I’m just not sure how the people here would take it.”
“Then am I not supposed to tell them I’m from Russia? I have an accent if you haven’t noticed.” I’m not sure why I was getting angry with him. It’s not like I wanted people knowing he’d found me on a mail-order bride site. But at the same time, I was proud to be Russian, even if I preferred to live in America.
“Yes. I’m sorry.” He raked his fingers through his hair as he motioned for me to follow him to the bar. “I’m not saying we need to keep that you’re Russian from people, but I’d prefer they not know that we’d met on a mail-order site. It’s something we should have discussed before coming here. I don’t want them getting the wrong impression about me, you or our relationship.”
Once we reached the bar, he leaned down and gave me a tender kiss on the lips that made my heart do a little flutter in my chest. Leaning into me, he lowered his voice. “People here aren’t all that open-minded about certain things, despite the day and age it is.”
I nodded. What he was saying made sense. “Okay. Then we need to discuss a story when we get home.”
Smiling he nodded, placing another kiss on my forehead, just as the bartender approached us. The bartender was an older gentleman, perhaps in his mid-fifties.
“Ryker Stone, it’s been a while. What’s been —” His voice trailed off as he looked down at me. “I think I know. You’re a pretty little thing; what are you doing with the likes of him.” The bartender jerked his thumb at my husband-to-be.
I wasn’t sure how to respond to that; I’ve never been one for snappy remarks. I was the type of person who would think of the perfect reply long after the confrontation had ended.
“She’s from out of state,” Ryker supplied for me.
�
�Ah, that explains it.” He gave me a wink, making me blush. “What can I get for you?”
“I’ll just have a wine cooler please. Lemonade.”
“Yeah, and I’ll just have a draft beer.”
The bartender slammed the wooden table before me saying, “Coming right up.” He turned and as promised, less than a minute later there were two drinks on the table before us. Ryker paid and escorted me from the bar.
“Is there anyone here that doesn’t know you?”
“Not many, I’m afraid.”
“Why afraid?”
“Because not all stories about me show me in a good light, that’s all. Small towns are like that. It’s hard to keep secrets around people you’ve known all your life.”
“Is there lots of bad to be heard?”
He ushered me to a quiet corner, saying hello and giving casual nods to people as he passed them. Since I didn’t know anyone, I simply nodded and smiled.
“The truth is I’ve dated a lot of women here and some experiences were good and some not so great. Small towns never forget and your fresh meat.”
I’m not sure how I felt about being considered fresh meat but I nodded anyhow.
I scanned the bar, looking out onto the dance floor and past to the billiard tables. There were about seventy people here. I’d guess the mix was about half and half men to women, ranging from barely drinking age to people close to retirement. Of the women in attendance, roughly ten were within five years of Ryker either way.
“How many of the women here have you slept with?”
He groaned out loud, taking a long swig of his beer. “Does it really matter?” As he spoke, the main door opened and the Dolly Parton look-alike entered with a couple other women in tow. She scanned the crowd and her gaze locked onto mine. She tore her gaze away without so much as a smile.
Despite asking the question, I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to know the answer. Would knowing make me feel better or just make me paranoid. With a sigh, I shook my head. “No, I don’t think I do.”
“Good answer.” He cupped my cheek in his hand, looking deep into my eyes. “You’re the one I want to be with. I wouldn’t have moved you halfway across the world if you weren’t. I made some questionable decisions in my past, but that has no bearing on the present. Okay?”
“Okay.” I smiled at him, though I couldn’t help the hesitation in my smile.
“Hey, have you ever line danced?”
Laughing, I shook my head. “Do people actually do that?”
“Yup. Here they do.”
I looked out onto the dance floor where groups and couples danced. “That doesn’t look like line dancing to me.”
“By the time you’re done with your drink, they will be.”
“How do —” Just as I began to ask how he knew, the song ended and a song generally associated with line dancing began.
“This band has been playing here for years every Friday night. They play pretty much the exact same set every night. It’s like clockwork. They seriously need new material.”
Watching the people get into lines and begin the routines seemed extremely intimidating. I didn’t have a clue how to do what they were doing. I guzzled down my drink, deciding that line dancing wasn’t for me.
“Come on, let’s go.” He took my hand and gave it a tug.
Digging my heels in, I shook my head. “I don’t think that line dancing is for me.”
“Hey, you’re the one that wanted to come here and get the experience. That means that in order to get the full experience you’ll have to participate.”
“Maybe I should just watch and learn.” It never looked this complicated on television. I was going to make a fool of myself. Worse yet was that I was going to make a fool of myself in front of a bunch of women Ryker was intimate with. Nope. No way. Wasn’t going to happen.
“We could have gone to the movies. I would have even went to see a chick flick.”
I groaned inwardly, bowing my head in defeat. “Okay. Fine.” How hard could it be, right? If they could do it, so could I.
“You never told me you line dance.”
“Everyone does who lives here. It’s like a rite of passage.” He took a spot at the back and positioned me next to him. “Just do what everyone else is doing. You’ll catch on.”
That’s when he left me to the wolves. He knew the moves and moved in time with the group. Me, however, that was an entirely didn’t story. Knee slap, turn around, step back, shimmy. For the remainder of the song and throughout the next one, I stayed a good couple of steps behind the group. I caught Buffy’s gaze a couple of times and she was grinning, enjoying the sight of me making a fool of myself.
What had I gotten myself into…
Chapter 15
Ryker
I really should have helped her along. Any decent man would have but damn it was amusing seeing her attempt to do the moves. At first, she was a train wreck, but by the middle of the second song she was finally getting the hang of it.
After three songs of line dancing the band switched up to something completely different for them. A woman I’ve never seen before came onstage and took over for the male lead singer. If they were playing a slow dancing song that would have been a breeze, every guy knows how to slow dance, but this Latin style of dance had me taking her hand and attempting to lead her from the dance floor.
But she refused to budge. “I’m not done dancing.”
I chuckled. “Oh, I don’t dance to this type of music.”
She stepped up to me and slipped her hands up my chest and over my shoulders. “But you can learn. If I can attempt to learn line dancing then you can try this, yes?”
Looking around us, many couples left the floor, but there were still a dozen or so dancing to this new type of music. A few seemed to know what they were doing but the rest seemed to be winging it.
I suppose I could give it a try.
With a sigh, I gave in. “Fine. You’re right. Teach me.” I slipped my hands around her waist and pulled her into me, tight, so that my groin was pressed against her. Hey, it’s how I saw it done in the movies.
She began moving against me, her body causing friction and teasing my dick. This was going to get hard in more ways than one if she kept it up, I was already feeling the pressure begin to build in my dick.
We began swaying, staying together as if our groins were married. Dry humping on the dance floor; all right, I can really get into this. As my dick became rock solid, she spun around in my arms, so her back was facing my chest and began to rock and move her body, her hands trailing their way down the outer side of my arms until she was crouched before me.
Taking a step back, I took a moment to admire the exquisite view of her ass bouncing before me. “How did you learn to dance like this?” I asked as she slowly made her way back up my body, until her back was flush against my chest. Reaching behind her, she grasped my neck, tilting her head so that her lips were an inch from mine.
“There was a Latin club not too far from where I lived. I enjoyed going with friends and learning to dance there.” She replied, urging my lips down to hers and claiming them. The kiss started off innocent enough but the pain in my dick, in combination with the smell of her perfume drifting up and filling my nostrils, enticing me with memories of our times together, was making it impossible to think about anything but getting her alone and indulging in every inch of her stunning body.
She moaned against my lips and it nearly sent me over the edge. No woman has ever gotten me this worked up just from a kiss. But in my defense, her round ass was grinding against my cock, enticing my rock-hard member.
When she broke off the kiss, she spun out of my embrace and turned to face me a couple feet away. Pulling her lower lip between her teeth, she looked at me with sex in her eyes. It took every ounce of willpower I had in me to not pull her back into my arms and ravage her right there on the dance floor.
We continued to dance though the next couple of songs went b
y in a blur for me. Most of my concentration was focused on keeping my desire at bay. A part of me felt like I was a teenager again, not being able to keep a handle on myself. The funny thing was that it felt good. It felt really fucking good.
“You’re doing great!” she exclaimed, laughter and happiness dancing in her green eyes as she brushed her hair back with her fingers.
“I have no idea what I’m doing.”
“That makes it even more impressive. Who’d have thought a cowboy could have moves like yours.” She closed the distance between us, sliding her hands up my chest. “But then again, it’s a lot like having sex.”
“Except with your clothes on. Not quite as fun, baby,” I commented.
“But there’s the anticipation.” She kissed the side of my neck, making my entire body hum.
“Would you be opposed to leaving soon?” I asked. Alone with her. Naked. That’s where I wanted to be. Besides, as I looked up, I could see there were many sets of eyes on us. Female eyes in particular, though there were a number of men who couldn’t keep from staring at my fiancée. Well they could eat their hearts out because she was mine.
She gave my request some consideration and then smiled. “I think I’ve seen enough for tonight. One more dance and we head home. Deal?”
“Deal.”
~*~ TT ~*~
Calvin
“You’ve got to let people help you once in a while, Calvin.” Kent said on our drive back from the hospital, taking his eyes off the road just long enough to nod towards my left leg in a cast. My leg hurt like a bitch but the painkillers that the doc had given me were helping to numb the pain.
“I don’t need help.”
“Funny, the leg seems to be saying otherwise.”
“It was a fucking accident. Accidents happen on ranches. It has no bearing on what I can or can’t do on my own.”
“Right, but if you’d allowed us to stay late and help you finish repairing the machinery then the accident wouldn’t have happened.”
I huffed. What he was saying wasn’t completely without merit, I’d give him that.
