by V. F. Mason
She gave me a curious glance but went over there, taking the sheet, still not comfortable being naked with me, but I didn’t mind.
She opened the closet, looked inside, and froze. She slowly took out the supplies I got for her, from watercolors to pastels and pencils. There was also a big canvas waiting for her, which wasn’t in there since it wouldn’t fit, but I didn’t know whether to mention it to her or not, because she was unusually quiet while staring at her surprise. Fuck, maybe it wasn’t such a good idea after all.
Part of me worried that maybe she didn’t want me to know her secret, but I really wanted to make her drawings more vivid with colors she probably couldn’t afford. That was some expensive shit, but luckily, I had enough money for it. She finally turned and looked at me as one lonely tear traveled down her right cheek.
Fuck, I made her cry! “Baby, please don't cry.” That was it, no more surprise gifts for her. I wanted her happy, not fucking upset with it. Shaking her head, she sat down on the corner of the bed, and I scooted closer to her. Everything in me screamed to give her comfort.
“It’s just… you bought these for me?” she asked, and I nodded, unsure what to say. “You know about my drawings?”
“I just saw that you drew everything with pencil and you probably needed colors, because they were so beautiful, and surely you wanted to make them more vivid. I know you probably didn’t want to spend money on it.” She flinched when I mentioned money, and I wanted to smack myself. Reminding her she needed it wasn’t the best thing to say. “So I went into town and found all the needed supplies,” I finished, and hoped to fuck she wouldn’t cry again. Seeing her tears didn’t bring out the best emotions in me.
She leaned into me for a kiss. It was a feather-light touch, and then she pressed her forehead to mine. “Thank you,” she whispered through her tears. There was love, but there was also something else. “My mom was the only one who ever gave me gifts like this.”
That was why she was so moved, and all of a sudden, a lump formed in my throat, because, even though I didn’t remember my mom that much, I knew the pain of losing a parent never went away. It stayed with you like a deep ache.
“I’m happy I can share it with you.”
So was I.
“Can I paint you?”
“Since when do you ask? I thought you did that all the time.”
She nudged my shoulder for the sarcasm and blushed. “Well, I think I should ask permission now, since you know.”
“Well, then, I accept.”
She giggled again and kissed me with a loud peck. The time we spent on my gift didn’t allow us to have a quickie like I’d hoped. Well, we could, but we’d have to skip the shower.
“Baby, we have a tough choice to make, but the answer is obvious to me,” I started.
“Shower,” she said at the same time as I said, “Sex.” We stared at each other and she wiggled her nose.
“No way. As much as I want to try this position out”—straddling my lap, she rocked herself against me, causing me to groan, because that felt so fucking good, like everything with her—“I need to take a shower. I’m sweaty, and as much as I love your scent right now, I want to be all clean.” She kissed me again before climbing off my lap. “Don't follow me,” she warned with a smile and went into the bathroom.
If I’d known being in a relationship was so much fun, I would have tried it sooner.
The thought alone was wrong, because I knew it wouldn’t have felt right with anyone but her.
Serena
The morning started as usual. There was some bickering. Maggie was quiet and didn’t want to spill all the details about her time with Grady, so I didn’t insist. Becky and Ren were shooting daggers at each other, while Shane and I shared winks and heated stares. All in all, a normal day on the ranch, and I concluded I really enjoyed the life and part of me would miss the everyday routine.
But at the same time, I knew the lifestyle wasn’t something I wanted to have for the rest of my life. I missed the big city, yet I was so grateful for the time here.
Shane needed to know the truth tonight, because we were serious, and I couldn’t exactly keep it all to myself since I wanted honesty between us.
My mind was still blown by the gift he had given me. The fact he knew about the talent—rather, hobby—that I shared with my mom made him part of something bigger in my life, no matter how cheesy that sounded. He valued me and my interests, and that was something I wasn’t used to in my old life.
My art expressed my emotions, so it wasn’t for the public eye. It was something that was mine, something that wasn’t touched by someone else, and I wanted to keep it that way. I knew there was a problem, since I hadn’t drawn anything for a fashion line, and I wasn’t interested in doing so either. I thought it was compromising my art, which I could make a living at, but I was no longer sure about anything. But I needed to tell him the truth, before someone else did and ruined our relationship.
I caught his hand when he was passing me in the kitchen. “Can we talk tonight?”
He frowned. “Sure. Is everything okay?” His thumb caressed my cheek, and I leaned into his touch. I loved when he did that. I had the bubble of happiness inside me and wanted to bask in it.
“Yeah, everything is perfect. Go to work.”
He smiled as he left, and I turned around to see Maggie and Becky engaged in a heated argument.
That was another thing. Maggie didn’t want to spill whatever happened last night, and it was driving Becky nuts, because she loved to know the details. But then, she was acting strange after the whole thing with Ren, so I hoped she wasn’t developing any kind of crush on the guy, because, well… I didn’t know what. I just hoped she wouldn’t go there. She had enough problems as it was with her parents and the Matt scandal. I really didn’t want that triangle to turn into a square. And Ren was nothing but a hot mess of problems.
“Girl, come on, give a little!” she pleaded.
“No.”
“You have a sexy biker take you away and you keep your mouth shut? That’s just cruel.” Becky pouted; it looked cute and usually worked on people. Hell, it worked on me every damned time.
“No, and he isn’t a biker.”
“Whatever.”
Maggie continued filling the dishwasher. Surprisingly, her hair wasn’t in a messy bun as usual, but rather it was pinned high on her head and came down in cascades. It looked really good, and instead of her awful shorts, she had on black yoga pants and a long shirt. It wasn’t that she’d changed much, but she looked quite nice.
“Leave her alone, Becky.”
She glared at me. “Like hell. She is all dressed up. Ha! I tell you, that biker did something.”
I just rolled my eyes.
After some time, when we were done with the first floor, I heard the phone ring. Since Maggie was busy, I decided to pick it up, which I’d never done before.
“Hello, Rising Star ranch.” It was the usual answer, so I just went with the flow.
“Hello,” the soft, feminine voice answered. It was a bit raspy, but had a warm quality about it. “May I speak with Hawk?”
Well, that was something else; usually women didn’t call him here, but then, as far as I knew, he had no women. He just waited for his wife. Not that I judged her much, since he cheated on her and fathered a child through a one-night stand.
A child I fell in love with.
“Sure, may I just ask who is calling?”
“It’s Elizabeth.” Holy shit, his wife was calling!
“He’s outside. They’re training horses for the upcoming camp. Wait just a minute, okay?” I hoped she would, because I didn’t want to screw up and tell Hawk he’d missed a call from his wife. He would kick my ass.
“Don’t worry, dear, I can wait.”
Well, thank God. I rushed outside and searched for Hawk but couldn’t find him anywhere. I spotted Carter coming out of the barn.
“Hey, Carter, where is Hawk?” He pointed
to the ring, and I finally saw him behind several men who blocked my view of him. It appeared he was trying to handle the black stallion, Lightning, the one that was still wild.
They all looked amazed as he whispered something to the animal, and although the horse didn’t want to listen, he didn’t jolt him, either, like he did with everyone else. I came a bit closer and shouted his name, but he didn’t react. His back was toward me and outside noises were too loud.
“Hawk!” I tried again with no result, as he was too engaged in his horse. Then I noticed the gate leading inside the ring. It was a foolish move to enter, but the call was important. Plus, he was handling the animal well, so I wasn’t worried he’d lose control of him. As I came closer, I tried again to get his attention. “Hey, Hawk!”
With wide eyes, he finally turned to face me. Suddenly, the horse spotted me too and charged toward me at full speed. I heard the men shouting at me to move out of the way, but I was frozen in place with fear.
All I could see was a wild black mustang coming toward me, knowing no one could stop him.
Out of nowhere, I felt hands on my waist, grabbing me painfully and throwing me over the fence. After a second, a large person joined me. Glancing up at the ring, I saw the horse was staring down at me, not pleased I got away.
A movement at my side caught my attention, and I realized Shane was beside me, breathing hard.
So he was the one to save me, but for some reason, it was hard to focus. My body felt heavy, and when my head hit the ground with a thump, I saw all the men gather around me and felt a soft hand on my cheek.
Shane. “Baby, say something.”
I opened my mouth to do just that, because I didn’t like his expression. He was terrified, and I felt as though my head was going to explode.
“Hawk—” I tried to tell him Beth was on the line, but I couldn’t find the strength to continue. It was important, so why couldn’t I do that? And then there was nothing as darkness consumed me and the pain went away.
Shane
“No, no, no, baby, open your eyes! Just open your damn eyes!” It was useless to talk, because she’d already passed out, but I was terrified. I tried to lift her head, but Hawk, who came out of nowhere, stopped me.
“Son, don’t. We called an ambulance. Don’t do anything. We don’t know what kind of damage we may do. It might be nothing serious, but it’s better not to risk it.”
Nodding in agreement, I had to clench my hands to stop touching her.
Stupid girl! Why would she fucking run into the ring and endanger herself? She knew better than that after so many weeks on the ranch.
When I came around the corner after fixing one of the fences, I saw her standing there frozen while Lightning made her his target. I ran with all my might. I was so scared I wasn’t gonna make it. I threw her over the fence like a sack of potatoes. She was probably hurt all over.
“It’s my fault.” How could it not be? I should have known better. Maybe if I’d fucking lived here my whole life, I would have known how to save her from a situation like that without hurting her. Anger consumed me, slipping through my veins like an angry wave, and it wasn’t directed only to me, but toward Hawk, too, because he fucking wasn’t there to teach me how to handle situations like that.
“No, son, it ain’t. You did the best you could in this situation.”
I heard women screaming as Maggie and Becky ran toward us and kneeled down. “What happened?”
I didn’t care who gave an explanation; I just watched her. At least she was breathing.
The sound of a siren echoed in the distance, and after a few minutes, paramedics came and checked her, forcing me to move out of their way. They put her on the gurney and headed toward the ambulance. I wanted to go with her, but one of them stopped me. “Are you family?” the guy asked.
“No.”
“Then you can’t go. I’m sorry.”
“The fuck I can’t. I want to be with her.” I tried to push my way in, but Hawk held me back.
“We’ll be there.”
The paramedic nodded and headed off.
I struggled out of Hawk’s hold and spun around. “What the fuck, Hawk?”
Someone gasped, because no one spoke to him like that. Big fucking deal. My girl was alone in the ambulance, and he’d prevented me from going with her.
“She needs medical assistance and you were keeping her from it. Stop being selfish and think about her. Get your ass in the car. We’ll follow them.” He turned to his men. “Look after the ranch and everyone on it. Go back to your jobs.” Then he spoke to the girls. “If either of you wants to come, hop in.” His eyes came back to mine. “And, boy, watch that mouth of yours. You may be grown, but I can still kick your ass.” He headed to his truck and all of us followed him.
Somehow I calmed down, but barely. The drive to the hospital seemed like the longest ride of my life, and I couldn’t sit still, because I needed to know how she was and be there for her, not here with everyone else.
“Hawk,” Becky’s depressed voice called from behind, and I tried to hold my anger and not say shit to her, because just then wasn’t the time for her babbling personality. I just needed the silence, but I let her continue anyway. “We need to call Uncle Braden.”
Who the fuck was that? All I needed was to see my girl right fucking then. My head was filled with images of her not being able to walk again, or having something wrong with her head, or her back being broken.
Finally, we arrived and I didn’t wait for anyone else, just ran inside and asked the nurse where she was. She pointed toward the end of the corridor where there was another nurse.
“Hey, I’m looking for Serena.” She looked at me, confused, and I swore inside, because she probably didn’t have Serena’s details. For the life of me, I couldn’t remember her family name, and I wasn’t sure she even gave it to me.
“The redheaded girl?” I recognized the nurse from the town library from when I was picking up Maggie. Her name was Marisa, I thought, feeling glad there was someone I knew in the
madness. “Oh, she’s with the doctor. You can’t go in there. Wait here, and the minute he’s done, he’ll be out to talk with you.”
I nodded, but I was too stressed to sit, so I paced the length of the waiting room.
Hawk and the girls entered ten minutes later, and Maggie even brought me coffee.
We waited together for twenty minutes before the doctor finally came out. “Who is the family?”
I wanted to speak up, but I was stopped by Hawk. Did he have to interfere all the fucking time? “Her father is on his way, so for now, it’s me. She works on my ranch, John. You can tell me.”
The doctor nodded, and for the moment, I cared nothing about her father. All my attention was focused on Serena.
“She’s fine. Well, she has a small concussion, so I would like to keep her for the rest of the day and tonight to monitor her. She has a few scratches, but her spine is fine. Though, I gotta say, she was lucky. The fall could have been worse considering the circumstances,” he concluded seriously, but the information allowed me to breathe again.
She was okay. I’d made it on time. None of the horrible shit I thought on the way here happened. “Can I see her?” I had to make sure for myself that she was okay, to touch some part of my girl so I would know she was okay. Just a bit. Just for a moment.
The doctor shook his head. “I’m sorry, but only family is allowed. Besides, she isn’t awake yet and needs rest.”
“We understand. Soon, her father will come.” Hawk once again played the peacemaker. The doctor nodded and left.
Fuck, I was left waiting again. Fucking hated that shit.
“Oh my God, thank God, she is okay!” Becky said and fell into the nearest chair. “I was so worried. She’s the only person I have who gives a damn about me. To think about her hurt is just… bad.” She was even shaking a bit from nerves.
Good to know my girl had a best friend who gave a damn about her as well. She
was wild and crazy, but as long as she valued Serena, we were good.
“What the hell happened?” We all glanced behind us to see Ren and Grady enter the hospital, coming toward us. Someone on the ranch must have told them what happened. Gotta say, I was surprised to see Grady. What the hell was he doing here anyway? He kneeled in front of Maggie and squeezed her hand, and she gave him a shaky smile.
Yeah, okay. Got it. Since no one answered, because Becky was still crying, Maggie was hugging her, and I had no fucking desire to talk anyway, Hawk once again filled them in.
I didn’t stay to listen. There was a big window at the end of the hallway, so I went there and rested my arm on it as I just stared. The rational part of me knew she was okay, but the irrational side wouldn’t be okay ‘til I saw her. I just needed to see her pretty eyes, because the tight knot inside me didn’t want to go.
Falling for her, my ass. I was already in love.
A hand gently squeezed my arm, but I didn’t want to turn around. My emotions were raw, not for anyone to see. “You okay, man?” Grady said, right before Ren came closer too, and they both stood there waiting for my answer.
What could I tell them to make them understand how I felt?
“No.” They said nothing and waited for the rest. “I love her.”
“Yeah.” Again Grady.
“I was terrified I wouldn’t reach her in time, or worse, she would be paralyzed because of me.” I had no idea why I was talking about it, because it was already behind us. We knew she was okay. But all those feelings inside me, they needed to be released. I needed to explain. These guys were sort of my friends. They may have been assholes, but they knew what love was; I was sure of it. “I never want her to be in pain, but at the same time, once I see her, I want to shout and shake the hell out of her and kiss her at the same time for the stupid stunt she pulled.” But I knew I would just go with the kissing route, because it would calm both of us.
“You made it in time,” Ren said, and slapped me on my back. “So stop this shit and wait ‘til you can see your girl.” Grady nodded in agreement.
