Page 43 of Jake

When had he started thinking of her as his girl? He shook his head as he realized it had been before she’d even gotten to the ranch. He briefly wondered how she’d take it if he called her that out loud, then decided to find out.

He went to where they sat on opposite sides of a table, stepped over the bench, and settled in beside Lynnie. He threw his arm over her shoulders, leaned over, and kissed her cheek.

“What are we up to?” he asked as he sat.

“Not much. We were trying to decide what to do this afternoon.” Lynnie dropped her head on his shoulder as she spoke.

Jake liked that she didn’t change the way she acted or touched him in front of her cousin.

Lunch was called and they all got up to get plates before returning to their table and dug in. As they ate he contemplated what they could do. Then an idea struck him.

“How about we borrow some of the bikes from the ranch and go out riding?”

“Riding?” Lynnie asked, her nose crinkled as if she wasn’t sure of the idea.

“Yeah, but not like the ride yesterday. These are dirt bikes, and you’ll get your own bike or if you’re not comfortable on your own on only two wheels we can get you a four-wheeler. It’s fun, but a different kind of fun than the kind of ride you’ve been on recently.”

“Oh! That kind of bike. I’d prefer a four-wheeler, but I’m in.”

“Let me go let someone know what we’re doing. I’ll meet you in that barn,” he pointed to the barn where they kept the bikes and equipment, “in about five minutes. If you brought your helmet, you might want to grab it, but we’ve got extras, if not,” he said to Iceman before dropping a kiss on top of Lynnie’s head, standing hand leaving the table.

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Heatherliftedherbuttoff the seat and hit the throttle, letting the four-wheeler bounce and roll over the uneven terrain without rattling her teeth. She twisted around to see how close the guys were behind her and found they were catching up. Swiveling back around, she considered going faster, but decided to do something different. Instead of pushing the throttle harder, she released it, then hit the brakes, letting the guys zip past her. As soon as they’d gone past, she cranked the handlebars all the way to the right and hit the throttle again.

As the ATV picked up speed, moving away, the guys swung wide, turning, to figure out where she was. Heather laughed and pushed the four-wheeler faster. When Aaron had first suggested bikes, she hadn’t been impressed. She’d spent all day the day before on the back of his bike and while she’d enjoyed the trip, it wasn’t something she wanted to do today or every day. But when she’d realized he meant dirt bikes and ATVs and that she’d get to drive her own, she’d been all in. Now, she was glad he’d suggested it. She hadn’t laughed like this or had quite this much fun in… she couldn’t say how long.

She didn’t know how long they chased each other around the fields, going in circles, up and down the hillocks and doing stupid shit that did little more than waste time and gas, but she had such a good time, she couldn’t care. Between that and how well Aaron and Matt had gotten along, she couldn’t think of the last time she’d had a better day.

As they pulled the vehicles up to the gas tank to be filled before they were put away for the day, she remembered how she’d planned to spend the afternoon. Nothing like this, but she likely would have ended up just as happy and tired, though in a different way. Those plans had been thrown out the window as soon as Matt had shown up.

“Was it determined where you’ll sleep?” she asked Matt after pulling off her helmet as the two of them took several steps away from the bikes and four wheeler, giving Aaron room to work. She hated the idea of putting him out of his own trailer.

“Jake said I can have his bunk in the bunkhouse. Since he won’t be using it.” Matt shot a scowl Aaron’s way, as if he was unhappy knowing where he would be instead of in his bunk, but she thought it was as much for show as anything else.

“But will you use it?” Heather didn’t know if she could sleep in a room full of men, or women, she didn’t know. She wouldn’t blame Matt if he couldn’t either.

He lifted one shoulder and let it fall in a dismissive gesture.

Her gaze flickered to Aaron, where he was busy working the pump and filling each of the vehicles one by one several feet away.

“Matt?” She wasn’t going to let him refuse to answer, even if it meant giving him the bed in the trailer while she took the couch. Aaron could sleep in his own bunk if Matt was going to be difficult.

He took a deep breath then forced it out his nose. “I’ll make do. Either in the bunk or the bed of my truck. I kind of like the idea of sleeping under the stars. It’s been too long since the last time I did it.”

“You can have the bed.” She watched his face, looking for any kind of tell, any reaction that would tell her what he was thinking. “I’ll take the couch.”

“The hell you will.” Matt spoke between clenched teeth. “The last thing I’ll do is take the good bed while putting you between me and the door. If that asshole,” he tilted his head back toward where Aaron was hanging up the gas pump. “Wasn’t already going to spend the night in your bed, then I’d be on the couch, between you and anything that might come through the door.”

“No one will come in at night. No one knows where I am.”

“And we’ll do our best to keep it that way. But I’m not so sure no one knows where you are, and I’m going to do my damnedest to make sure nothing happens to you. That may be the only thing he and I have in common.” Matt glared in Aaron’s direction, then without saying anything, took off toward where Matt had kicked up one stand and was walking the bike the few feet to the barn to put it away.

Heather shook her head. There was no way to get someone like Matt to see that she could take care of herself. He thought she needed him to protect her, and she had to admit, she liked the idea of being protected, but she wouldn’t let him keep her from doing what she felt was right. No matter what it was. With a sigh of her own, she went to the vehicles and stepped up onto the four-wheeler before starting it and driving it into the barn where it belonged.

“Well, what now?” she asked after Aaron took their helmets and hung them back on the wall where he’d taken them from earlier.

“Now, it’s almost dinner time,” Aaron said after consulting his watch. “After that we can join everyone around the firepits like last night, we can go into the bunkhouse and join in on the gaming tournaments, we can retreat to the trailer and do our own thing. Or we can skip dinner with the rest of the club, go into town and do our own thing. It’s up to you guys.”

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