Page 22 of Whiskey and Wildfire

I’d been out mending fenceposts for half the morning and so far, the only thing I managed to think about other than Logan was how much I hated digging post holes. And even then, it wasn’t very often Logan left my mind. It had been that way ever since I woke up with his head in my lap, his lips less than an inch from my cock. How was I supposed to forget something like that?

I kept trying to tell myself that it didn’t matter what I was feeling. That sort of thing just couldn’t happen between us. Logan was a nice guy, but he was kind of a mess at the moment. No offense to him of course, I understood. I’d been there myself plenty of times. In fact, sometimes I thought I was still there. But that didn’t mean I wanted to get burned either.

Fuck… maybe I was just scared.

Either way, no amount of overthinking the entire situation made me want him any less. And it especially didn’t wipe the memory of his head in my lap from my mind. I liked that far too much to forget it. The moment he was out that door in the morning, I was back in the bathroom, my cock out and in my hand. How was I supposed to resist something that strong? Hewas gorgeous, sweet, and a bit of an asshole. Weirdly, that was my type down to a tee.

I wiped the sweat from my brow and leaned on my shovel, gazing out over the rolling prairie. The grass swayed in the hot Texas breeze, and I could see the heat waves shimmering on the horizon. My thoughts drifted back to Logan once more, as they inevitably did.

What would it be like to run my fingers through his sandy brown hair? To trace the lines of his muscular body with my hands? I shook my head, trying to clear the images from my mind. This was dangerous territory. The last thing I needed was another boner in the middle of trying to get my job done.

I resumed my work, driving the shovel into the hard-packed earth with more force than necessary. The physical exertion helped distract me, if only momentarily. But as I worked, I couldn’t help but think about how Logan’s tanned skin would look glistening with sweat under the hot sun.

“Get it together,” I muttered to myself. We were friends, and that was it. That’s all it could be. A piece of ass wasn’t worth losing my home over.

I drove the shovel into the ground again, grunting with the effort. The sun beat down mercilessly, and I could feel sweat trickling down my back. I tried to focus on the task at hand unsuccessfully.

What if I was wrong? What if there was a chance for something more between us? The thought sent a thrill through me, followed quickly by a wave of anxiety. I’d been burned before, and the scars still hadn’t fully healed. It cost me my life back then, and I didn’t want to repeat that.

I paused, leaning on my shovel again and taking a long drink from my water bottle. As I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, I felt a familiar buzz in my pocket followed by the jingling ringtone. Pulling off one of my gloves, I grabbed my phone andsaw ‘Mom’ at the top of the screen. My belly lurched as I hit the green button. Usually when she called, it wasn’t good news.

“Hey Mom,” I said, trying to sound happy and not worried.

“Hey honey,” she replied, her voice bright and smiling. “How are you?”

I sighed in relief. Whew. At least this wasn’t a bad call.

“I’m doing fine. Just mending fenceposts. How are you?”

“I’m amazing,” she laughed. “I left your father!”

My breath caught in my throat as I froze up. Maybe this wasn’t a good call. But then again, she sounded so happy.

“You… You did?”

“Yep! Packed my things up a couple nights ago and decided I was done with all that.”

“Oh…” I wasn’t sure what to say. Mom had been putting up with his drunk tirades for years. She didn’t like them, but she was always talking about keeping the family together. “Did something happen?”

“Well, he got drunk again,” she sighed. “And this time he put himself in the hospital.”

“What happened?”

“Oh, he tried to hit me,” she chuckled.

“HE WHAT?!” My blood was boiling in an instant.

“Don’t worry, he missed,” she added, trying to calm me down. “But I didn’t. And when I punched him in the face, he fell down the stairs.” She let out another long sigh. “He doesn’t remember anything, so I just told the paramedics he fell. He’s already got a reputation with them, anyway.”

“I… wow…” I said at last. “I’m kinda proud of you.”

“It felt good, I won’t lie. But I’m out of there now. Already called the lawyer and everything. However, in the meantime, I’m in Sagebrush!”

My heart dropped right out my butt. “You… You what?”

“Yeah! Isn’t that fun?!”

I wasn’t sure what to say. Not once in five years had my mother come to visit me. And now she’d left home, packed her things, and come to Sagebrush? She knew I lived in a tiny two-room cabin on the ranch, it wasn’t like I had a place for her to crash. Besides, she was so involved with the tribal government. She even worked for the tribal center on the reservation. What the hell was she doing all the way out here?

---