Page 21 of Cowboy Crush
I hear a knocking sound, and our kiss breaks as I turn to look toward the doorway where Summer is standing. “Sorry to interrupt, but Chloe and I thought we’d take off and give you two some privacy. Can we borrow your car?”
“Keys are on the table by the door,” I tell her, moving my lips back to his.
“Cool, friendly reminder: don’t do it where anyone else sits,” she says before I hear her feet thumping against the floor with her retreat.
I can’t help but laugh, and that causes our kiss to break. But he doesn’t seem to mind. He puts his forehead against mine and shares in the laughter. “What do you say we grab a glass of wine and go out to the hot tub since they’re leaving?”
His brows lift. “Sounds good to me.”
I get off his lap, and I go to the kitchen, where I grab a bottle of wine and two glasses. He follows me out to the back patio. He offers to pour the wine while I run in and grab us a couple of towels. The girls are just walking out as I’m exiting the bathroom.
“Have fun,” Chloe says in her high-pitched voice.
Summer smiles and waves as she walks out after her, closing the door behind them.
I walk back outside, and Jameson has poured us both a glass of wine. I toss the towels next to the hot tub and go about removing the cover. Then I turn to him and start pulling off my clothes. When I yank my shirt over my head, his eyes widen as the corners of his mouth begin to lift.
“What? Not being shy now, are we?”
“I’m never shy,” he says, yanking his shirt over his head and dropping it on the concrete. We both remove our clothes and slip into the hot tub with a glass of wine in our hands. The sun is just starting to go down, and the crickets begin to chirp. It’s relaxing and warm.
“I told you about me. Why don’t you tell me about you.”
I shrug. “There’s not much to tell. I didn’t have an exciting life growing up. My mom is a doctor, and my dad owns a pretty successful real estate company in the city. I grew up in the suburbs, but I went to school in the city where both my parents worked. My parent still live in the same house to this day. I lived there until I went off to college and now that I finished, I’m spending my summer here, and then, I’ll be going to New York. Pretty uneventful life if you ask me. Your story is much more interesting.”
“It may be interesting, but I’d swap you any day,” he replies.
“Can I ask you something?” I tilt my head, looking for anything he may hold back.
“Sure,” he agrees.
“What is this to you?”
His brows drag together in confusion.
“I mean, I’m just worried that you’ve gone all this time not opening up, and now you are…to me, a person who you know can’t stick around. I just…I don’t want to end up hurting you more in the long run.”
He nods once and takes a sip of his wine. “Honestly, I don’t know. I have no idea what I’m doing. My boss, he suggested I go out, meet people, and find some joy in life again. I didn’t think I could do that until I met you. And now”—he shrugs—“I’m taking it one day at a time.”
I hold my glass of wine up in the air to cheers. “To taking it one day at a time,” I agree.
He lifts his glass and taps it off mine. We both take a sip, and then I set mine down and move across the hot tub, climbing back into his lap and putting my lips where they belong. On his.
Three months passin the blink of an eye. All week, I count down the days until I have to leave. Tomorrow is the day, meaning I have one more night with Jameson. Things between us became easy once we agreed to just take things one day at a time and not look at the future. We spent most of our time together this summer. If he wasn’t at the cabin with me, I was at his place with him. We often spent our nights cuddled up together, but we’d sometimes go to the bar and dance. He’d take me out to dinner at the places around town, and he once planned a romantic picnic for us by the pond. The summer has been better than I ever thought it could be. But tonight, tonight I dread because I’ll have to walk away from him, knowing I’ll probably never see him again, and I don’t know that I can do it.
We have plans to go out to dinner at the bar and grill, our little way of coming full circle since that’s where we got our start. I dress in that pink dress he loved so much the last time I wore it, and I leave my hair hanging down my back in soft curls. I do my makeup to perfection, and it isn’t long after getting ready that he’s pulling into the drive. I’m too impatient to wait for him to come up to the door, so I dash out it the moment he pulls into the drive. He’s only just stopped the truck when I open the door and climb inside. I scoot to the center like I always do, then press my lips to his.
He kisses me. He doesn’t pull away, but his lips are tight, and it’s not deep like it usually is. “Ready to go?” he asks, breaking the kiss long before I’m ready.
I force a smile. “Yep. You look nice tonight,” I tell him, noticing his bright white T-shirt that hugs his body in the way I’d like to.
He doesn’t reply for a moment, and I wonder what is wrong, but then he says, “You’re beautiful.”
He backs out of the drive, and after shifting into drive on the road, his right hand moves to rest on my knee like it always does when we go someplace together. I wrap my arm around his, holding on tight. It feels like a hole opens in my stomach, but I can’t figure out why. Why does tonight feel different?
The drive is quiet as we head to the bar and grill. He parks and holds the door while I slide out. His hand takes mine, and he leads me inside. We’ve done this same thing a hundred times this summer, yet this feels wrong. Inside, we find a seat. He sits across from me, and the server comes over immediately.
She gives us a welcome smile. “Hey, you two. Sharing a pitcher tonight?”
