Page 23 of Wild and Unruly
“I’ll take you. You’ve been drinking.” He wraps his hand around mine and pulls me through the crowd. I don’t take my hand off of our clasped hands, following his lead until we’re outside in the fresh air.
“Wait, you’ve been drinking too,” I say, pulling him to a stop.
His golden-brown eyes catch mine and he pauses, then smiles. “I have an idea.”
We make our way through the side alley and to the parking lot where my truck is. Right next to it is an older model of nearly the same truck, and I frown at the coincidence. When he unlocks it and goes around to pull the tailgate down, I let my mouth fall open.
“This is your truck?”
He grins and shrugs. “Funny, huh?”
“Yeah, funny,” I say, then smile at him. He gestures to the truck bed, and I see where he’s going with this. “I don’t know…”
“We’re not gonna do anything,” he starts, taking my hands in his. “I just wanna lie with you until we’re sober enough to drive.”
I nod my head, trusting in his words. Then I run to my truck, open the back door, and grab my emergency blanket I keep there.
“Here.” I hand it to him, and he hops in the bed, laying it outfor us to lie on. Then, he reaches down and grasps my hand, pulling me up into the bed of it with him.
We lay there, side by side, and just…be.
For hours, our gazes move between each other and the stars high above us. Stetson only goes as far as letting me use his chest as a pillow and tracing my lips with his finger.
We talk about anything and everything, laughing at stories from our past and listening to plans of the other’s future.
It may just be the best night of my entire life, and as I gaze up at the stars, watching and praying for one to shoot across the sky, I know exactly what I would wish for.
9
stetson
Church was a struggle this morning,and I was incredibly tempted to forgo it altogether until I realized that there was a slight chance Bonnie might attend.
That slight chance plummeted to zero pretty quickly. As I scanned the attendees, there was no sign of her dark-brown hair, her flushed skin, or her gorgeous eyes.
Last night was one of the best nights of my life, and it was all because of her. Part of me is apprehensive to start something up, but a bigger part of me is eager to see where this could lead.
I have this gut feeling telling me that she is special, that she is the one who I could see forever with if I do it right.
I don’t share these thoughts or feelings with anyone else, knowing that my family would likely warn me off falling so hard for a girl who I not only just met but who was likely to be gone in a week or two.
I couldn’t stop my feelings if I tried.
After many attempts at staying awake during the sermon,my niece nudges me and informs me that church is over, and we all start to file out of the building. Don’t ask me what that sermon was about because I wouldn’t be able to tell you.
The sun is high in the sky as we exit the building, my family saying brief goodbyes until we head to the ranch. It was a Sunday tradition, one I love. We all head to church, or as many of us who want to attend, then we head to the ranch for a potluck lunch.
Most days, we stay at the Trevors’ family home all day, hanging out, talking, and having a beer. Some of us head down to the river with our fishing poles and relax. Some go grab some horses and go on a trail ride.
Others use the newly installed bed porch swings and take naps. You can often find Quinn, Graham’s wife, and their toddler on there for his afternoon naptime.
The sight always sends a pang of longing through me, especially when she wakes up to find Graham waiting for her, and they have their own family routine that they have down to a science. It is something I longed for, something that I prayed someday I would have.
I’m lost in the fog of thought when I see her.
She stands across the street, dressed in a simple T-shirt and jeans, her boots on her feet and her camera in hand, facing away from us and taking photos of the buildings along the road.
I don’t pause to tell anyone where I’m going.
