Chapter 9
CATHIA
“Where are you taking me?” Hayes passes me a wink from the driver’s seat and keeps his mouth zipped shut.
He looks ultra cool with one arm resting on the edge of the door, the window rolled down, and his other arm hanging over the steering wheel.
His trusty cowboy hat is in its usual spot, and the black t-shirt and jeans he wears is like the ultimate cowboy porn.
The muscles in his arm bulge and I want to trace the line of every vein that runs through them.
Last night at the bar, I couldn’t wait to pull him off the dance floor and kiss him. It was crowded and everyone was occupied. So for five whole minutes, I kissed Hayes McCallan in a dark corner hidden in plain sight.
The late night dancing led to one a.m. breakfast because the preggos and the guys were starving.
I was so ready to be done and get home and get Hayes into my bed.
I needed to rip off his clothes and enjoy my birthday gift; him.
When Cami insisted on taking me home I thought I was going to die.
I started to wonder if they secretly knew what was going on between Hayes and I, and were torturing the truth out of me.
Luckily for me, and them, they quickly dropped me off at my house and drove off as soon as I shut the front door behind me.
It was only five minutes later that Hayes drove up and raced inside.
He was anxious and neither of us had the strength to hold back any longer.
We clumsily fought with our boots and jeans, hobbling all around while our lips stayed connected. When we fell into bed, our desperation exploded into one orgasm after the other. Neither of us could get enough.
First it was a quick, good old fashioned fuck with my legs wrapped tightly around his waist and our mouths suctioned. After we caught our breath, we decided a nice warm bath was needed to wash away the night's sweat. It was relaxing but for a whole other reason than the bubbles and warm water.
A hard fingering in the tub led to blowjob against the sink followed by another fuck in the kitchen, this time with me sitting on the cold counter, my hips hanging off with only Hayes’ strong hands to hold me.
It was well into the morning when we finally fell asleep.
I could’ve slept for twenty hours, but the sound of Hayes’ phone ringing woke us up far too early.
He moaned as he rolled over and searched for it, giving me the perfect view of his amazing ass.
He swung his legs over the edge as he answered and my groggy mind woke up real quick when he said Vaughan’s name.
It hurt a little when he told Vaughan that he went home with some chick and would be back later this evening. I know he did it because I’d asked him to keep us a secret, but it didn’t make me feel any better to be reduced to “some chick”, even though I knew he didn’t mean it.
After that, I couldn’t fall back asleep. So I fixed us breakfast and dressed comfortably in jeans and boots like Hayes suggested, and focused on the surprise he had planned and not the small lie that I forced him to tell.
Now, I stare out the open window, watching the streets turn from congested downtown to quiet rural roads. It’s unfamiliar and my guesses as to where we could be going are completely lost.
Hayes turns down a dusty back road and we bump along in his big truck until we come to a big metal gate. The kind you’d find on a cattle farm, not the fancy one on the McCallan Ranch. He throws the truck into park and hops out.
“Want me to drive thru for you?” I ask him.
He looks back and answers, “Can you?”
“C’mon, give me some credit. I may be a city mouse but you forget that I grew up riding the same horses as you all and jumping in the same creek.” I unbuckle my seatbelt and climb over the middle and into the driver’s seat.
It takes me a minute to adjust the seat so that I can reach the pedals, then I’m driving through as Hayes stands off to the side.
When he comes back to regain his seat I don’t move, thinking he’ll just move to the passenger’s seat and direct me where to go.
Boy am I surprised when he steps up into his lifted truck, replaces my foot that presses the brake, and somehow manages to wrap his arm around my waist and scoot underneath me.
It’s a very stellar, practiced move that makes me think he’s done this before.
I sit awkwardly on his lap as we drive further away from the dirt road and closer to a large barn.
A big farm house sits off to the left and we bypass it without even acknowledging its existence.
I look over Hayes’ shoulder through the back window and see the clouds of dust that kick up behind us.
The truck begins to slow and I direct my gaze back to the front windshield, noticing an older man weathered by the years of working on a ranch come into view.
“What’s this?” I ask as the truck rolls to a stop.
“You’ll see. Leave your purse and hold onto your hat, darlin’.” The door creaks open and he climbs out before reaching back in to pull me down.
He twines his fingers with mine and leads me towards the old man standing in front of the barn.
“Howdy,” Hayes calls.
“Mornin’. Who do we have here? If I had known a pretty young lady was going to be joinin’ us, I’d’ve cleaned up.” The man’s scraggly grey hair sticks out from underneath his hat, and this close up I can see the wrinkles that frame his piercing blue eyes.
“Beaux, this is my girl. Cathia Villalobos.” We come toe to toe with the man and Hayes still grips my hand tightly.
“Beaux Kirk. Nice to meet you Cathia.” He takes off his hat and offers his hand to me.
“Please call me Cat. Pleasure to meet you. I hope I’m not interrupting your morning. This one,” I say, poking Hayes in the ribs. “Wouldn’t tell me what he was up to.”
Beaux passes Hayes a look who returns it with a shrug.
“I think you just made the day better, Cat. Follow me and let’s get started.” He waves us along and turns to the open barn.
The dry grass that has begun to die with the fading summer crunches under our boots and my curiosity grows. The barn sits empty, only hay and dirt filling the space and the horses nowhere in sight.
“They’re out runnin’ wild,” Beaux says, seemingly knowing the question in my head.
We follow him out the opposite end of the barn and into a small riding arena.
A steel pipe fence surrounds it and a strange apparatus is stationed in the middle.
It looks like a large barrel attached to a metal catapult.
A large box sits behind it and no matter how hard I try, I can’t make sense of it.
I grew up going to the Talbot Ranch with Cami, long before it was the McCallan Ranch, and I’ve seen many types of equipment. But this is foreign to me and honestly, it looks quite dangerous.
“Hayes. What are–” My words are cut short when Hayes steals them away with a kiss.
The brim of his hat bumps mine and I press it tightly to keep it from falling off. When he steps back I blink my eyes, dazed and a little off kilter. With another wink he spins on his boots and leaps towards the barrel.
“Watch this, young lady.” Beaux’s deep voice grabs my attention as he walks over to contraption.
Hayes uses a small step stool to get on top of the barrel, and Beaux pulls it away. Hayes adjusts himself, reaching between his legs and gripping on to a rope, then lifts his arm. It’s at that moment that I realize what this is and what he is doing.
Hayes dips his chin and Beaux flips the switch on a black box, then steps back.
The barrel bounces up and down and Hayes moves like a seasoned rider.
Beaux gives him tips as he continues and when his form starts to break, Hayes reaches down and pushes on a stop button that is placed on the bar in front of him.
Beaux moves quickly to help stop the barrel and steadies Hayes when he kicks his leg over and jumps down. He looks at me with a boyish smile and joy that is so apparent.
“You’re learning to be a bull rider?” My mouth hangs open and my eyes eat him up.
“Sure am. What do you think?” He rests his hands on his hips and his chest rises and falls with his heavy breaths.
Here I thought I found myself a guy who fancied himself a cowboy because he rode a horse and lived and worked on a ranch.
A jolly rancher, as I have jokingly called him.
But the reality is, I’ve got a bull riding boyfriend who has reached a whole new level of hotness that no other has even come close to.
Hayes continues training and Beaux educates me on rodeo terminology. When we leave hours later, I thank my new friend Beaux for a very informative afternoon, and he tells me to take care of my cowboy and be ready to do some riding of my own the next time I visit.
Oh, I’ll take very good care of my cowboy and get a head start on riding. I learned a few tricks I want to try out on my bull. I hope he can handle this rider.