Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
Watching Ches trudge through the two feet of soft, powdery snow on main street and climbing the steps of the church, proved hilarious.
As Ches tried to stay on his feet, he looked like a puppet with its strings entangled. Jolie inadvertently leaned into me when she’d cracked up, laughing, and in a natural move, and it had felt so natural, I slung my arm over her shoulder and pulled her into my side.
In that moment, I realized it had been a long time since I’d laughed with a woman that hadn’t been forced.
“Aww, bless him,” Jolie mumbled, still chuckling, but at the same time she’d sounded relieved that Ches had made himself scarce.
“Believe me, that one needs all the prayers and blessings he can get,” I joked, nodding in the direction of the church.
When I glanced back toward Jolie, her shining eyes met mine and for the longest time it felt as if we’d both held our breaths and never spoke.
As time passed, the silence felt both awkward and comfortable in equal measure, and was no doubt loaded with questions on both sides now that we’d met again.
“How did you end up here?” I probed, breaking the silence because I’d been sure she’d said they were headed for Wyoming at the time.
“After Gramps died, my parents bought a small holding here.” She shrugged.
“He didn’t inherit your grandfather’s place?”
“God, yeah, but it was a colossal undertaking my dad didn’t have the stomach for. He sold it to my grandpa’s neighbor and bought a much smaller, more manageable one up here.”
“And they’re still here?”
“Yeah, and thriving,” she admitted, nodding.
“So, about you?”
“What about me? Do I have aspirations, you mean? I guess I’ve been too lazy to start over again,” she admitted, frowning.
“Why hasn’t someone swept you off your feet and tied you down.”
Jolie flicked her long dark hair back and laughed up at the ceiling. The moment I clocked her long, slender neck, I fought an almost overwhelming urge to wrap my hand around it. Blood rushed south, hardening my cock, and testing the stitching at the zipper in my jeans.
“Oh, that’s usually on Saturdays around here … it’s still only Thursday,” she pointed out like I’d needed reminding on what day it was.
“You make dating sound like a calf roping contest,” I replied, laughing at her humorous response.
“Might as well be in this cow town, for all the finesse any single guy has here.”
“I’m here and I’m single, and I might have marginally more finesse than the locals,” I playfully offered. I reached for her hand and laced her fingers in mine before she could catch a breath.
“Damn, you’ve gotten cock-sure of yourself, Louis Moonan.”
I cracked a wicked grin and waggled my brows. “It’s been a hot minute since you knew me.”
“You’re single, this week,” she muttered, alluding to my player reputation, but it had been months since I’d been linked in any meaningful way to one girl or another.
“This week?” I queried, frowning.
“Yeah, I’ve seen you all over social media with those pretty girls at least ten years younger than me.”
“I’m not going to protest to that label. I’m a hot-blooded, single guy but it’s good to know I’ve been on your radar at least, even if you never reached out.”
“Playing hard to get, I guess,” she playfully muttered under her breath, examining her nails.
I laughed. “So hard, you hid yourself in a bumfuck town in Montana until I stumbled across you.”
“Well, you sure took your time, Mr. Rock Star, and I never seen no stumbling going on,” she mocked in a southern, country drawl.
“You know, you were the cause of many a wet dream when I was sixteen,” I confessed, smiling.
“I might have had a fumble in my panties more than once myself during that time,” she replied, making me grin.
“Fuck me, I wasn’t expecting that,” I admitted, laughing.
“Good to know, you can still be taken by surprise despite your worldly ways, Louis.”
“Yeah, and from what I’ve heard so far, my guess is you’re full of them,” I agreed.