Chapter 3
Mabel
This was a mistake. The games start in a big field. The sun is hot, there are people everywhere. Everybody talking. Competitioners jumping up and down or on the ground stretching. It’s all a big crowded blur to me.
For a long time I felt like I didn’t fit in, especially in a country cowboy town.
I don’t like town events and big crowds.
I don’t really like being outdoors. Give me a comfy chair and a good book any day.
But it’s hard feeling different from everybody else around me.
It took me a long time to come to terms with who I am. I’m a book nerd. And that’s okay.
So what in heck made me say yes to Levi?
Maybe a little bit of that old longing to fit in.
Maybe Levi’s sexy, charming smile. Flashbacks of touching him have my face going red again.
A little bit of me wishes I could be normal.
Like Levi’s sister, Stevie. She’s a girlie girl who can wear a short skirt, flirt with the boys and she can ride a horse better than anyone in town, can crack a whip, wrangle livestock and keep her brothers in line.
Stevie is beloved and she’s really nice.
For most of my life I have wished I could be more like Stevie Jones.
A cowgirl who gets the sexy cowboy. But I just don’t think that is ever going to happen. Not to a girl like me.
Panic is setting in when the crowd seems to part in front of me and there is Levi.
Cowboy hat, broad shoulders that look made for wearing the soft cotton t-shirt and he has on old, worn jeans and cowboy boots.
Oh my. He looks like he could be in the pages of a magazine.
Tall, muscular, tanned. But it’s those blue eyes and that smile that wins hearts and leaves girls in a swooning puddle.
As he reaches me he lifts his hat and holds it up to shade my face from the sun. A hand on my elbow he guides me over to the shade of a tree.
“Are you okay?”
I nod. Fuck, this is crazy. Two minutes ago I was ready to run out of here and now I’m telling him I’m all good.
But I do feel better as I take a swig of the cold water he hands me.
With Levi standing next to me, a caring look in his blue eyes, all his attention on me, I do feel better.
Stronger. Not as lost in the crowd as I felt a moment ago.
Stevie comes over and gives Levi a friendly shove. “Hey ya, Mabel, good to see you here. Hope you guys do well.”
“Thanks, Stevie.” My voice sounds shy and small, even to me.
As Levi waves off his sister, he asks me, “Have you done the treasure hunt before?”
“No. I’m not like your sister. I’m not really into all the town events.”
“You won an award just yesterday! I also won sexiest cowboy, since you haven’t asked yet.”
I scoff. “I figured.” He raises an eyebrow.
Damn. “I don’t mean that I find you sexy just that you are quantifiably sexy.
You have all those muscles and you meet the modern expectations for good looks.
I mean, your face has good symmetry.” I trail off feeling no less embarrassed from when I started talking.
When I start my nervous chatter most people tend to zone out or just nod with a look of sympathy. I’m always left feeling like a fool.
Levi smiled his charming Cowboy smile. Popped his hat on my head and bopped the tip of my nose with his fingertip. “Come on, cutie, let's get this treasure hunt started.”
For a moment I stand there with my mouth gapping open, with this giddy feeling and my stomach doing little flips. Damn, he is a sexy cowboy.