27. Cassidy
Chapter 27
Cassidy
W e’d taken various bumpy dirt roads. Every time Eric and I made eye contact, a knowing smile crept over us both. Last night and this morning, hands down, had been the best sex of my life. Had someone told me I’d be called a slut while having sex and enjoyed it, I would’ve laughed in their face. Where I might’ve once thought its connotations were belittling, a heat rose to my cheeks and it turned me on. I liked hearing Eric purr it instead of my name. I liked knowing that I was his object, his sweet little toy to fuck as he pleased. I loved that I got him off.
I bit my bottom lip as we hit another bump. I was rather bemused. Here I thought he’d be a teddy bear in the sheets but he’d definitely lived up to his name and he was right, I was bruised and sore. But his aftercare made up for his bruising fucking and scolding words. I was already at his mercy and falling way too deeply. That sex last night had urged my ever-too-quickly falling heart. And there was nothing I could do about it.
“We’re meeting Lori and Thomas there aren’t we?” I asked.
“They should already be there,” he replied. I looked down at our entwined hands and his thick calloused thumb rubbing over mine. I felt so petite, protected and at peace in his presence. And for extra measure, I had Shadow, who’d sulked half the morning because he’d been kicked out of bed. I’d realized now I might’ve created a habit that could bite me in the ass.
But then that would mean believing that this thing between Eric and I could be long lasting. That put a damper on my thoughts. The little bubble I’d been living in popped fast. I’d basically been freeloading and fucked the guy I was staying with. Wasn’t I like a prostitute? Had I romanticized the situation because I had no grasp on reality anymore?
“We’re here,” Eric said as he parked the truck. Lori and Thomas stood in the frigid air, arms crossed over jackets. They leant against a truck, waiting.
“Hey, are you okay?” Eric asked, his eyebrows crinkled.
“Yea,” I said and shook away my earlier thoughts. I’d always lived for the moment. So why was I trying to change that now. “Yea I was just thinking about how grateful I was that this was just target shooting and not animals or anything like that.”
Eric grimaced. “That’s not our thing. My father and uncle love it, but we tend to stick to it as more of a novelty. And besides, Lori’s the only descent shot out of the lot of us.”
I laughed. Somehow that wasn’t surprising, and yet I imagined Eric was also being modest. “Shadow doesn’t get spooked by the gunshots?” I asked as I opened the door.
“Nope,” Lori answered on Eric’s behalf as she walked toward us. “The only thing that dog’s afraid of is his lack of snacks throughout the day.”
I scowled at Eric. “You said you never gave him snacks?” He’d complained so much about Shadow getting fat from all the food I was slipping him.
Eric casually shrugged. “I said he doesn’t usually get snacks. Not that many anyway.”
“Uh-huh,” Lori laughed as she pointed into Thomas’s direction. “This one’s trying to get reception for his make-believe girlfriend.” I opened the back door for Shadow, who immediately sniffed out the area.
“She’s not make-believe and she’s not my girlfriend,” Thomas replied without looking up. “I’m going back in two days, and I have an itch that needs to be scratched. You should all try it sometime soon, might remind you that you’re not getting any younger and in Mom’s eyes somebody better start birthing babies.”
“Come here, you little shit,” Lori hissed and chased him. He bolted, laughing.
Eric came to my side with a bag full of snacks and threw his arm around my shoulder casually.
I looked up at him. “Are you okay with them seeing us like this?”
“Like what?” he asked, dipping down and kissing me as feverishly as he had the night before and this morning. I moaned into his mouth, feeling limp by the anticipation of what would follow.
“Ew, yuck I knew it, but I didn’t need to see it,” Lori crooned.
I pulled away, red streaking my face. I’d gotten completely carried away.
“I’d rate it a six out of ten,” Thomas remarked dryly to Eric.
“Do you want to be six foot under on this trip?” Eric asked, stone-faced.
“Mom wouldn’t let you,” he said, poking his tongue out. It was hard to believe this goofy guy, similar to my age, was almost in placement for becoming a surgeon and top of his classes. I wondered if there was a completely different version to him. Perhaps all of them were different when back at home.
“Alright, we’ve set up the targets so let’s get shooting,” Lori said pulling out guns from the back of the truck. “Ever held one of these before?”
I shook my head nervously. “No.”
“It’s alright, sweetheart, I’ll show you what to do,” Eric said, readjusting the strap over his shoulder. Despite the other two wearing jackets and me in my pink fluffy one, Eric only wore a patterned flannel shirt, a complete cliché to his lumberjack profile. How he didn’t feel the cold would always escape me.
Two targets were already positioned against trees. And the rest of us took plenty of steps back, my heart pounding as I watched Thomas take his shot carefully. I jumped, shocked by how loud the gunshot was. Thomas cursed when he realized he’d only hit the outer rim of the target, lowering the handheld pistol.
Lori chuckled. “Weren’t surgeons supposed to be good with their hands and aim?”
“Shut up, I save lives not practice with targets to take them.”
“Must be hard for you with the ladies if you can’t find the spot, huh?” she replied.
He looked back at her, mortified. Eric chuckled, lazily throwing his arm around my shoulder.
“Move over kid,” Lori said, shoving him out of the way and taking aim. Thomas sulked as he walked over to the truck, grumbling under his breath. He began to search for a signal on his cell again, undoubtedly trying to connect to his “lady.” Lori had a lollipop in her mouth, pausing with the stick poking out as she focused. A second later, she pulled the trigger. Bullseye. My jaw dropped.
“As terrifying as ever,” Thomas grumbled and leant against the truck. “I bet the catering business is a complete cover-up and she works for the government.”
“Then don’t cross me,” she said sternly before hitting another bullseye.
“Wait until I tell Mom,” Thomas said, poking his tongue out. I laughed. Lori squeezed off another four shots before refilling the ammunition and offering the gun to me and Eric.
Suddenly I wasn’t so sure, this wasn’t and had never been my thing. “You’ll be fine,” Eric said, dragging me to the invisible line the other two had shot from. “I’ll be here with you the entire way.”
“Is this going to end up like the wood chopping where you don’t teach me at all?” I sarcastically asked.
His calloused hands grazed along my arms, setting alight a heated fire all the way down as he placed the gun into my hands. “Do you want it to be a repeat of that time?” he growled into my ear. The heat spread through me and blemished my cheeks as I warily glanced behind us to where his siblings stood.
“You shouldn’t say things like that around them,” I reprimanded, embarrassed. His grip tightened on me as he maneuvered my fingers around the gun, my forefinger now resting against the trigger. My heart sped up, distracted by him and the lethal position he was putting me in.
“You’re mine, sweetheart and I’ll say and do whatever I please and you’re going to like it. In fact,” he purred, sending another shiver down my spine. “You’re going to fucking beg for it like a good girl, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” I breathlessly and thoughtlessly replied. But yes—one hundred times over. I was completely at his mercy and that thrilled and terrified me all the same.
“Should I teach her?” Lori called from her position against the truck.
“Perhaps you’ve gotten rusty sitting behind that cushy desk of yours on top of your big building,” Thomas quickly followed.
Eric gave them both an effective glare over his shoulder. “Have you forgotten who’s holding the gun?”
“No, we just remembered who was taking aim, and that’s not on you, Cassidy,” Lori teased.
Eric muttered his complaint before gently pressing against me again. “Now line it up and look along the top here. Prepare for the moment you pull that trigger because it’ll kick back and flick up slightly.”
My heart raced. “I’m not sure about this,” I breathed honestly. The realization now that this was a weapon and I was holding it… the two just didn’t seem to go hand in hand. It didn’t seem like fun, it felt like a lot of responsibility.
“Don’t worry, snowflake, I’m here with you,” he said gently with his hands wrapped around mine. “You just need to breathe and go whenever you’re ready. I’ve got you.”
I listened to him, allowing his strength to envelop me, believing every word and intention. I can do this , I thought. Nothing would go wrong, not while Eric was with me.
“On three,” Eric said and began counting down. I exhaled. “Two. One.”
Bang . The gun sprang back, surprising me with its force. What I wasn’t surprised by was the lack of indent in the target board.
“I missed, didn’t I?” I asked.
“No,” Lori called out from behind. “You’re very capable part-time lumberjack did.”
Eric again grumbled his complaint and I laughed. His family were relentless in giving him shit. It reminded me a little of Issobelle. Her humor was so dry and quick witted and no one was an exception to her taunts. I thought about my friends back in Manhattan and grew slightly saddened. Was it bad that I’d been enjoying myself so much that I’d hardly thought about them or how or when I’d return? Guilt filled me again. They still had no idea where I was or the truth as to why I’d actually left. I’d just been so terrified that it’d somehow change our relationship entirely.
“Again,” Eric said. “Don’t worry practice makes perfect. And they’re right, it was my fault.”
I bit my bottom lip; I thought it had more to do with me than him because shortly after, I saw how terrifyingly well Eric’s aim was with a gun. It was almost as good as Lori’s. And I was content with letting him be a master with the gun and the axe and I’d stick to baking cookies—as cliché as that might’ve been.