Chapter 23
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
juniper
Iheld my jacket over my head, attempting to keep myself out of the downpour. Turned out, neither Ellison nor I had umbrellas, so instead of waiting for the guys, we immediately beelined it for the trailers so we didn’t get soaked.
As if the rain wasn’t enough, my heart was still thundering in my chest after Mikey’s ride. Seeing him scramble away from the bull on his hands and knees, not being able to do anything from the stands, killed me. My brain kept coming up with scenarios where he didn’t get out of the arena in time.
Not that I should have cared. At least, not in the way that I did.
Of course, a normal human being with compassion would be scared for him, but it felt like I couldn’t breathe until he was safe.
“This way!” Ellison gasped as she gestured for me to follow her, cutting through a crowd of people trying to get out of the rain.
She lead me to a shortcut that would not only prevent us from getting stuck in the slow-moving foot traffic, but would take us directly to the trailers so we wouldn’t have to go around. She just didn’t tell me that it required hopping a fence.
“Are you crazy?”
Ellison rolled her eyes. “It’s fine. Would you rather stand in the rain?”
I hesitated, not making a move toward the fence, even though I shook my head.
“I mean, if you want to walk all the way around, be my guest, but I’m cold and want to get out of these wet clothes.” She climbed the fence and hopped down to the other side much quicker than I would have expected.
I sighed, dropping my jacket from its position covering my head, and grabbed the fence, hoisting myself up and placing my feet in the mesh of the chain link. If I was dry before, I definitely wasn’t now, water dripping down my face from my hair and my clothes soaked through.
“See? That wasn’t so bad. You did better than Isa would have. She would have grumbled the entire time.” She shook her head in amusement. “Come on, let’s go. We’ll be back to the trailers in no time.”
I had to hand it to her, it was a lot quicker than I imagined walking all the way around would have been. Illegal? Probably. Practical? Meh. Efficient? Yes.
“I don’t anticipate this rain stopping anytime soon, so I probably won’t come back out tonight,” Ellison said when we got to the lot. “We’ve got an early morning tomorrow, though, anyway. We need to get back on the road.”
“All right, well goodnight, then.” I waved to her as I approached Mikey’s trailer. “See you in the morning.”
Ellison dipped her chin. “See ya.”
For someone living in the trailer year-round, Mikey didn’t have a lot of food. It looked like he had a bunch of protein powder, whole wheat bread, and a hell of a lot of meat.
I managed to scrounge up some noodles, tomato sauce, and ground beef to make spaghetti.
I knew he’d be hungry after riding, and it looked like the food vendors had packed up early to get out of the rain, so it was unlikely that he would have been able to get anything.
And he needed a big meal with carbs and protein to help replenish his muscles, not instant ramen or a granola bar.
Even though it needed some tidying, the trailer was really nice. I had a hunch that Mikey really only used it for sleeping, sleeping with women, and storage. In the short time I’d been around him in Silver Creek, it seemed like he was always at the gym, Colter’s place, or the bar.
After defrosting the beef, I filled a pot with water and set it on the stove to boil.
While I waited, I picked up some things, leaving the questionable-looking stuff for Mikey to take care of.
When the water was ready, I tossed in the noodles and started browning the meat, seasoning it with what he had: salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder.
I would have liked some Italian seasoning in there, too, but it didn’t look like he had any.
After adding tomato sauce, I covered the meat sauce and waited for the spaghetti to finish cooking. Right around the time that I started to drain them was when Mikey opened the door.
He sniffed the air. “What’s going on here?”
I turned around, pot in one hand, strainer in the other. “I’m making you dinner. When was the last time you cooked in here?”
He shrugged, tugging off his boots and leaving them on the step. He started to pull off his muddy jeans, too, and I spun around, a bit of water splashing out of the pot onto my fingers.
“Ow, fuck.” I hissed, immediately setting the pot down to bring my finger up to my mouth.
“What happened?” Audible panic laced in his tone, and he rushed over to me, wearing only boxers and his socks.
My eyes swept up and down his body, from his toned abs to the bulge in his underwear. Shaking my head to snap out of it, I dismissed the concern. “I’m fine. I just burnt myself.”
Mikey grabbed my hand, inspecting my fingers. “Looks like you got yourself good. Run that under some cold water. I’ll finish the rest of this.”
“It’s fine, I—”
Before I could finish protesting, he gently set his hands on my hips, moving me aside as he grabbed the boiling pot. He drained the pasta before setting it back on the stove and reached to turn on the cold water for the sink.
“Baby, it’s going to hurt worse if you don’t do something about it.”
I tried to ignore the way the pet name made my toes tingle. Still taken aback by the entire interaction, I reluctantly ran my hand under the tap. The coolness instantly relieved the angry welt on my fingers.
“I wanted to do something for you,” I whined.
“All I did was drain the pasta and mix it in the sauce. Don’t worry about it.” He handed me a bowl of spaghetti and a fork.
He dished his up next and took a seat at the table, moving the stacks of mail closer to the window to make room.
I slid in the booth on the side across from him, spinning my fork in the pasta before blowing on it to cool it down. I didn’t need to burn the inside of my mouth tonight, too.
A low groan rose from Mikey’s throat after he took his first bite. “Damn, Peach, this is some good stuff. Don’t tell Ellison, but I think you’ve got her beat.”
Warmth spread throughout my cheeks, and I brushed a strand of hair out of my face. “Thanks. It’s just a simple recipe, but it’s a good source of carbs that I figured you’d need.”
“I appreciate it. A lot. Nobody’s ever done something this thoughtful for me after a rodeo. I’m usually left to fend for myself.” He looked away for a second, as though he was embarrassed by the admission.
“I don’t mind at all. It’s the least I could do.”
We finished eating in silence. Mikey kissed the top of my hand before setting our bowls in the sink and heading toward the bathroom.
“I need to take a shower. I probably stink.”
I chuckled to myself, thinking it wasn’t that bad all things considered. “I’ll be here.”
I’d scrolled on my phone for about twenty minutes when Mikey stepped out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his waist and water rolling down the planes of his chest. His hair was damp and spiky, as though he’d scrubbed his head with a towel.
My eyes may have wandered to the V-line just above his hips, under the guise that I was still looking at my phone. Unfortunately, I didn’t think I was being subtle enough about it, because right before he disappeared into the bedroom, he shot me a wink.
In the time it took for him to get dressed, I pulled out the couch and started to make the bed, thinking the whole time that this was the last night Mikey and I had to pretend to be together, at least for a while.
Mikey walked out in a pair of athletic shorts and a fitted cotton T-shirt and plopped down on the couch, disrupting my process of putting on the sheets.
“Hey!”
“Whoops, sorry.” He rolled off, and helped me finish what I was doing. Then he gently lay down on top of the sheets.
I crawled on the other side of the makeshift bed, propping myself up on the pillows.
“I was scared for you tonight,” I murmured, turning my head toward his.
“I was scared, too.”
I couldn’t lie, the admission threw me off.
“Those eight seconds feel like forever, but somehow what happens after those eight seconds makes the ride feel like a blur. Especially in cases like tonight. I’m not going to lie, worst-case scenarios flooded my mind after the fact, and I realized how lucky I had been.
Especially with the rain and the mud…” His voice trailed off, and I wondered what exactly he had thought about.
“Well, I’m glad you’re okay.”
His eyes bore into mine as his hand lightly skimmed my cheek until his fingers were under my chin.
My brain screamed for him to stop before lines were crossed, but my heart was fighting back, hoping that he’d kiss me, even though there was no reason for him to.
Unlike in Houston, this time we didn’t have an excuse to fake hooking up.
No one was outside the trailer.
Not in the rain.
He cleared his throat, retreating and putting distance between us. “We’ve got an early morning. We should both probably get to bed.”
I nodded. “You’re right. Sleep is…good.”
“Yeah. Well, goodnight, then.” He hesitated before he got up, heading to the bedroom.
“Goodnight,” I replied before rolling over to face the opposite side of the trailer.
I heard the soft thud of him getting in bed. The dim light in the bedroom area flicked off, leaving us in darkness with only the light rumble of the air conditioner running and the soft pitter patter of rain hitting the roof. I closed my eyes, willing myself to fall asleep quickly.
“June?”
For a moment, I questioned if I was imagining things or if my name was actually being called. Mikey spoke so quietly, the word was hardly audible even with the short distance between the bed and the couch.
“Yeah?”
“Will you lay with me?” His voice cracked in the silence. Gone was the lighthearted, animated man I’d come to know over the last couple months. Tonight, that man was replaced by a softer one. “Please. I don’t want to be alone.”
“Yeah.”
I slid out from under the covers, the fabric rustling under me.
I tiptoed across the wood panel flooring to the steps leading up to the bed.
The moment I crawled under the covers and the comforter, he pulled me close until my back was flush with his chest. His warmth enveloped my body, drawing me into an embrace.
Within seconds, his snores filled the space, and sleep overtook me.