Chapter 30
CHAPTER THIRTY
mikey
We ended up not signing up for the wild horse racing this year, but that didn’t stop us from going to watch.
After the horse racing, we planned to head over to Rudy’s before it got too swamped with people. We’d leave right before the mutton bustin’ in an attempt to beat the rush heading to the street dance and, inevitably, the bars.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we’re starting our final wild horse race of the night!” The rodeo announcer introduced all of the teams and shortly after called for the crowd to count them down.
“I’m telling you guys, we should have entered this year. I really think we’d have won again,” I complained as the teams struggled to even get their horses steady.
Reid shook his head. “If there’s ever a next time, and emphasis on if, you’d have to hold one of the horses.”
I wrinkled my nose. Fat chance I’d do that.
If I was being honest, a lot of the Bucking Horse Sale last year was a series of blurs—I didn’t remember much—but I didn’t think any amount of liquor would give me the courage to hold a horse’s head.
I didn’t know what it was about them. Maybe it was their faces or their eyes, or how tall they were, but horses gave me the heebie-jeebies.
“Yeah, I don’t know, that might require you to get over your fear of horses first, buddy,” Colter teased.
“Maybe we just need to give you a couple shots then send you and Bullet on a nice long trail ride,” Jake teased. “By the time you get back, you’ll have sobered up. Exposure therapy or whatever they call it.”
“Not my horse,” Colter protested.
“Not mine, either!” Reid added with a grumble.
“That’s all right, guys, no one needs to sacrifice their horse for me. I get enough rides as it is.” I winked suggestively. “Mustache rides, specifically.”
“Ew,” Ellison groaned, conveniently having returned to our seats at that moment. “Please stop.”
“Oh, grow up, Ellison.” I rolled my eyes. “Sex is normal. Everyone has sex. You and Colter—this I know, because I’m pretty sure I walked into Colter’s house and interrupted something that one time. Reid and Isa, probably. Hell, I’m sure Jake and Hayden even have sex.”
Hayden’s face turned bright red, and Jake started sputtering, asking why I was bringing him into this.
“I didn’t mean with each other, but if that’s the kind of thing you’re into, then hell yeah, brother…brothers?” I added.
“Please stop talking about sex,” Ellison begged.
“Damn, never thought I’d see the day you begged for me, Firecracker,” I joked, earning myself a death glare from Colter.
“You know I’d punch you, Mikey, but I also know Ellison, and I wouldn’t take an opportunity to clock you away from her either.”
“I’m just joking!”
When the wild horse racing ended, we packed up our belongings and beelined it out of the fairgrounds, leaving our vehicles to walk downtown. The entire street was blocked off for the dance, so there was no point in trying to find new places to park.
A good crowd of people had already gathered, and the cover band had started playing in the middle of Main Street.
Despite my plans—which I assumed were well thought out—Rudy’s was already pretty busy. It wasn’t quite at the level it’d be in a few hours, but there were a lot more people than their normal occupancy.
Juniper was busy flitting from one end of the bar to the other, taking drink orders and pouring shots. Liv and Nico were also working, but Rudy wasn’t here tonight.
I sidled up to the bar, leaning against it while I waited for Juniper to finish serving a customer.
“What can I—” she started to ask, her customer service voice laid on thick. “Oh, hi.” She huffed out a sigh like it was the first moment she’d had to breathe tonight.
“Hey, pretty girl.” I reached out, twirling a long strand of her blonde hair around my finger.
“Can I get anything for you guys?”
Reid, Jake, and Hayden had walked up behind me.
“We’ll just do a few Coors Banquets,” Reid answered.
“You want something?” she asked me directly.
“Nah, I’m good.”
Her eyes widened. “You sure?”
“Yeah, I had a couple at the rodeo, so I’m quitting for the night. I want to be able to drive you home tonight.”
“You don’t have to do that. Natalie said she’d pick me up after she dropped me off earlier.”
“Tell her she doesn’t have to worry,” I assured her.
Her facial expression shifted from confusion to suspicion. “Okay,” she said, drawing out the word.
“We’re going to play a round of pool, but I’ll be back.” I leaned over the bar to give her a quick peck on the cheek before joining the boys.
“Colt and Ellie are dancing, so someone will have to play with Mikey.” Reid tossed us all pool sticks.
“Nose goes.” Jake placed his finger on the bridge of his nose. Reid quickly followed, leaving Hayden as the odd man out.
He groaned. “I always get paired with Mikey. No offense.”
I waved him off. “Eh, none taken. I guess I can’t be good at everything.”
“We’ll let you guys go first.” Jake gestured to the table.
Hayden went first, taking the break shot and hitting a solid ball into one of the pockets. He hit another one in then missed his third shot.
“Juniper looks like she fits in here just fine,” Reid mentioned as he took his shot.
I nodded. “I think so, too. She’s made good friends with Liv and Nico. And then she’s got her other friend, Natalie, who she’s living with, too.”
“I swear we’ve seen her before. You sure you don’t remember that?” Reid asked.
I shook my head, and he shrugged before continuing.
“You think you’ll ever ask her to live with you? You’ve clearly proven us all wrong, so Colter’s scoping out that plot of land for you.”
I thought about it for a second. I didn’t even know if she was going to stay here.
The easy answer would be yes. I would love for Juniper to stay in the area and pursue a real relationship with her now that our fake one had almost run its course, but I didn’t know how she felt about it.
The idea of not holding her back still rang true.
I didn’t know if she wanted to end the arrangement to find someone better.
I didn’t know if she was only still with me for the benefits.
I didn’t know if I was just fun for her.
But I didn’t say any of that. I just settled on, “Not sure,” then lined up my own shot after Jake had taken his turn.
“Please don’t hit the eight ball in,” Hayden muttered.
“That was one time!” I protested as I pulled back my stick before striking and making contact with the cue ball. It bounced around the table a few times, not hitting any of the targets I’d actually intended and nearly brushing the eight ball. “See, I didn’t hit the eight ball in.”
“Let’s get out of here.” I grabbed Juniper’s hand a few hours later after her shift ended and pulled her along, not wanting to waste any more time to get to the pickup parked back at the fairgrounds.
“But we were having so much fun back there,” she teased.
We’d listened to the music for a little bit, but most of our time was spent standing in the corner of the bar watching the guys play pool.
“I have an idea that’ll be more fun.” I turned my head to look at her and smirked.
The fairgrounds were deserted when we got there. The sun had started to go down, casting an orange glow over the land.
When we reached the pickup, instead of opening the passenger door for Juniper, I spun her around to face me then backed her up so she was leaning against the front of the pickup.
As I ran my hands up and down her arms, the only thoughts filling my mind were the list of things I wanted to do to her tonight.
“What are you thinking about, Casanova?”
My eyes met hers as I replied, “Just you.”
She raised an eyebrow like she didn’t believe me.
“And maybe a little about fucking you.”
“That sounds better.” Her tongue darted out to wet her lips, and she pushed up on her toes to kiss me.
Her fingers tangled in my hair, and my hands wandered down to her waist as our mouths collided. She tasted sweet, like the cherries in her drink tonight, and all I wanted to do was savor the taste as long as possible.
I pulled her bottom lip between my teeth, and she gasped, opening her mouth ever so slightly so I could slide my tongue past her lips, deepening the kiss. My tongue flicked against hers, tangling together. We fit together so perfectly it was hard to believe this was ever fake.
My hands drifted up her arms to her neck and jaw. She broke the kiss, pulling back slightly and looking at me with those icy blue eyes. I traced her lips with my thumb, taking the time to admire her, then leaning in to press a gentle kiss to her lips.
“You’re being…sweet tonight.”
“Is that a problem?” I grinned.
She shook her head. “No, it’s just, I’m surprised. Normally, I’d be undressed by now.” She let out a small laugh.
“Can’t a man take time to appreciate his woman?”
“I—”
“Wait, don’t answer that.”
Before she could say anything more, I kissed her again, this time more aggressively, more passionately.
As though she sensed the shift in emotion, her kisses became sloppier, like she was caught in the heat of the moment.
Soon enough, I was hoisting her up onto the hood of the truck, then running my hands over her bare, gooseflesh-covered legs.
One strap of her tank top had slipped off her shoulder, and her legs wrapped around my middle.
“How do you want me, Peach?” I asked between kisses.
“I want your tongue, and then I want you inside me. And I want you now.”
I chuckled. “Can’t even wait until we get home? What if someone sees?”
She glared at me. “That’s never stopped you before. Besides, there’s no one here.”
Can’t argue with that.
“Scoot forward,” I told her, and she did, moving so she was sitting on the very edge of the hood.
I moved quickly, unbuttoning her denim shorts and pulling them down her thighs, past her cowboy boots, and let them fall to the ground. I dragged a finger up the fabric that covered her, and she shuddered.
I groaned at the wetness seeping through the fabric. “Fuck, Juniper, you’re already soaked.”
I circled her clit with my thumb, eliciting a moan from her lips before hooking my fingers in the waistband of her panties and pulling them down, baring her to me. I swiped a finger through her slit, bringing it up to my lips and sucking her arousal off. “So sweet.”
“Please, I need—” she pleaded.
In response, I inserted a finger, pumping it inside her.
Her head fell back as a moan escaped her lips, and I added another and then a third, using my thumb to apply pressure to her clit.
I curled my fingers inside her as she tightened around them.
I fucked her with my fingers until she squirmed, then I pulled them away before she could reach her high.
“Why did you stop?” she demanded, but I wasn’t listening.
I took off my cowboy hat, setting it on the hood next to her. Bending forward, I lowered my face between her thighs and wrapped her legs around me. My tongue swiped up her center once in a broad stroke before I swirled it around her clit. I was a man starving, and Juniper was my next meal.
Her legs trembled around me as I lapped at her pussy, devouring her. Her hands gripped the top of my head, pushing it down, holding it against her as pleasure took over her body.
I pulled back for a second to say, “Let go. Come on my face,” before sliding two fingers into her pussy and using my tongue on her.
She cried out my name as she pulled at the hair on my scalp.
“That’s it, baby.”
“Fuck,” she whimpered after she came down from her high.
“Oh, I’m not done with you yet. That was just the beginning.”