Chapter 12
Twelve
Scott
Is this how our story ends? Naked and eaten by a bear?
It was Friday night and the Still Standing Saloon was packed. A bunch of locals were playing classic rock and country songs in a makeshift band that was becoming surprisingly good, the dance floor was packed, and everyone was ordering my weekend special of fried chicken and waffles.
But best of all, Mackenzie was seated at the corner of my bar next to a table filled with my friends, including Huk. She turned to the table when I was busy and spun back to the bar when I had a second to talk to her, which was much less than I'd prefer. It was a double-edged sword making these nights successful. Good for business, good for the town, not good for being with my lover.
I poured a beer for Big Al and mixed a whiskey sour for Willow and then a gin and tonic for Annie. I disappeared into the kitchen for a while to make sure everything kept moving smoothly. Now that the dinner rush was slowing, things were calming down.
I met Huk on my way back to the bar. "Hey, you headed out?" He looked tired and more than a little frustrated.
"Yeah, I'm beat. See you tomorrow?" He ruffled his dark hair and yawned.
"I'll be around. How's Karis?"
His wide shoulders slumped. "Holding it together but also wanting to fall apart. I'm going to be here a while."
It wasn't good news for him, but it was great news for us. "We've got your back. You know that."
He pulled me into a strong hug. "I know, man. Tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow." I watched him walk away as I filled a pitcher and took it over to the table he just left. "How is he?"
Digger shook his head. "Crawling out of his own skin. If it were anyone but Karis he'd already be gone."
To say Huk didn't get along with his old man was an understatement. The Finn Family was complicated at best, but when you had eight brothers and sisters, and unhappy parents, you tended to get complicated.
"It'll take a miracle to get him to stay permanently," Travis sighed. "Anyone got any miracles on hand?"
"We could drive his parents out of town the way you drove Noah out," Digger offered.
"Don't mention that fucker’s name around me," Travis snarled.
"Why do men do anything?" Mackenzie asked. "You need to find him a woman he can't resist."
Everyone busted out laughing. "In this town?"
"Huk doesn't want anyone he grew up with. Not happening."
"And he's not driven by his dick like some people." I stared at Digger to make my point.
He shrugged. "I'm a man with particular tastes. Is there something wrong with the way I let my dick lead me around? Anyone unhappy with the time they spend in my bed? No."
Mackenzie shrugged. "To each their own, but aside from finding the perfect woman he can't live without or getting his parents to move, I'm afraid you're shit outta luck, boys."
God, I loved her.
"Red could give him ODX and he still wouldn't stay. And you know that man worships Red." Travis shook his head.
Both Huk and Travis owed a lot to Red. He took them in and gave them jobs when their own fathers were failing at life. Huk would do just about anything for Red...except move back. Which was a damn shame.
The bar stayed busy until closing time. Travis helped me move the last of the customers out, then he left with a tourist from Chicago. "Ready?" I asked as I flicked off the lights.
Mackenzie wrapped her arms around me. "Very ready for our bed."
I kissed the top of her head and hummed. Once the door was locked, I steered her to my truck making extra sure she walked around the front instead of the bed. She didn't notice I wasn't driving home until we were two miles down the road in the opposite direction.
"Wait, where are we going?"
"The weather is warming up. I thought we could make a little detour."
"Detour?" She yawned. "What is going on?"
"Adventure, Mackenzie."
She sat upright as I began winding up the road to the trailhead. "Are we going night fishing?"
"Nope. Stargazing."
"At two o'clock in the morning?"
I shrugged. "It's dark and clear and the weather is very nice."
I didn't look at her because of the narrow, winding road, but I could feel her suspicious gaze. The thing about living quiet, comfortable lives was that it meant it was very easy to do something completely random and out of the blue, just to liven things up.
Today we wouldn't be hiking up to the lake, but the trailhead had a great view of the sky and bears generally didn't like the area. I parked us in the open and killed the engine. "You trust me?"
"I'm starting to think maybe I shouldn't, but yes."
"Then come on." I had dumped a mattress into the bed along with a ton of pillows and blankets. I let down the tailgate and offered to help her up, but she jumped up on her own.
"This is either amazing or ridiculous. Are we going to get eaten out here?"
I hopped up behind her and began arranging pillows. "I sure hope not. Sit." We sat with our backs to the window and our legs out long. I handed her an earbud. "Just like old times."
She stared at it. "Oh my goodness."
They were really nice earbuds. One for each of us. I watched as she bit her lower lip and slid it into her ear. Her eyes rounded as "Counting Stars" by OneRepublic played.
"That's a little on the nose." She settled against me, resting her head on my shoulder.
"Maybe, but you loved that song and we are stargazing." I looked up at the diamonds dotting the night sky and felt everything inside me relax. "I can't listen to this song without thinking of you drooling on my shoulder."
Her body shook with laughter. "Bruno Mars is a no-go for me. Every time I hear his voice, I picture you and get sad."
"Even now?"
She shrugged. "I haven't tried. But I guess it would be different now. Got any Bruno Mars?"
I did, but I wasn't going there. Not yet. "Maybe we'll test that tomorrow. Before the saloon gets busy we'll put it on the sound system and dance just the two of us."
She looked up at me. "I like that."
I did too. Dancing would be part of our lives. I had a whole dance floor after all. The first song faded out and the "I Will Wait" by Mumford and Sons replaced it. I held my breath and my heart started to hammer.
Mackenzie sat up, her eyes darting between mine. "This is a curated list."
I nodded. "I waited and I'll happily wait again if you ever need me to."
"And the next song?"
I hit the next button and John Legend's "All of Me" came on next.
"You are so cheesy." She shook her head. "But I love it. I love you. "
"I can't help it. You make me happy, Mackenzie, and I wanted to use this part of us, of our past, to tell you how much I mean it."
"Stars, earbuds, music...it's a pretty spectacular way to say you love me. That you've always loved me."
"Is it working?" I pulled her onto my lap, her legs straddling my hips.
Her hands settled on my shoulders. "I hate to break it to you, Shaw, but I've been a sure thing for a while now."
I squeezed her ass in my hands. "When are we getting married?" I expected her to blush again, to look uncertain, and I was prepared for that. One day she'd smile when I asked, and I'd know it was time.
But instead she shrugged. "In the fall. When the leaves are changing and the air is crisp."
I shook my head. "The fall?"
She rose up on her knees and then ground down on my lap. "That gives us a few months to settle into each other, so we don't have any nerves when we do it. I don't want to be a nervous bride. I want it to be a party."
I flipped us so she was under me and I could put all my weight on her, feel every inch of where we connected. "Then we're going to have one hell of a party." I searched her face for any signs of doubt.
Her hand came to my face, her thumb brushing my lips. "I'm happy, Scott."
"Best damn sentence I ever heard." I spent the next few minutes wrangling every stitch of clothing off of us. Then I buried us under blankets.
"Is this how our story ends? Naked and eaten by a bear?" she laughed.
"You've clearly spent too much time around that damned book club. This is supposed to be romantic, Mackenzie. Stars, blankets, marriage plans under the sky." I bit her shoulder lightly and sank inside her.
"I do think about murder—even murder by bear—much more often than I used to. Oh god, yes. More of that."
I delivered soft nibbles all over her skin while her nails scorched my back. It was impossible to ruin sex with Mackenzie. We had too much fun for that to happen. Even contemplating death by bear couldn't ruin the way I needed her. Everything was still so new, but we were quickly developing some routines. Namely, Mackenzie liked it when I made her work for it. Just a little.
"What do you want, Mackenzie?"
"You." Her hips rolled.
"Take what you want." I held perfectly still, letting her use my cock however she liked. She hooked her leg over my hip and fucking rode me. Then she grabbed my hand and dropped it onto her breast. She was so gorgeous with pillows all around her and her hard nipple between my fingers. Holding back was good for me too. The need to thrust was overwhelming and it short-circuited my brain, the need growing with each passing second.
We deserved this kind of chemistry after all this time.
"Scott please!" She kept trying to take me deeper and harder.
"Of course, darlin'. This what you want?" I slammed into her, taking her hard until she was coming all over me, taking me right along with her. When we had wrung out every last ounce of pleasure, I bundled us up in the blankets and stared up at the sky.
"That's exactly what I wanted," she hummed.
Our wordless communication worked just as well when our bodies were joined as it did when we sat beside each other. I handed her an earbud and stuck the other in my ear, her head resting right at the crook of my shoulder where I'd been fantasizing about it for so long.
"I love you, Scott. So much."
I kissed the top of her head, feeling more content than I'd ever felt in my life. This was exactly what I wanted. "I love you too, Mackenzie. Always."
Thank you for reading Mackenzie and Scott’s story! I hope you enjoyed this introduction to Lost Creek! The first full-length (and my longest novel to date!) book in the series, The One With The Mountain Man releases June 24, 2025! Turn the page to read the first chapter!
The One With The Mountain Man