Chapter 5
Chapter five
Duncan
Knight In Shining Denim
"What the hell was that?" Delilah cackles. "You're the only person on the planet who could get Rhys Reid to fall in love with you looking like that."
She points at me while bending and clutching her stomach with her other hand. Really selling it.
But one glance in the hall mirror confirms her reaction. My usually soft and wavy flow is damp, flat, and stringy. My glasses are spotted with dried raindrops and I have a smear of engine grease on my chin.
"Many people find my rugged beauty irresistible." I shrug but it is a little surreal.
Okay, a lot surreal.
In a million years I couldn't have expected Rhys Reid, in his rain speckled sweater and perfectly fitting jeans, to be the one to rescue me on the side of the road.
And in another million years I never could have expected him to be so charming. It is like he doesn’t have to try to be flirtatious.
On the other hand, it’s all I think about. I’m always tuned into the conversation lying in wait to drop the innuendo or joke at the perfect time.
Rhys Reid seemed surprised by the delightful lines he landed tonight.
I'd be willing to see him again if our paths cross.
I mean, he's wonderful to look at.
But the reason I had him take me to Granny's instead of home with him is because the connection we shared was warm at best. It didn’t feel like lust was a runaway train drawing me to him. It felt like sitting next to a fire on a rainy night.
Which is exactly what I'm going to do now.
***
"Heave-ho!" Granny yells the next morning as Dad, Delilah, and I rock The Golf Cart back and forth from the mud pit it might have to call home from now on.
Mom sits behind the wheel gunning the gas trying to get traction.
And, as a result, the three of us behind the car are getting covered in mud splatters.
"Duncaroo, get down and lift this side a bit." Granny instructs from her place well behind us. She's decked out in wellies and a poncho. To be fair, she had us all put on wellies too but somehow we’re all covered in mud splatters and she’s in ship shape.
I move to the side of the car that is leaning down into the ditch. I can see how the tire is spinning and sinking deeper into the earth.
I don't think Coach expected me to do car lifting as part of my off-season conditioning but here we are.
I squat and get the corner of the bumper in my grip. "Alright, go." I grunt as I lift and the car inches forward.
"Aye Aye!" Granny yells as my family grunts and my mother grips the wheel.
I shove my chest into the side of the car trying to get it to move, nothing. So I roll my hips up and, there's no other way to describe it, thrust.
The car moves ahead another inch so I thrust again.
"Buy a lad dinner first." Granny snickers behind me.
My hips jut forward and my forearms feel like they’re going to explode as I hold the car up and get into it.
"Aye, he's forward that one."
My spine straightens and I freeze mid-thrust. "Duncan! Don't stop." Delilah grunts but I drop the corner of the car back into the ditch and turn around.
There next to Granny, atop a white horse no less, is Rhys Reid.
"Howdy Cowboy." I joke as I try to wipe some of the mud off my face.
"More like Knight In Shining Denim." Del mutters as Mom joins us at the back of the car. She’s not wrong. Rhys is in another pair of dark denim washed jeans, the same brown boots as last night, a collared shirt layered under a white cowl neck sweater.
Highland Country Boy.
It works for him.
"Well, be a good lad and help them already." Granny says as she pulls the reins into her hand.
Rhys smiles and dismounts easily. His boots land on the soft earth with a squelch and he makes his way over.
"Help Duncan lift that side." My dad instructs.
"Will do, sir." He says and he steps up next to me. His shoulder brushes mine and the woodsmoke scent of him I dreamt of last night washes over me. It mixes with my sweat, the fresh carbon from the earth, and I feel woozy like I stood up too fast.
I shake off the cobwebs and squat down on the side of the car and Rhys squats at the back corner. His thigh slides behind mine, locking into place like a puzzle piece.
He's not a wiry type that's for sure.
"Okay Lads," Granny starts but Delilah clears her throat. "And Lass. On the count of three."
Granny counts us down and on three we all grunt with our effort.
Del and Dad are pushing forward, their feet sliding out behind them.
Rhys and I are lifting while also angling our bodies forward and each half inch my thigh moves is followed by his, like they're one in the same.
The car moves forward, slowly, but it's moving.
"Yes! Aye!" Granny cheers and Rhys's horse whinnies their agreement too.
Inch by inch we push the car back onto the road. The tire on Delilah's side is almost on the pavement so I give it everything I have left.
But as my hips thrust forward, my foot slides out from under me.
My foot knocks Rhys's and he loses his balance and trips backwards onto his ass. I try to regain my footing but the ground isn’t where I expect it to be.
My arms windmill around to prevent me from falling back but I’ve overcorrected on the sloped, slid earth and in a matter of seconds I've slid down the embankment on my belly.
"Oh my god, Duncan!" Granny yells out.
"I'm alright," I assure her as I lift a hand to wave off her concern. My palms press into the sfot damp earth. It takes more effort than I want to describe to stand since my clothes are essentially suctioned to the mud.
Above me, Rhys is able to get to his feet and he extends a hand to pull me out.
Once I’m standing, I grab his wrist and he closes his ink covered fingers around mine.
He leans back to get leverage and I prepare to launch. But his heel betrays us and he slides down the embankment on his ass.
Taking me out at the knees.
But this time, instead of pancaking myself to the earth, I end up on top of him.
"We can't keep meeting like this." I say as I look into his green eyes, wide with surprise.
A few specks of mud have hit his face and they're charming little blemishes on this man who seems to be so put together.
His eyes flick down to my lips and that's when I feel the rush of lust.
Or maybe it’s a release of adrenaline from spending the last thirty minutes essentially lifting a car.
"Alright boys, if you want to mud wrestle just say so but the car is still stuck." My dad calls down from the road. I look up at him and while his hands are on his hips and he sounds like every dad scolding a child, a smile is barely contained under his bushy mustache.
"Right." Rhys says as he starts to lift.
Regretfully, I push off and get myself standing up in the ditch. Thank goodness for the wellies because there's at least two inches of water here.
Rhys turns and scrambles up to the road. I wait to follow him to enjoy the wet and muddy backside view.
No harm in just looking right?
We get into position again and without another incident we get The Golf Cart back on the road.
"Alright, let's have a look." Granny pops the hood and leans over the engine. "Ah ha. Simple fix."
We watch as she pulls a paperclip from her pocket and uses it to twist two wires together. She closes the hood, dusts off her hands, and turns to us. "Shona, Michael, Delilah, you're clean enough to get in the car. Duncan, Rhys, you're walking."
"I umm have Clyde." Rhys glances at the white Clydesdale who is happily munching on some weeds.
"I'm sure he'll follow you." Granny says as she climbs into the front seat.
I look at Rhys and shrug. "C'mon, it's not a terrible walk, and I'll get you a change of clothes."