34. Chapter 34
Chapter 34
Sutton
W hen the weekend comes, I’m thankful that things at the ranch have calmed down enough that we can come together for a bonfire. Maci always feels like she’s pulling me away from something, and if anything had gone awry she probably would’ve canceled the whole thing. Hopefully, having friends over will help both of us feel a little more normal and relaxed.
Izzy and Leah show up after dinner, and Nick isn’t far behind.
Nick and I head out to Nopal Vista to start up the fire. Either Liv is running late or the ladies are spending an infinite amount of time doing God knows what in my office.
“How are you guys?” Nick asks, taking a swig of his beer, the cooler not far behind him.
I eye him over my beer. I know what he’s doing, but I really just want to forget it all tonight. “We’re good.”
He does his usual stare without speaking.
“There’s so much that’s happened since the hospital, I wouldn’t even know where to begin.”
He nods casually, adding a rhythmic motion like he’s vibing with the music from the truck. I know better. “You could start at the beginning.”
“Yep. I could.” Thankfully, the night air is split by Maci’s Jeep driving our way from The Big House. “The Callahans coming?”
Nick makes eye contact before shooting his gaze back to the growing fire. “Yeah. They’re riding together.”
Maybe it’s a conflict of interest to have the sheriff and an officer from the city police department out here, but Shane and Casey have been friends of Nick and me since we were kids playing pee wee baseball, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. As it is, it’s in the hands of the detectives, and Casey wasn’t even involved in the call.
“Good.”
Maci’s Jeep lights shine through the darkness in the distance, and shortly she pulls up next to my truck. My heart does a fucking somersault when she jumps out. I’m tempted to take her back to the house and tell the others to give us a few minutes. The fact that I won’t want to let her go after only a few minutes keeps me from doing just that. Her hair is loose, draped over her shoulders, which are exposed from the soft, too-big sweatshirt she’s wearing. It’s been cut at the collar and falls teasingly off both sides.
My mouth waters and I’m half hard.
“I’m so fuckin’ ready to let loose,” Leah says loudly, jumping out the back door. She yanks something out before walking over to us. Nick clocks her movement before turning back to the fire. The busy print of her jeans catches the light, casting odd shadows on her legs as she moves through the high grass, and her bag clicks and clacks from whatever is inside.
Izzy and Liv follow in jeans and sweaters as well. The group of them are done up, considering their casual attire. They are definitely feeling themselves tonight.
Maci makes her way to me, grinning excitedly. “Fire looks good.” She makes a show of scanning me slowly. Her eyebrow quirks and her mouth plays at one side. “You okay?”
“Mmhm.” I take a swig of my beer, perusing her body.
She leans up for a kiss, which I grant willingly, before I lower my mouth to her ear. “You look fucking edible.”
Her face lifts to mine with a sparkle in her eyes and she kisses the corner of my mouth. “Behave.”
“I never made that promise,” I argue.
She grins playfully at me as she and her friends make their way to the logs Nick and I set up for seating. Their animated chatter fills the night air, and Maci seems happier than she’s been in weeks. It’s the only thing I want.
“Let’s do a round of shots,” Leah demands. She pulls a fifth of tequila from her bag.
“Holy shit,” Liv pipes up, “how much do you have in there?”
“How do you even carry all of that? It’s as big as you.” Nick sips his beer as if he didn’t just call her out across the fire.
Her attention snaps his way and she works her jaw back and forth. “You aren’t the life of the party if you can’t carry it.” She stands with a sassy flourish and pulls tiny red solo cups from her bag as well.
Liv starts laughing hysterically. “It’s like a bag of tricks.”
Izzy giggles and bumps into Liv and the two of them fall off the log backward. Jesus.
“Did you guys pregame without us?” A chuckle bubbles from my throat.
Maci stares at them with a wide, open-mouthed smile, clearly amused by their antics. “There was no pre-gaming,” she says on a laugh.
Leah starts pouring tequila shots and handing them around as another truck pulls into the clearing. This time, the ranch hands step out. Considering my time with the guys over the last few years, and all that we have ahead of us, it doesn’t seem right to have a get-together without them joining in. The ranch is their home, and they’re our family as much as we are theirs.
Cody and Jason carry another cooler between them and set it near the one Nick and I have stationed away from the fire. Kelly shakes Nick’s hand and pulls a beer from the newest cooler.
Maci stalls as Leah shoves a shot cup her way. “This didn’t go so well the last time.”
Leah grins wickedly. “I’m pretty sure you brought a better cock this time.”
“Jesus, Leah!” Izzy’s face turns a deep crimson color, and her eyes bounce around us as she rights herself on the log. Liv wears a similar expression and Nick laughs loudly.
Maci’s darkening cheeks reflect in the light as she peeks my direction, gauging my response.
I take the few steps over to her, crowding her space and lowering my voice so only she can hear. “Have you been telling your friends about my cock?”
She pins me with a smirk and tips her chin up. “Have you been telling your friends about my pussy?”
I grip her hip deeply with my fingers and she bites her lip appreciatively. “What part of I don’t share do you not understand?”
She leans up on her toes. “I’ve already told you I don’t either. Leah’s just digging.” Her fingers grab my shirt, gripping several buttons as she yanks me. “Now give me a kiss.”
“Fuck, I love when you’re bossy.” My tongue delves into her mouth and she groans into mine.
“I didn’t say ride it now,” Leah says loudly.
I release Maci’s mouth with a smile that mirrors hers.
When everyone has a cup, Leah gets out a half-hearted toast before we all toss our shot back.
Maci grimaces. “Fucking tequila.”
“You don’t like tequila?” I should know this already, though I know her usual drink of choice is whiskey and Coke.
“Blech. No.”
“But you’re a good sport!” Leah makes air kisses, pulling something colorful from her bag.
A truck parks at the entrance of the meadow and two doors close before Shane and Casey head our way. Casey was the responding officer when Maci filed the report after Colt busted her window, but she’s never met Shane before.
“What’s up, man!” Casey yells as he approaches. Greetings go around and Maci introduces Casey to her friends before I introduce Shane to them all.
They’re an odd pair for brothers. Casey, despite being nearly thirty, has a baby face void of facial hair. He’s average height and build. Next to Shane, he’s tiny. Shane even puts Nick’s large frame to shame. He’s over six feet of bulging muscles. His dark hair, opposite Casey’s reddish blonde, is cut short and tucked into a cap tonight, as usual. He looks more like an enforcer than the Sheriff that he is.
Leah smiles at them both and pulls two more solo cups out. “You’re behind.” She hastily hands one to each of them. “Here, you need these, too.” She dangles some of the color before her and I study them, realizing they’re some sort of bracelet.
Liv pipes up. “Do these attach to the cups?”
“Yep. Each one has a hole punched already, so you just wind the ring of the bracelet through the hole on the cup and you can hang onto it all night.” She’s clearly proud.
Shane’s face remains stoic, but Casey’s eyes jump in surprise before he accepts the token with a grin. His face drops quickly. “Mine’s pink.”
“You sweet little thing, you,” Nick says and snickers.
Casey shoots him a playful glare and says, “Real men wear pink.”
“Hear, hear!” Cody shouts and the brothers down their shots.
“Come on, let’s dance,” Izzy says, standing from her place at a log.
Liv follows. “I’m going to need another shot for that.”
“See? It’s always the teachers you need to keep an eye on.” Leah waggles her eyebrows.
Liv shakes her head, running a hand through her hair and flipping it around nervously.
“I’ll adjust the music.” Maci turns and hurries over to my truck, unaware of me following her. She flings open the door and leans in, turning up the volume. It’s still set on country, blasting a Warren Zeiders song.
I press my hips against her and she startles, before pressing her ass into me and leaning against my chest. “Assuming the position?” I tease.
She laughs. “Am I?”
I palm her ass through the jeans, hardening again. “I can’t get enough of you.” My lips kiss down her neck to her shoulder and I slip my hands under her sweater.
She jumps. “Your hands are usually warm, but they’re fucking freezing.” She shivers at the laugh I breathe against her neck, turning in my arms and wrapping her arms around my neck. “We have guests,” she chides playfully.
“As the older one, I think I’m supposed to be more mature when it comes to guests.”
“See what happens when you think with the wrong head?”
“Firecracker, do not tempt me. Wrong head or not, I will throw your ass in this truck and have my way with you.”
She shoves at me with a full laugh. “No you will not, and don’t even act like you will.”
“Says who?”
“You! We discovered already that I’m not capable of being quiet, and I highly doubt you want any of the men here to hear me.”
I’m tired of her practicality. I kiss her hard, gripping her legs and lifting her so I can shove her backward into the driver’s seat. She accepts me willingly, moaning quietly and tightening her arms around my neck. I slide her sweater down, exposing a breast and taking her peaked nipple into my mouth.
Her head falls back and her gasp fills the open cab. Swirling my tongue around the nipple grants me another sharp inhale. I grin, nipping the sensitive flesh before covering her up and pulling back. The music drowns her out for now, but she’s too responsive to be completely quiet for me.
“You’re right. I don’t like it when you have to be quiet. I love listening to you fall apart for me.” I kiss her on the lips again. “Everything about this smart fucking mouth is mine.”
She lifts her head upright, her eyes hooded. “Cowboy,” she’s almost panting, “that was mean.”
“I’m never mean to you.” My mouth tugs up on one side.
“Then you’re going to have some work to do later, because now I’m wet and aching for you.”
I nip her bottom lip. “It’s never work with you. Never.” This time I kiss her softer. “I’ll take very good care of your needy pussy later, when we’ve finished entertaining our guests that you’re concerned with.”
She shoves at me again. “I’m getting my camera.” Even through my flannel, her cool touch reaches my chest. She stabilizes herself against me as she climbs down from the truck.
At the fire, Leah pours a second round of shots for the women. Casey happily partakes, but I suspect it’s less about the drink and more about the company.
Maci’s boots shuffle in the grass around us as she makes her way toward her friends across the fire from me, snapping photos. With only the glow of the bonfire to provide light, it seems like she’d have difficulty, but she doesn’t seem bothered. The repetitive shutter fades into the background, almost soothing in its presence against the crackle of the fire.
The conversation naturally turns to the expansion of Strickland Ranch and what we have coming up. The ranch hands seem energized talking about what’s to come, and the shared excitement is a new kind of win.
A large log in the center of the fire breaks, causing several others to fall in tandem, cracking loudly. Maci jerks violently behind her friends, drawing my attention. Unlike the others, who startle but recover, she stays frozen. The camera is braced stiffly in her hands, her focus glazed over.
I cross the distance between us in quick strides, dropping my bottle into the grass, and lift her up by her thighs to wrap her legs around my waist.
“Hey, hey, hey. Where’d you go?” I keep my voice low, studying her stricken face.
Thankfully, she winds her arms around my neck, keeping the camera firm in one hand.
“I didn’t think…” Her voice is quiet and dies off before she finishes her sentence.
“Firecracker,” I whisper, “I can’t help if you don’t talk to me. What happened?”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t think about the fire.”
I feel like an asshole. Of course the fire would bring back awful memories. “You don’t need to apologize. Do we need to call it a night?”
“No!” Her voice comes out hurried and her eyes bore into mine. “No. I can’t stop the world from turning.”
“You’re hardly—”
She presses her free hand to my lips, her fingers cold, and I can’t help the fire she starts in me instead. “Life has to go on. The pop caught me off guard, not the flames. It just…brought back memories. I have to work through these things. I’m sorry.”
“Stop apologizing.” I capture her mouth in a searing kiss. “You have nothing to apologize for. There’s no rule about how you need to feel or deal with shit.”
A soft smile plays on her lips. “Yes sir.”
I slap her ass with one hand, grinning at her. “Don’t deflect.”
“I just have to make new memories,” she says as she starts to unwind her legs from my waist.
“Who says you get to get down?”
“Are you going to hold me all night, Cowboy?” One eyebrow hikes.
“I’m not opposed.”
She laughs and pushes at my chest. Reluctantly, I set her on the ground. Her mouth opens to speak.
“Maci, if you’re about to apologize, so help me.” I don’t finish the warning. She snaps her mouth closed with a sheepish smile. Fuck, I love her so damn much it’s painful. Every time something scares her and interrupts her otherwise pleasant time, anger surges through me and I want to break something. Preferably her stepfather’s face since I can’t reach his son.
“You good, honey?” Izzy comes up from the side and reaches for Maci’s wrist.
She nods vigorously. “Yep.” Using the strap, she hangs the camera from her neck.
She’s too good at lying to everyone around her. I stare at her pointedly and she smiles widely in return.
“Come on, Leah’s changing the music.” Izzy begins to tangle her fingers with Maci’s.
“One sec.” I pull Maci back to me in a quick motion, keeping my arm tight around her waist and dropping my mouth to her ear. “You can lie to everyone else around you, but you can’t lie to me, Firecracker. I see you. You don’t have to do this on your own. You don’t have to be strong for everyone. But if you insist on faking it for everyone else, please don’t fake it with me. Let me be strong for you.”
Her body, tense in surprise when I initially grabbed her, softens. She grips my biceps tightly in each hand and looks up at me. “I don’t try to hide from you. You’re my person. I’m strong for them because the alternative is a lot of questioning that I can’t handle. I can only handle healing one mind at a time.”
I lean down and kiss her hard. It’s all I’m going to get for now, because as usual she’s going to sweep this under the rug.
“Maci!” Leah’s voice carries across the area. “Dancing time!”
Maci untangles from my arms. Her volume increases. “Go have some fun. Quit worrying about me.”
I roll my eyes.
“Oh my God!” she squeals, backing away. “Did you just roll your eyes?”
I move on my feet quickly, faking that I’m going to chase her and eliciting a yelp as she runs off. Leah passes out another round of shots, which most gladly take at this point.
Kelly nods at me as I return to the fire, but once again his eyes hold more understanding than he lets on.
“Just love her through it.” His words are an encore of the day in the bunkhouse.
“She’s fun.” Casey gestures with his beer toward Leah and Nick’s eyes whip his way. He bites his tongue and finishes his beer.
I think back to the night at The Spur when I danced with Maci and Leah got too drunk to walk. Nick carried her to the car out of the goodness of his heart, but it’s not hard to see that he’s keeping an eye on her. Maci told me later that she’s concerned about Leah’s drinking habits. Addiction runs in the family, and they have their own set of drama going on. I wonder if tonight is adding to all of that. Casey may be happy to match her shot for shot, but Nick at least seems to be more concerned.
All of a sudden, a familiar hip-hop song begins blasting from the truck. Leah screeches something I don’t understand and the four women pile into the bed of my truck. The tailgate is down and their bodies sway and bounce to the music. They’re definitely going to be feeling this in the morning.