20. Verge
Verge
Slowly opening my eyes, I look down to see Shi curled up next to me, laying on my chest. Damn, I could get used to this.
I stay laying there, loving the feel of her wrapped around me.
I was not expecting the admission of her being a virgin, but in contrast, I wasn’t lying when I said it made me like her that much more.
Contrary to what some believe about single men and their sexual escapades, I’m not one for casual sex.
Why I didn’t break up with her then is beyond me. What can I say? I was young and in love, and she, at the time, was something I didn’t want to lose. Right now, though, with Shi wrapped around me, I’m starting to think it was more infatuation than love.
Between then and now, I honestly just haven’t had time for girls between the rodeo circuit and my mother’s cancer.
My mother fought her cancer for three years, so I was more concerned about her.
Between riding and driving her to and from treatments, taking care of her when she was sick, and hospital stays, it was the last thing on my mind until Shi and I were pushed together.
I know she completely hated me at first, but I never hated her.
From the moment she ran into me, those green eyes pulled me in.
I played it cool because, hell, I didn’t know we would be traveling together.
Oh, but when I did, I knew I had to have her.
She rustles in my arms and I look down at her. She rubs her eyes, opening them, looking up at me before she says, “Now that was a good nap.”
I laugh, putting my hand on her neck and kissing her. I pull back and say, “I agree, much needed.”
She stretches, rolling over, then reaches for her phone to see the time.
“Shit. It’s 4:45,” she says, sitting up.
“Okay?” I question, laughing.
“We need to get ready and head to the house for supper,” she says, throwing the covers off, and it reminds me of the other day when we slept in.
“You’re cute when you’re in a hurry,” I say, looking her up and down in my black Nickleback T-shirt and black gym shorts.
“Come on, get ready,” she chuckles back at me before she turns to me, gesturing to the shirt she has on. “Nickelback, really?”
I shrug. "Everyone loves Nickelback whether they want to admit it or not. Don’t judge me.” I wink.
She mulls it over, nodding before she says, “Touche.”
She finds her jeans on the floor, slipping out of my gym shorts and is left in her panties and my t-shirt, and I swallow, adjusting myself in the bed, trying to play it cool, but my dick instantly grows hard.
I look around the room, trying to look anywhere but her. She looks at me as she pulls her pants up. “What?”
“What?” I ask back.
“You look like a disgruntled pelican right now,” she laughs.
“A what?” I ask, laughing, leaning forward.
“A disgruntled pelican, like awkward.” She giggles so hard she almost runs into the doorframe again.
“Okay, first of all, you’re changing right in front of me with nothing but panties and my t-shirt. I’m a gentleman, but I’m still a guy,” I laugh before I continue, “And secondly, where the fuck did you get that term?”
She covers her mouth, laughing again. “Oh,” she says, glancing down at my member, then back up to me, “My bad. Sorry.”
“No, you're not,” I tease, throwing the covers off now that she's dressed and my dick has calmed down.
Glancing around the room, I find my duffle and grab a fresh pair of jeans, and I catch her looking me up and down before I ask, “Are you going to answer my second question?” I laugh.
“Oh, sorry. Um, Schitt's Creek is my favorite T.V. show. It's from that.”
“Uh-huh,” I say, buttoning my jeans. I lean down and kiss her head and her eyes continue to trail up down my bare torso, and I ask, "Checking me out?”
Her mouth falls open and she smacks me on the arm, her cheeks turning a rosy red, and as hard as she tries, she can't help but laugh at me before she says, “Shut up.” She puts her hair behind her ear and walks to the door, grabbing her coat off of it, putting it on. “You coming?”
I grab a hoodie, putting it over my head, nodding.
“Yeah, I’ll be right up. You go ahead,” I tell her.
I want to talk to Cross about possibly taking her to their pasture.
I know his dad owns bucking bulls, and I’m sure he has a pasture full of them.
I want to show her they aren’t all mean, they just want to buck you off and go about their business, as the late Lane Frost said in my favorite movie, 8 Seconds.
“Okay,” she says, grabbing my arm and kissing me before she heads out.
I look to the nightstand, grabbing my phone, and linger for a little longer before I head down myself and walk over to Tyler’s trailer, knocking on the door.
A husky then runs up to me, nudging my leg, and I bend down to pet him.
“Hey there,” I say until I hear the trailer door open and Cross is standing there.
“Hey man, what’s up? I see you’ve met Jake now. ” He gestures to the dog.
“Yeah, he just came up,” I say, still rubbing his soft ears until he plops to the ground, rolling over, indicating he would appreciate a belly rub. I laugh and Cross says, “You rub his belly and he will love you forever.”
I lean down, give him a pet, then look up to Cross. “You got a minute?” I ask.
“Sure, man, one second,” he says, going back in the trailer. I’m sure to tell Tyler he’s going to talk to me.
He comes back with a jacket on and ball cap and says over his shoulder, “Just meet us up at the house when you’re ready, babe.”
“Will do,” I hear Tyler say, and he shuts the door.
We walk together toward the house and he says, “So, what’s up, man?”
“I want to take Shiloh on a date, but I wanted to ask about how many bulls your dad has, and does he keep them in a pasture I could drive my truck into?” I ask.
“Oh, a little ‘let me show you my world’ date.” He says, nudging me before he follows up with, “I like it. Dad has ‘bout,” he looks up, thinking and counting silently in his head before he says, “Probably 10 bulls in the pasture right now. I think we could make that happen.”
“If your dad is not comfortable with it, I respect that, just thought it would be cool to have a picnic in the bed of the truck around sunset and watch the bulls in the pasture,” I say.
“No, I get that. Dad’s bulls are prize-winning, but I think she would be surprised to see how friendly they are if they don’t have someone on their back and a rope around their hind end,” he laughs.
“Has she ever come to your place to see that?” I ask, wondering if my plan is a dead end.
He shakes his head no. “Shiloh comes over from time to time, but I honestly never pushed it. I help my dad load them a lot for shows and they are all pretty laid back. Some of them even enjoy a good ear scratching, but given how she is, I just never pushed it.” He says, putting his hand on my shoulder before he says, “So, I do think this is a solid plan, my man.”
I nod and look up to see her walking toward us and she says, “What are you two doing?” She asks, looking suspiciously between us.
“Nothing, just wondering what Aunt Liz is cooking for supper,” Cross says quickly.
“If you say so,” she laughs, walking past us.
“Where are you off to?” I ask.
“Going to get Tyler,” she says, pointing to the trailer, and Jake runs up beside her, jumping up and down, and she laughs, petting his head before she says, “Go on inside, everyone else is in there. We will be right up.”
Cross nudges my arm and says, “Let’s go and talk to my dad before they get back inside.”.
When we walk into the house, the first thing you are greeted with is the living area.
It's got a brown leather sofa and a recliner to the right. There is a big stone fireplace in front of the furniture with a coffee table on top of a rug, and a T.V. placed above the mantle. The walls are lined with family photos and the mantel is riddled with buckles. In the corner of the room, there are a few saddles with CHAMPION written on them that I’m sure Shiloh or Cash won, some of them being Jr. sized.
I look to the right of the living room and see a few photos of Boone bull riding and step closer to look.
I wasn’t kidding when I said I was a fan.
The man was my damn role model. I used to sit in front of the T.V.
and watch every rodeo he was in if they aired it.
Even the night of his death, I was watching.
It’s still insane to me that all this time my cousin was best friends with this son.
I knew Uncle Clark knew Boone, but again didn’t realize that well.
Small fucking world.
As we make our way into the kitchen, Mrs. Liz is pulling a huge tray of baked potatoes out and there is a lady sitting at the bar, and I look out back to see a man by the grill along with Cash and Beau.
The kitchen is older but still nice, with an island and cedar cabinets and wood countertops.
The appliances have been updated, but the dated cattle brand wallpaper that lines the walls has me feeling right at home.
My mom used to love the cattle brand style.
We had plates and coffee mugs that almost matched this wallpaper.
That was until it was all sold at the estate sale.
“Hey, boys,” Liz says, looking up to us, and Cross walks across the kitchen to the woman on the bar stool, hugging her.
“Hey, what’s for dinner, Aunt Liz?” he asks, and the woman he’s hugging rolls her eyes, looking back at Liz.
“Excuse my son’s manners, he's always thinking about his next meal,” she laughs.
Liz shakes her head, laughing. “You forget I’ve known the boy since birth. I'm used to this.”
Cross rolls his eyes and points to me. “Anyways, Mom, this is Verge. He's Beau's cousin. Verge, this is my Mom, Lucy.”
She holds her hand out and I shake it softly, saying, “Nice to meet you, ma’am.” I look at her, then Mrs. Liz, and say, “Thank you for having me for dinner, Mrs. Liz.”
She shakes her head and says, “Oh, just call me Liz.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I say with a smile, grabbing the back of my neck, feeling awkward as fuck. I’m not used to family gatherings, much less being the odd man out.
“Dad grilling?” Cross asks, looking between the ladies.
“Yeah, and we are having steaks,” Lucy laughs.
Cross’ eyes light up like a kid in a candy store and he looks to me, gesturing for me to come out back with him. I nod, looking at Liz and Lucy before we walk past the dining area, stepping out back with the rest of the guys.
“There they are,” Beau laughs and Cash looks at us, nodding.
“Who do we have here?” The man by the grill, who I assume is Tuff, asks.
“Dad, this is Verge. He's Beau's cousin and he rides bulls,” Cross says, and I hold out my hand to him to shake.
“Nice to meet you, Verge, I’m Tuff,” he says, shaking my hand back.
“Nice to meet you, sir,” I reply by taking my hand from his and putting my hands in my pockets, still feeling awkward.
“Likewise,” Tuff says, turning back to the grill, flipping the steaks.
Cross steps closer beside me, clapping his hand on my shoulder again before he says, “So, Dad, Verge here wants to take Shiloh on a date and show her your bulls, a little ‘let me show you my world’ date.”
Beau and Cash laugh at Cross’ theatrics as he asks his dad about my date idea, and I pinch my nose, feeling stupid.
Tuff turns around, looking at me before he says, “Shiloh? Bulls?” He smiles and then shrugs before he says, “I mean, sure, I don’t see why not.”
My worry dissipates a little as I say, “Thank you, sir.”
“Of course,” he says.
“Verge is about as good as Uncle Boone was,” Cross praises, and it makes me feel good but also makes me feel unsettled.
“Is that right?” Tuff asks.
“I do okay,” I reply, trying to be modest.
“Okay?” Cash laughs and says, “Uncle Tuff, he’s being modest. Cross ain’t lying, he’s great.”
I smile, grabbing my neck, looking back at him, and he says, “Well, if you ever need to practice, feel free to come over and ride. I don’t mind. I know these knuckleheads are always team roping,” he replies.
I shift my weight, nodding, “I appreciate that. I need to give this ankle a few more days. I landed on it wrong last night,” I feel a little guilty about my lie, but it’s not exactly not true, then continue, “but besides bringing Shiloh by tomorrow, I’d take you up on a practice Wednesday before we head out to Colorado. ”
“You got it,” he says, nodding to me.
I then reach in my pocket, grabbing my cigarettes, and tell everyone I’ll be back, not wating to make everyone smell my smoke around the food.
I walk off, lighting up and taking a pull on my smoke, letting the nicotine cure my craving and fill my lungs. I exhale, feeling a little lighter now. I may feel like an outsider here, but something about this family tells me I won't feel like that for long.