38. On The Road Again
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
CASH
After two chaotic weeks on the ranch, our bags were packed and the truck was loaded up for us to take off on the road again. Buck and Tweety were saying their goodbyes to the ranch hands as Paige and I hugged the family.
Lottie squeezed Paige tightly and whispered something in her ear that made Paige smile from ear to ear.
While their fight had been stressful for all of us, I think there were things that they needed to work through, things lying dormant under the surface for years.
Hopefully they could move forward and their relationship would continue to get better.
Walker clapped me on the shoulder before pulling me into a hug. “Take care of her,” he said into my ear.
“I always will,” I promised.
He nodded at me as we all continued our goodbyes.
We loaded into the truck and started out to Northern Montana. It was like night and day how different the vibes were leaving the ranch this time versus the beginning of the summer. This time, the music was blasting and we were all engaging in rowdy conversation and jokes.
The guys weren’t flirting with Paige to get a rise out of me, and I could lean over and kiss her whenever I wanted.
Things with Paige and I were…complicated. We were married. We had spent the last two weeks completely tangled up in each other. We were actually friends again, and also so much more.
But now that the wedding was over and life was back to normal, I wasn’t quite sure where we stood.
Were we dating?
Were we staying married?
We hadn’t discussed about it, and I knew that talk was coming.
Everything felt completely different now. There was a massive shift since our night in Vegas, and truthfully I had no interest in going back to how it was before. I wanted to keep Paige in my life, but if she didn’t want to stay married I also had to respect that—as painful as that would be.
We drove for six hours until we hit the small town we would be staying in for the month. There were four events coming up before we wrapped up for the summer and returned to Ashton Creek.
For the first time, I looked forward to returning to my normal life.
The allure of the road and the excitement of competition had faded.
When I started this journey, I was looking for something within myself.
I was seeking adventure—seeing what was out there.
The last two weeks proved that my life was great just as it was.
I pulled into the driveway of the rental and helped Paige unload her bags before walking them inside. Paige paused at the first bedroom doorway. Without asking, I brushed past her into the master.
She followed me with a nervous look on her face. “We’re staying together?”
I chuckled deeply. “If you think you’re not sleeping in my bed every night, then we need to have a serious conversation.”
We actually did have to have that conversation, but the smile on Paige’s face said she wasn’t going to argue. I dropped her bag in the corner of the room and scooped her onto the bed.
“How are you feeling?” I asked, pushing a lock of hair out of her face.
“A little weird.” She sighed and let her head drop to the mattress. “The last two weeks felt like a month, and now that everything is slowing down I can actually breathe.”
“It’s been a lot, but I think the time at home was really good for us.”
“I think so, too,” she whispered.
I leaned down and brushed my lips against hers.
She opened her mouth for me immediately as my tongue slipped inside.
She let out a moan that had my dick coming to life.
I pushed up onto my elbow so I was hovering over her as I brushed my fingers to the back of her head and fisted her hair.
I trailed kisses across her jaw until my mouth was against her ear.
“I think we have a new problem now,” I whispered, holding her head back so she couldn’t move.
“What is that?” she whispered back.
“Tweedle-dumb and tweedle-dipshit will be able to hear you every time you scream on my cock,” I gritted out.
Paige burst into laughter and pushed me away. “Sucks to be you.”
She stood out of bed and started unzipping her suitcase.
“We’ll just have to be quiet,” I offered, walking up behind her.
“Or maybe you just won’t get lucky.” She shrugged and continued unpacking her clothes.
I slapped her ass, eliciting a squeal from her. “Not likely, Pip.”
Once we were settled in, we decided to wander into town to get dinner. We ended up at a dive bar called The Wild Boar. We had two days before the next rodeo started so we had some time to relax and adjust back into this mindset.
Tweety and Paige were in a heated game of pool as Buck and I sat at a table off to the side.
I brought the cold beer bottle up to my lips and took a long pull as my eyes trailed up and down the girl in front of me.
Seeing Paige bent over a pool table did things to me I didn’t want to admit out loud.
She made me feel like I was sixteen again and had never touched a woman.
“Are you ever going to tell me the real story?” Buck asked, startling me from my thoughts. I ripped my eyes away from Paige’s ass and arched my brow at him.
“What do you mean?”
“Look, I’m not judging whatever you guys are doing, okay? But I was on this trip when you two could barely be in the same room without us worrying about one of you setting it on fire. Then you were married and living this grand love story for everyone to see.” He shrugged. “Just kind of weird.”
What was I supposed to say?
I could tell him the truth, but Paige and I hadn’t talked about that either.
We were legally married so who cared if it came out now that we weren’t actually dating when we tied the knot?
It wasn’t like it made our marriage any less real, but it did diminish the connection that we were building.
If people knew the truth they might talk about us like we weren’t actually good together.
That would be a damn shame.
“It’s complicated,” I grunted, letting my gaze drift back to Paige as she flicked her blonde hair over her shoulder.
“Wanna elaborate?”
I placed my beer back on the table. “Paige and I always had this fire, it just took a while for us to accept it.”
I felt like I was speaking in riddles, but this wasn’t my truth to tell alone.
Plus, I liked living in our epic love story.
I liked the story that we had been madly in love for over a year before our passion drove us to spontaneously get married in Vegas.
We’d told the story so many times I was starting to believe it myself.
I didn’t want to talk about how I waited too long to get my hands on her and I didn’t want to talk about how when I finally did, I was piss drunk.
I caught myself forgetting that only a month ago we had never even slept together. I found myself wishing that I had manned up sooner just so our love story was as cute and grand as everyone thought it was. That was the story she deserved.
Reality was much harsher.
“When you want to tell me the truth, I’m here to listen. I have to admit, though…I like you guys together. It feels natural,” Buck said, tipping his beer bottle to cheers mine.
He didn’t know that his words would hit the nail on the head, but that was the most terrifying thing about it.