Maisie #2
Laine’s eyes crinkle with a smile, eating up their little interaction.
Chesney is smiling like a fool over being picked number one.
Walter and Roxy are smiling ear to ear at having their whole family here together.
It’s perfect, and it makes the thought of leaving here soon feel like spoiled milk in my stomach.
“I’ll make you some pancakes next time you're over, Nova. I’ve been told I can make a mean fluffy hotcake,” I interject.
Nova’s eyes light up, looking ready to have a pancake date right this second, but then, Grayson buds in. “I bet they taste amazing. Tell me, do you prefer syrup or cream on your fluffy cakes?” That filthy smirk is back on his face.
I’m so taken off guard, I choke. “Neither,” I sputter, trying to regain my breath. “Butter is just fine.”
His heated eyes have me entranced. “Pity,” he rasps, wrapping his filthy lips around his fork to take a bite.
I think I might finally combust. Grayson has bad intentions written all over his face, and I want to learn every filthy thing running through his mind in vivid detail.
I remember the way his lips felt on mine, and I lick mine at the memory, chasing that feeling.
Grayson's eyes dilate, and I have to bite my lip so I don’t jump the man in front of everyone.
He looks hot as hell in his Wranglers and black Carhartt jacket.
Don’t even get me started on his backwards baseball hat.
“Get a room,” Chesney barks, rolling his eyes playfully.
“Can I say all of the above?” Hunter buds in, a devious smile on her face. “I’ll take anything I can get at this point. Extra cream, please and thank you.”
“I like cream too!” Nova yells around a bite of food. The whole table bursts into a fit of laughter.
The rest of dinner goes by in a flash, everyone sharing what they are most excited for tomorrow and the summer to come. After eating, we all pitch in cleaning before gathering around out back, where the Foxes have a firepit.
We’ve all claimed a chair around the crackling fire, smores supplies being passed around.
Hunter had to head home to get some sleep before having an opening shift at the bar tomorrow.
Most of the ranch hands decided to call it a night early to be well rested for opening day tomorrow.
All that remains around the fire is family.
Nova sits perched on Chesney’s lap, wrapped in a blanket next to Laine while they help her roast a marshmallow but only succeed in catching it on fire.
“You two are going to burn the whole ranch down,” Roxy jokes, sliding her own onto a poker stick.
“They can damn sure try, but I’ll wring their necks first,” Walter threatens with a chuckle.
“Swear jar,” Nova yells, munching on a marshmallow she slipped from the bag. Walter hands her over a dollar, and she accepts it happily, leaving a trail of marshmallow goo on it.
I forgo making one myself, content with sitting here with family, making new memories. This is what my life would have looked like if things had gone differently, but things happen for a reason, and maybe I needed to go through everything I did to become the woman I am today.
Optimism and all that.
I’m watching Nova attempt to roast a second marshmallow, her first one roasting on the bottom of the fire, when I feel eyes on me.
I drag my gaze up above the flames to find something else smoldering just as hot.
Grayson watches me intently. He doesn’t say anything, just holds my eyes, no hesitation in knowing I see him.
He’s a man on a mission, and I’m starting to realize I might just be it.
If he’s challenging me, I won’t back down.
I’m done being scared, and, just maybe, so is he.
It’s still early enough, so I decide to grab a second drink from the cooler. The sun has set, casting us in a blanket of endless stars. The crunching of grass behind me has the hairs on the back of my neck standing. I bend over and grab a can out of the cooler, paying him no heed.
“Fancy meeting you here,” Grayson whispers against my neck.
I’m a lost cause. I arch back into his touch, soaking up his warmth. “You followed me. That’s cheating.” My voice is sultry with need, but I couldn’t care less. I’m way too wound up at the feeling of his hard length pressed against me. It seems I’m not the only one falling prey to their desires.
“I’ll always follow you,” he rasps, pressing forward. I gasp, and his hand flies to my mouth, silencing me. “Shhh, honey. We don’t want the whole ranch to hear how much you love my cock.”
“Fuck,” I moan through his fingers, leaning back. “I don’t k-know what you’re talking about.”
His lips graze the shell of my ear, his opposite hand tucking my hair back. “Are you telling me if I slipped my hands under your dress right now, I wouldn’t find you wet and desperate for me? Should we test that theory, Maisie?”
I shake my head but still manage to whimper into his hand.
“That’s what I thought,” he chuckles, dropping his hand to grab a beer from the cooler in front of me. He leaves me panting and wet for him, disappearing like he was never there. The wet spot in my underwear would beg to differ.
I slowly make my way back to the campfire, sipping on my new drink.
Grayson continues to eye fuck me for the next twenty minutes while I pretend I don’t see him.
It’s impossible to miss him, though. We are both horny messes, and I’m almost desperate enough to suck the man off behind a tree when he announces he should probably get home to get a good night's rest, abandoning his half-drunk beer.
I shoot out of my chair a little too enthusiastically. “I’ll walk back with you. This girl needs her beauty rest,” I say, awkwardly chuckling, my drink forgotten as well.
I have other things I want to taste.
Research notes: a cowboy always gets what he wants.