Chapter 19
CAMMIE
“It’s so pretty here.”
It was hard to imagine this was where Zeb grew up. That he had this land to play, and work. I saw the size of the stables. The barn. The vast farm equipment. The sheer size of the property. To share it with eight older siblings…
The sky was blue, the sun shining, but it was chilly. There had probably been frost this morning that coated the vast prairie that surrounded us because at the top of the mountains in the distance, snow was now a bright cap that wouldn’t disappear until next summer.
The sun was in our faces, but it was low on the horizon. Zeb ensured I was dressed warm enough, borrowing one of Lainey’s heavier jackets she left in the stable and a pair of leather gloves.
He’d put on a cowboy hat, a dark Stetson that had been on a peg by the back door. It was as if it’d been sitting there since he was home last, waiting to be put back on. For Zeb to switch from student and football player to cowboy.
I didn’t even know he liked to wear a Stetson. The dark one he had on his head looked well loved and used. And it made him look really, really hot. His jeans stretched taut over his thighs, his hand held the reins in a casual hold, he was relaxed in his seat.
Out here, there were no cars. Overhead, no contrails from airplanes. Only the sound of a bird in the distance and the wind. We were only about three hours from Bozeman and my home, but it was vastly different. It looked different. It felt different.
Special, but only because Zeb was beside me.
He looked to me, smiled. He’d done that often over the past few days, but this one was different. I could tell he agreed with me, that he loved it here. Loved being on the back of a horse. The tension from Chase Trout slipped away.
We were riding two of the Wilder’s horses and were already a good thirty minutes from the stable. Zeb had saddled both animals and boosted me up onto Pike’s back. I wasn’t a barrel racer like Lainey or an expert in the saddle that Zeb seemed to be, but I’d ridden before with Beau and had loved it.
My parents’ place in Bozeman was in a neighborhood with other houses close by. Fenced yards. Trees. Yards weren’t large enough–or even allowed for–a stable or a horse. Besides, we didn’t have money for one.
The Wilder house had long disappeared behind a rise in the landscape. I saw another one in the distance, but we were truly alone.
No library or stadium full of students. No roommates. No Chase Trout.
He looked to me, a boyish smile on his face. “Ready to let them run a little?”
Eagerness filled me at even the tiniest taste of being a cowgirl. I pushed my glasses up my nose. “Okay. How?”
“You’re so fucking cute.”
I felt my cheeks heat, even in the cold.
“Just relax in the saddle, give him a nudge with your heels and he’ll follow me and Shadow.”
I nodded and exhaled.
“Good girl.”
With practiced ease, he got Shadow moving a little faster. I did as he instructed and Pike kept up. I wouldn’t say we were doing more than a trot, but I appreciated Zeb’s patience with me.
Was I the only one out of the entire brood who’d welcomed us terrible with animals?
After a few minutes, he slowed, then stopped. I saw him give a gentle pull on the reins, so I did that, too.
“Here, sweetheart.” He waved his hand around like a game show host. “This is what I wanted to show you. My favorite spot.”
I looked around and it was… beautiful.
He slipped off Shadow’s back with practiced ease, came over and helped me down. “Come on, I’ve only got you to myself for a little while and I wanna eat that pussy and I definitely want to know what your mouth feels like around my dick.”