Chapter Fourteen
Noah
The first kiss was incredible. Unforgettable. And, a lot unexpected.
It was unbelievable. So were all of the ones after that on the top of Sand Mountain. Standing there with a beautiful girl looking out over a beautiful view was nothing short of amazing. The way her fingers tangled through my hair. The heat and hunger in every kiss made me want to take her right then and there, which I had to admit, made me feel a little like a sleaze ball. So, when she pulled away to make sure she had a hold on Stella, I jumped on Greg and got to moving to keep myself from being a bad boy.
A few minutes later, when she’d caught up and then admitted that she was feeling “less than ladylike,” I stopped in shock. Then—wouldn’t you know it—she pulled a total Jamie and started a horse race. Don’t get me wrong, she’s much better than Jamie, but I just couldn’t quite explain why it was that the two girls I’d been interested in over the last two years both wanted to start races with me. “I’ll beat you back to the ranch,” she said, before taking off like a bullet out of a gun—while knowing that Greg wasn’t a fan of kicking it into high gear if he didn’t have to, mind you. After quite a bit of coaxing and telling him that we were in this together, he finally stretched his legs and showed me the full extent of his speed. He easily outstripped Stella and passed her after a few seconds of galloping. “Atta boy, Greggie! Keep it up!” I cheered.
Just then, she passed us again. Apparently, she enjoys mocking me because she did it for the second time in less than five minutes.
“Atta girl, Stellie! Keep it up!” she shouted as she looked over her shoulder at us and threw up a thumb to display just how proud she was of herself. She may be a city girl, but I have to hand it to her—she certainly knew how to ride and get a horse to reach its full potential. After a little back and forth in the lead, we reached the ranch. It was a much faster trip than I expected since I’d never ridden at a full out gallop to or from Sand Mountain before. If you’re wondering who won, it happened to be the devilishly handsome bull rider on a horse that wasn’t fully trained. Laci could ride, all right, but she had just learned that she could never match up to Noah Tucker.
When we’d both slowed and eventually come to a halt, we dismounted and made sure to guide the horses straight to their water troughs so they could quench the thirst they had undoubtedly worked up during our race. As they drank their fill, I could sense Laci looking at me: not unlike those cheesy romantic comedies my mom loves to make my dad sit through. She averted her eyes every time I caught her looking over at me.
“May I help you?” I asked.
“Sorry, I just can’t help it. Things have always been easygoing between me and Mark, but nothing quite like this.” She blushed.
A burning anger suddenly boiled deep in my chest. Who was this Mark, really, and why did I feel so threatened by him when I didn’t know a single thing about him? Other than she’d felt a little guilty about him earlier. But more importantly, why was I—the King of Cool—getting jealous? I bit back the smart remark I felt coming to my lips and, instead, I put on my most innocent and calm face and asked, “Who’s Mark?”
“My friend. The guy I mentioned earlier,” was all she said, looking at me like she had no idea what was going through my head.
“Well, are you going to tell me about him?” I urged.
“Oh, yeah. Sorry. He’s my second best friend, like I said, beat out only by Emily. I met him in an acting class when we were seven, our parents became good friends, and we’ve been close ever since. He gave me this,” she explained, lifting up the necklace she had shown me briefly in the kitchen.
Unless he was gay, I highly doubted any guy could be close to Laci for eleven years and have no feelings for her. I took the charm into my hand and had to admit that I appreciated the idea that it was a smiling mask. I flipped it over and saw words etched into the back. “Even at three a.m.?”
She nodded. “Mmhm. Before he moved to California, he told me that I could call him at any time, even at three a.m., and he’d answer. He got me this as a graduation gift. He has the other mask; it says ‘I’ll always answer’ on the back.”
Yep, I was right. He’s in love with her. No guy gives a girl a necklace as meaningful as that with the promise that they could even call at three in the morning without having some kind of deeper meaning behind it. The look on my face must have given my thoughts away more than I’d intended because she blushed an even deeper shade of red and squeaked out, “Have I said too much?”
“At least, you were honest with me,” I said. “But you do know that he’s definitely one hundred percent in love with you, right?”
“Yeah, he told me when he gave this to me. I told him that I adore him, but I need to focus on my career right now. His is already established, and mine’s about to launch with this movie.”
“What do you mean his is established?”
“He’s already had two movies out,” she replied.
“Umm. Mark who? Who are we talking about here? Would I know who this guy is?” Something in my gut already told me I would.
“Maybe. Mark Hannon.”
My head felt like it was about to explode. For the longest time, I’d been the kind of guy who’s essentially afraid of commitment; I never thought I deserved it or, frankly, even wanted it. But with Laci, something felt different. Sure, it was early on, but there was some kind of unexplainable spark between us that I thought could develop into something special. I thought it could turn into a real relationship, but here she was telling me that she needed to focus on her career, and that’s why she had turned this Mark guy down. Not just any Mark, though. Mark fucking Hannon. If she turned him down, a name even I knew, and after knowing him and being attached at the hip for eleven years, how could I have a shot in hell?
To avoid saying something really awful and dickish that I would regret later, I cleared my throat, put Greg in his stall and his saddle where it belonged. Then, I started back toward my house. For a while, she kept trying to talk to me and get me to listen, but I just shook my head and continued about my business until she gave up and I was away from her. When I was, I felt the hot sting of tears at the corners of my eyes.
“What the hell?” I said out loud. I’d never, ever cried over a girl before. Like I said, I’m the King of Cool. I wiped my eyes and told myself to buck up, but for some reason, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I’d gotten punched in the balls and then told my horse died. It sucked to have the hope of a relationship for the first time—one that, for some unknown reason, I thought could’ve had the potential to turn into my white picket fence life—ripped away from me before it even got started. It hurt, and I kind of hated myself for being hurt by it.
I trudged up the stairs and flopped face-down onto my bed, kicking my boots off and flipping my hat next to the bed. I willed myself to be a man and stop moping, but it didn’t work. All I wanted to do was lie there on my bed and listen to music. I rolled over and docked my iPod on the sound system, then turned the volume up so the somber notes filled my ears. Just as I lay back down on my bed, my mom knocked on the door.
“Honey? You okay?”
“Yeah, Ma. I’m fine.”
“You didn’t answer me when I asked if you wanted brownies. They’re fresh out of the oven.” She slowly pushed the door to my room open and peeked in.
“Mom, I’m not seven anymore,” I told her as I sat up.
“You’ve never turned down brownies before. And besides, you’re never too old for a nice, hot brownie.” She shoved a plate stacked with brownies under my nose, and the intoxicating aroma instantly made my mouth water. “Go ahead. Take one. It’ll make you feel better. And, don’t you lie to me, boy; I know something’s wrong.”
Gotta love my mother; she’s nothing if not persistent. “Thanks, Mama,” I said, taking one off the top. She patted my leg, which I took to mean she wanted to sit down, so I scooted over to allow room.
She took a brownie for herself as she said, “So, tell me what’s going on.”
Already feeling slightly better, I obliged. “Don’t say you told me so, but it’s Laci. We were sort of…maybe we still are sort of…” I started, sighing and running a hand through my hair. “Jesus, I don’t know. Remember how I told you we saved Jack last week? Ever since then, something just clicked. There’s something there I’ve never felt with anyone before. We have this chemistry, and I thought things could’ve been going somewhere. But she just told me that her best friend of eleven years is in love with her, and she turned him down because she wants to focus on her career. If Mark Hannon, who she’s known for that long, doesn’t have a chance, how do I?”
Mama was a great audience; she clapped her hand to her chest and said “tsk, tsk,” at all the right times. When I’d finished and blew out a breath of air, she took a second to mull over her response, then spoke slowly and deliberately. “Sweetheart, tell me. Why is it this upsets you so much?”
“You know how I am, Ma. I ain’t really the sentimental type, but she makes me feel like a big, ol’ sap. I just thought that we could have a really great relationship, but she shut it down.”
“Did she actually shut it down, or did you assume that?”
“What else was I supposed to think when she just told me about Mark? Mark Hannon, Mom!”
“Look at it like this, sweetheart, she is something different to you, right? Something special that none of the other girls have been able to make you feel. Who’s to say you aren’t the same thing to her? For all you know, she just didn’t feel it with Mark, but she does with you.”
“She might not anymore. I walked away earlier without saying a single word like a total jerk.”
“Was she trying to explain herself? If she was, she might have been trying to tell you just that while you walked away. That she wants to be with you in a way she didn’t with him.”
I grabbed another brownie, handed one to Mom, and tapped mine to hers like they were two frothy mugs of beer. “Here’s to you, Ma. You always know just what to say.”
“Well, I do know my boy,” she said, ruffling my hair and kissing me on the forehead. “I also know the way women work; trust me, she thinks you’re the best thing since sliced bread. Now, I want you to go to my garden and pick her some flowers. Then, I want you to go back over there like the Southern Gentleman I raised you to be, plant a big kiss on that girl, and tell her how you feel. She’ll be putty in your hands.”
I gave my mom a squeeze and thanked her, then put on my boots and hat, dabbed on a small amount of cologne—not Old Spice—and went back outside. I opted for a single sunflower, then walked toward Sara’s barn. I couldn’t help but grin when I saw her sitting there cross-legged on the ground, talking to the horses. That’s exactly the reason I started to fall for her in the first place: she talked to horses just like I did. I stepped up and said the famous line: “Expecting them to speak up and answer you? I’d reckon they can’t speak human.”
She looked at me and her whole countenance changed from sad and pensive to full of joy. Those soft, perfectly-shaped lips curved in a smile made my heart slam against my ribcage. “Hey,” I greeted. She leaped up and threw her arms around my neck. I folded my arms around her. It was the type of hug that communicated more than words ever could.
“You smell like Ryan Reynolds.” She pulled away just enough so she could look me in the face and giggled slightly, then changed her gaze to a very intimate one. “I’m sorry, Noah.”
“You don’t need to apologize, I do,” I breathed. “I’m the one that didn’t let you talk.”
“No, you didn’t,” she started. “If you had, I was going to say that I feel something with you that I just don’t feel with Mark. It’s not that I don’t adore him because I do, but it’s not the same kind of fire that I get with you.”
“So, you weren’t just dragging me along in a little game?” I asked though I already knew the answer. I guess I just wanted to hear her say it.
“No, not at all.”
Hearing those words completely changed my mood, and I pulled her close again and buried my face in her hair, then kissed the top of her head several times. I know, not the most macho move, but I was happy. When I finally let her go, she looked down and saw the sunflower in my hand. “Would this happen to be for me?”
“As a matter of fact, it would.”
She stuck her nose in the center of it and frowned. “It doesn’t smell like anything,” she complained.
I laughed. “No, it wouldn’t, would it?”
“Well, why not?” she pouted. It normally bothers me when girls make the puppy dog face, but on her, it was adorable.
“Sunflowers don’t normally have a scent. It’s not like this one’s a mutant or something. You didn’t know that?”
“Do you really think sunflowers are in abundant supply in the middle of the city? Not by a long shot.”
“Okay, you have a point,” I admitted. “So, at the risk of losing my man-card, I have to ask. What are we?”
“You see, you’re a man, and I am a woman.”
“Not what I meant, smartass,” I said with a laugh.
“Well, Noah, what do you want to be?” she asked, suddenly serious.
“Together. As in, together together. I want to be able to point you out to my PBR buddies and say, ‘That’s my girlfriend.’ I know it’s cheesy, and I’d probably catch a ton of flak for it if any of the guys heard me say it, but… ”
“If you’re willing to risk your manly, ‘I don’t give a damn’ attitude, then how could I say no?”
I smiled. “Actually, you couldn’t. So, Laci Daniels,” I said, gallantly kneeling and holding the flower out. “Will you officially be my girlfriend?”
“God, are we in middle school?” she chortled.
“Don’t leave me hanging. I will write a note with boxes to check and everything if I have to.”
“Oh, sorry.” She suddenly started acting like a giddy little cheerleader, flipped her hair, and then squealed, “Oh my God, yes!”
“You’re a little too good at that,” I said, and she grabbed me by the face and started to pull me into a standing position.
“Shut up and kiss me,” she commanded before crushing our mouths together.
Between breathless, desperate kisses, I muttered, “You’re so demanding.”
“I am a princess,” she replied, biting my lip gently.
That did it. I pinned her to the wall of the barn and ran my hands along her curves, then slipped them into the back pockets of her jeans. I felt as though I couldn’t have enough of her body against mine, so I pressed against her. Her hands went to my chest and pushed.
“We can’t do this here,” she panted.
“You’re right. I’ve got an idea. Stay here,” I told her, turning to run to get my truck. I drove over to the barn. “Get in!”
She jumped in and slammed the door, and I started to drive. “Where are we going?” she asked.
“Make-Out Point.”
“What?”
You know the path we took up Sand Mountain on the horses? Well, there’s one for vehicles, and at night like this, it’s got the best view at the top.”
She shrugged. “Works for me.”
We drove in relative silence until I got to the plateau, then I pulled off the path and parked with the back of the truck turned to the view. “Ta-da!” I exclaimed. Then, I opened the back windows and shimmied out into the bed of my truck. I offered a hand and said, “M’lady?”
“Why thank you, good sir,” she said in a posh voice. I helped her into the bed, then stuck my head back into the cab to reach under my seat for the two blankets I always keep there while I’m on the circuit, just in case I needed them. I spread one out and balled the other up into a makeshift pillow, and laid down on it as Laci stood there and stared at me.
I patted my chest and said, “You gonna join me?”
She grinned and laid down next to me, then snuggled up against me and laid her head on my chest. “See any constellations?” she asked. “I wanna find Orion.”
I curled an arm around her shoulders and put the other one behind my head. “Actually, Orion’s only visible in North America December through April,” I informed her. “Right now, Ursa Major is the constellation you’ve got the best bet of finding. Y’know, the Big Dipper. Or Leo the Lion”
“Okay, I love looking at the stars, but even I don’t know the exact months that each constellation is visible in the sky,” she said suspiciously.
“I’m kind of a closet astronomy nerd,” I admitted sheepishly. “I know almost as much about astronomy as I do about horses.”
“Hmm, go figure. I never took you for the scientific type.”
“You also didn’t take me as the boyfriend type, and yet, here we are,” I pointed out.
“Touché.”
Curled up in the blanket, we lay there together and talked until we both drifted off to sleep. When I opened my eyes again, it was to the sound of a bird call and the sun rising in the distance. What a great way to wake up, I thought. I nudged Laci awake, and she instantly went on high alert.
“Holy hell! We slept here? Aunt Sara’s going to lose her mind! Crap, crap, crap, crap,” she said, panic in her voice. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, which had a case with bunny ears on it. “Damn! Nine missed calls and fourteen texts!” She furiously tapped away on the screen, then held it up to her ear. “Aunt Sara? Hey, I’m so sorry I didn’t come home last night. Yeah, everything’s okay. Uh-huh. I’m with Noah. No! We did not sleep together! Well, we did, but not in that way! Wait, why does it sound like there’s wind? Are you going to town?” She looked at me and rolled her wrist in a “come on, spit it out,” kind of way and mouthed, “She’s going insane.” That’s another closet talent of mine: lip reading.
I held out my hand as a signal for her to give me the phone, and when she did, I held it up to my ear to hear Sara going insane, alright, but not in the way I expected. I was surprised it wasn’t on speakerphone, her voice was so loud.
“And, he’s such a sweet guy! Let me just tell you one thing, Jack’s dad was not nearly so good a guy as Noah is, and-”
I laughed and spoke up. “Why thank you for that. Good to know I’m not an absolute slime ball like him.”
“Wait, Noah? Noah! Are you taking advantage of my Laci?”
That’s more of what I was expecting, I thought. “Hah, no, Sara. We literally just slept. We were looking at the stars and talking and we just fell asleep.”
“So are you two a thing now?”
“Who says ‘a thing?’ If you’re asking if we’re a couple, yeah. We are.”
“That’s what I thought! Well, you just take care of her, okay?” I could almost hear the wink in her voice.
“Okay, now that you know I’m not dead, we’re gonna go, Aunt Sara,” Laci said, leaning in to get closer to the phone I was still holding.
“Yeah, I need to go, anyway. You lovebirds have fun. I’m sure I’ll see you guys real soon!” Sara spouted.
I hung up the phone, then pulled on one of the bunny ears on her phone case.
“This is cute,” I told her.
“Shut up,” she said, snatching it away from me.
“So, she seemed pretty happy about us,” I observed.
“Whatever gave you that idea? I assume your mom will love it, too.”
“Oh, she’s the one that suggested I bring you flowers and bare my soul. She’s well aware of the situation.”
“See? I was right. Bull riders are all mama’s boys,” she teased.
“That’s not a bad thing, as far as I’m concerned. At least, you know I know how to treat women.”
“Hmm, I’m not sure I do. Why don’t you show me how you treat women?”
She’s pretty slick. I pulled her closer and slowly went in for a kiss. I guess you could say I teased her because I gave her probably ten or more really short, shallow kisses, the tender kind, until she finally scoffed and grabbed my face, kissing me deeply.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket. She slipped it out and looked at the screen, which lit up with a name I didn’t want to see.
Marky H.