We were still laughing as we walked into the kitchen. Jack was sat at the breakfast bar drinking a cup of coffee. I flopped down on the seat next to him.
“You found her then?” Jack asked Savannah.
“Yes, and you’ll never guess where.” She said smirking at me.
“Savannah!” I protested, glancing from her to Jack.
“Half naked on Mason’s porch, kissing the hell out of him, that’s where!” She exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear.
“Hey! I was not half naked; I was wearing what I’m wearing now!” I cried, looking down at my shorts and top.
“You’re not leaving much to the imagination though Lib,” Jack said laughing. “I bet Mason thought it was his lucky day!” I felt my face flush, and I stood up to leave. “Wait Libby don’t go, I’m sorry, I’ll stop teasing you I promise,” Jack said, reaching over and grasping my arm. “What’s going on with you two anyway?”
I sat back down shrugging my shoulders. “I’m not really sure, I guess we’re just seeing where things go,” I told him shyly.
“Well I’m glad, he seems like a good guy. I’ll have to have the big brother chat with him of course, ask him what his intentions are towards you.” He said smirking at me.
“Don’t you dare Jack!” I warned him. He stood up winking at me. Just then there was a knock at the door. Savannah jumped up and went to answer it.
“Look who I’ve found on the doorstep, seems he can’t keep away.” She said when she came back. I looked past her to see Mason following her into the kitchen.
“Hey,” I said standing up and walking over to him. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, you just left your kindle at my place, and I know how attached to it you are.” He held the kindle up and winked at me.
“Thank you,” I told him, taking it from him.
“No problem sweetheart.” He bent down and brushed his lips against mine. Jack cleared his throat behind me. “That’s my baby sister Mason, I don’t need the visual.” He said playfully. Mason pecked my lips once more before pulling away. “Morning Jack.” He said smiling at me.
“Morning Mason,” Jack said a smile in his voice. I knew Jack liked Mason and was just winding him up.
“I’d better go; I’ve got a few things to do before we go out later.” He said to me.
“I’ll walk you out.” I took his hand, pulling him towards the door.
“Catch you later guys.” He said to Jack and Savannah, lifting his hand in a wave as we left the kitchen.
“Bye.” They called out behind us.
We walked the short distance to the door in silence, his hand clasped in mine. I bit my lip, suddenly feeling nervous around him. He glanced over to me his eyes dropping to my lips. Before I knew what was happening he’d spun me around and gently pushed me up against the front door. He cupped my face with one of his hands and lowered his face to mine. My heart was racing, and my breathing was ragged as he pressed his lips firmly against mine. I kissed him back urgently, the kiss quickly intensifying. He fisted his hand in my hair, dropping his lips from mine and kissing down my neck. “God Libby, what are you doing to me?” He whispered into my neck, his breath making me shiver. “I can’t control myself around you.” He dragged the tip of his nose up my neck and found my lips again, kissing me softly this time. He pulled back and smiled at me. “Sorry, I got a bit carried away.” He said sheepishly, taking my hand in his again.
“Don’t apologise. I like it when you kiss me.” I blurted out, blushing.
“I like it when you blush and I love that I’m the reason for it.” He chuckled, reaching up to stroke my pink cheeks. “I really had better go, though.”
“Thanks again for bringing my kindle over.”
He smiled at me and pecked me on the lips. “I’ll see you in a few hours baby.”
I grinned back at him. “Can’t wait,” I told him.
I went upstairs after he’d left and jumped in the shower, I washed and blow dried my hair, leaving it loose down my back. I wanted to look nice for when I saw him later. I looked through my wardrobe and settled on a short flowery dress to wear which I thought would look good with my boots. I made my way downstairs finding Jack and Savannah in the lounge.
“You look gorgeous Lib,” Savannah told me as I walked in.
“Thanks,” I replied glancing down at my dress.
“Come on let’s give Jack a quick guided tour of the ranch before it’s time to go.”
“Sounds good to me,” Jack said, jumping out of his chair. “Looks like a lot has changed since we were last here.”
I linked my arm with his and we made our way outside. We spent an hour or so showing Jack what was new on the ranch, from the new log cabins to the extra horses in the stables. We bumped into Brody in the stables. I’d kept an eye out for Mason but never saw him. I asked Brody if he knew where Mason was, he told me that he wasn’t scheduled to work today. Apparently, he’d asked if he could borrow one of the trucks for an hour or so and had headed out. Maybe he was getting something for the rodeo this afternoon.
After showing Jack around and catching up a bit with him, we made our way back to the house to eat lunch before Mason was due to pick us up. Brody came back with us so that he could shower and change. We found Josh waiting for us on the porch swing and he wasn’t alone.
“Hey man,” Brody said to him, pulling him into a one-armed hug.
“Hey, Brode.” He greeted him back. He turned to the girl standing next to him. “This is Averi, Averi this is Brody, his sister Savannah and their cousins Libby and Jack.” He gestured with his one hand to each of us, his eyes lingering a fraction longer on Savannah than everyone else. His other hand was wrapped around Averi’s waist.
“Nice to meet you.” I heard Brody say.
I looked over to Savannah who was as white as a sheet, her eyes fixed on Josh. I said a quick hello to Averi and Josh and then turned to Savannah. “Hey Sav, can you help me with something inside?” I grabbed her hand and pulled her into the house leaving everyone else still on the porch. I led her straight upstairs and into my room. “Savannah, are you okay?” I asked her concerned.
“Why would he bring a girl with him.” She whispered, tears tumbling down her cheeks. “She’s gorgeous as well.”
I couldn’t deny that Averi was beautiful, she looked a lot like Savannah, long brown hair and green eyes. Why would he date someone who looked like Savannah but not be interested in her? I pulled her into my arms and let her cry. “She’s not as beautiful as you Sav,” I told her truthfully. “Josh is an idiot. I can’t believe he’s brought someone when he knows how you feel about him. Especially someone who looks like you. Please don’t cry.”
“I just don’t understand him. He goes all caveman on me last week in the bar just because I was dancing with a guy, then brings some girl to flaunt in front of me. God, I wish I could hate him right now!”
“We’re still going to have a great time,” I told her, passing her a tissue to wipe her eyes with. “Once we get there, we can leave them and do our own thing.”
She laughed. “Libby that’s kind of you, but Mason will be pissed if I drag you away from him.”
As much as I wanted to spend time with Mason, Savannah needed me, and I wasn’t going to see her hurt and upset just so that I could be with Mason. We’d arranged a date for tomorrow night, and we’d be alone then, pissed or not, he’d have to deal with it. “Mason will be fine Sav,” I told her waving my arm.
“Mason’s going to want to know why we aren’t staying together as a group, I really don’t want him to know. I can deal with Josh and Averi. Maybe I’ll find myself a rodeo cowboy.” She winked at me, a small smile on her lips. She wasn’t fooling me, though. I knew she was hurting.
She wiped her eyes just as a knock sounded on my door, Brody poked his head in. “Jack’s making some sandwiches if you want to eat before we go?” He asked, looking between Savannah and me.
“Is everything okay? Have you been crying, Savannah?” His brow furrowed in concern.
“Everything’s fine Brody. Come on let’s eat, I’m starving.” She said to him, smiling widely. Brody looked at me, shrugged his shoulder and followed her out.
After eating lunch, we headed out onto the porch to wait for Mason. Savannah ignored Josh as much as possible, which was probably a good thing as Averi was all over him. I didn’t want to judge her, as I didn’t really know her and I’d made that mistake with Mason, but I was struggling to like her. She’d only just met us, but thought it was appropriate to straddle Josh on the bench and shove her tongue down his throat while we all watched! Josh was an idiot for bringing her. Savannah was in a different class completely to this girl.
A horn sounded from the driveway, and I looked up to see Mason parking the minivan. He jumped out and made his way up to the porch. He slapped Brody on the back as he passed him and shook Jack’s hand, his eyes fixed on me. He looked as gorgeous as ever, messy hair, jeans that fit like a glove and a crisp white t-shirt stretched tight across his chest. I smiled at him as he approached me, my heart beating out of my chest.
“Hi, sweetheart.” His eyes scanning down my body. “You look beautiful.” He bent his head and caught my lips with his.
“Thank you,” I said quietly, my stomach fluttering with nerves. He pulled his lips from mine and curled his arm around my waist pulling me close to him.
“Am I missing something?” Brody asked, looking at Mason and then at me. “When did you two become an item?” He looked over at Savannah. “Did you know about this?” He asked her.
Before Savannah could respond, I heard Mason say. “We’re dating Brody, it’s pretty new. She took some convincing, but we’re giving things a go.”
“I like you Mason, but you’ll have me to deal with if you hurt her. She’s been through a lot.” Brody warned.
“I know what she’s been through and I don’t plan on hurting her. I’m glad you’re looking out for her, though, I wouldn’t want it any other way.” He pulled me even closer into his side, and I felt him kiss me softly on my head.
“That’s enough macho behaviour,” Savannah exclaimed. “Let’s go!”
“Everyone ready?” Mason asked. There was a chorus of yes’s, and we made our way to the minivan. “My girl’s up front with me.” He announced, as he held the door open for me and I climbed in, smiling gratefully at him.
Everyone else climbed in, and I noticed that Josh and Averi went for the back seats, no doubt to carry on what they’d started on the porch swing. Savannah, Jack, and Brody sat on the seats behind Mason and me. I turned and caught Savannah’s eye, she gave me a small smile before focusing her attention on the view from her window. My heart broke for her; surely Josh knew that bringing Averi would upset her. I felt Mason reach across and take my hand, pulling me from my thoughts.
“You okay?” He asked, his brows furrowed with concern. “You look like you’re miles away. Are you worrying about the drive up to Burnet?” He spoke quietly to me, making sure that no one else could hear our conversation.
“I’m okay, a bit nervous. I think I’ll be alright if you’d hold my hand again…that really helped me last time.” I smiled shyly at him. I didn’t want to betray Savannah’s confidence by telling him about her feelings for Josh, and I wasn’t lying, I was nervous about the drive.
“Of course, I was planning on it anyway darlin’.” He winked at me. “Right.” He said loud
enough for everyone to hear. “Ready to go?” There was another chorus of yeses, and we headed down the long driveway to the main road. I focused on my breathing and the feeling of Mason’s hand in mine, his thumb was stroking the back of my hand, and while I felt apprehensive, I knew I wasn’t going to have a panic attack. Mason somehow knew to leave me alone and not talk to me, only asking occasionally if I was okay, to which I nodded my head. It was only about a twenty-minute drive to Burnet, and we were there before I knew it.
Mason parked the minivan into a field adjacent to where the fair and rodeo was being held. We all piled out and headed over to the kiosk to pay the entry fee. I dug around in my bag for my purse, but Mason put his hand on mine stopping me. “I’m paying sweetheart.” He told me bending down and kissing me on the nose.
“No Mason, I should be paying for you, you drove everyone,” I told him.
“I pay for my girl when we’re out.” He said, not taking no for an answer and quickly handing the money over. I saw the girl in the kiosk do a double take when she looked up to take his money, she was looking at him like she wanted to devour him. She tried to engage him in conversation, but he stepped back and wrapped his arm around my waist. This, however, didn’t stop her and she continued to flirt and give him the eye, I might as well have been invisible. Mason ignored her advances while still managing to be polite. I, however, wanted to scratch her eyes out! We moved away letting Savannah and the others pay.
“Does that happen a lot?” I asked him.
He looked at me puzzled. “Does what happen a lot?”
“That girl at the kiosk, I think she’d have dropped her knickers right there and then if you’d asked her to!”
He turned back towards the kiosk, and the girl gave him a wave. He ignored her and turned back to face me. “Libby, are you jealous?” He asked, a cocky grin forming on his lips.
I folded my arms across my chest, willing my face not to flush with embarrassment. “No! She was just… overbearing that’s all.” I pouted, dropping my eyes from his.
He laughed. “I never even noticed her Lib. I’m not interested in anyone except you.” He lifted my chin with his finger. “I love that you were jealous, though, but trust me you have nothing to worry about baby.” He stroked my face with his fingers.
“I love it when you call me baby,” I whispered, my eyes widening as I realised that I’d voiced my thoughts out loud. My cheeks flushed again, and I dropped my head to his chest, mortified.
He chuckled “I’ll have to remember that baby.” He said, emphasising the word baby and circling his arms around me. I inhaled deeply, taking in his scent. It was his usual smell of soap and aftershave, but it was addictive.
“Put her down Mason.” I heard Jack shout from behind us. I rolled my eyes and pulled out of Mason’s embrace. “Come on, let’s get in there,” Jack said leading the way. Mason laughed and grabbed my hand pulling me along to follow the others.
Once inside I stood and looked around, there were three arenas, two of which were open and hosting various animal shows with the third, the much larger of the three, enclosed with tiered seating all around. Posters advertised monster truck racing at various times throughout the day, along with the rodeo that would be happening tonight. Surrounding the arenas were rows and rows of stalls, selling food, drink, clothing and everything in between. There was a stage off to the left where a band was playing live music, and behind the arenas, I could make out some fairground rides and a large Ferris wheel. “What shall we do first?” I asked excitedly. “What about the rides? Sav, what do you want to do?”
“The rides look good to me. Come on.” She grabbed the hand that Mason wasn’t holding and pulled me from his grip. I looked over my shoulder as she pulled me towards the rides, Mason was laughing, and he nodded for me to go with Savannah. “Don’t worry, lover boy’s coming,” Savannah said rolling her eyes.
“Save the Ferris wheel for me, sweetheart,” Mason called out. I waved my free hand his way and flashed him a grin.
When Savannah finally stopped pulling me along, we were far enough away from our group to not be heard. “You okay Sav?” I asked her.
“Yeah, I’m okay.”
“Liar.”
She gave me a short laugh. “You know me too well. There’s nothing I can do about it. I’ve just got to get on with it and get over him.”
“If it’s any consolation, it won’t last. She’s not right for him.”
“Doesn’t matter Lib, if it’s not Averi it will be someone else. Just not me, unfortunately.” She shrugged her shoulders in defeat. I linked my arm through hers and pulled her towards me.
“I’m sorry Sav.”
“Me too Lib.” She took a deep breath as if pulling herself together. “I’m not going to let him ruin today, come on, what shall we go on first?”
She obviously wanted to change the subject, and I couldn’t blame her. “That one,” I said excitedly, pointing to a huge ride lit up with hundreds of white lights. We stood and watched it, listening to its riders screams as it threw them upside down and round and round.
I felt someone come up behind me. “You’re not going on that, are you?” Mason breathed in my ear, his lips brushing my neck. I leaned back against him, still watching the ride.
“Not scared are you Mason?” I teased him. “A big strong cowboy, afraid of a fairground ride.” I turned and smirked up at him.
“I’m not the one trembling baby.” He whispered against my lips.
“I’m not trembling because of the ride,” I whispered back, my eyes never leaving his.
“I know Lib.” It was his turn now to smirk at me. He knew exactly how my body reacted to him when he was close to me. He kissed me gently before pulling back. “Enjoy the ride sweetheart.” He pushed me gently towards Savannah who was chuckling at us.
“How does he manage to do that?” I asked her, shaking my head.
“Do what Lib?”
“Make me forget my own name, just by whispering in my ear!”
She smiled sadly, glancing over towards Josh. “I wish I knew.” She paused. “Come on.”
We queued for the ride with Brody and Jack, and I screamed the whole way around. I loved it! We went on three more similar rides afterward, and my throat actually hurt from all the screaming. After the last ride, we went to find Mason and the others, there were crowds of people, and we had some trouble finding them. Brody was just about to call Josh on his phone when Jack shouted that he’d found Mason. I turned to look where he was pointing and stopped dead in my tracks, Savannah ploughed into the back of me, just like the first time I’d seen him. This time was different, though, this time there was a gorgeous leggy blonde with her arms draped around his neck, he was standing with his back to me, hands on his hips. We were about ten feet away from them, and the girl looked over, she narrowed her eyes at me and smirked before bringing her face closer to his as if she was going to kiss him. I turned around, stumbling into Savannah who caught me.
I’d let my guard down and let him in, and now my already damaged heart was breaking all over again.