After showering and changing into my bikini, throwing a floaty dress over the top, I headed to the stables with Jack and Savannah. I’d suggested visiting the lake for a swim, and they’d both thought that it was a good idea. It was another hot day and cooling off in the lake sounded perfect, plus I would get the chance to wear one of my new bikinis. We had decided to ride the horses rather than take the truck, so we saddled them up and had a steady ride out to the lake.
The horses were tied up in the shade once we arrived, and Jack spread out a blanket that he’d brought with him. I flopped down onto my back, using my arm to shade my eyes from the sun.
“So, Lib, how’s it going with lover boy?” Savannah asked me, a smirk on her face.
I laughed. “Very good thanks.”
“Is that it? Is that all I’m getting out of you? I want details girl!” She pouted, sitting down next to me.
“God, I’m going for a swim; I don’t want to hear details of my little sister’s love life!” Jack said with a grimace. He pulled his t-shirt off and waded into the lake. “Bloody hell! It’s freezing!” He shouted.
“Come on then, now Jack’s out of earshot, spill!” Savannah demanded, bouncing on her knees with excitement.
“Mason’s amazing, I’m falling hard for him Sav. It scares me just how quickly I’m falling for him.”
“Well I’m sure Mason feels the same way about you, it’s written all over his face. I can’t believe that bitch Amber, has he spoken to her yet?”
“Yeah, he called her last night and told her to leave us alone. I just hope she listens.”
“I don’t know what he ever saw in her!”
“I’m guessing it was the long blonde hair and the model like body,” I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes.
“Libby you’re gorgeous and an incredible person, you’ve got the whole package, and Mason obviously thinks so too.” She raised her eyebrows at me. “So, is he a good kisser then?”
I shook my head at her and jumped up. “I don’t kiss and tell Savannah,” I told her, laughing. I pulled my dress over my head and threw it at her, running towards the lake.
“Hey!” I heard her shout. “Wait for me!”
I ran into the lake, squealing as the cold water hit my body, Savannah followed me in, squealing even louder. It didn’t take long to get used to the temperature, though, and we spent a while splashing around and talking. Jack had another two days at the ranch, and then he was meeting up with his friends in Austin.
“Brody and I are heading to a bar tonight, are you two coming?” Jack asked, splashing us both with water.
“Jack!” I scolded, splashing him back.
“Lib’s got a date with lover boy,” Savannah told him, smirking at me. “But count me in.”
I stuck my tongue out at her and turned to speak to Jack. “We’re coming here to watch the sunset, I’m sure we could meet up with you later. It will be fun to all hang out before you have to leave. I’ll speak to Mason.” As much as I wanted to spend time with Mason, if Jack was leaving in a couple of days, I wanted to see as much of him as possible. It was likely that after this week it would be a few months before I saw him again.
We spent the next hour or so lying in the sun on the bank of the lake. Jack was telling us where he and his friends were planning on going next, when we heard the hum of an engine in the distance. As we sat up, we saw Mason’s truck come into view.
“It’s lover boy,” Savannah announced. “He’s going to freak when he sees you wearing that bikini.” She wiggled her eyebrows at me.
I rolled my eyes at her, jumping up from the blanket to go and meet him. He stopped the truck and got out, walking over to me, his eyes scanning my body.
“God Lib, you look incredible.” He rubbed his hands up and down my bare arms before pulling me into his chest, his head dropped to my neck where he placed small kisses, making my body shiver in his arms. “I want to take you back to my bed and peel that bikini off you.” He whispered in my ear, his warm breath tickling my skin. His words created a stirring low in my stomach and a tingling between my legs. His mouth found mine and I sagged in his arms, he pulled me closer to him, his hands digging into my hips. As the kiss became more heated, I heard someone clear their throat behind me. I pulled out of the kiss and dropped my head to Mason’s chest, I was so caught up in him I’d forgotten that we weren’t alone and I felt my face flush. I could hear Mason chuckling as he wrapped me in his arms.
“Hey Jack, how you doing?” Mason asked him over my head.
I heard Jack let out a small laugh. “I’m good, although I wish you’d stop kissing my sister in front of me, I don’t need to keep seeing that.”
“Jack!” I exclaimed, turning to face him. Mason wrapped his arms around me from behind and pulled me back against his chest.
“Relax Lib, I’m joking, sort of. It’s obvious that he makes you happy, and with everything you’ve been through you deserve some happiness.”
I smiled gratefully at him and felt Mason tighten his grip on me, pressing his lips to my head. I grabbed Mason’s hand and pulled him towards the blanket. “Can you stay for a while?” I asked, looking over my shoulder at him.
He smiled at me. “I can stay for a bit sweetheart. I’ve got a riding group to lead this afternoon.”
Mason sat down on the blanket with his legs open, I sat in between, scooting closer to him so that my back was resting on his chest. His arm snaked around my waist, and I relaxed against him. “Everyone is heading out for a drink tonight; do you mind if we go after we’ve had our date?” I turned my head and looked up at Mason. “Jack’s leaving in a couple of days, and I’d love to spend some more time with him?”
“Of course we can go sweetheart. I want you to spend time with Jack while he’s here.” He
bent his head and brushed his lips against mine. Pulling away he turned to Savannah. “Where are you meeting?”
“I’m not sure, I’ll have Brody text you the details.” She reached for her phone, firing off a text to Brody.
I felt Mason’s phone vibrate in his pocket “That was quick!” He said, pulling his phone from his jeans pocket. I turned around kneeling up in between his legs. I watched his eyes flash with anger and his jaw tense as he read the message.
“Mason, what’s wrong?” I asked him, concerned. “Is it Brody?” I rested my hands on his thighs, squeezing his leg gently when he didn’t answer me.
“Yeah, it’s Brody, there’s a problem, I need to go. I’m sorry I can’t stay longer baby.” He reached for me, kissing me on the nose. He looked at his phone as another message flashed up, his hands gripped his phone tightly, his knuckles turning white. “I’ve really got to go. I’m sorry baby.”
“That’s okay, I understand that you have to work. Do you need any help?” I asked him, worried about how angry he seemed.
“No, no, you stay here and enjoy yourself. I’ll see you at my place later, come over about six.” He muttered, distracted by another message on his phone. He kissed me on the cheek and ran to the truck, pulling away quickly leaving a cloud of dust behind him.
“What do you think all that was about?” I asked Savannah, who was lying on the blanket with her eyes closed.
“Who knows.” She shrugged, not opening her eyes. “Probably a disgruntled guest, there’s always somebody moaning about something.”
I looked over to where Mason had sped off in his truck, he seemed angry for it just to be a disgruntled guest, but what did I know. “Yeah maybe.” I murmured, not convinced.
The afternoon passed quickly, Jack rode to the house and brought us back some lunch which we ate under the shade of a large oak tree. We spent the time, chatting, swimming and sunbathing before deciding to head back to the house. Savannah and Jack were competitive on the horses and decided to race back, galloping off I could hear them laughing in the distance. I wasn’t an overly confident rider, so I stuck to a steady trot, arriving back at the stables a good five minutes after them. Jack was waiting for me.
“I thought you’d got lost.” He mocked, laughing at his own joke.
“Ha ha! Not everything has to be a race, Jack.” I smacked him in the stomach, before making my way into the house. I laughed as I heard him groaning behind me.
After showering, I chose a dress to wear for my date with Mason, hanging it on the bathroom door ready to put on just before I went to meet him. I still had an hour to kill before that, so I reached for my phone, texting my parents to say hello and to let them know that I was okay. I didn’t expect a reply back as they would be asleep, so I grabbed my kindle and read for a while. After I had finished my book, I started to get ready, curling my hair in loose waves down my back and applying a bit more makeup than I usually wore. Happy with how I looked, I grabbed my bag and went to find Savannah and Jack to say goodbye. I found Savannah in her room studying.
“Wow Lib, you look amazing,” Savannah exclaimed as I entered her room.
I gave her a twirl and laughed. “Thanks, Sav. I’m heading to Mason’s now, but I’ll see you later at the bar.” I bit my lip. “Is Josh going tonight?” I asked cautiously, not wanting to upset her.
“Urgh! No idea, I haven’t asked Brody. He usually comes if Brody goes out, let’s just hope if he comes he leaves Averi and her grabby hands at home!” She gave me a small smile before jumping off her bed and coming over to hug me. “Have a great time Lib, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” She said with a wink.
I laughed. “I’ll try my best, can’t make any promises, though,” I told her, returning her wink.
I heard her chuckling as I closed the bedroom door behind me and went downstairs in search of Jack. I couldn’t find him anywhere, so I guessed that he was somewhere with Brody.
I made the short walk over to Mason’s cabin taking in the beautiful surroundings, I inhaled deeply, loving the smell of the country air. As I got closer to the cabin I heard raised voices, one of which I recognised as Mason’s, the other was the voice of a woman, a woman whose voice I’d have trouble forgetting. Amber.
“What are you doing here? I thought I told you earlier to stay away.” I heard Mason say, his voice full of anger.
I frowned, what did he mean by earlier, was that who was texting him when we were at the lake? Why didn’t he tell me? Why did he say it was Brody?
“I needed to see you, please Mason, we can make this work.” Amber cried.
“No!” Mason exclaimed. “I don’t want to be with you Amber, why can’t you understand that!”
I was stood on the porch now and could clearly hear all of their conversation. I wasn’t sure if I should knock and go in, or just go back to the house.
“Amber, what are you doing? Shit! Put your top back on, have you got no self-respect!” Mason shouted.
On hearing that, I flung the door open to see Amber standing topless in Mason’s lounge. Mason spun around as he heard the door open, a look of horror on his face when he saw it was me.
“Libby, this isn’t what it looks like I promise.” He blurted out. “She just turned up at my door five minutes ago, I thought it was you, so I just called out for her to come on in. The next thing I know she’s taking her top off!” He looked at me, panic evident on his face.
“It’s fine Mason,” I told him calmly. I walked past him to where Amber’s top was lying on the floor, reaching down I picked it up and threw it at her. “I think you need to leave Amber. Mason has made it very clear he doesn’t want you here.”
“He’s lying, we’ve been in bed together all afternoon, he text me asking me to come over, said his English girlfriend wasn’t giving him what he needed.” She smirked at me.
“That’s not true!” Mason exclaimed.
I turned to Mason and gave him a reassuring smile, before turning back to Amber, my face like thunder. “I don’t believe you, Amber. Unfortunately for you, I trust Mason, plus I heard most of your conversation before I came in. Like Mason says, have a bit of self-respect and stop throwing yourself at a man who clearly isn’t interested. Now get out!” I managed to stay calm until the end of my speech before I screamed at her to get out. I saw her eyes widen and she took a small step back from me. She quickly pulled her top on and picked up her bag.
“Just you wait and see, he’ll be interested soon enough.” She muttered to herself as she strutted past me, running her fingers across Mason’s chest as she passed him.
Mason grabbed her hand and pushed it away before guiding her forcefully through the door, slamming it shut behind her.
Mason came to stand in front of me. “Are you okay baby? You’re shaking.” He reached for me, pulling me into his chest. I went willingly into his arms, inhaling his familiar scent.
After a while, I moved my head to look up at him. “I really hate her Mason; why won’t she leave you alone?”
“I wish I knew sweetheart.” He said with a sigh. “She won’t win though Lib; I won’t let her come between us.” He bent his head and kissed me, before he could deepen the kiss I pulled back.
“Was it Amber that text you earlier, at the lake?” I whispered, dropping my eyes from his. He lifted my chin with his fingers until I was forced to look at him.
“No baby, it was Brody. He text to tell me that Amber was on the ranch and that she was looking for me.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Mason took a long, slow breath in before exhaling quickly. “I didn’t want you to be upset. I wanted to get rid of her as soon as possible and not have to worry you. I’m sorry Lib.”
“So, has she been here with you all afternoon? I thought you said she only knocked on the door five minutes ago?” I asked him, confused.
“When I left you at the lake, she was waiting here for me. I made her leave, I thought that would be the end of it. She was only here for a few minutes, I never thought she’d come back.” He hesitated. “You do believe me don’t you Libby? None of what she said was true.”
“I know Mason; I do believe you. She’s not going to go away, though, is she? She seems pretty determined to get you back.” I bit down on my bottom lip, feeling self-conscious.
“I was never with her; I was never hers to try and get back. It was never like that with us. I meant what I said earlier, I won’t let her come between us. You mean too much to me.”
“What are we even doing Mason? I’m going to be back in England in a few weeks, what’s going to happen then. It’s not like we can carry on seeing each other, how would that even work?” I removed myself from his arms and took a step back.
“Don’t Lib.” He reached for me, but I took another step back. “I don’t have all the answers but please don’t push me away because you’re afraid.” His eyes were pleading with me to listen to him.
I shut my eyes and sighed. “I am afraid Mason, I’m afraid that I’m falling in love with you, and that I’ll be going home with my heart in a worse state than it was when I came here.” I opened my eyes to see his face breaking out into a breath-taking smile. I gasped when the realisation of what I’d just admitted to him hit me. He moved towards me, taking my hands in his before I had a chance to stop him.
“You’re falling in love with me?” He asked, his eyes dancing with excitement.
“No! No, I just…I just meant that I could see myself falling in love with you. I’m not in love with you now.” I rushed out, looking at the ground. “That would be madness, we’ve only known each other just over a week.” I couldn’t believe I’d blurted out that I was falling in love with him, it was too fast, too soon!
“I’m not falling in love with you either.” I heard him say, my stomach sinking with his admission. He reached for my chin again, lifting it until I was looking at him. “I’m not falling in love with you because I’ve already fallen baby, head over heels. It might be fast, and as you say, madness, but I love you, Libby.”
I stared at him with wide eyes, he couldn’t love me, could he? “I don’t know what to say Mason, this is crazy.” I couldn’t tell him I loved him too, not yet. I was too afraid to say it out loud. It somehow made it more real to voice it, and while I felt it, I wasn’t ready to admit it yet.
“You don’t have to say anything sweetheart, I know you’re scared of getting hurt. I don’t know what the future holds and how we can be together when you’re on the other side of the world, but what I do know is that I love you and we will work through whatever is thrown at us. Please don’t push me away.”
He made it sound like we could overcome anything, even the 5,000 miles that could soon separate us, maybe, just maybe he was right, and I should take that chance. “Okay,” I whispered.
He smiled, his whole face lighting up again. “Just promise me that you’ll talk to me if you get freaked out or worried about anything.”
“I will, but the same goes for you with Amber, I want to know if she comes around again, even if you think it might upset me.”
“Okay, sweetheart.” He guided me towards him, capturing my lips with his. His tongue brushed my bottom lip, and I opened my mouth for him, as he deepened the kiss I heard him moan into my mouth. After a few minutes, he broke the kiss, resting his forehead on mine. “I need to stop sweetheart or we’ll never make it out tonight. You still want to go and watch the sunset, don’t you?” He asked me, looking a little unsure.
“Of course, if we haven’t missed it.” He took my hand and guided me outside. Walking hand in hand to the truck, he led me to the passenger side, opening the door for me, he helped me climb in.
As he leaned over to fasten my seat belt, he whispered. “You look beautiful tonight baby.”
“Thank you.” I murmured, smiling shyly at him.
It was only a few minutes’ drive to the lake, but Mason held my hand the whole way. Because of the drama with Amber, we only had about ten minutes to watch the sunset, but it was spectacular. Mason had brought a duvet which he lay on the flatbed of his truck, and we sat together with our backs to the cab entwined in each other’s arms. “Thank you for bringing me here, it’s beautiful,” I told him, quietly.
“I thought you’d like it.” He replied with a smile. We sat in comfortable silence before he asked me. “Will you tell me about Mia? What was she like?” He must have felt me stiffen in his arms. “You don’t have to sweetheart. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“You haven’t upset me; I’m just not used to talking about her, but I want to.” I turned slightly so that I was still in his arms but facing him.
“She was great, a pain in my ass most of the time, but I wouldn’t have changed her for the world. She rescued me on the first day of primary school. I was stood alone on the playground, and she ran over to me, telling me we’d be the best of friends. She was the complete opposite of me, loud and outgoing. Everyone loved her. We were like sisters, we did everything together, her parents worked long hours so she spent a lot of time at our house and I always hoped she’d end up with Jack, I’m sure he liked her.” I gave him a small smile and snuggled into his chest. “There was never any question that we wouldn’t go to the same university, we were studying different subjects but still managed to spend our free time together, and we shared a house with a couple of other girls. We were in our second year of university when the accident happened.”
“What were you studying? Are you planning on going back?” Mason asked me.
“Yeah, I guess, eventually. I was studying English Literature. I’ll probably stay closer to home rather than go back to Manchester. Too many memories, good and bad.” I let out a laugh.
“What’s so funny?” Mason asked me, smiling.
“I was just thinking about fresher’s week in our first year. Mia was a nightmare that week, she made me go to every party that was on. I had to hold her hair back while she threw up on three separate nights that week!” I sat up on my knees and faced Mason. “Thank you for asking me about Mia, it feels really good to talk about her.”
“I would have loved to have met her.” He leaned over and kissed me on the lips.
“She would have loved you! She had a thing for cowboys. Actually, she had a thing for boys in general!”
Mason laughed. “And what about you? Do you have a thing for cowboys?” He pushed me back gently so that I was lying on the duvet, his body pressing down on mine. My breathing accelerated, and it felt like a million butterflies were dancing in my stomach.
“Just one cowboy in particular,” I told him quietly, reaching my hands up, threading them through his dark hair.
“Anyone, I know?” He teased.
“I think you know him,” I whispered, pulling his head down to mine. I kissed him hungrily, and he quickly responded, deepening the kiss, his tongue invading my mouth. He pulled away slightly and kissed down my neck, nipping at my skin with his teeth before soothing it with his kisses. I moaned and arched my back as his fingers brushed my breast on their way down my body. I gasped as his hand traced up my bare leg and under my dress, stopping on the inside of my thigh.
Mason brought his lips to my ear and whispered. “Is this okay Libby?” I nodded, my body was on fire, and I didn’t trust myself not to beg him to touch me. His hand moved further up my thigh towards my knickers, his fingers gently brushing across them. His mouth was back on mine, and I moaned against his lips. His fingers slowly began to rub against me, and I felt the same build up low in my stomach as I had last time. His hand slipped inside my knickers, and he gently pushed a finger inside me, his thumb now stroking me.
“You're so wet, baby.” He whispered in my ear.
His words turned me on even more, and I writhed beneath him, my heart racing and my breaths coming out in gasps. His other hand came down to my breast and began pinching my nipple through my dress, this pushed me over the edge, and I called out his name as I came.
“You are so beautiful when you come Libby.” He murmured, kissing around my jaw before taking my mouth again. I blushed at his words, but thankfully it was dark enough that he couldn’t see me.
“I want to touch you, Mason,” I whispered, feeling his erection against me.
“As much as I want you to sweetheart.” He said, resting his forehead on mine. “We need to go and meet the others. I don’t want you to miss seeing Jack.”
“I suppose.” I pouted, dropping my head back on the duvet. Mason laughed, lying down next to me he pulled me into his arms.
“We have plenty of time sweetheart there’s no rush.”
I bit down on my bottom lip, suddenly nervous. “Can I stay at yours tonight?”
“I was hoping you would baby.” He paused. “Don’t be nervous to ask me Lib, I always want you around, just because you’re staying over though it doesn’t mean I’m expecting anything to happen.”
“You’re incredible, you know that?” I whispered, leaning over to kiss him.
He sat up, smiling down at me. “I think you’re pretty incredible sweetheart.” He paused, staring into my eyes. “We’d better go.” He sighed, reaching for my hands he pulled me up and I scooted off the back of the truck. He folded up the duvet and held the passenger side door open for me as I climbed in.
We arrived at the bar ten minutes later and spotted Jack, Brody, Josh and Savannah sitting at a table on the other side of the dance floor. Thankfully I didn’t see Averi, and I hoped for Savannah’s sake that she didn’t put in an appearance. Mason led me across the dance floor, his hand encased in mine. No one from our group had seen us arrive and as we made our way over to them, I watched as Josh and Savannah chatted easily with each other, the tension from the rodeo seemingly gone. I would go as far as to say that there was even some flirting going on between the two of them, they were sitting pretty close to each other.
“Look at Sav and Josh, they look like they are getting on well,” I whispered in Mason’s ear. I saw him glance at the table before nodding at me.
“It’s better than seeing them argue,” Mason replied.
As we neared the table, I saw Brody look up. “Hey, the love birds have arrived. Finally,” He exclaimed. “Nice of you to join us.” He joked.
“Leave them alone. They’re cute.” Savannah said, standing up as we stopped in front of the table. She pulled me into a hug. “You have fun?” She asked into my ear.
I nodded. “Looks like you’re having a good time too,” I whispered, gesturing with my eyes to Josh who was staring intently at Savannah.
“We’re just talking.” She shrugged her shoulders, giving me a sad smile.
“It looked like more than that to me. You looked pretty cosy.”
“He apologised for bringing Averi to the rodeo and told me he didn’t mean to hurt me.”
“He likes you Sav, I’m sure of it. Somethings holding him back, you just need to find out what.”
“I need to move on Lib, I’m tired of feeling like this, I can’t keep hoping he’s going to suddenly want to be with me.” She paused and glanced over at him, their eyes met for a second before Josh turned away and began speaking to Brody. She turned back to me. “A guy from school has asked me out a few times, I’ve always said no. Maybe it’s time I said yes.”
“Maybe it is,” I told her. I didn’t want to push her into waiting for Josh if she had the chance to be happy with someone else. “Come on, let’s get a drink.”
The bar was quiet as it was mid-week and we pretty much had the place to ourselves. After a few drinks, we moved to a room at the back of the bar where there were two pool tables. The guys played pool while me and Savannah sat and chatted. Mason would make his way over to us every so often, checking if we needed drinks and to steal a kiss. I noticed Jack watching Mason every time he came over to me, after the last time, Jack pulled Mason to one side. There was no music playing in the pool room, and I concentrated on trying to listen to their conversation.
“You seem serious about my sister,” Jack asked him.
“I am Jack. I know we haven’t known each other long, but I’ve never felt this way about anyone before.”
I watched as Jack nodded. “She likes you a lot too, I can tell.” He paused. “She’s been through a lot Mason. I don’t know how much she’s told you, but I’m not sure she could take being hurt anymore.” I smiled to myself, as much as this was an embarrassing conversation to listen to, I couldn’t help but feel a rush of love for Jack and his protection of me.
“She’s told me everything. I’m not going to hurt her Jack; she means too much to me.” I heard Mason say. “You’ve got nothing to worry about.” Jack nodded again and stuck his hand out for Mason to shake. Mason took it and pulled Jack in for a one-armed guy hug. Mason’s eyes found mine, and he smiled. “Come here, sweetheart.” He called out, holding his hand out for me. “I’ll show you how to play pool.”
It turned out that I was useless at pool, much to the delight of Mason who seemed to enjoy trying to teach me. Every shot I took he pressed himself against my back as I leaned over the table, his hands covering mine on the pool cue, he’d put me in the correct position before moving his mouth to my ear and asking if I was ready. His breath on my ear, and having him pressed right up behind me was distracting in the best possible way, but it meant I couldn’t concentrate on what I was doing. I just wanted to push him against the wall and kiss the hell out of him. He was fully aware of my body’s reaction to him as I’d hear him chuckle each time I missed the shot. I could tell that he was getting just as worked up as I was as I could feel his erection pressing against me.
After about five missed shots I’d had enough. “I think you need to take me home Mason.” I murmured, his body still pressing me against the pool table.
“And what do you want to do once we get home sweetheart?” He asked, his lips brushing against my neck making me shiver.
“Take me home, and you’ll find out,” I told him, sounding braver than I felt. He pulled me up and spun me around to face him. He looked at me through hooded eyes before taking my hand and guiding me towards the exit.
“We’ll see y’all tomorrow.” He shouted to the others. I heard them all laughing behind us as we quickly made our way out of the bar.