Just as one thing goes really well in life, something else has to go to hell.

The winner of this week’s shit show? The farm.

I don’t even notice it at first—Silvio does. We’re out at the farm to shoot more scenes, this time of me working in the barn.

It’s where I worked on my first pair of boots. The crew recreates the setup I once had with the addition of studio lights shining down on me just out of shot to create that perfect morning sun affect, beams of light shining down on me and my work. Silvio is looking through the camera lens when he notices it.

“Is that okay?” he asks, looking up. “It looks like it’s about to cave.”

We all turn and see the rotting hole in the barn’s roof. It’s crap like this that makes a farm such a pain in the ass to run, especially when the person running it is more interested in the bottle than the plow.

The farm needs constant upkeep. As soon as one thing is fixed, something else breaks down.

When we finish I go up to the house to check on my father. I don’t see him every time we come here to shoot. There’s enough land that I can be here and he never knows—especially since it’s become pretty clear that he’s not even paying attention to his property.

I step up on the porch and see that it is littered with empty beer and liquor bottles. The sight of it disgusts me. This man forced me to work here all through my youth even though I had no interest and grew to hate it. I gave up time with my friends, sacrificed my grades, and a real chance at sports—which I was good at, especially baseball—to work this land because my old man made me. Now look how important it is to him. All the things I gave up for this—this dumpster of a farm. It really pisses me off, seeing it like this.

“Hello?” I say, rapping on the screen door. The front door is open, and I can see inside—a mess in there too. “Pop? It’s me.” When there’s no answer, I push the screen door open and go inside.

It’s eerily quiet. The TV is playing in the living room, and there’s a half-eaten frozen dinner and more empty bottles on the battered coffee table. I call out to him again but nothing. I keep moving through the house, which is a wreck, until I arrive at his bedroom door, which is half closed.

I knock as I call his name and open the door. The stench hits me immediately. The room is covered in clothes and empty chip bags, more bottles and general disarray. I see him lying face-down on the bed, the covers slung over him.

“Pop?” I say, walking to him. “Pops? You okay?”

For a moment, I suspect the worst and a wave of dread rolls over me.

But when I get closer, I see that he is breathing. I also see dried vomit on the floor beside the bed.

I step around the mess on the floor to shake him awake.

“Hey. Pops. Wake up.” He groans and the stench of alcohol on his breath fills the room. “Hey. Wake up!” I shake him some more, realizing I thought he was dead, seeing that he’s alive but only somewhat. He’s pale and cold and sticky with sweat. I don’t know what it all means but it can’t be good. I call 9-1-1.

* * *

Only when I see Jessa walking toward me at the hospital does relief finally wash over me.

“Is he okay?” she asks as she gives me a reassuring hug. I hold her in my arms, the ultimate comfort.

“I guess it’s relative,” I say. “He’s alive.”

“Tell me what happened.”

I tell how I found him, and got him here to the hospital.

“What do the doctors say?” she asks.

“They say he’s a drunk,” I answer.

“Cole…”

I sigh. “They say his liver is shutting down. He has to stop drinking or it will kill him. That’s it. That’s the news.” I shake my head. I’m so angry that he’s done this to himself. I know he had a hard time when Mom died, but we all did. It’s like he’s been committing suicide for the last ten years. “My uncle Dan is helping out while Pop recovers. He’s actually been helping out at the farm for a while, not that I can tell. Maybe he’s been helping my dad make his way through cases of beer.”

“Oh, Cole,” Jessa says, rubbing my back. “I’m so sorry. Whatever I can do, I'm here.”

I pull her into me and kiss her forehead.

“He’s stable now. Doctors are releasing him in the morning. I’ll come back then and drive him to the farm. I need to have a talk with Uncle Dan, but I’ll save that for tomorrow. Right now, I just want to get out of here. Will you come back to my room with me? Just for a little while?”

“I can’t,” she says. “Avery is with Lucy—she should be asleep by now, but I promised Avery I wouldn’t be long. Want to come back to the house with me?”

“Definitely,” I say. Some alone time with Jessa is exactly what the end of this day calls for.

When I walk in the house, Avery shoots me her classic death stare, but she’s going to have to do better than that after the day I had. Once she leaves, Jessa and I check on Lucy and I get to watch her sleep. It’s the most beautiful sight in the world.

Back in the living room, we sit on the couch.

“Come here,” I say, and I pull her into me. She nuzzles into my chest and I stroke her hair and back and kiss her head. I feel like I can finally breath again.

“So what’s the deal with your uncle Dan?” Jessa asks.

“Uncle Dan is maybe one step better than my father,” I tell her. “He drinks, but not as much, he works but only a little harder. The good thing about him is that at least he cares. At least he means well. Most of the time, anyway.”

Jessa shifts her weight on me, getting more comfortable. Her body is draped over me, and it’s enough to send the signals down to my dick. When she touches me—sometimes when she just looks at me—I immediately need more.

As if she hears my thoughts, she looks up at me. I kiss her lips softly, taking in her taste and scent. The kiss goes deeper, my tongue craving hers, craving her. I pull her even closer to me, wanting more. My dick strains in my jeans, lengthening by the second.

“Wait, stop,” Jessa says, pulling back.

“Are you okay?” I ask.

She stands up from the couch.

“Let’s go to my room,” she says, and I’m up in a flash, following her down the hall. She shuts the door behind me, and locks it. “She’ll pound on the door if she needs anything. But I don’t want Lucy walking in on us.”

I can’t take my eyes off Jessa. She’s wearing a sundress that hangs perfectly on her body, especially her over her tits and hips. I go to her and run my hands down her sides, feeling the curve of those hips.

I pull her close and cover her mouth with mine. Her kiss is urgent, needy, and it makes me want to rip that dress right off her. When she lets out a little whimper, just from kissing, I feel like I’m going to explode.

I gather her firm breast, giving it a nice squeeze, loving how it fits perfectly in my hand. I suck her bottom lip, giving it a little nip before letting go. I take her by the shoulders, and give her a little push down onto the bed.

I step back from the bed and toe my boots off and step out of my jeans. I sit down next to her and take my cock out of my boxer briefs. I stroke it gently.

Jessa scoots to the head of the bed. She slowly spreads her legs and lifts up her dress, past her knees and up to her thighs.

I reach to her, taking her panties off in one swift motion as she lifts her hips for me. I push her dress back and she spreads her legs for me. Her pink little pussy is so wet, so ready to be had. Without hesitation I slip my finger inside her, so primed and ready that she moans again. I slip another finger inside her, pump her slowly at first, hooking my finger inside her at the top as she pushes down on my hand with her hips.

“That’s a good girl. God you look so fucking sexy when I fuck your tight pussy with my fingers and get you ready for the real thing.”

She’s really showing me how much she wants it, pumping her hips down on my hand. I circle my finger over her hard clit, swollen with want, and she just about screams out.

I keep working her cunt, pumping inside her, pushing my fingers in to my knuckles and teasing and rubbing that clit. I’m going to make her come so she can get on her knees and suck me off. I fuck her cunt with my fingers, totally soaked with her juices, and she’s slamming her hips into my hand so hard the bed is shaking. I feel her pussy clench around my fingers. She lets out a little kitten whimper, her eyes close and her head falls back away and I pump her harder, really get up inside her as she spasms and clenches my hand with her orgasm. Her face is pink from coming and holding in her cries.

I pull my fingers out of her cunt and lick them clean, tasting and inhaling her. When she hears me sucking at my fingers she opens her eyes and watches.

She moves toward me and crashes her mouth to mine, her tongue going deep as if to get the juices I just took from her. She slides her body between my legs and lowers herself to her knees before me. She takes my boxer briefs and pulls them off, discarding them on the floor.

I run my thumb over her bottom lip. “You still need more?”

“I only need you,” she says. She’s so perfect. She knows exactly what to say, and what to do to me.

She takes in the sight of my cock in my hand, pulls her hair to one side as if readying herself for serious business.

Then she leans in and her tongue circles the bulbous head of my cock, licking at the slight that’s wet with my pre-come. She licks it up like the tasting preview I know she’s ready for. She wraps her lips around the head and sucks on it, hard, while her hand holds the length of my dick gently but firmly in her hand. She sucks off the head and licks it again, making me pant as I watch her work.

She moves back and, looking up at me, she drapes her tongue out and licks me from the base to the head in one, long drag. She does it again, her tongue pressed firmly against my throbbing cock, and again before she covers the top of me again and, without a moment of hesitation, takes the length of me down her throat.

Her lips are firmly wrapped around me, her tongue pressed against the long vein of my cock, and she sucks on me, her head bobbing slowly. Her hair falls around her face and I gather it in my hands and pull it back to keep my view. Watching her work her mouth over my dick is so fucking hot.

“You suck me so good, Jessa,” I tell her, her mouth soaking my dick. Her hand moves up with her mouth, giving me an extra jerk off to go along with her sucking. I rest my hand on her head, wanting to shove her down harder but she’s doing such a good job on her own. “You know that’s going to make me come. Do you want me to come down your throat?”

The way she redoubles her efforts, sits up a little more in a good position, tells me that yes, she wants me to shoot down her throat. God just picturing what I’m about to do to her makes me wild. She’s sucking on so good, her mouth so perfect, taking me in so deep I can feel the back of her throat. Her jaw must be exhausted but she doesn’t slow down. She keeps sucking, bobbing that mouth up and down my throbbing cock. I'm so ready to come, I gather her hair in my hand, holding on, pushing a little harder on her.

“I’m going to shoot this come down your throat,” I tell her. “Fuck, Jessa.” My dick’s ready to explode. I squeeze my eyes to the pleasure, the moment before I burst into her mouth. My hot come pours down her throat and she takes it all down, pulling me even deeper into her as my cock pumps more and more into her. She sucks it all off as the world explodes around me. I watch her until she takes my dick out of her mouth and gives one last, big swallow. Then I fall back on the bed, spent.

She crawls up next to me, cuddles into me. I wrap my arm around her and pull her closer.

I’m totally fucking conflicted. I shouldn’t talk to her like that. I shouldn’t do all those things that I do. She’s the mother of my child—Jesus, it’s still so strange but it’s true. She deserves more respect than what I give her in the bedroom. Still, she seems to be good with it all—and maybe even loves it. It makes me feel guilty afterward, nonetheless.

“You okay?” I ask her.

“Mmm…” she says, kissing my neck. “Good.”

I get up and find my underwear, pull them back on along with my jeans.

“You’re not leaving, are you?” she asks, sitting up.

“I have to get some work done back at the hotel,” I say, and it’s not a lie. But it’s not the whole truth either.

I give her a kiss before I head out, lost in my own thoughts.

The intensity that radiates between Jessa and me has always been so strong. It’s been like this since we first met. We need to have each other, and gently has never been the way…

When I get back to my hotel room, the reality of my life washes over me. My old man can’t handle the farm, Lucy is my daughter, and Jessa is back in my life. I know it’s only a matter of time before it all goes sideways.