Nate:I want to see you.Maybe publicly, like a weird thing they call a date.
Me:Bold of you to assume I’d want to be seen with you in public.
Nate:You love me.
Me:Keep dreaming, Carson.
Nate:Oh, I do.
Another smile for Captain Carson.
Friday breaks me a little.
A heat wave rolls through, 33 degrees before lunch, and by midafternoon, I’m drenched, headache pounding behind my eyes.We lose another animal, a calf born too early.The mother cries for hours after.It’s the sound that undoes me.
By the time I pull into my driveway, the light is gold and warm, but it feels cruel.I sit there with the truck off, the silence pressing in.I know I could call Kenzie.Or Chase.Or Adam.Or Eli...But I don’t.
I call Nate.
He answers before the second ring.
“Tess?”His voice is rough, like I woke him.
“Hey,” I whisper.“Sorry.I just… needed to hear someone’s voice.”
He’s quiet for half a second.Then: “Where are you?”
“Home.”
“I’ll be there in twenty.”
I tell him he doesn’t have to, but he’s already hung up.
I rush through a shower because I need to try to clean the day away.
He shows up, hair damp, wearing a gray tee that clings in all the right ways and jeans that look older than both of us.His eyes catch the lamplight, blue gone dark.
“You okay?”he asks, but his tone already knows I’m not.
I shake my head, and that’s all it takes.He pulls me in, slow and certain, one hand on the back of my head, the other steadying me at the waist.I can feel the warmth of him through my tank top, the way his breath catches like he’s afraid to press too hard.
The dam breaks, and I cry quietly into his chest, not the pretty kind of crying, the raw, shaking kind.He doesn’t try to fix anything, just lets me get it out.
We end up on my bed, the one I haven't had time to move back upstairs.He kicks off his boots, pulls me down beside him, and it feels natural, like he’s been here before.Like we’ve done this a hundred times.
He traces slow circles through my hair and down my back, and the world shrinks to the sound of our breathing.We are so close, I can feel his breath on my lips.His eyes say so many things.I still don't know what to expect from him.But I think I want to find out.Let him in.Explore this chemistry and the connection we have.
I break the silence and tension, "What are you guys doing tomorrow?"
"Recovering from working with my brother."He smiles, and it does funny things to me."Thinking of taking me up on that date?"
He tucks a piece of my hair behind my ear, and I shiver.I lick my lips, suddenly feeling nervous, "I am working at a rodeo tomorrow and thought maybe the guys would like to go."
He studies me for a moment, then asks, "Would I get to spend any time with you?"
My stomach does that stupid somersault thing again, "After the events, there's a dance."
"You wanna see my moves, Tessa?"The way he says my name is intoxicating, his scent surrounds me, and I suddenly can't speak.
