“The women of Midnight Falls would love you for it, because Mae is getting close to retiring, and she is the only boutique in town.” He chuckles.
I stare at him in shock. “The women of Midnight Falls only have one boutique?” He nods. “That is a crime. Oh, those poor women.”
“If you can’t find anything at the Dragonfly Boutique for prom, then you have to drive a couple of hours to the next big town to find something,” he explains.
I shake my head. “No woman should be driving hours to find clothes. What about the men?”
“There’s an outfitter in town,” he states.
“An outfitter? What is that? That doesn’t sound very chic.”
“You know, for all your gear, boots, jeans, shirts, riding, fishing, hunting gear, all that kind of stuff,” Charlie explains.
“What about suits and things?”
“We kind of just wear a dress jacket with our jeans for fancy occasions.” My heart just broke. Dress jacket and jeans for fancy occasions. Oh no, no, no. “Men don’t dress like you guys do in LA. We also don’t have the occasions either. There are the rodeos, Midnight Falls fair, the Valentine’s dance, spring, fall, winter, and summer festivals, church dances, debutante ball, and weddings.”
“They sound so cute.”
“We might be a small town, but we sure know how to party,” Charlie warns me.
“I’m sure you do.” I chuckle.
“Come out to the next festival and see for yourself.”
“I think I just might.” My arms wrap around his neck tighter. “Enough talk. I’ve missed you, and I need you to fuck me.”
65
DERRICK
After spending most of the day lazing in bed, we are now heading into town to meet his sisters and friends for dinner at the Midnight Moose. Charlie wasn’t lying when he said it’s a small town, but it is the cutest little place. It honestly looks like a Western movie set, the snowy capped mountain peaks looming over the quaint Main Street, with the red brick shop fronts. Along the sidewalks, banners of each of the high school football teams hang on the poles, which for this little Aussie, was weird but also cute. Charlie said that this weekend was a bye weekend, otherwise, we would have been going to the football game. He said every Friday they are playing at home or close by, he goes and supports his high school team. I could never imagine, after all these years supporting my high school, I couldn’t wait to get out of there. We park the truck in the parking lot of the bustling bar and Charlie grabs my hand and strides confidently into the bar. As soon as we walk in, everyone calls out to Charlie like he’s some kind of celebrity, then they clock me behind him, and I can see the curious glances but also the wide smiles, which I wasn’t expecting. The bar is exactly what you would expect in a small town. Everyone knows each other, it hasn’tbeen updated probably since the early 2000s and there’s a slight stickiness to the floor. People are playing pool in one corner, a live band singing country music is on a stage, older couples are line dancing, and there’s a happy hum of people hanging out together. Then Charlie brings me over to a large table filled with people wearing cowboy hats and dressed in the same uniform as Charlie, they are all gorgeous men, like I’ve stepped into a cowboy porno. I notice Everly sitting there talking to another blonde who looks like her, and I wonder if that is his sister, and I notice two other blondes with them, looking cute in their outfits.
“Charlie.” Everly turns, noticing us together, and the table stops talking and every single pair of eyes is on me. I feel them look me up and down, assessing if I am good enough for their Charlie. She gets up and hugs her brother, before hugging me. “Welcome to our home, Derrick. Sorry we’ve crashed your romantic weekend, but there was no way any of these assholes were going to let Charlie not introduce his new man to them all. Their bark is worse than their bite, but ...” she warns, which doesn’t fill me with much confidence “… they are excited to see Charlie happy.” She loops her arm through mine. “Hey, guys, this is Derrick,” Everly states, making the table go quiet. “This is Faith, our sister.” She points to the blonde she was talking to earlier. She gives me a warm, welcoming smile. “And this is her best friend, Lacey,” Another blonde, “her brothers Jesse and Austin,” Pointing to two very hot cowboys who tip their hats in my direction, “and this is Hadley.” She points to another blonde.
“G’day,” I say, which makes everyone laugh. Never in my life have I ever used that word before, but standing in front of a table of cowboys, I’m suddenly all Aussie. It’s my way of saying I come in peace.
“That is the cutest accent, no wonder Charlie fell. Come sit down,” Faith says, moving over to make room for me. I take a seat, and Everly takes her seat next to me.
“D, I’ll get us drinks,” Charlie whispers in my ear as he kisses my temple and walks away.
“Who knew our brother could be so cute?” Faith coos.
“So, Derrick, how did you and Charlie get together?” Jesse, the hot cowboy, asks.
“My friend back in LA, Jackson, introduced us.”
“You’re friends with Jackson Connolly?” Jesse asks.
“Yeah,” I answer nervously.
“He’s a good guy, that one. He’s really been there for Charlie,” Austin adds.
“Jackson is hot.” Faith chuckles, which makes the girls all giggle. Guess I’m going to have to tell Jackson he has a fan club in Midnight Falls.
“You think any new man that comes to town is hot,” Jesse says to Faith.
“Yeah, because the caliber of men in this town is lacking,” Faith bites back. I look between the brooding cowboy and Charlie’s sister.
