Meadowlarks (25 page)

             
“I guess 'cause you had so much to drink, it hit you hard. It just turned her into a bigger lunatic.” He chuckles and rubs his face with his hand.

             
“How did I get to the hotel?”

             
“We left the bar and took a cab to the hotel. I already had reservations there but only ever planned for the three of us guys.”

             
“Oh, right. The blondes.”

             
“Yeah, well, once we got you into the room, you blacked out and we didn't know what do to. Alex called his sister. But we should have just called an ambulance first.”

             
I already knew the rest. Addison told me while I was still in the hospital. Alex called and woke her up; she drove to Cody and rushed to the hotel.

             
“Did Addison tell you what she did to Gwen?” He smirks.

             
My blank look tells him that she didn't.

             
“After the paramedics loaded you into the elevator, there wasn't enough room for her too. So, she was going to take the stairs. Gwen was standing in the hallway, and Addison walked up to her and slapped her across the face.” He bursts with laughter.

             
“What!” I'm stunned, and I can't help but laugh, too. “What did Gwen do?”

             
“She didn't say anything, just stood here holding her cheek.”

             
“I'm sorry I missed it.” I finish my coffee and set the mug on the bed of the truck. The thought of Addison so aggressive and defensive makes me a little hot.

             
“Addison stood right in her face and told her to stay away from you. Let me tell you—it was a very quiet drive home.”

             
We sat in silence for a few moments.

             
“So, hey, she likes the car.” I smile.

             
“Good; I'm glad. And if she didn't, I'm sure her brother would happily take it off your hands.” He laughs.

             
“Her birthday is in a few weeks. Riley and her other friends from Maine are coming.”

             
“Oh yeah, Alex is excited about that one.”

             
We decide to take the rest of today off and work a little longer tomorrow to get the fencing finally finished. When he leaves, I make myself another coffee and check on Addison.               She's still sleeping. I decide to do something I haven't done in months; I'm going to go for a ride today. Hard to believe I haven't in so long, but I don't feel like I have the time these days.

             
Mischief comes right over to the gate when he sees me standing there with his saddle and bridle. He opens his mouth, and I put the steel bit in and the leather straps up and over his ears, pulling his forelock out and smoothing it down. After I synch the girth, I grab the leather horn and pull myself up on to his back.

             
“Let's go, boy.”               I pat his neck, and my legs give him a squeeze. We walk along the finished portion of the new fence line. Meadowlarks fly out of the grass in the distance, and I remember my first night with Addison.

She was so beautiful, riding high and free; even when she ended up on the ground, she was still smiling and happy. When I think about everything I've put her through since then, I feel sick. How is this woman still with me? How has she agreed to stand at my side and become my wife?

Here and now in this field, I make a vow to myself to never let anything happen to jeopardize our love again, as long as I have a breath in my body.

             
Mischief starts to get antsy. I know exactly what he wants, and I know I need it, too. I turn him so we're facing the house; it's a small dot in the distance, so we've got a nice long stretch to go. I give him a squeeze and click with the side of my mouth. His body responds, and we lift off the ground. The only sounds I hear are the wind whipping by my body and his galloping hooves rhythmically thumping on the ground. He's running so fast that I'm barely moving in my saddle at all.

             
I pull his reigns to slow him to a canter as we start to approach the fence. The other horses hear him and start to whinny; he starts to get excited and jumps around, snorting feverishly.

             
“Heyyyyyy. Easy, boy.” I pull the reigns and try to calm him down, but he's still anxious when we get close to the gate. I jump down and pull his saddle off. When I open the gate, I take his bridle off and give his behind a slap. He whinnies to the other horses and takes off toward them, kicking his back legs up. I haven't seen him like that in a long time, so I stand and watch, leaning my arms on the steel gate and resting my chin on top of them.

             
“Hey, handsome.” I feel her hands on my back before I hear her voice. “That was quite a show.”

             
I turn around so my back is against the gate, and she wraps her arms around my waist to hug me. She inhales deeply and sighs.               “I woke up and looked outside. I saw you coming up the field; I couldn't believe how fast you were going!”

             
“What can I say?” I smirk and kiss her forehead. “I’m not too bad.”

             
She touches my neck softly and gently traces her finger down my chest, opening two buttons. She leans in to kiss me.

             
“Addy,” I breathe.

             
“You are the most beautiful man I've ever seen,” she says to me. “I still get butterflies when I see you. Do you know that?” She blushes and kisses my chest again.

             
I tip her face up with my fingers under her chin and brush my lips against hers. Quickly, I grab her behind and pull her up so her legs are wrapped around my waist, her arms around my neck. I sit down on the top of the picnic table and she puts her hands on my face to kiss me deeply. Slipping my hands up the back of her shirt, I feel her warm skin and pull her closer, kissing deeper and tasting her sweetness. She pulls her lips off mine, our foreheads and noses still against each other, only letting enough space between our mouths to let the breeze cool our warm breath.

             
“I want to feel you inside of me,” she whispers and kisses me again, not giving me a moment to respond, even though I probably can't even speak right now. “Baby, please.”

             
She breaks our kiss again and pulls her shirt off her body in one swift move. She's not wearing a bra, and she pulls my head down to her perfect breasts, moaning softly while I kiss and suck on each of them. I kiss back up her chest and neck with fast and deep laps of my tongue and lips. Lifting her up, I stand and almost fall when I try to lay her down on the grass. We both laugh.

             
“You okay?” she asks and kisses my chin.

             
Leaning back on my knees I quickly undo my jeans and pull my t-shirt off my head—not as stylishly as she did, but just as fast. I lean down and kiss her stomach, running my tongue along her waist from hip to hip just above the elastic of her pajama shorts. I pull them down slowly, and she lifts up for me to take them off. Her long hair is spread on the grass all around her head, the sky reflecting down off her big blue eyes, and she almost doesn't look real, with her glowing perfect skin.

             
At just the sight of her laying there I can't stand it. I lower my body on to hers, and she moans softly when I ease myself into her. She gasps and closes her eyes. I kiss her neck and softly bite her shoulder.

             
“Mmm...Faster baby, harder.”

             
I do just that, faster and harder, like early this morning when we were in the shower. I dig my nails into the grass beside her head, holding on as much as I can, as I slam in and out of her as hard as I can. I pull out, leaving just my tip inside, and she moans while running her hands through her red hair. She looks up, biting her bottom lip; I slowly move back in and thrust hard at the last moment. Her eyes widen and blaze and her mouth forms a perfect
O
.

             
Out there, on the grass, in the middle of my yard with no one around, I have the most raw and passionate sex of my life with the most beautiful creature on the planet. She comes undone like a canister of confetti being shot off by a gun, and her squeezing and pulsing grips my insides. I release, digging deeper into the earth.

             
“See that one?” She giggles and points up to a cloud formation.

             
“Yeah?”

             
“It looks like Luca!”

             
“Yeah...” I cock my head to the side, analyzing from not much of a different angle. “It kinda does.”

             
She turns on her side, her body only covered by my t-shirt, and lays her head on my outstretched arm.               “Have you thought about what song you want to dance to for our first one together?”

             
I look at her and smile. I really don't care what song plays. It could be thrash metal for all I care; all that matters is that she's in my arms. My face must show that I don't have a clue, so she giggles.

             
“I'm sure we'll come up with something!”

             
The sisters-in-law graciously offered their decorating services; they've been very secretive about the details, keeping a giant black binder full of paper, scraps of fabric and who knows what else. Whenever they call Addison, or she calls them, she looks at me, smiles innocently, and then leaves the room. Women.

             
“You need to get back to bed, baby.”

             
She pouts. “I know.”

             
I lift her chin up to kiss me.               “I'm going to town to get a few things, but I'll be back to make dinner when you wake up, kay?”

             
“Thank you; love you.”

             
“Love you.”

             
Lander's is usually a bustling place on Saturday's, but today is unusually quiet. There aren’t even any kids outside selling baked goods with their cougar mothers. In the veggie aisle, I pick out a few good sweet potatoes and put them into my basket. One rolls out of my hand, and when I bend down to pick it up, I see a pair of women's shoes standing in front of me. When I stand, I meet green eyes and a stone-cold face with no emotion.

             
“Hello, Blaine.”

             
“Gwen.” I toss the dropped potato in a nearby plastic trash can and select a new one, placing it carefully in my basket with the rest.

             
“How are you?”

             
“I'm great; thanks for asking.” I can't even look at her. The girl that I saw almost every day in school as a kid, and then frequently at her brother's bar in the last few years, is now an angry and unpredictable woman. Disparaged. Part of me wants to toss something at her, hoping when she goes to catch it, I can make a run for the exit. The other part of me has no idea what to do.

             
“Listen, I—” she quietly starts to speak.

             
I put my hand up to stop her.               “Gwen, I have no interest in anything you want to say.” Turning my back to walk away, she grabs my arm, and I shiver, giving her a glare.

             
“Sorry.” She recoils. “I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for what happened in Cody.” She looks around, either making sure no one is near us within earshot or she can't look me in the eye. “I'm moving to Casper. Jesse got everything started on the new bar there, so I'm leaving in a week.”

             
I try to not let my elation spill out of my skin, but I smile kindly anyway.               “Good for you, Gwen. Best of luck.”

             
“Thanks, Blaine. I guess I'll see ya around.”

             
I nod, hoping that I don't see her in a very long time. I can do without the drama, the drugging and the green eyes that try and infiltrate me every time I see them.

             
She turns and heads toward the sliding doors. She doesn’t purchase anything, which means she must have followed me into the store just to talk. Or corner me in the frozen foods section. Who knows?

             
I make it to the travel agency thirty minutes before it closes.

             
Martina Sanford is Jeremiah's aunt and the owner/operator of San Martina's Travel, a big white building which doubles as her business in the bottom and her apartment on the top floor.

             
“Blaine Blackstock, I've been wondering when I was going to get a call from you!”

             
“Miss Sanford, how are you doing?”