Page 92 of Untamed
“Someday.” He winks at me. “I think about it more now than I did then, but it’s hard with bull riding. You never know when your last ride will be and that’s not easy for a woman.”
“But Reid does it.”
“Reid’s better at it.” His hand moves higher. “I’m no good at that kind of thing.”
I have no idea what he means by that, he seems so good at everything.
“Now that you’re not in school, what are you planning to do?” he asks, looking out the windshield at the rain, his hand still on my upper thigh as if he doesn’t want to move it even for a moment.
“Haylee wants me to go to school in Austin with her. She has it all planned, but I’m afraid since she met Ty, maybe that plan’s changed.” I laugh, thinking about the two of them and the fact that they haven’t emerged from his room since they arrived this morning.
Grayer laughs lightly, raising his hand to scratch the underside of his jaw. “Yeah, they hit it off pretty well.” And then he looks at me. “What do you want to go to school for?”
“I want to be a veterinary assistant.”
“Why not a veterinarian?”
“I’m not interested in all that. I’m more interested in helping the animals and making them feel comfortable. I don’t want to perform surgeries.”
He smiles at the song that comes on the radio, giving my shoulder a nudge and when my eyes catch his, I feel like I’m drowning in them, or wanting to. “Wanna dance?”
“What?” I laugh, looking around, thankful for the subject change nonetheless and unsure where he’s referring to. “It’s raining.”
“Oh, please. When has the weather ever stopped a girl like you? It didn’t stop you the night I met you.” He places one hand on the door handle and extends the other to me, nodding to the bed of his truck. “Come with me.”
I’ll follow you anywhere. Clearly.
I take his hand and let him help me out of the truck. We walk around the back where he puts the tailgate down and then bends down to pick me up, setting me on the wet metal. “Up you go.”
He climbs up there next and walks to the back window, reaches inside and turns up the Zac Brown song I adore. And then he moves, shifting his feet over a muddy truck bed toward me, reaching for my hand.
I take it, again, and he draws my body near. His hands move to my waist, mine to his shoulders. “And wonders if this bed is strong enough to hold us . . . ,” he sings in my ear, altering the lyrics.
I pull back and shake my head. “You never alter Zac Brown.”
He raises his eyebrows in amusement. “Noted.” His chest shakes with laughter as he forces me to lay my head against his chest, his body slowly moving in circles. I listen to the lyrics. “He thinks of Ellensburg and the girl he left behind him.”
I laugh this time, shaking my head that he altered the lyricsagain. But it makes me smile and I want him singing to me. His rough voice sends shivers through my body and I tremble against him.
“You cold?” His arms tighten, holding me a little closer. It feels good to be with him like this, my head against his chest, hearing the gentle rhythm of his heart.
I breathe in deeply; the fresh smells of rain and wet dirt invade my senses. And then the fresh smells of Grayer, leather, dirt, ones I’m growing to love. I’ll remember this moment right here, too. I will because while he’s slow dancing with me, the rain starts again. My heart is telling me, remember this, cherish it because it’s going to be a memory I keep, a sliver of light in a darkness that surrounds me at times.
The song switches, but we don’t stop dancing, and Clay Walker comes on next.
I’m not always the most graceful person around and with the mud in the back of the truck and then rain, we slip and then we fall, both trying to right ourselves but causing each other to fall again. “I forgot how slippery this bed gets in the rain. I once broke my wrist back here.” He laughs, but then notices that I’m wincing in pain. “Shit. Are you okay?”
I can’t fight the giggles and break into laughter with him, clutching my elbow that I know is gonna be bruised. He reaches for it, kissing it softly with wet lips. “Better?”
I sigh, watching him. “Your mouth certainly has a way of making me feel better.”
He scans my eyes as the tip of his fingers trace along my cheek until they meet my lips. “There’s a lot more my mouth can provide, you know.” Beads of water drip from his chin and then his eyes sparkle, playful as a smile tugs at his lips, his breathing as heavy as the rain falling over us. “Sex in the rain?”
I blink, trying to see him through the drops. “Are you sure?”
“Definitely.”
I laugh, turning my head to face him. Over his shoulder, I see the clouds rolling in are low, like fog blanketing the valley we’re parked in. His hand raises and wipes down the side of my face freeing it of the rain. He rolls and then he’s on top of me—that buckle digging into my stomach. He winks, remembering, his eyes holding mine like heavy weights. “Did you think about that after I left?”
