“Breakups never do,” I mutter. I wouldn’t know. While I’ve kissed plenty, I never made it to that “stage” where I could call someone my boyfriend. “Just Friends” is the title that has been used in the past. That was until now. I have no doubt I could introduce Tyler as my boyfriend and he’d agree.
Tyler rests his head on top of mine. “She’s harmless, but you’ll see her a lot. She likes to think that what we had was something great. Truth is, I probably would’ve married her had we stayed together and honestly I’m thankful that we didn’t. She’s really stuck up and way into her social status.”
“Sounds like girls from my school, all for show and very pretentious. But this is nice. It’s my first time at a bonfire and everything seems so free here… nothing seems fake,” I mumble the last part. The more time I spend here, the more I realize just how fake I was in New York. I was trying to be someone I wasn’t.
“The country will do that for you,” he whispers against my neck. I turn my neck slightly to give him better access. As soon as his lips touch me, I shiver.
“Are you cold?” he asks as his hands start rubbing up and down my arms. I’m anything but cold.
“Not at all,” I say loud enough for him to hear as I snuggle into his neck. Right now I wish we were someplace else where we could be alone. With so many prying eyes I don’t want people staring at us. I turn back around and watch the others. Jeremiah waves and I hold my cup up, acknowledging him. I probably shouldn’t have hit him, but I was angry. I suppose I need to learn to take everything with a grain of salt. In hindsight, he probably only deserved the punch if he had told my Uncle Bobby that Tyler and I were humping in the hay.
Tyler and I sit by the fire, listening to all the surrounding conversations. I’m content, being in his arms like this and don’t want to leave. He holds me as if it’s our last night together and not our first. I don’t even want to think of what our last night will be, assuming of course we’re still friends. With my track record I’m likely to screw this up before the weekend’s over and I’ll be back to square one, tiptoeing around him and being on the receiving end of his “I’m the boss” attitude.
We get up and walk around some of the property that Jeremiah lives on. His parents own it, but only use it for horses, not farming or anything like my Uncle Bobby. Tyler tells me Jeremiah works for him because his parents aren’t running a ranch and that’s what he went to school for. It’s hard to believe my Uncle Bobby makes enough off his ranch to have employees. Tyler says the ranch thrives and does well.
It’s not something I’d want to do, live on a ranch and work. I have goals, dreams. I plan to major in fashion while in Paris. I want to live in a flat above the busiest street so I can hear the traffic at night and be able to listen to the street performers. I want to live close to the park and watch the tourists stare at their surroundings in awe. I’m going to have this in a few short months and I can’t wait.
Everyone comes over to talk to Tyler and he introduces me to all of his friends. At one point during the night I overhear him say that I’m his girl. I try to hide the cheesy grin in my face, but I’m pretty sure he sees it. Thing is, he doesn’t turn away or try to hide that he said it. He keeps glancing at me while talking to his friends.
He makes me feel like I matter.
After the party dies down, I carry the blankets back to the truck and climb in as Tyler holds the door for me. He wants to take me stargazing tonight. My hand rests on his thigh, his arm around my shoulder as he drives down a dirt road. It’s a good thing he knows his way around because I’d never be able to find my way home with all these roads that stretch on for miles and seem to lead to nowhere.
He pulls over in a field and kisses me on the cheek. “Wait here.” He turns the truck off and everything is pitch black. If he thinks that I’m going to get out now, he has another think coming. I startle when the back of the truck starts to move. My heart is pounding so hard it feels like it’s about to burst out of my chest.
The truck door swings open and I scream. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?”
“Nothing, you just scared me.”
Tyler reaches for my hand and helps me out of the truck. I clutch onto the sides of his flannel shirt and follow, bumping into him a few times before we reach the back of the truck. He lifts me onto the tailgate and jumps up next to me.
“Wanna lie down?”
“Yeah,” I reply as I scoot back. Tyler’s made us a bed back here, complete with pillows. I lie next to him and watch the sky. “Oh my, what was that?”
“Lightning bug. Don’t you remember when we were little, and I caught one and put it in my mouth. My cheeks lit up. It looked like I had a light switch in my mouth. My mom was yellin’ about me being taken over by aliens.”
I laugh and remember the night he’s talking about. We were so young, and he was teasing me about being a baby because he was older. I cried to my mom, and she told me I’d get my revenge when he became my husband. At that time, I thought Tyler had cooties and didn’t want him touching me – especially if he was putting bugs in his mouth.
“I should catch one now.”
“Oh, hell no,” I say quickly. “If you do that, I’m not kissing you.”
In the darkness I feel him adjust. His arm comes around me as he moves closer. “I’d much rather kiss you than stick a bug in my mouth.”
“That’s good to know because bugs are gross, but so are boys.”
“Good thing I’m a man,” he says before his lips crash down on mine. This kiss is different from the others we’ve shared. While it starts out slow, I can feel the urgency in the way he’s holding me. His tongue caresses mine in a slow, languid motion. His lips mold to mine, making us one. Hands roam- his, mine, ours together.
My hand slips under his shirt and the need to feel him against my skin is prevalent. I wiggle until we’re touching, only for him to sit up and remove his shirt. It’s too dark for me to see him so I have to rely on my hands to tell my mind what I’m feeling.
His muscles are toned but not bulging. They’re perfect. He hisses when my fingers graze his nipples. I smile, knowing I’ve elicited that response from him. I hook my finger into his belt loop and pull him on top of me. He doesn’t hesitate as he settles between my legs.
Tyler moves against me, denim on denim creating enough friction to cause me to squirm. My fingers dig into his back, urging him to keep going. His lips are needy and move from my mouth to my neck and back.
“Savannah, we have to stop.” Not the words I want to hear, but he’s right. We’re out in the middle of nowhere and as much as my body thinks I want this, I’m not sure if I do. Tyler shifts off of me but just barely. He kisses my neck lightly, small yet intimate gestures. “I don’t want you to think that I don’t want to go there with you. I do, but not out here and not until we’ve had a proper date. I’m havin’ a hard time keepin’ my hands to myself, I’m sure you’ve noticed, but I want to do right by you. I want to take you out and show you that I can be the gentleman you deserve.”
“I’ve never had anyone say something like that to me before.”