Rodeo (BBW Cowboy Romance) (BBW Western Romance) (2 page)

“Are you kidding? The last place I want to go is the stables, we'll get caught!” 

Taking my hand we left the water, “In that case, I know just the place.” Tommy replied, grinning at me.

We quickly gathered up our clothes and ran back towards the farm, I was confused that we were heading in that direction despite my misgivings about getting caught but as we reached the outskirts of the paddock I found that Tommy was veering off slightly towards the woods, a generous thicket of trees in amongst a blanket of random bluebells.  We were going to the tree house.

Even though I considered myself to be Tommy's best friend, it was actually the other way round, Tommy was my best friend and although I was a tomboy I'd never been allowed within the sanctity of the tree house.  It was something that Tommy and his male friends had created and girls were not allowed in there.  I felt special that he was taking me there and even more special because of the reason he was taking me there.  At that very moment there was a bundle of thoughts and questions running through my mind, had he taken other girls there? What do we actually do when we get there? And, more importantly,
will I do it right
? My brain was almost discouraging me from going ahead when in fact my body was convincing me I was making the right decision. 

At the end of the day I was fourteen years old and I knew what I was about to do was wrong in the eyes of God, not to mention the more worrying eyes of my grandparents, I didn't want to let them down, and if my grandmother had anything to add to that it would have been that I was letting myself down.  I stopped walking, Tommy looked back.

“We can't Tommy, it's wrong, I'm too young,” I almost hated myself for saying it but I'd had to. 

I was worried that Tommy would be upset or angry by my decision but he was in actual fact the opposite of those actions.  Putting his arms around my shoulders and bringing me into his body, he reassuringly stroked the top of my head.

“You're right Blondie.  I don't like that you're right, but you're right. We can wait.”

Turning back towards the house I felt a surge of disappointment but I knew I'd made the right decision.  We walked back hand in hand and just before we reached the opening to the woods Tommy kissed my hand and let it go.  Smiling back at him we went our separate ways physically but that night we stayed mentally as one.  It might have been the wrong thing to do in person but it didn't stop it from entering my dreams that night.

It was a few days later when I next saw Tommy, it wasn't strange that we could spend days on end together, we always found something to do in our spare time but we did spend quite a lot of time apart too.  By the third day of absence I was beginning to think I'd offended him until his blonde hair appeared over the fence.

“You ready for the tree house today, Blondie?” he asked, beaming a cheeky smile.

“Not today, Thomas. I'm only three days older since you last asked.” It was that easy, our relationship was natural and we understood each other perfectly.

I can't pretend that the situation was easy though, we both had feelings and neither could do anything about it, talk about hormonal frustration.  We just got on with it and realized that it was something that would happen when we were both good and ready, the bigger problem was that we
were
both good and ready, it was my age that was getting in the way, nothing else, I'd never discussed it with Tommy but if he was experiencing the same excitement and tension as I was, then he was in trouble.

Without actually realizing it, we became closer and closer.  Every waking moment not spent at work in the farms, we spent together.  Cycling to the markets, tucking ourselves away in the barn lofts or even lying head to head in the cornfields watching the stars, we were content in each other's company.  This only confirmed to me how much love and respect Tommy had for me, if he didn't he wouldn't be spending his time with me and would have gone to release his frustrations elsewhere.

At least once or maybe even twice a week Tommy would playfully repeat his question and my reply would always be the same, I couldn't fault him for his lack of patience.  On my fifteenth birthday he asked if now was the right time but, yet again, I rebuffed his advances.  Bless him, God loves a trier as my grandmother would say.

During the summer holidays that year I found myself spending less time with Tommy as I was expected to study hard for my exams.  Less time was spent working the farm as my grandparents granted me time off but I missed the long runs down to the lake and the chilling out in the stables before supper each night.  I wasn't being locked in or anything like that so I would often sneak down to spend some alone time with the horses before locking up the stables for the night. 

As well as daydreaming about Tommy my thoughts often drifted off into what would happen in my future.  I was considered bright and was doing very well at school; I'd flown through my exams and awaited my results with confidence.  There'd always been talk of me attending university and my grandparents encouraged this with pride, I loved living in the countryside and I adored working on the farm but I wanted more.  I'd watched my grandparents working their fingers to the bone on a daily basis and although it was to provide a sufficient way of living I knew that my brain would take me to higher places. 

This was where Tommy and I differed.  Spending a lot of time with one another made a lot of time to talk and whenever we'd discussed the future, Tommy's future never ran further than the running of the ranch.  A cowboy at heart, his ambitions spanned no wider than the rim of his Stetson hat, his future was already mapped out for him and he was content with that.  He cherished the wide open spaces, this was his paradise, his freedom and his comfort zone, and it was difficult for him to comprehend a different way of life.

I was expected to get my exam results on the same week that my sixteenth birthday fell which meant, that in light of what had been building up between Tommy and I, it was going to be a very important week, a life changing week.

As I woke on my sixteenth birthday I was greeted seconds later by my grandmother, the postman had already delivered and as we had no other family I was guessing that the envelope she had in her hand wasn't a birthday card from a long lost aunt.  Teasing me, she walked to the other side of the room and waved it in my direction, I pulled back the covers and leapt out of bed, I was too fast for her and I caught the envelope out of her hand.  Before she had time to retrieve it the lid was ripped open and the paper was out.  In my hand were the important results, the results that would determine where and what direction my life would be going in.  I was suddenly frightened to look.

I passed the paper to my grandmother, “You read it. I just can't.”

My grandmother didn't need asking twice and she took the paper, opened it and I watched expectantly.

I'll never be certain how far she got down the paper but as soon as I saw her eyes fill up with tears I knew I'd been successful.  I ran over to her and looked over her shoulder, I was a straight A student, I was off to university and neither me nor my grandparents could have wished for a better birthday present. 

As a family we were never really ones for celebrating birthdays, my grandparents had tried their hardest when I'd been young but once I'd reached my tenth birthday I was kind of reluctant to accept all the fuss, it was all just an unnecessary waste of money as far as I was concerned and much preferred the family time together than the presents and effort to please party goers.  I suppose presents were extravagant pleasures to me when I'd much rather have my parents there instead.

I wasn't granted this decision on my sixteenth though, this was considered a special birthday and in light of my exam results, even more special.  It was out of my hands but I was happy for it to be so, my grandparents deserved the right to celebrate, not only had they managed to raise me safely for 16 years but their nurturing and encouragement had enabled me to succeed well at school.

It wasn't a big gathering, I was expected to invite a couple of friends from school, obviously Tommy and his parents had been invited and my grandparents had invited a couple of the neighbors from the village.  The weather was kind to us which allowed us to have a barbeque; there was nothing better than a family and friends barbeque whatever the occasion, due to everyone's working commitments it was very few and far between that we were able to synchronize our schedules but when we did, I loved the fact that there was always plenty of laughter, all the adults got drunk which meant the drunker they got, the looser their inhibitions became, us kids learnt all kinds of secrets, it also meant we could get away with drinking alcohol without the adults knowing.

The courtyard to the farm was scattered, randomly with hay bales for people to be seated but most of the time they were used to balance drinks on or half empty plates of food, which Dolly the Collie soon cleaned up and waited patiently for the next lot to be cast aside.  Inside the barn the men had constructed a makeshift bar, this would house at least half a dozen barrels of beer that had been kindly donated by our local bar and every kind of spirit you could think of that had been brought by guests.  The food was always supplied by my grandparents and if they thought they were feeding the five thousand then there would still be too much! 

A couple of my grandfather's friends would also bring along the instruments they'd lovingly learnt to play over the years and Sue, Tommy's mother would always give us a song at some point of the celebration.  As soon as we'd got the embarrassing bit out of the way, which was everyone singing 'Happy Birthday' to me, the party got into full swing and there weren't many people sitting down for the rest of the night. 

As the sun went down, the midges and mosquitoes came out to join us, the crickets accompanied the music and the stars gave us light – it was, as usual, a perfect night.  As Randy Travis songs were played out into the night darkness, the stars and the smiles from everyone's faces gave me all the more reason to enjoy myself.  I looked over towards the outskirts of the bar and noticed that Tommy also wore a grin like a Cheshire cat and what was even nicer was that he was smiling in my direction. 

Like a vampire in the dead of the night, Tommy appeared beside me.  There were no words, no look between us, just a comfortable silence as we took in the scene.  Our families and friends were lost in music, happy in each other's company and taking a well-earned rest from all the hard work they did on a daily basis, people were letting their hair down, relaxing and enjoying their free time, suddenly it wasn't just about my particular birthday, it was about coming together and being a community.

I was very aware of Tommy's presence even though there wasn't anything in particular happening between us, he silently poured something into my glass, I'd been drinking, or rather sneaking beer from all the half empty glasses that were littered around the place but when I put the fresh drink to my lips it smelled and tasted a lot sweeter than beer. 

“It's champagne and I bought it especially for you,” Tommy stated, proudly.

I smiled to myself, 'were Tommy's intentions to ply me with the good stuff and then apply his wicked way in my direction?' whatever he did intend to do, if this was the case then I was no longer in a position to deny him that, I was at last, of age and the excuse, although it wasn't an excuse at all, wasn't valid anymore.

I could have played hard to get but, personally, I think I'd made Tommy wait long enough and it wasn't like I didn't want him to make advances on me. I was ready, in my heart and in my head I was totally prepared to accept what the night would bring.

We continued to drink, although I was mindful of how much I was actually drinking, I didn't want the whole experience to be blighted by alcohol but I was also sure that drinking just enough would take off the edge from my nerves and perhaps allow me to be slightly bolder than complete sobriety.

I trusted Tommy one hundred percent and it had never crossed my mind for one second that he wouldn't guide me with respect and tenderness, despite this being a first time experience, it was an experience I was looking forward to.  Tonight I was going to lose my virginity and it was going to be with someone I had grown to love over the time we'd known and spent time with each other.

As the party started to wind down, the music began to soften and the embers from the barbeque faded away into the night air.  My grandmother was tipsily attempting to tidy the remainder of the food away and I couldn't help but giggle to myself as she piled some plates onto one of the hay bales and then caught it with her knee as she bent to pick them up, the whole bale swayed to one side and the plates crashed to the ground.  Loving and firm, as he always was, my grandfather took her arm and
maneuvered her away from the devastation,