Rules of the Ride: A Silver Star Ranch Novel (7 page)

“Here, you forgot your phone.”

“Thanks, Mav.” Ella slaps me on the ass as we walk toward my truck.

“Drive or walk?” I ask her, trying to regain my confidence. I watch as she reads her phone and then tucks it back in her pocket without responding.

“Drive, please. I hate the way everyone stares at me here.”

“Got it.”

She makes her way to the passenger side of the truck, but I grasp her wrist before she makes it too far.

“Did you forget how this riding thing worked?” I step in closer to her, tilting my head.

“Um, no.” She points to the passenger side of the truck. “I was going to get in.”

“Guess you forgot your place.” I hoist her ass up, pushing her back up against the driver’s side of my truck. Her skirt is hiked up and I dig my palms into her ass, clutching on tight and then attack her lips.

Ella doesn’t protest as she’s ready when we connect and I feel her devour my mouth as much as I do hers. I force myself to pull away when the ache in my pants is too much to bear.

“You remember now?” I growl down to her.

“By your side,” she whispers.

“Don’t fucking forget it.”

I slowly let her down, making sure she’s steady on her heels in the damn gravel before I step back and feel a surreal sense of ownership take over as she climbs through the driver’s door and settles in the middle of my bench seat. The bottom of her ass peeks out along with her black lace panties and I instantly remember why I fucking fell in love with those little skirts.

God, please let my boner fit between the bench and steering wheel.

I climb in next to Ella and give her a quick kiss before firing my truck to life and then focus on the road.

“You know you could blind someone with that thing.”

I look over to Ella, who’s pointing down at my crotch.

“That’s what happens when you leave me for ten years. I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of you, Pinks.”

Ella immediately tenses up, and I know she took it as a jab, but it was so not intended for that. I try to change the subject as quick as possible.

“Will you stay with me until you decide what’s going on?”

I bring the truck to a stop at a red light and look over to her. Ella’s eyes are huge, cheeks flushed, and tears begin to pool again. Something has her attention and it’s not me or the question I just asked. When I look up, I see a group of people crossing the road and spot Pastor Leeman and some folks from the funeral home.

“Baby.” I shake her thigh, trying to rattle her back to reality and then use my hand to force her to look at me. “Earth to Ella.”

Her body shudders and tears win the battle as they flow down her cheeks.

“No, not today. We’re going to be us. All of your mother’s arrangements have been made. Okay?”

She slowly nods up and down, still expressionless.

“Did you hear my first question, Ella?”

“Yes.” Her voice comes out as a whisper and she clutches my forearm. “I’ll stay with you. Don’t leave me alone, Maverik.”

A blaring horn startles me. The light is green and I gun it through the intersection and down the main drag to get my girl some food. It only takes a few minutes before we’re parked again and I’m on a mission to give Ella a few days to remember before she has to bury her mother.

When my feet hit the pavement of the parking lot, I drag her out of the truck, kissing her the whole way, and when I feel her smile back on my lips, I know she needs me.

“Let’s get you fed before you Hulk out on me.”

“Ha, Maverik.”

“I haven’t forgotten.”

At the same time, we grab for each other’s hands and walk toward the diner side by side.

“It wasn’t that bad. Geez, you make me sound like a beast.”

“Ella, you threw a shoe through my window because I wouldn’t leave the arena to get you food.”

She uses her free hand to cover her mouth and mask the sound of her giggles.

“Oh, I forgot about that time.”

“What about the time you gave me a black eye, Pinks?”

“Okay, okay, I like my food and don’t like to wait for it.”

My deep chuckle fills the morning air at the memories I never thought I’d find joy in again. I swing her ahead of me and hold her by the small of her back as she pulls the door open. She freezes, causing me to crash into her.

“Something wrong?” I whisper down into the flesh of her neck and watch the goose bumps spread.

“I can’t stand the way everyone stares at me like I’m a mass murderer.”

“Go, Ella, I’m here with you.”

“You can’t make them quit staring.”

“No, you’re right.” I bend down and kiss her neck. “But I can kick their ass just like I did to the new boy in school when we were in third grade and he made you cry when he dumped dirt on your head, or like when we were in high school and I beat the shit out of Cody Lanely for grabbing your ass.”

She huffs out a bated breath. “Maverik, you can’t just go around kicking everyone’s ass.”

“Watch me, Ella James. Anyone so much as disrespects you, I’ll beat the tar out of them.”

I reach ahead of her and pull open the door as I back us up and then push her through the doorway. I don’t stand behind her, nope, instead I’m right next to her with her hand clutched in mine.

We settle into a booth only big enough for two. I let her slide in first and then I go in right behind her and make it obvious to all the patrons in the restaurant who Ella belongs to. I leave no doubt behind then. I order pancakes and enjoy them with her.

E
very inch
of my body aches with the most delicious sensation, but I still can’t help but indulge in the storm named Maverik. I run my hands up his back, stopping at the top of his shoulders and digging in my fingernails as I let go, screaming out in pleasure.

He rocks back and forth into me when my body goes limp underneath him and that’s when I feel him spill inside of me. He collapses on me for the…hell, I lost count of how many times he’s taken me today. Once outside of the pancake house when we finished eating, then right when we walked in his house, once in the shower, and now, I think.

“What are you thinking about?”

I look up into his brown eyes studying me.

“I’m trying to count how many times we’ve done it.”

“Done it? What, are we still in tenth grade?”

“Stop.” The amusement twinkling in his eyes causes me to laugh.

“I lost track too, Ella.”

He rolls us over so we’re both lying on our sides and facing each other. I run the tip of my finger down the bridge of his nose while studying his features.

“Granddad wants us over for dinner.”

“What?” I push back on his chest. “No.”

This time the smile on his face is humorless. “Why?”

I don’t miss the defensive tone lacing his voice.

“Because I’m sure your whole family hates me.”

Maverik’s tight expression relaxes into a smile. “Actually, you’re wrong. They’re the ones that told me to go for you, especially Granddad. He hasn’t been well and I know he’s been worried about you.”

“I don’t know.”

His mouth curves up again with tenderness. “You’re like family, Ella. Once a Slatter, always a Slatter.”

The sound of my shrilling ring tone interrupts our conversation. I know it’s not him, so I don’t race to answer it. Whoever is calling can just wait until I have a moment to talk.

“You going to get that?”

“No, it’s not important.” I shrug.

“Are you sure?” he asks.

“I’m positive. I’m staring at the most important thing right now.”

I’m rolled up on his belly in one swift movement. I plant my hands down on either side of Maverik’s face and let my hair drape down, curtaining us in.

“So, I take that as a yes to dinner.”

“Damn you, Mav, you’ve always been a slick talker.”

My gut aches with just the mere thought of facing his family, shame floods me wondering what I’ll say or even how to act. The Slatters are as tight as they come, and you don’t mess with one without messing with all of them.

“Quit worrying.” Mav pinches my nose as he rolls us up into a standing position. “They’re all excited to see you.”

I want to argue but know it will do absolutely no good.

“Let’s go on a quick ride before dinner. I have to health check a herd of calves in the back pasture.”

“I don’t think any of the twenty skirts or dresses I packed will work for me to ride in.”

Mav takes two long steps to his dresser, pulls out the top drawer, and holds up a worn pair of blue jeans. “Think you can still fit in these?”

“Oh, my God.” I gasp in shock and cover my mouth. “You still have them.”

“Of course. I didn’t get rid of anything or move on without you, Ella.” He tosses them in my direction and heads for the bathroom. I stare at his bare ass walking away. “Just have to see if you can still squeeze into those bad boys.”

Shame erupts in me, threatening a complete meltdown. How in the hell am I supposed to spend five more days with Maverik when he’s saved everything, wants me back, and seems willing to do anything for me? My cards have been dealt, and there’s no way I can stay here with him, even if it’s what my heart and soul desire. I’ve made my bed elsewhere and that’s it.

Fuck, burying my own mother is nothing close to this pain.

“They fit?” He hollers from the bathroom, snapping me from my trance.

I hurry and throw my legs in and scurry them up until they’re around my waist and don’t even have to suck in to button the bad boys.

“I’ve got them on.”

I slide my hands down in the pockets and feel a sliver of pain in my right hand when it rams into a cold piece of metal.

“Ouch,” I whisper to myself as I pull out the diamond ring, and nothing can stop the flood of memories. It’s the ring Maverik proposed with our last month of our senior year. It was going to be us forever. The night I left I snuck in his room while he was out on the ranch working and slid it in my riding jeans. Clearly he never found it.

“Let me see.”

Without a second thought, I tuck the ring in the top of my jeans, hiding it from him. That’s the last thing he needs to see. I raise my hand and do my best acting job as I twirl around for him.

“Damn, baby’s got her blue jeans on.”

“I’ll be right back.” I race to the bathroom and tuck the ring way back in a corner of his medicine cabinet that looks as if it hasn’t been touched in years. “Sorry, had to use the girls’ room.”

I hear his roar of a laugh. “Just call it like you see it, Ella. You’re not in the city anymore. You had to use the shitter.”

“You’re gross.” I flush the toilet and rinse my hands off even though I didn’t actually go to the bathroom. Then I check my reflection in the mirror to see if I look as pale as I feel, and it’s affirmative. I look like I just saw a ghost. Letting the cold water run for a few seconds, I splash some up on my cheeks trying to get the pink flush back in them.

“Babe, I’m going to run over to Merek and Challis’s and grab you some riding boots.”

“Okay, I’ll meet you out front.”

When the front door shuts, I sink down the wall of the bathroom floor and bury my face in my lap, and when I shut my eyes I see Maverik on that day.

“What’s with the smile, cowboy?” I spread my legs just enough to make room for Maverik to settle in between them. He just rode for the final time in his hometown high school rodeo.

“You know.”

“I don’t know.” I lean forward and kiss his lips.

I could go on guessing it’s the spring weather, graduation around the corner, him going to state for the third year in a row in bareback, having the sexiest girlfriend in the county. Jake jumps up next to me and tries to weasel his way in between us.

“Perfect timing, buddy.”

I catch a glimpse of a shiny object around his collar, but Maverik snatches it up way too quickly, then everything else happens in a flash. Mav goes down on one knee with Jake by his side, and he’s holding a square-cut diamond ring set in white gold.

“We’ve had a lot of memories on this tailgate and I want to make so many more with you, Ella James. We’ve been best friends since first grade and I know we’re young, but I need you forever. Will you marry me?”

Not one word leaks from my mouth before I leap from the edge of the tailgate sending Maverik tumbling onto his back in the grassy field behind the arena. My lips seal to his and I feel him wiggle the ring onto my finger.

“Ella.”

A familiar voice breaks into the memory and I hop to my feet, brushing away the stray tears and open the door to the living room. Merek’s wife stands in the living room holding up a pair of boots.

“Maverik had to chat with his brothers about some shit on the ranch. He told me to bring these to you.” She reaches them out to me.

I grab the boots from her. “Thank you.”

“No problem. Nice to see you not in a bar or at a street dance.”

“God bless you.” The words escape before I comprehend their meaning. I slap my hands over my mouth. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I meant it…”

Her laughter cuts me off. “No need to apologize. I need as much prayer as I can get with that man. I swear.”

“I really meant no disrespect.” Bending over I shove each foot into a boot trying to avoid the conversation all together.

“Maverik’s told me a lot about you. I know you were around a lot and clearly know how big of a pain in the ass my husband can be.”

“He was just damn wild when we were growing up.” I shrug. “We were always getting him out of trouble.”

“Some things never change.” Challis makes her way over to the front door. “C’mon, I’ll walk you down to the barn.”

Challis is the poster child for country girl and all cowgirl right down to her hairdo. She’s tall, lean, and simply gorgeous with dark brown hair and piercing green eyes, just the perfect woman for Merek.

I nearly tell her I know where the barn is and that I practically grew up out here with the Slatters, but I mind my manners and just follow her out the door and down the sidewalk. It’s the possessive side of me coming out; it’s always hypersensitive when it comes to Maverik and his family. I shake my head when I look back at the bunkhouse Mav chose to live in. It was our favorite place to be naughty in high school. Granddad even busted us a time or two in there. But bless his soul he always played dumb and just turned around.

“Is everything going okay with your mom’s arrangements?”

“Excuse me?”

“How are the arrangements with the funeral?”

“Okay, thank you.” I tuck my hands deep down in my pockets and walk alongside her, focusing on the gray gravel filling the drive.

“I lost my dad and it never gets easier, let me tell you that.”

“Well, I wasn’t that close to my mom.” I sound like a cold, heartless bitch but can’t seem to find the courage to soften my message.

“Glad you and Maverik found each other again. After running into you at that rodeo, he was pretty shook up.”

“Yeah, that was stupid. I was trying to escape a bad blind date and then ran into him.” I laugh at the fucking irony of that whole night.

“A blind date took you from the city so close back to home?”

“I was visiting a friend from college who’s now living in her hometown and it happens to only be hours away from here.”

“I see. You never thought about coming home when you were so close?”

This conversation needs to end, and I make it happen. I stop dead in my tracks and look Challis straight in the eyes. “I never wanted to come back to this town. Ever. No matter how close I was or even if my mother died.”

I don’t wait for her response or even soften my message with a smile. Instead, I walk toward the barn I know the men will be at. Instantly I feel like a bitch but tamp down all my emotions knowing the last thing I want to do is build a new relationship here in town. I need to get home.

“Well, look who we have here.” I look up to see Marvel standing before me covered in dust from his black cowboy hat down to his boots. His smile makes my life feel normal again as does his welcoming voice. He is definitely the little brother I never had.

“Hi.” I wave to him.

“Look at you still fitting in them jeans.”

I put my hands on my hips and cock my head sideways. “Mav already bragging about me fitting into these bad boys?”

“Naw.” Marvel walks up to me and pulls me into a tight hug. “I know you, Ella James. No way in hell you own a pair of jeans.”

I laugh into his shoulder, forcing back the tears and thoughts of what would have happened if I stayed.

The sound of four hooves pounding the hard dirt fill the barn. Stepping away from Marvel, I turn to see Maverik holding Chili and I bolt straight over to them. The three of us were partners in crime during our high school years, traveling to rodeos and wasting time on the ranch.

“Hi, baby.” I pet the white spot on the tip of Chili’s nose and then drag my hand up his strong jaw. “Oh, my God, I’ve missed you.”

Leaning forward, I place a kiss on the top of his nose and feel Maverik’s hand rubbing circles on the small of my back.

“Where are you two off to?”

I hear Marvel’s question and Maverik’s reply about the calves, but Chili has me hypnotized. Never a country girl and always destined for the bright city lights and life, but Chili showed me otherwise and it’s only him and Maverik who truly know my love for the life with them.

“I’m going to tie him up and saddle him. You can grab his brush, it’s in the same spot.” Maverik plants a kiss on my temple as he steps away.

I’m left standing in awe at the duo and nearly lose everything I’ve kept buried inside at the sight of them. They’re like my safety blanket, and mere inches from me floating just out of reach and with the cold hard truth knowing I’ll never be able to bask in the comfort of them again. That’s reality, and soul crushing at that.

I make my way over to the silver tack box, and when I open the lid, Maverik’s right. Everything is in its place. I know he’s used this tack, but it’s like opening a box from the past. I snag my favorite brush to use on Chili and take a moment rubbing circles with my thumb on the cold metal handle. Beginning to wipe the leaking liquid from underneath my eyes and steadying the crashing emotions of my heart, I try to focus so I can turn back around to the world and act like Ella.

Fingers jab into each side of my ribs as someone yells something, causing me to leap from the ground and toss the brush up in the air. I let out a scream too and come crashing back down into someone’s arms.

First I hear Merek’s laughter and then look up into his face.

“This never gets old.”

“You asshole.” I wallop him in the chest as he sets me down on my feet.

“Welcome home, Ella.” He grins back at me and wraps me up in a hug.

“God, some things don’t change do they, asshole?”

“Nope.” Merek’s grin is contagious, as is the devilish twinkle in his eyes. The boy is always up to no good.

“Here.” Challis steps up behind him and hands me the brush.

“You’re quite the woman to put up with this asshat.”

Like a ninja, I grab for his nipple through his shirt and twist it as hard as I can until Merek’s squealing like a little kid and dropped to his knees.

Marvel and Maverik’s roars of laughter fill the barn and I can’t keep the giggles from pouring out of me. It was the one way I’d get Merek back as a kid and clearly the tactic still works, as I just dropped the champion to his knees in three seconds flat.

“C’mon, Ella, before you two break out into one of your damn wrestling matches.”

Maverik obviously remembers.