Loving You: A Cowboy Romance (Texas Hill Country Romance Book 1) (33 page)

Needing You

(a cowboy romance)

If it was Friday night, the big red barn at the Green ranch was hopping with what looked like all the kids from town, and then some. Joe Green was strumming and singing ‘Cowboys From Hell’ by Pantera on a makeshift stage on the side of the barn. Tyler Fisher was on drums, and Adam Rider was on bass. Together, they made up the band known in that town as ‘Macabre’. Christmas lights were strung all around and a large spot light hung from the top of the barn. 

Whenever Joe threw a party anyone, and everyone was invited. His parents were hardly around on the weekend, always hopping into their Winnebago and touring the countryside. With each party, the crowd grew.

The little red Mercedes pulled up between two pickup trucks facing the other way with their tailgates down. Lisa Fairchild’s daddy was one of the richest men in town and he had bought his only child the car for her graduation. Calista and Lisa got out of the car and Calista smoothed her long blonde hair under her cowboy hat and straightened out her little red tank top, feeling good about her clothes, and new, expensive cowboy boots.

She scanned the crowd for friends they might know and spotted her brother, Jake, and his friends, Cord, Dan, and, Calista sighed, Rory. The four of them were head banging to the music with long necks in their hands, and three girls, hanging all over them. Calista stared at Angela Benson, the girl who was next to Rory. She studied the girl’s pretty, flirty sun dress and began to feel self-conscious in her cut off dungaree shorts and plain old tank. She watched as Angela’s long, black as night, hair lifted in the gentle wind. The girl looked like a model for God’s sake, Oh, oh, he just put his hand around her waist and gave her a kiss. Calista looked away. It’s best to not think of him.

“Hey, ladies. Looking good.” Jackson Danbury said as he sat on his tailgate with a plastic cup in his hand, his best friend, Dylan Elliott, who had a crush on Calista, by his side.

The boys were in the same class as Calista and Lisa, and they all graduated two days before. For most at the gathering, it was sort of like a last hurrah. Most would be heading off to college at the end of August. It was no different for Calista, she was heading to college in New Jersey and Lisa was going to Notre Dame, her daddy’s alma mater.

Lisa walked over to Jackson, and took the cup from his hand and downed the contents, coughing as she handed the cup back to him.

“You go, mama. I love a chick who can chug a cup of whiskey.”

“You okay,” Calista asked as she rubbed Lisa’s back.

Lisa nodded as her cough began to subside. “Asshole,” she said. “Why didn’t you warn me?”

“You ripped the cup right out of my hand, babe. You want some more?”

“Yeah,” she said as she nodded.

Calista shook her head, hoping it wasn’t going to be another one of those nights where Lisa gets bombed and she’d have to drive home and have her sleep over at the pool house. Lisa would never be able to go home, her father would kill her.

She giggled to herself,
Cord will probably sleep over too, and Lisa will be in her glory.
She looked her brother’s way again and saw Cord and Rory walking away with Angela between them. Rory had his arm around her shoulder and Cord had his arm around her waist. She looked to her brother and he was kissing one of the girls, while his hand was around the waist of the other. She watched as they, too, walked away into the night.

“Here, Calista.”

She turned her head to Jackson, who handed her a cup of the whiskey. She ripped it out of his hands and did a Lisa. And as much as she wanted to cough and make a face, she didn’t. She cowgirled up and showed no emotion.

“More, please.” She handed the cup back to Jackson.

“Yes, ma’am.” He chuckled.

The music changed up to a Red Hot Chili Peppers song, and Calista and her friends walked over to the crowd around the stage, with their cups in hand, and rocked to the music as they sang along. On more than one occasion, Dylan put his arm around Calista’s shoulders. When Macabre began playing ‘November Rain’, Dylan pulled her in and put his arms around her waist and rocked back and forth. Even though Dylan showed a lack of dance moves, Calista threw an arm around his neck and rocked with him, taking a sip from the cup of whiskey in her other hand. She was feeling a little buzzed and Dylan knew it. He rubbed his body up against hers, his erection evident to her.

When Dylan brought his lips down to hers, he gave her a quick little kiss. When she didn’t pull away he kissed her again, prying her mouth open and ramming his tongue down her throat. He couldn’t believe he was making out with her.

Calista began to feel the earth spin, and she pulled back from the kiss and leaned her body up against Dylan as he rocked them back and forth.

He brought his lips to her ear as he squeezed her tight, and whispered, “You want to go for a little walk?”

She didn’t even answer him, she just smiled.

“Come on,” he said as he dragged her away from the crowd.

She looked up in the direction Rory had gone with Cord and Angela and saw them coming back. It looked like Rory was adjusting his belt. She knew. She’d known for quite some time that he, her brother, and Cord and Dan were doing and sharing girls all the time. She would always overhear them talking when they were at her house. It killed her to know that Rory was with all these girls.

Rory picked his head up in time to see Calista watching him. They held gazes and Rory noticed Dylan pulling her away from the crowd. Rory knew Dylan for the snake that he was and kept watch.
Piece of shit,
Rory thought, not seeing the irony in it. He said something to Cord and Angela, then walked her way.

Calista turned her head away and continued to walk with Dylan to his truck. At the back by the tailgate, he picked her up by her waist and sat her down, then he climbed up and pushed her upper body down as he straddled her. He guided her hand to his cock and moved it up and down his shaft, through his jeans.

“Mmmm, yeah, baby. Make me feel good,” he said by her ear.

“Calista!”

Dylan turned around to see Rory. “Get out of here, man, can’t you see we’re busy.”

“Calista, let’s go!” Rory said, ignoring Dylan.

Calista focused.

“Come on.” Rory grabbed her hand and yanked her.

“Hey, hey, easy, man,” Dylan said.

“Shut the fuck up.” Rory said without even looking at him. “Come on, C.” He tugged her hand harder.

When she realized Rory was holding her hand, she looked to Dylan, and as if something registered, she yelled, “Get off me!” as she wiggled away from him, and felt Rory place his other hand at her waist, to help her down.

“Calista, you gonna let him drag you away like that?” Dylan asked. “He has no right.” He tried, he almost had her where he wanted her, and would have punched anyone who tried to take her away. Anyone, but Rory and his friends, that is. Over the years he had witnessed them intimated anyone who even looked at Calista the wrong way. He sat up and huffed out a breath as he punched the bed of the truck.