Waking up with Magnolia in my bed and in my arms is a wild dream come true. I hate that she got sick from all the sugar, but I enjoyed holding her all night.
It’s also the best night of sleep I’ve had in years. Typically, I have anxious thoughts and my mind doesn’t shut off for hours. But last night, I rubbed her back until her breathing evened, and then I passed out moments later.
Unfortunately for me, I have work, so I sneak out from under the blankets as quietly as possible. She typically opens for business at the farmer’s market downtown on Saturday mornings, but I’m not sure if she’ll be up for it, so instead of waking her to ask, I leave her a note.
Sunny,
I put a fresh glass of water on the nightstand for you and a couple Tylenol in case you have a headache. Call me if you need a ride home or feel free to stay as long as you want and make yourself at home. I work until 4 and then if you’re up for it, I’d love to hang out again tonight. I know I’m probably not as fun as Noah, but we can stay in and watch Dirty Dancing if you need another Patrick Swayze fix 😉 No sugary foods, though.
Then I spend more time than I’d like to admit trying to figure out how to end it.
Love, Tripp
-Tripp
Always yours, Tripp
After several minutes, I say fuck it and just leave it without anything. She’ll clearly know it’s from me.
When I arrive at the family barn, I’m surprised when Dad greets me. He’s usually at the retreat or The Lodge first thing.
“Hey, old man. What’s goin’ on?” I slide on my gloves and grab a pitchfork to get started on stalls.
He leans against a stall, looking exhausted. “It’s Sydney. Been up with her half the night waitin’ on the vet.”
“Oh, shit. Does Landen know?”
He shakes his head. “Hasn’t answered my calls or texts, so figured he’s been sleepin’. Not much he can do anyway until we know what’s wrong. She won’t eat or drink. Hasn’t had a bowel movement in twenty-four hours. Pretty sure she has a fever, too.”
I look over the door and see Sydney lying down. My heart crushes seeing her in pain. Even though she’s a little shit toward Franklin, she doesn’t deserve this.
“She’s probably constipated. I can give her a natural laxative.”
“Tried that already…” He checks his watch. “Six hours ago.”
“Damn. He’s gonna have to go in and manually clear out the blockage before she gets worse.”
“Should be here within the hour to check her, but yeah, it ain’t gonna be a quick and easy fix. Even Franklin’s been worried.”
I chuckle at that and then, as if on cue, he releases a loud whine. Looking over at his stall, his head pops out and he lets out another one.
“It’s alright, buddy.” I go over and pet his nose, then check his stall to make sure he has droppings. He does, which means whatever Sydney has is most likely an isolated incident.
While we wait for Dr. Weston, I take a few of the horses out to the pasture and start on their stalls. When Landen finally shows up, Dad gives him a recap and then Landen sits with her until he arrives.
I stay out of the way, mucking stalls, and then refill their food and water buckets, but I can overhear mostly everything. Landen’s worried sick as he rattles questions off and Dr. Weston tries to reassure him that he’ll do everything he can to help Sydney.
After an initial check-up, Dr. Weston decides to do an enema first and then give her some pain meds for discomfort. When she’s finally able to go, her stall is going to be a disaster, but I’d rather deal with that than have her go through more extreme measures like surgery.
“Doing okay?” I ask Landen when he walks over to a stall I’m sprinkling fresh straw in.
He lifts a shoulder as if he doesn’t really know. “I hate feelin’ helpless, and I’m low-key annoyed. We provide top-tier care and feed ’em the best. She gets daily exercise, fresh water, and routine exams. I don’t understand how this happened. Especially if it turns out to be a parasite.” He blows out a frustrated breath, lifts his cap, and brushes his hand through his hair before replacing the hat. I’ve not seen him this worked up in a long time.
“She could’ve eaten something that’s causin’ it. Shit, who knows what blows into the pasture that she ate. Could be a piece of twine or anything else. Doesn’t mean we don’t take proper care of ’em,” I tell him, clapping his shoulder. “C’mon, let’s talk about somethin’ else to get it off your mind. Have you seen Ellie since the wedding reception?”
He shoots me a death glare, and I chuckle.
“Guess not.”
“She hasn’t been here since Noah left. She has a competition next weekend, so I assume she’ll be back soon to train on her own.”
“You memorized her schedule?” I taunt, laying down the last bit of straw for this stall.
He crosses his arms as he stands across from me. “Are you really in any position to give me shit about being an obsessive asshole?”
I flash him a lopsided grin. “But at least my obsessiveness paid off.”
“Easy for you to say. Magnolia never despised you. I don’t even know what I did to piss off Ellie. That’s what doesn’t make sense. I’ve been nothin’ but nice to her.”
“You constantly tease her when she’s trainin’,” I point out. “Every interaction I’ve witnessed with you two has been you makin’ fun of something she was doing wrong. Her stance. Her almost knockin’ down the barrel. Her timing being too slow. Or you taunt her on her outfit. Her hat and boots being too sparkly. You callin’ her Pippi Longstocking because of her cowgirl braids. Maybe you could give her a compliment for once.”
The corner of his top lip perches up in confusion. “But I say them in a flirty way! Not like I’m bullyin’ her. And it’s part of my job to critique her. If I kissed her ass and told her how amazing she was, she wouldn’t push harder to get better.”
“Noah’s her trainer, not you,” I counter.
He rolls his eyes. “Doesn’t mean I don’t have valid points when I watch her practice. And Noah usually agrees with me anyway.”
I give him an easy shrug. “She clearly ain’t feelin’ your flirty vibes, so maybe try talkin’ to her about something other than her career. I’m sure there’s more to her personality than being a barrel racer. Ask her what other things she’s interested in.”
“Don’t matter anyway if I did. After I gave her that bag of ice at the reception, she told me I wasn’t invited to sit at the table with her and to go away. So even if I tried makin’ conversation, she wouldn’t be interested.”
I laugh at his pitiful expression. “Damn, she’s so under your skin.”
He groans and then walks back toward Dad and Dr. Weston.
By the time I finish taking the horses out to the pasture and mucking stalls, Landen prepped all the feed and water buckets for me to distribute. He can’t do anything about Sydney except wait, so at least he made himself useful.
I’m about to leave to go to the stables when my phone vibrates with a text, and I smile wide when I see who it’s from.
MAGNOLIA
I think you have the cleanest house of any guy I know. Haven’t found a speck of dust or any expired food in the fridge. And yes, I checked every item.
I snort at her ability to easily brag about snooping.
TRIPP
You’re giving me shit for not having a filthy place? That has to mean you’re feeling better.
MAGNOLIA
Yes and no. My throat feels raw from throwing up, and I woke up with some heartburn. But I haven’t gotten sick again, so silver lining, I guess.
TRIPP
I’m sure you already found it but I have Tums in the medicine cabinet.
MAGNOLIA
Okay now I’m gonna give you shit for having a medicine cabinet. What are you, 50?
TRIPP
Responsible adults have those, Sunny. You’re telling me you don’t keep meds or vitamins in your apartment?
MAGNOLIA
Well I guess if you consider birth control pills and a couple random blue ones I found.
TRIPP
I’m realizing now why your self-inspired latte is called Hot Mess Express.
MAGNOLIA
Don’t say you weren’t warned.
And then she sends an emoji of a smiley face sticking out its tongue.
TRIPP
Oh I fully knew what I was getting into with that mouth of yours.
MAGNOLIA
Speaking of mouth, you left without giving me a kiss 🙁
TRIPP
I didn’t want to wake you, baby. I wasn’t sure if you were getting up for work so I figured I’d let you sleep in.
MAGNOLIA
Mm-hmm. I’m sure it had nothing to do with my vomit breath.
TRIPP
I wasn’t even thinking about that so shush.
MAGNOLIA
You could come home and make it up to me.
I groan as I contemplate doing just that. Landen’s already going to be useless today, and I haven’t even seen the twins out yet.
I send her a few kissy-face emojis and then add…
TRIPP
That’ll have to do for now because I’m heading to the stables and we’re already behind. But I promise when I get home, I’ll give you more than a kiss 😉
Instead of responding, she sends a selfie from inside my shower. Fucking naked.
Goddamn her.
Shaking my head, I make a U-turn and drive toward the ranch hand quarters. Fuck it. I’ve covered the twins’ asses enough times that they can handle the stables on their own today.
Once I’ve slammed my truck into park, I sprint into my house and start undressing as I make a beeline to the bathroom. Steam and the scent of my body wash smack me in the face when I open the door and then remove my socks and boxer shorts before opening the curtain.
“Change your mind, cowboy?” She smirks and my gaze falls down her body on full display for me. Fucking beautiful.
I step inside, close the curtain behind me, and then cup her damp face. I crash my mouth down on hers and shove my tongue between her lips, capturing her breathy moans. Her hands roam over my body as my fingers slide up into her wet hair, and I push her to the wall so the stream of water hits my back.
When she wraps her palm around my shaft and begins stroking, I inhale sharply and try to gain some semblance of control. Magnolia and I have fooled around a lot these past couple of weeks, but we’ve never been completely naked together. Her body is unbelievably out of this world, but it’s the way hers responds to my touch that gets mine hot.
“Fuck, Sunny. You’re too good at that,” I hiss through the pleasure I’m trying to refrain from taking over. I come way too fast when she’s touching me.
I slide my hand down her leg and hike it up around the top of my thigh until I can reach her pussy from behind. As I rub her clit, her head tilts back, and I suck her neck.
“Careful,” she breathes out. “If you mark me, I get to do the same to you.”
At this point, I don’t care who knows we’re together even if we’re waiting until Noah gets back, I’d proudly admit it if someone asked.
I chuckle, sliding my tongue up to her ear. “You forget I’ve already marked myself for you. There’s no question who I’ve always belonged to.”
She releases a gasp when I thrust a finger inside her cunt.
“Ain’t that right, my Sunflower?”
Her lips part and she nods, but no words come out.
“Say it, baby. Who do I belong to?”
I add a second finger and drive in deeper as she squeezes my cock harder.
“Me,” she finally says. “Only me.”
“Goddamn right, Sunny. And you’re mine.”
I slam my mouth down on hers again and work her pussy until she writhes against me.
“I’m so close. Don’t stop,” she pleads.
“Hang on.” I kneel between her thighs, place her leg over my shoulder, and suck her clit while my fingers fill her cunt.
“Oh my God, Tripp.” Her fingers thread through my hair as I devour her sweetness. She tightens around me, and I know she’s almost there, so I twist my wrist and reach for her G-spot. “Yes, right there.”
Her heavy breathing fills the shower, my lips sucking and flicking her clit until moments later, she unravels with an ear-piercing scream-moan. The taste of her orgasm consumes my mouth, and my painfully hard cock can’t take it anymore. Giving it one long stroke, I come undone with a loud groan.
Tilting my head up to her stare, I smirk at her little pouty expression. “Feelin’ you come on my face had me losin’ control. Sorry, sweetheart.” I stand and kiss her lips. “You can finish me off next time.”
She reaches between us and takes my cock in her hand. “This is mine. You don’t touch yourself when I’m around.”
I chuckle at how serious she sounds. “All yours, sweetheart.”
When I notice she shivers, I move her underneath the water and turn it on as hot as it’ll go. Instead of rushing to go back to work, I take my time washing her hair and lathering soap all over her body. I spend extra time massaging her breasts and playing with her hard nipples. With her back pressed to my chest, she leans against me, and I continue working her perfect tits and kissing her neck.
“I wish we could stay here all day.” She smiles up at me when I towel-dry her hair.
“Me too, love.” I kiss the tip of her nose. “But I gotta finish muckin’ stalls and then check on Landen and Sydney.”
“Oh no, what happened?”
I explain everything that I know so far while we get dressed and then she says she’s going to visit her parents today since she skipped the Farmer’s Market.
“How’re they doing?” I ask because she rarely brings them up and it’s always seemed like a topic she didn’t want to discuss.
“Well, after pleading with my dad for the past few years, he finally moved them into an assisted living home. He doesn’t need it for him, but it became a safety issue anytime he left my mom alone. She’d turn on the stovetop and forget she was boiling a pot of water or turn the oven to five hundred degrees and burn the food. He’d return from work with the fire department out there. There’s been a few occasions where she’d run a bath and never turn off the water, so it’d just flood into the rest of the house. Every time he calls, I anticipate him tellin’ me the house burned down or worse, Mama accidentally killed herself.”
“Wow, Sunny. I’m sorry. Are things better now that they moved?”
“Yeah, I think so. They have sensors and alarms for everything there. And Dad added cameras so he can watch her while he’s at work. They started hiding her meds in her food or she’d refuse to take ’em, so I’m hoping today’s a good day for me to visit.”
My chest aches at how much she’s dealt with on her own. I remember Noah begging Mom to let Magnolia sleep over every weekend and she’d basically live at our house over summers.
I didn’t understand then how rough it was, but seeing her now as an adult, I’m amazed at how far she’s come.
I grab her hand and pull her closer. “I’m really proud of you, Sunny.”
She wraps her arms around my waist. “For what?”
“Given the circumstances, you could’ve easily taken a different path to deal with your problems, but instead you worked your ass off to get what you wanted. That takes courage and a lot of strength. You should be proud of yourself, too.”
She’s silent, and I tilt her chin until her eyes find mine. “And even if you don’t wanna hear it, I’m gonna say it anyway because you deserve to know. You have a heart of gold, you’re stronger than you realize, and loyal to a fault. I adore your ability to just go with the flow and not take shit from anyone. And if anyone asks how I got someone like you, I’ll fully admit you’re the catch in this relationship, and I just got lucky.”
Tears well in the corner of her eyes as she sucks in her lips. I know it’s way too soon to tell her how hard I’m falling for her, but it shouldn’t be a secret at this point. My little high school crush turned into a full-on obsession long before I was ready to admit it.
“That’s honestly the sweetest thing anyone’s ever said to me, and I’m not quite sure how to take it.” She closes her eyes and the tears fall down her face.
I brush the pads of my thumbs over her cheeks before pressing my lips to hers. “You don’t have to say anything, Sunny.”
She wraps her arms around my neck and pulls me in for a hug. I hold her tight as she buries her face in my neck, and we stay like that for several minutes before she exhales a deep breath and steps back.
“Are you sure you have time to take me home?” she asks.
“Yep. I’ll text Waylon and make sure they cover me until I’m back.”
She’s silent on the drive into town but squeezes my hand. When I pull up to her apartment building, I jump out and open her door.
“Thank you.”
I pull her in for a kiss and am tempted to get lost in her lips, but I know we both have shit to do.
“Text me later if you wanna hang out and watch a movie,” I tell her.
“I might need a couple hours to decompress after I get home from visitin’ my parents, but I definitely will let you know.”
I give her a final peck and then watch as she walks toward her door. Then I honk twice and wave before driving away.
My phone rings when I pull out of the parking lot. It’s Landen.
“Yeah?”
“It’s Sydney. Dr. Weston’s preppin’ her for surgery.”
“Oh fuck. I’m on my way back to the ranch from Magnolia’s. Be there in fifteen.”
