American Honey

Jeremiah spits and thankfully there’s no blood. Tyler moves over to me and pulls my hand away from my chest. He rotates my hand back and forth and wiggles my fingers.

“Doesn’t look broken,” he mutters. “Jer, sometimes I think you’re out to get me killed.”

“Nah, man, just laid.”

I start to say something but he’s climbed back onto the tractor and turns it on. He wouldn’t be able to hear me if I yelled. Tyler shakes his head, takes my hand in his and walks us to the house. I’m learning really quickly that Jeremiah says what’s on his mind whether it’s correct or not.

Chapter 13 – Tyler

We walk back into the house. I have one hand on Savannah’s back and the other cradling her injured hand. I know what Jeremiah’s doing, it’s what he always does, creating a comedic yet drama-filled situation to gloss over his own insecurities. My only guess is he has a crush on Savannah, which I really can’t fathom because he knows how eager I was for her to get here. Yes, my feelings have changed these past few weeks, but he knows that I’m definitely into her.

“I can’t believe you hit him,” my voice is soft, caring. Savannah leans into me, her head brushing lightly against my nose. I breathe in deeply, taking in the coconut shampoo she uses. She smells like summer and warmth. She makes my days brighter just by walking into my line of sight.

“Well, I can’t believe he said we were doing it.”

I chuckle lightly. It’s nice to see the slight subtle changes in her. When she got here, she was hardcore and mean. Nothing was going to penetrate her tough façade, but I did. It took some time, but it was done.

“Would it be so bad if we were?” I close my eyes and wait for her to stiffen in my arms. I can’t believe I let my mouth get the best of me. She has to know that guys, especially me, think about her like that. She has a rocking body and the thought has crossed my mind a few times.

“Sorry,” I shake my head. I know it’s a dumb quest

ion to ask. Hell we aren’t even a couple. We’ve just been kissin’. I haven’t taken her out on a date yet and taking her to Jeremiah’s tonight doesn’t really count. There will be a lot of people hanging around and it’s probably the least romantic thing I could do for her. Tomorrow I’m going to have to take her out, wine and dine her and show her how special I think she is.

Savannah stops one step below me. She holds her hand out in front of her while I push her hair over her shoulder. She looks up at me and without hesitation I lean down and kiss her. I’m trying to make up for putting my foot in my mouth. I don’t want her thinking that I’m only hanging out with her to get into her pants, especially after what she told me earlier. I had a feeling that her being here had something to do with another guy. Deep down I didn’t want to know, but she’s told me and I’m not going to use that to my advantage.

“I’m not saying it’s bad, Tyler. What I’m saying is that Jeremiah telling my Aunt is not a good thing. She wanted to have the “talk” with me and that was slightly awkward and when she used the word humpin’, I swear I turned fifteen shades of red. You should’ve been there.”

I lean my head to the side and laugh. “Oh, sweetheart, I would’ve loved to be there when this all happened.” Shaking my head, I look into her blue eyes. “I’m sorry Jeremiah is such a dink. He’ll never learn and it doesn’t matter how many times I beat his ass. Although, since you just cold-cocked him, maybe that’s his lesson. If you don’t want to go there tonight, we can do something else.”

“No, I want to go.”

“Okay.” I look around quickly to see if there are any prying eyes before I lean down again and kiss her. Her lips are sweet, soft and taste like candy. They’re reminding me of our make-out session – one that I want to revisit, repeatedly. “Come on, Rocky, let’s get you some ice.” I take her hand in mine and lead her right to the kitchen where Aunt Sue gasps as soon as we walk in.

“Sweet baby Jesus, what did you do?” she takes Savannah’s hand in hers and directs her to the sink where she promptly puts it under cold water. “You need to wash off the germs.”

Savannah looks over her shoulder at me, her eyes questioning her aunt. I shrug, not having a clue what she’s talking about. Sue McGuire is what the town folk call ‘old country’. She grew up in a house full of women who cooked, cleaned and had their own home remedies for every ailment and injury. By all accounts, you’d think Aunt Sue was some grandma type just milling around the house, but that’s not the case; she can’t be a day over forty.

“What in the blue hell is going on in here?” Uncle Bobby comes stomping into the kitchen and sets his lunch pail on the counter. He immediately kisses Sue before looking from me to Savannah.

“Sugah, what’d you do to your hand?”

“I punched Jeremiah, Uncle Bobby.”

“Well now, why’d you go and do something like that?”

Savannah looks from him to me and back at him. She pulls her lower lip into her mouth and I see the tension in her jaw. I’m not going to let her get into trouble because I can’t keep my hands and lips to myself.

“Because –“ I start to answer before I’m interrupted.

“Because I’m an ass, Bobby, you know that. I was pullin’ on her pigtails and makin’ fun of her boots,” Jeremiah saunters over to Savannah and stands between her and Bobby. “Girl’s got a mean right hook, I’m tellin’ ya. Look at my busted up lip, Bobby.” He moves right in front of Bobby so he can see his face.

“Y’all need to be workin’ and not flirtin’,” he mutters as he walks out of the room with Jeremiah hot on his tail. I breathe a sigh of relief. Sue finishes wrapping Savannah’s hand in a towel packed with ice and as soon as she leaves the kitchen, I’m moving to Savannah’s side. My hand grazes her hip sending this dynamic sensation up my arm and right into my chest.

“He just saved us,” she says, stepping closer. I’m getting the feeling that she likes living on the edge. I’m not sure how her Uncle will take it once he finds out we’re messing around.

“Yeah, he did.” My voice is quiet and Savannah takes that as a hint to give my lips and mouth some attention. My hands cup her face, holding her to me so I can relish in this brief intimacy we’re sharing. “I think we should go,” she whispers against my lips.

We don’t have to be at Jeremiah’s until later, so the fact that she wants to be alone with me excites me. I nod, pulling her hand into mine and walk us to the front door. We stop briefly to say goodbye and are shooed away by Bobby and Sue. We both shrug but take it as a sign that they don’t care that we’re leaving together, although Bobby probably thinks I’m just taking her to town to turn in her homework or shop. He doesn’t know about the thoughts going through my mind when it comes to his niece. If he did, he’d take me out to pasture and shoot my ass.