This is basic living, but I’m down for it. I’m more than down for it.
When we’re done, we decide to go for a bit of a walk just to look around. Grace and Maria are already down to their bras and panties, splashing around in the water like a couple of show ponies as some of the guys sit on the ground, cigarettes in hand, watching them. They’re men, they’re going to enjoy the show and those girls know it. Oh, do they know it. They’re making every second of it count.
“God, I wish I had that confidence to just prance around like that,” Kara says, watching the two of them. “They’re not shy, that’s for sure.”
What a way to be, indeed.
I take out my notepad and walk over to a stranded log by the river. I sit down and begin writing, I haven’t had the chance since I’ve been here but this seems to be the place and I sure as hell have plenty of inspiration. In fact, Rhett is in front of me right now, throwing a line into the water, shirtless. I can’t help it, my hand moves without thought.
As Emelia watches him, she knows she should look away, but her eyes are fixed to the incredible man standing shirtless in the knee-deep water, his muscles flexing as he throws his line, pulling it back as it hits the crystal clear perfection. She can’t help but notice the way his back muscles move and flex, the way his face is scrunched with a look of concentration. She knows he is barely aware of her existence, and yet, she finds herself scarily drawn to the mountain man.
I bite my lip, watching as Rhett turns to face me, throwing his line in a different direction. From the front, he’s even more incredible. His beard, his rugged features, his strong body. He’s every woman’s fantasy, and the best part is he doesn’t use it to his advantage, he’s so genuine. The best kind of man there is. I keep writing.
Emelia watches as the sun bounces off his chest as he throws the line out once more. The rugged features on his face almost framed by the perfect sceneries. She shifts on the log, her eyes never leaving him. His beard is thick and strong, his body made for working. The kind of frame only found out in the fields, amongst horses and cattle, working the land. That isn’t the kind of body made in a gym, that’s the kind of body created by a real man at work. Emelia can’t help but wonder what that body would feel like against hers ....
“Hey.”
I scream and slam my notepad shut, looking up to see Kara standing beside me, her eyes narrowed.
“What were you writing there? You are blushing so hard. It was a sec scene, wasn’t it?”
I snort. “No. What. Why.”
She looks over to Rhett in the water and then her grin widens. “Never mind, I can guess. Oh yes, I can guess alright.”
“Stop,” I say, standing. “I was just deep in concentration is all.”
“Sure you were.”
I nudge her with my shoulder, my eyes never leaving Rhett.
It’s going to be a great night, I can just feel it.
“TELL US A STORY,” GRACE pleads later that night as she sits in between Dante and Elias, a grin on her face that tells us she’s completely happy right about now.
Maria sits beside Enzo, who gets a grin when Grace mentions the telling of a story.
“I actually have a good story, a real one, too,” Enzo tells Grace, then looks to the rest of the group. “You want to hear it?”
Maria claps, nodding her head.
Enzo begins.
“Years ago, back before our time, our ancestors worked this land and they put their blood sweat and tears into doing so. One cold night, an argument broke out between two of the local ranchers, their cattle was coming onto our land, and it wasn’t goin’ down well. It was during a barn dance that it broke out, and the two men got into one hell of a brawl, clearing out the dance quickly, so quickly people didn’t even take their things. Everyone went home, and the fight was broken up, but the very next day a local found the two of them hanging in the barn, their lifeless bodies strung up to the rafters.”
I gasp, pressing a hand over my mouth.
“Someone killed them?” Grace asks, shuffling closer to Elias as if she’s terrified when we all know she isn’t.
“That’s the thing, there was no evidence around them, and the local sheriffs couldn’t figure out who did it, or why. The two men were both dead, which means they didn’t do it to each other, and to onlookers it seemed as if it were a suicide. After that, the barn was never used again, and a local Indian tribe warned that the place would be cursed. You see, the land was once theirs and many battles followed on these beautiful grounds. The barn was locked up and never used again ... that is, until a bunch of teens went in there years later, a dare if you will ...”