“Okeydokey,” I replied.
I headed out the gate and latching it, looked back to see Johnny was already to Serengeti, getting her ready to let her outside to roam.
I didn’t think about how much I liked that visual.
I didn’t think about how much had just happened and how huge it all was.
I didn’t think about the fact that life might have just changed in major ways and just how much possibility now lay before me, all of it embodied by Johnny.
I went to my house, slid my boots off outside the door (and I did this grinning) and I walked in.
My dogs bounded to me.
My nephew sat in a high chair by the island with a bib on and my sister bent over him, shoving baby cereal in his mouth.
Her head turned to me.
“You might have seen that Johnny pulled up and—” I started.
She straightened.
Brooks screeched when his food got farther away.
Addie spoke.
“Yeah. He came to the door. I told him you were in the stables. He didn’t say a word, turned on his kickass boot and stalked to the stables. And to say the man can stalk is to say the man can stalk. I watched with what I will admit was avid fascination until he disappeared around the corner and I couldn’t watch anymore. He seemed pissed and worried. I went with the worried at first then I got worried about the pissed. So I went out to make sure everything was okay. And just to say, you getting drilled by a hot guy against a wall in a stable is something I cannot ever unsee.”
My entire chest depressed.
“Though,” she bent back over Brooks and shoved more cereal in his mouth, “after my eyeballs stopped burning, objectively I could see it was seriously hot and I’m glad for you.”
“He’s mucking out the stalls and spending the day with us,” I said quietly.
She turned her head to me again.
“Good,” she said strongly.
“It wasn’t the woman. It was his dog,” I told her.
“You got until he gets done in the stable to fill me in on all this stuff you wouldn’t talk about last night and you kept from me the night before. But just to say, it wasn’t lost on me how into you he was. It was just lost on you, until he drilled you against the wall in the stable. Still, I wanna know all the dirt, so get cracking on breakfast, Iz, and spill.”
“Do you think he’ll want pancakes or eggs?” I thought for a second and added more options, “Or waffles or French toast?”
“When I turned on the ringer of your phone this morning, I saw he’d texted twelve times and phoned eleven. I think that man would eat sawdust, it was you serving it up to him.”
Twelve texts.
Eleven calls.
So fuckin’ good and so fuckin’ intense and so fuckin’ everything.
It seemed Addie might be right.
I smiled at her.
She rolled her eyes. “Spare me the post-coital bliss, cook and fill me in. Man like that will have two stables mucked out in less than twenty minutes.”
This might be true.
So I got cracking (I picked pancakes).
And I filled my sister in on what was happening.
But I couldn’t quite beat back or even hide my bliss.
Johnny
Johnny got out of the shower and reached to grab a towel.
When he did, his eyes fell on the jar by the tub.
It had been sitting there so long he didn’t even see it anymore.
But he saw it then.
He rubbed his hair, gave his body a cursory wipe and then wrapped the towel around his hips.
He secured it and went to the jar.
Ranger got up from lying on the rug in front of one of the sinks and came to him.
Johnny grabbed the jar but bent with his free hand to give his dog’s head a scratch.
He then walked with his dog at his heels to the kitchen. He opened the cabinet that hid the trash bin and tossed the jar in.
He closed the cabinet and bent fully to his dog.
Grabbing his head, he asked, “Wanna go to Izzy’s with me?”
Ranger tried to lick his face.
Johnny smiled at him. “I’ll give her a call. See if Dempsey and Swirl are good with company.”
He rubbed Ranger’s head and moved back to the bathroom to his jeans on the floor. He dug his phone out, called Iz and was not surprised with her answer.
So he pulled a comb through his hair, put on deodorant, clean shorts, jeans and tee, tugged socks and his boots on and he grabbed his wallet, phone and keys.
Then he and Ranger headed out the door to his truck in order to get back to Izzy.
You
Izzy
HEARING A CEILING fan, I opened my eyes and saw tan sheets.
I rolled and saw Johnny in sweats and nothing else at the railing on his deck holding up a cup of coffee.
Ranger was lying at his feet.
Dog and man looked comfortable in their morning repose.
That was, dog and man looked comfortable in their morning repose until Johnny’s head turned and he looked through the windows at me.
He then lifted up his free hand and crooked a finger, also at me.
Like I was mesmerized, I threw back the covers and tossed my legs over the side, pulling myself out of bed. I walked like I was in a dream (because mostly I was) to the door and through it.
Ranger shot up and came to me and I gave him some distracted pets as I made my way to Johnny.
He held his arm out.
I walked right in, pressing my front to his side.
His arm wrapped around but his hand kept moving, pulling up his tee that I’d put on before collapsing in his bed then gliding down, fingers in my panties.
I shivered.
He put his coffee mug down on the railing.
“Passed out on me, sp?tzchen,” he murmured instead of saying good morning.
“I didn’t sleep well the last couple of nights,” I explained.
“You sleep well last night?”
The day before I’d learned a lot about Johnny Gamble.
I’d learned he had a quick wit and could match Addie quip for quip, a lot of the time doing it even better than her.
I’d learned he didn’t only muck stalls, he did dishes, refilled drinks without being asked, and proved to be an excellent sous chef when you’re cooking.
I’d learned he changed diapers.
I’d learned when his head wasn’t messed up necessitating he convey a message so your heart wouldn’t get broken, he was exceptionally affectionate and sweetly teasing, but there was more.
He was appreciative.
With his eyes and facial expressions, sometimes touches, sometimes murmured words, he showed and told me he liked how I moved. He liked my legs. He liked my hair. He liked my behind. He liked listening to me talk. He liked watching me laugh. He liked seeing me tease my sister. He liked watching me respond when she teased me. He liked the little mini-dress I’d put on (Johnny was coming over to spend the day so I absolutely made an effort) that was a blue and white print with a blousy top and short sleeves and a flouncy short skirt.
He liked me and didn’t hide it in any way.