Wrapped around your finger - Post Malone

44

Hazel crawls into her bed and fluffs the pillow before she lies down. The shower had made her eyes heavy and she can't actually believe that she is ready to sleep before 9 pm. She checks her alarm clock and then unplugs it. Take that, you grumpy-ass cowboy. Austin had not been in a good mood for the rest of the day, barking orders and grumbling all day. Hazel had tried to speak to him but his sullen face had eventually annoyed her so she chose to just leave him to his own demise. It is Evelyn's birthday tomorrow and Hazel had managed to slip back into town and get her a gift. So with that thought, she turns onto her side and closes her eyes.

"What are you doing?" Austin's voice comes from the door. She resists the urge to turn around. "Sleeping," she says, her eyes still closed. "I can see that," he says. Hazel sits up and glares at him. "Of course you can. Everyone can. I have no fucking door," she hisses at him. "Don't get testy with me," he says, leaning on the door frame. Is this man for real? Hazel folds her arms and glares at him. Austin looks at her for a bit then hangs his head, pushes off the door frame he walks over to her and sits on the edge of her bed. "I don't want Evelyn datin'," he says softly. Hazel's glare disappears and she smiles at him softly. "You silly cowboy," she says softly, cupping his cheeks and pulling him to her. He lets her pull him over her, settling between her thighs. "It's just puppy love. They will dance, giggle...maybe he will give her a kiss on the cheek. It's sweet," she says. "I don't like the sound of that at all," he says, pouting. "Evelyn is only 9...well 10, it will be years before you are faced with any real boyfriend," she says. "I will never let her leave this ranch again," he says still pouting. "You will and any boy that has the guts to deal with you will have the guts to deal with her," Hazel says then kisses him. Austin kisses her back but then stops and stands. He puts out his hand for her to take, and she does. He pulls her out of bed and then she follows him to his bedroom door. He stops and looks at her. "I have never shared my bed with anyone, darlin'," he says then pushes open his door.

Hazel should not. She should tell him who she is, and why she is here and deal with his angry words. But she is scared, she has gone too far - the thought of Austin hating her kills her inside. Besides, it's Evelyn's birthday tomorrow. After they get back from the fair. Yes, after the fair she will sit him down and tell him. She will tell him everything. Everything. "We ain't gettin' any younger, darlin'," Austin whispers. Hazel takes a shaky step into his room and then hears the door close behind them and a click of the lock. Austin's room is nothing short of a man's room. Cleaner than any other bachelor's she's seen. Bed, side tables, dresser. Simple. On the dresser is a lopsided vase made from clay that has, she is guessing, horses painted on it. Evelyn. There is also a frame with noodles stuck to it. Some of the noodles have broken and chipped off, the photo inside is of Austin and Evelyn - she looks about five years old. In between, them is a well-worn tan-colored Stetson with a few small dried flowers lying on it. She reaches up to touch it but thinks better of it and puts her hand back down. "That was my mothers," Austin says softly and then walks over to Hazel and stands next to her, his eyes locked on it. "As a boy, I remember seeing it on the kitchen table while she baked or on the grass when she lay looking at the clouds. On the hook by the back door when I left for school or in the evenings after a hard day on the ranch. It was always there," he says.

Hazel stares at it. It looks so elegant like a real lady wore it. She bets she was one hell of a woman, Austin speaks so lovingly of her. She had never thought about the legacy she would leave behind one day when she dies and now that she thinks about it she finds herself wanting so desperately for Evelyn to miss her as Austin misses his mother. But she will never be given that honor and it breaks her heart. Austin sees her tears before she does and he reaches over and wipes her cheeks. "Why are you crying, darlin'," he asks. "All the women around you are amazing. Linda, Tina, Mags, Evelyn...your mother. I can't compete with them," she says sniffling. "No one is askin' you to compete, darlin', just be Hazel...I like Hazel," he says then cups her cheeks and kisses her. You wouldn't like the real Hazel, you like this fake Hazel. The thought makes more tears spill from her eyes. She hates herself. "Hush, darling, hush," Austin coos walking her back to the bed as he kisses her. When she feels the bed in the back of her knees she falls backward, Austin following her and covering her body with his. "The door, baby," she whispers and Austins lets out a little laugh. "It's locked and Evelyn is asleep," he whispers and he kisses her neck.

"But-"

"She is fine, darlin', stop frettin'," Austin says as she starts unbuttoning her sleep shirt. "Oh...I haven't seen these before. If I had known they look like this..." his words wander as he leans down and takes her breast in his mouth and Hazel groans at the feeling of his tongue on her breast and the scratching of his scruff on her soft skin.