L.A. and Tulip drove down the dark desert road back towards L.A.'s ranch. Neither talked as soft jazz music filled the air. The silence between them was relaxed, rather than awkward. He turned his head slightly towards her to see her looking up out of the window at the glittering of stars in the sky. He turned his eyes back towards the road as he thought about the rest of their night. He pulled up to the side of his house and parked the car before getting out and opening Tulip's door for her. She thanked him softly as she followed him into his house. As he flipped on the light switches in his living room, he could see Ace sitting laying on the couch, looking irritated by the sudden disturbance.
"Make yourself comfortable. I'm going to run up and grab the stuff. Do you prefer pipe of blunt?"
"Either is fine. A pipe would be less clean up." She answered as she sat on the couch and began to rub Ace's exposed belly.
"Do you want some more comfortable clothes to change into?"
"Your girl, Bird, left some shorts over here?" She smirked, looking up at him.
"I can call you an Uber right now. Maybe the driver wants to hear your jokes." He glared at her, causing her to laugh.
"I'm sorry, I had to do it. Yes, I would love some comfortable clothes." She smiled sweetly at him after she finished laughing. L.A. cut his eyes at Tulip, causing her laughter to start again. He shook his head and walked up the stairs to fetch everything. As he walked up the stairs, he saw Spade sitting at the top of the stairs and looking at him.
"Hey, bud." He bent down to scratch the cat behind his ear before continuing to his bedroom. He walked over to his dresser, opened the sock drawer, and pulled out a black velvet knapsack that held his yellow glass pipe, a lighter, rolling papers, grinder, and blacked-out zip lock snack bags. He placed it on top of the dresser and closed the sock drawer. He opened some other drawers and grabbed some sweatpants and a t-shirt for himself. He dug deeper into the drawers, finding a t-shirt and some sweatpants that were too small for him. He changed quickly and threw his old clothes onto the bed. He walked back down to the living room to see Ace curled up in Tulip's lap and Spade sitting beside her as she scratched his head. All three looked up at him when he hit the floor.
"Here you go," He handed her the clothes, "there's a bathroom down the hall, second door on the right, that you can change in."
"Thank you. Do you have any wipes or an old rag I can use to wash this makeup off my face?"
"Yeah, let me go grab you one." He walked down the hall and opened the doors to his washer and dryer. He grabbed a clean dark blue rag out of the dryer and walked back into the living room. He handed her the rag and she thanked him while easing Ace off her lap and onto the couch. She got up and walked down the hall to the bathroom. While she was changing, L.A. walked over to his coat closet and grabbed 2 large blankets. He took the blankets and his velvet knapsack and put it all in the backseat of his truck. He came back inside and searched his kitchen for snacks, since they were about to start smoking and they hadn't eaten at the restaurant. He grabbed a couple bags of chips, a pack of cookies, a couple cans of soda, and 2 bottles of water. He went back to the coat closet, found an old backpack, and put the snacks in it. By the time he zipped the backpack up, Tulip emerged from the bathroom with her folded dress and heels in her arms. Her hair was pulled up into a large puff that sat on the top of her head, and she was practically swimming in his clothes. He chuckled to himself as he watched her trudge across the floor in the sweatpants that devoured her legs and feet.
"You ready?" He asked, swinging the backpack over his back.
"Yep. What's with the backpack?" She asked, confused.
"Snacks. C'mon, let's go."
"Where are we going?"
"There's a spot a few miles up the road I like to go to smoke. I think you'd like it."
"Then, lead the way," She smiled and, as she walked towards him, she stopped in her tracks, "do you have any shoes I can wear, just so I don't have to wear my heels?"
He scrunched his face up in contemplation and walked back over to his coat closet. He opened the closet door and got down on his knees to search the closet floor. After a few minutes of searching, he pulled out a pair of Adidas sandals.
"Here, I got these for my sister, but she didn't want them, and I couldn't return them. You can keep them if you want." He handed her the black and white backless sandals.
"Thank you." She smiled up at him as she slid the sandals on. He looked down and noticed they were a little big for her, perfectly fitting her baggy ensemble.
L.A grabbed his keys and held the front door open for Tulip to leave out of first. Once she was out of the house, he turned off the lights, and pulled the door closed to lock it. He walked over to his truck, unlocking it in the process, and opened the passenger door up for Tulip. He stood beside the door until she was safely inside the truck and putting her seatbelt on. He closed her door and walked over to the driver's side. Once inside, he started the truck up and they were backing out of the ranch and onto the desert road again. They were, once more, in a comfortable silence with soft music coming out of the radio. L.A.'s phone suddenly vibrated against his leg from inside his sweatpants pocket. He pulled it out and glanced down at the bright screen. A message from Dakota was displayed on the screen and read 'WTF is happening?! Did a fight break out?!' L.A. shook his head and smirked to himself, making a mental note to himself to respond to his message later. He made a left turn off the main road onto a dirt path. Soon, he was backing the truck up towards something, but Tulip wasn't sure what. When he parked the truck, he grabbed the blankets, the backpack of snacks, and his velvet knapsack and got out of the car. He went to open Tulip's door for her and help her down. As he began laying one of the old comforters across the bed of the truck, Tulip gazed over the view in front of them. The scattered lights from the small city skyline twinkled below them, while a milky mixture of stars spilled over the sky.
"This is gorgeous." She said, her voice barely above a whisper.
"I knew you'd like it." He smiled to himself, smoothing the comforter out. Once it was smooth enough for his liking, he turned towards her, "You ready to spark up?"
"Of course." She smiled, walking over to him. He helped her up onto the truck bed and hopped up beside her. He reached behind him and grabbed the second thick blanket, placing it in her lap. She began unfolding it and putting it over her shoulders while he began preparing the pipe. As he lit the pipe and inhaled, he felt Tulip putting the other end of the blanket around his arms and shoulders. He continued to inhale and stopped, holding the smoke in his chest with his eyes closed before letting it spill from between his lips. He took another pull from the pipe before handing it over to Tulip. She took into her fingers and brought it up to her lips. He watched her take a pull from the pipe as he slowly blew out the smoke from his previous one.
"How's this been for a first date?" L.A. asked, smoke still escaping his mouth with each word.
She held the smoke in before releasing it and looking up at him, smiling, "Best first date I've been on. How 'bout you?"
"Way better than any date I've been on. So... about your embarrassing sex story." He smirked at her. She giggled as she brought the pipe up to her lips for another pull. She handed the pipe back to him as she blew out the smoke.
"I see you didn't forget, but fair enough," She thought for a minute before she started her story, "So, during my junior year of college, I was dating a guy in my biology class. We were dating for about a month before we decided to have sex for the first time. Everything started out fine and we finally got started. During this time, he failed to tell me that he wasn't really feeling well all day. A stomach bug was going around in his dorm, and he didn't think he had caught it. Well... less than 10 minutes into it, he threw up on me. Literally, just threw up all over me and my bed," L.A. choked on the smoke in his throat and his choking coughs soon turned into cackling laughter, "Yeah... he ran into my bathroom, profusely apologizing and still vomiting. I stripped my bed down and he cleaned himself off. He kept apologizing and gave me some money for the washer and dryer to wash my stuff before he left. After that, we decided it was better we just stay friends and that was the last time I had sex while I was in college."
As L.A. continue to laugh himself breathless, Tulip took the pipe from his hands and took a pull. He started to calm down after a few minutes, letting a few chuckles slip out.
"I'm sorry that happened to you. Was the sex at least good before it all went to hell?"
"Eh, he was okay. Nothing to brag about, but nothing to complain about either."
"A silver lining." They both laughed at his comment. She handed the pipe back to him as she looked out over the city lights.
"So, is that whole ranch yours?"
"Yep, it's all mine. I don't use all my land for my cattle since it's only me working it. So, I own more than what it looks like."
"Do you mind if I ask you how you acquired so much land? You're young and most people around your age don't usually own such a large amount of land. At least, not in this country when they have color in their skin."
"I don't mind you asking. It's kind of a long story if you don't mind."
"It's your story. It can be as long as you want it to be."
He took a pull from the pipe before handing it to her and starting his story.
"So, that land was my family's land before settlers started coming out this way and the government began taking more of our land. Eventually, one of my ancestors got the legal rights to the land, so the government couldn't take it from us. My grandpa's great grandpa built the ranch and started herding cattle. Once he built the ranch, he passed it down to his son, who passed it down to his son, and so on. When my grandpa passed on, he was supposed to pass it down to my dad and my dad would take on the rights of the ranch and the land. Unfortunately, my dad passed away before my grandpa. So, because my dad was my grandpa's only son, he passed the ranch onto me right before he passed."
"I'm so sorry about your dad." Tulip all but whispered.
"It's okay. I've done my grieving. He passed away when I was 18, so I left college and went back home to take care of my family. Once my sister was old enough to leave the house and my mom was good, I thought about going back to school, but I wasn't sure where my life was going to go at that point, and I didn't think my old major would fit it. So, I took a few business classes at the community college and few online classes at the university here and got my degree in business. I figured it would help with dealing with the ranch."
"What was your major originally?" She handed the pipe back to him.
"Art. After my dad passed, I didn't touch a paintbrush for a while. But I realized it was better as an outlet than a career. Now, I'm able to paint at my leisure again, rather than when I'm upset or something. Painting with the idea that I had to paint in order to sale my pieces and eat was too stressful." He relit the pipe and pulled from it, gently blowing out the smoke.
"Are the art exhibits you do for fun?"
"No, Dakota makes me do them so I can get away from the ranch and make a little extra cash on the side."
"Do you actually like doing them?"
He dumped out the charred ashes of weed out and began packing more into the pipe bowl, "I would prefer to not do them, but they're not painful to do. Most of the time, I just take pieces I did in my spare time. I'm just not a fan of large groups of people."
"I don't blame you. How long have you owned the ranch now?"
"Six years. Managing it gets easier each year. It's almost calming at this point."
"Does it get lonely, since it's only you, working on it?" He handed the pipe back to her and once she brought it up to her lips, he lit the fresh herb with his lighter as she inhaled.
"Sometimes. The cows aren't good listeners, but my horses let me vent to them. I've gotten used to it now." He chuckled. She giggled as she blew out smoke.
"Is all that why you haven't been worried about dating?"
"Yeah. It was a lot to deal with, especially as a teenager. I tried to get back into it a few times when I got older, before and after I got the ranch, but it just ended up being a few one-night stands. What about you? How's your dating life been?"
"I stopped worrying about it when I got to physical therapy school. Nobody in my school was cute and everybody my friends tried to set me up with was a dick. I told myself I would open back up to the idea once I graduated and got a job."
"So... you're saying you're open to the idea now?" He looked at her with an eyebrow raised. She laughed and looked out the city skyline. She handed the pipe to L.A., pulled the comforter closer to her as she scooted closer to L.A., and leaned her head against his arm.
"That depends on if you're trying to get back into it now." She said, looking up at him with glint in her eye that spoke innocence and mischief at the same time.
"I think I could be persuaded to." He smirked, putting his arm around her shoulders and pulling her closer to his chest.