Soooo sorry for the long wait.. Here's Chapter 32 for y'all.
Nicki
The early morning sun is lighting up my room when I open my eyes.
The fire has died, but the smoldering smell reaches me. It's comforting, somehow.
Deep, regular breathes touch my shoulder. A leg thrown over mine, and a pair of strong arms have me wrapped in a warm embrace.
I am tangled up in Bey.
I want to imprint on my memory the wonderfully heavy feel of her body coiled around mine.
I want to spend the day right here.
But I've got an 8:00 a.m. meeting with Virginia Cooke.
I stretch my hand to the nightstand to check the time on my phone.
It's 7:35.
Just enough time to clean up a little before I walk into the Lion's den.
I'd half-heartedly tried to talk to my grandmother about TT when we first got here Wednesday night.
She gave me a sharp, assessing look when I said my friend's name and suggested it was a conversation better left until after Thanksgiving Day.
I didn't have the nerve to argue.
Then she said she could see me at 8 sharp Friday morning, penciling me into one of the leather-bound planners she's used forever.
I slip out of Bey's embrace, careful not to wake her. She looks so peaceful in her sleep, so untroubled.
That's not always the case.
I sigh as I head for the shower.
A few minutes later, my wet hair slicked back and wearing yoga pants and a wrinkled hoodie, I head downstairs.
The light under her office door tells me that Virginia is already there. I knock, and as I enter at her summons, I wonder what it's like to have a more normal grandma.
A pillowy soft one who fills the house with the smell of baking cookies and makes you feel like you're the center of the universe.
I can tell by the slight curl of her lip as I slouch into the office that my grandmother does not approve of my attire.
Even at home, even on a holiday, Virginia Cooke is dressed immaculately, her only concession to informality being pair of tailored wool slacks and what could almost be described as comfortable shoes.
Uncharacteristically, she doesn't mention how I look.
She does, of course, let out a resigned sigh to signal her displeasure as I slip into one of the elaborately carved chairs in front of her desk.
Even more surprisingly, Virginia doesn't bring up Bey.
I'd expected her to start yelling about me dating -and living with-Mathew Knowles' daughter the moment I walked in.
Yesterday, I thought I was going to have to lunge across the Thanksgiving table to keep her from tearing Bey's eyes out.
But now, she's just sitting there wearily, waiting for me to go on.
"So...um...TT has a problem." I swallow, my mouth suddenly dry. "See...she...well, she was arrested."
My grandmother's lips compress into a tight line, and her gaze hardens.
I manage to tell her the whole story, ending with TT's request for help getting the charges dropped.
Virginia doesn't say anything for several moments, just stares hard at me, her veiny hands clasped together on the desk.
She's wearing her grandmother's wedding ring on her right hand, where she moved it the day her divorce was finalized. As far as I know, she never takes it off.
The rose-cut diamond flashes as her fingers tense.
"Nicki," she finally sighs with a disparaging shake of her head.
She glances out the window toward the river that meanders past the ranch's main house.
Virginia returns her gaze to mine. I can feel the lecture that's coming, and already, I'm pissed and defensive.
"TT has always used you. Always been able to manipulate you."
"You know what, just forget it," I snarl, throwing up my hands just as Virginia's Siamese cat jumps into my lap.
One of my hands knocks into the side of his head.
"Oh, sorry. Boots." I murmur, holding the cat as he lets out a couple of cranky meows.
I hadn't even noticed Boots before. He must have been curled up in the chair in the corner.
Boots gives me an arch look that's remarkably similar to the one his owner is directing me.
I take a deep breathe. Virginia and I start speaking at the same time.
"I really don't need-"
"You really should grow up and see things-"
We both fall silent. Now it's my grandmother's turn to inhale a calming breathe.
"I'm not going to save TT from the consequences of her own actions," she says firmly. "I'm sorry if that upsets you."
I try to keep my words measured. "She'll lose her scholarship. She...you know what her life has been like."
Virginia gives me a disgusted look.
"Nicki. Stop making excuses for her. She earned a full scholarship to OU. She did that on her own. She had bright future in front of her."
Boots jump off my lap and disappears behind the desk.
"And the she threw it all away."
"She made a mistake," I plead, hating the whine in my voice. "Like we all have. But unlike us, TT can't just buy her way out of her mistakes. Or have someone powerful pull strings to get her out of it. People like us always get second chances. Why shouldn't she?"
We're glaring at each other.
"TT is my friend," I go on. "You could easily make the charges go away. You could easily help if you wanted to."
The weariness in Virginia's eyes is gone, replaced by a spark of anger.
"Yes. Most likely I could," she says evenly. "But I won't."
I roll my eyes and let out a frustrated sigh.
"And for the record, Nicki," she continues. "If it was you in the situation, I wouldn't save you from the consequences of your actions, either."
I flounce out the room, barely resisting the urge to slam the door like a petulant teenager.
Bey is building a fire when I walk back into my bedroom.
She's wearing a pair of sweatpants and sports bra, the sight of her muscular, scarred back sends a flood of conflicting emotions through me: the lust I always feel at the sight of her; pain, at the thought of all she has gone through; and fear of what the guilt that I sometimes see etched on her face might do to her.
What it might do to us.
"Hey." She smiles as she straightens and slides the poker into the brass bin next to the fireplace. " You disappeared on me."
I swallow the lump in m throat. "I wanted you to sleep. I had a meeting with my grandmother."
A quizzical look crosses her face. "A meeting?"
I nod, wondering why I didn't tell Bey about the whole TT thing earlier.
I turn toward the bed.
"Aw," I say, glad for the distraction, "you even made the bed. What a good girlfriend you are."
I raise a seductive eyebrow at her as I flip back the covers and crawl in. "How about we mess it up again?"
I don't have to ask twice. Bey is across the room in a second and sliding in next to me.
She threads her fingers through mine and raises my arms above my head. Then she kisses me: long and slow and delicious.
"Maybe we should be a little quieter than we were last night," she quips. "I'm kinda surprised your grandma didn't send Micaiah and some of the ranch hands up here to drag me out to the barn for some country justice."
We laugh together for a minute and then fall silent.
Bey drags a finger over my lips and down my neck. I feel her erection against my hip.
But then she pulls back and studies me. "You okay?" she asks.
I nod, brushing her mouth with mine before pulling myself into a sitting position. "I need to talk to you."
The way her face freezes in dread has me rushing to explain. "No. It's nothing like that. It's about TT."
For the second time this morning, I spell out the whole shoplifting story, adding a little rant about my grandmother's refusal to help.
Unlike Virginia, though, Bey doesn't start lecturing me. Instead, she stares at the ceiling for a few moments without saying anything.
"Did not see that coming." she finally mutters, playing with a strand of my still-damp hair.
"You mean TT shoplifting or Virginia refusing to help?"
"TT. I'm not at all surprised Madame Ball Breaker wouldn't bail her out."
She grins as she sits up next to me. The old wooden headboard groans under our combined weight.
"Sorry. That's what my dad used to call her," Bey goes on. "He meant it as an insult. But I don't. She's a tough old bird. She's gotten to the top in an old boy's club. I admire that, even if she does hate my guts."
She sighs and runs her fingers through my hair.
"The thing is," she adds, "I think she's right on this, Nicki. She shouldn't make the charges go away. And TT shouldn't have asked you to fix it for her."
My phone buzzes from the nightstand while I'm still processing in Bey's response.
I stretch my hand out to check it.
A text from TT: Well??????????
"Shit," I say, showing the phone to Bey. "I don't know what to tell her."
"Tell her the truth. She's going to have to live with the consequences."
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I type out a response: She said no. I'm sorry. I'm still at the ranch, but let's talk on Sunday ok? We'll figure something out. It'll be ok.
I add several kissy face emojis. Then I erase them. Then I let my thumbs hover over the lines for several seconds, but before finally pressing Send.
TT doesn't respond.
Bey and I sit there in silence a while, holding hands and staring at the cracking fire.
I hear voices out in the hallway.
"Probably Micaiah and Megan," I scoff, pushing Bey down on her back and curling into her body, my head on her chest. "He was planning to take her on a drive around the ranch this morning."
"I can't get my head around it," I go on. "My brother and Megan? They have absolutely nothing in common."
Bey's chest vibrates with her laughter. "Yeah. That's another thing I did not see coming," she says. "But hey, to each his own."
She tilts my chin up and grins at me.
"Told you not to bring her," she smirks, then shuts off my protest by kissing me.
That quickly leads to more kissing and before I know it, Bey is tugging my hoodie and yoga pants off, and I'm helping her shuck her sweatpants.
I straddle her, enjoying the way her face goes slack with desire. She's focused entirely on me.
I slide on to her, both of us gasping at the same moment.
And then I take it slow, rocking back and forth, smiling as Bey's mouth forms an O and she says my name like I've just performed a miracle.
I could listen to her say it like that forever.
"Pretty sure this is my favorite position." I coo.
We go on like that for a few more moments, until Bey suddenly flips me over on my back and drives into me as I shriek.
"This position is very nice, too," she whisper, grinning wickedly.
Later, sated, she tightens her arms around me, inhaling the scent of my hair.
"I'm starving," she says. "How about we raid the kitchen for leftovers?"
I raise up an elbow. "Do you know how to ride?"
"You mean, a horse?" she responds, looking a little surprised at my abrupt change of topic.
"Yeah, I took lessons in middle school. Matthew seemed to think it was necessary."
"Will you come riding with me after we eat?" I continue, getting out of bed and reaching for my hoodie. "There's something I want to show you."
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Thanks for reading!! I'll try to upload more chapter.