"Fuck." Rip shot up out of his sleep, shaking Maria slightly so she'd wake up. He looked around, taking in his surroundings. Trees, lake, sun. A sun that looked to be almost midway through the sky and was heating up the black plastic truck bed they were lying on. "Hey." He shook her leg a bit, watching as she moaned and groaned herself awake. He was very late to something very important.
"What?" She groaned, her eyes barely open a slit, but when she saw Rip and the fact they were not inside, her eyes widened and she sat up. She grabbed her head, feeling a head rush. "Ouch, too fast." She shut her eyes. "Fuck." She sighed. "I left my damn coat at the bar."
"God damn it." Rip muttered, gathering his belongings in search of his phone. Once he found it, he saw how worried everybody was, asking for his and Maria's whereabouts. "I had to take the boys up the mountain, we're moving cattle for the next week."
She couldn't remember falling asleep, she just remembered laughing and holding him under the stars all night. "Fuck." She mumbled. "Did we have sex?"
Rip furrowed his eyebrows, as if it was obvious. "No." He shook his head. "Why would that even cross your mind?"
"Oh okay, sorry." She shrugged, "Didn't know I was so damn revolting."
Rip glared at her, pausing his movement. "You'd been drinking." He said. "I'd been drinking." She hummed, but didn't respond. He continued pulling his boots on, hopping off of the truck bed after he did so.
He offered his hand so he could help her hop off but she jumped over the side, landing on her feet. He rolled his eyes, knowing everything was going to be back to normal because she was incapable of change.
He set his hat on his head, patting his pockets in search of his keys. "You comin'?"
"Apparently not." She mumbled, causing him to raise his eyebrows with a scowl on his lips. "I mean, yeah. Sure." She walked around, opening the passenger seat. He climbed in next to her, shutting the door behind him. "Are you going to call back and let them know we're okay?"
"No." He shook his head with his response. "We're about ten minutes down the road, they'll see us in a bit."
"Kay." She shrugged, crossing her legs with her feet on the dash. "Can I come with?"
"Where?" He fumbled with the radio, setting it on the news station.
"Your little cattle getaway trip."
"It's a weeks worth riding." He glanced at her then back at the road. "And you hate sleeping anywhere but that bed of yours."
"You don't think I can handle myself out there?"
"Nah, I know you can." He nodded, a teasing laugh escaping his mouth. "I'd hate to see you wrestle a bear." He snickered. "That poor bear."
She looked over at him with a small amused smile as they pulled into the ranch, everybody was waiting with their horses packed and an annoyed frown on their face. They were only about two hours late, but they were still late.
"I'm in trouble." She muttered under breath, noticing John watching the truck pull up with his hands on his hips.
She opened the door when the truck came to a stop. She kept her eyes down at her boots, she felt like a teenager who didn't come home on time.
"Do you have any idea how worried we were?" John scolded sternly with the infamous look of disappointment.
"I'm sorry." She apologized, wrapping her arms around him. "I had too much to drink and Rip took care of me."
"Sir I'm sorry I–"
"It was my fault." Maria stated, nodding at him to indicate she was okay with taking the blame. "He was just looking out for me." He smiled softly, and she returned it. "Won't happen again."
"Better not." John said. "We have to get going, Rip get your things and let's go."
"Yes sir. Maria, you go saddle your horse."
She turned, tilting her head to the side in confusion. "What? Why?"
"Get some things together and saddle your horse." He gestured to the barn with a nod of his head. "We have to get going. Sir, you lot take off and we'll meet you out there."
"Sounds good, you're on Maria duty." He pointed a strict finger at him. "Don't be too long."
He agreed. "We won't, twenty minutes. Start moving, Maria."
Maria began shuffling her feet in the direction of the house to pack essentials and such. She scrambled around making sure she had everything she needed and when she walked into the barn an hour later, everybody was long gone and Rip stood next to the horses with an impatient scowl on his face and a thin toothpick in between his teeth. "Didn't I say twenty minutes?"
"I had to take my last shower for the next week." She shrugged her shoulders. "Fucking sue me."
He took her bag, strapping it to her now saddled horse. "Thanks by the way."
"For?" She played with the horses hair obliviously. "You look handsome, Blue Jeans."
Rip smiled at her without her noticing, then began to speak again. "Taking the blame. You didn't have to do that."
"I enjoyed spending time with you." She said. "I didn't want you to get in trouble and end up regretting it."
He watched as she adjusted her hat to where it shaded her face, so she could hide her rosy cheeks. "I don't think I could ever regret anything I do with you." He chewed nervously on the toothpick in his mouth. She simpered, feeling pleased that he didn't regret the night they spent together. "He's all yours."
"Thank you." She stuck her boot into the stirrup, swinging her other leg smoothly over the horse and fixed herself to her comfort. "You ready, big boy?" She asked Blue jeans, adjusting the reins to where they loosely sat in front of her saddle. "You take care of me, I'll take care of you."
She gently tugged, the horse began to move in the direction she led him, toward the pasture. Softly, she pressed her heels against him, causing him to begin to trot before he was full on gallaping into the pasture. When she felt him grow tired she slowed him down, that's when she heard Rip catching up.
"I noticed." She began. "You never took me for a ride. There was always something in the way."
"What?" He questioned, confused.
"Ten years ago." She said. "Every time you said you would ride with me, you never did."
"We had a lot of unfinished business." He added. "A lot."
His words and the look he gave her as he spoke caused a lot of memories to resurface. He was so young and charming then, now he's so grown and mature. She felt intimidated by the man he had become, so strong and sexy. She bit her lip, looking elsewhere.
"Do you remember?" He asked as they got to a comfortable speed where they could ride it out for the next hour or two.
She leaned back, setting her hands on the back of her saddle. She trusted Blue Jeans with everything she had, in order to prove that to him, she had to give him the freedom to show her she could. She thought about ignoring the question. But then the lonely ride would be awkward after that and he could possibly begin to think she was regretting last night. So she answered. "Yeah."
He looked over at her, his hands set on the horn of his saddle. "Yeah?"
She nodded her head, squinting the sun out of her eyes. "Yep." He let out an enviable chuckle, that caused her to look over, her cheeks flushing a rosy pink color. "What?"
"You're blushing."
"It's fuckin' hot." She tilted her hat forward again, doing the shade trick she did time and time again. "It's the sun. I'm sweating." She crossed her arms now, looking away and into the pasture.
"Alright." He shifted in his saddle, clearing his throat softly.
"You wanna fuck me in this pasture?" She leaned forward now, her forearms crossed over the horn whilst she raised her eyebrows at him.
His face portrayed just how shocked he was. "What?"
"Didn't think so." She put pressure on her horse, speeding up a few feet in front of him. "See you later, Rip."