Page 46 of Spurred On

We walk in the doors and are greeted with the smell of garlic and basil. The kitchen bar is surrounded by its usual people. I always love walking into this house because the first thing you hear is laughter.

“Hey guys! We’re glad you made it,” Mabel greets us as she waves from the kitchen, busy whipping up dinner at the stove.

“Thanks for having us,” Ava responds as she slips off her shoes. She’s really warmed up to Mabel, but she has a way of making everyone feel welcome. Don’t get me wrong, she’ll beat your ass if you step out and need corrected. Plus, you have to be one strong woman to be married to Jack for so long.

“I see you got a little lady with you,” Tommy, our new farrier, says as he walks toward us. He’s almost as tall as I am but a little leaner. He took over for his dad when he retired last year. I haven’t quite warmed up to him like the others have.

“Yeah, I do, this is my—uh—my…” I struggle to find what to call her. We’ve decided we're together, but introducing her as my girlfriend feels wrong—not quite enough—which causes a whole other round of thoughts to barrel through me. What would she say to that? If I told her I was all in?

“Hi, I’m Ava.” She puts her small hand out to shake Tommy’s. He gives her a strong shake and looks over to me with eyebrows raised.

“This is Maverick’s new wife,” Weston says, all too happy to butt in. If I could deck him right now, I would. He somehow always knows when I’m having inner turmoil and relishes bringing it to everyone else’s attention.

“Oh! I didn’t even know you were seeing anyone,” Tommy says as his eyes bounce from Ava to me, the look of disappointment a little too obvious on his face.

“Uh, what can I say? When you know, you know.” I look over to Ava and realize those words are one hundred percent true.

I do know.

I’ve never met someone like her who works as hard as she does. Most girls I’ve met have known my name and always expected something, but she’s the opposite.

She refuses my help even when I wish she wouldn’t. She wants to work for everything she’s got, and I respect that more than I can say.

I get her, and she gets me.

The scars on her soul look really similar to mine. I guess they were right when they said like calls to like. You wouldn’t get that from looking at us, but I guess that’s what I love most.

That I am the only one who knows that dark little corner of her and I like even more that she’s let me in there. That’s a privilege I never plan to take for granted.

“Yup,” Ava says, the edges of her lips curving up into a smile, showing off her perfect full lips as she tries to hide the smile begging to pop out.

“Well, I am happy for you. It looks like you married up,” he appraises her, eyeing her up and down, his eyes lingering a little too long.

“Sure did.” I’m not sure if I need to tell him to stop eyeballing my wife like that. He has about one more second of staring at her before eating his own balls for dinner.

My hand slips around her waist, giving him a gentle reminder that she’s mine. This woman has turned me into a fucking caveman.

He seems to notice the gesture and smiles warmly at both of us before turning back and walking to the center island.

“Do you also need to pee on me?” She cocks her eyebrow up at me.

I can’t help but laugh as I lean over and kiss her cheek, whispering in her ear, “Well, if you wouldn’t have left me all wound up, I would have already marked my territory. My cum would’ve been dripping out of you as we speak.”

“Jesus, Mav.” A blush rises up from her exposed chest all the way to her cheeks. Pulling her closer, I kiss her cheek once more for good measure. When I lift my head, I see everyone in the kitchen staring at us—big ol’ smiles on all their faces.

“I think I can speak for the group that we’re glad you two wised up and noticed how good you are for each other,” Mabel says. “Now, for the rest of you, head to the table. Rhett and West, can you help me out?” They both nod and push off the granite counter.

I’m used to all eyes on me, so I laugh it off, but Ava tucks her head, hiding her blush. My hand finds her lower back as I guide her to the right and head straight for the large table. On an average night, thereare a lot of us. But with the addition of Tommy, the table is packed to the brim.

“So, Ava, are you from this area?” Tommy asks from across the table.

“No, I actually was born and raised about two hours from here.” She takes a sip of her wine, and my hand instinctively lands on her thigh. Following the stitching pattern on her inner thigh, my hand moves higher and higher. She squeezes her thighs, trapping my hand between them, which is fine with me.

“She’s adjusted to ranch life like a pro,” Weston says, tipping back in his chair. I wasn’t sure how she’d like it out here, but if you didn’t know better, you’d have thought she was born into it.

“I don’t know about that, but I do love it out here. It’s much more peaceful than being in town.”

“And she’s made some great friends. Tell them about your best friend, Betty,” I joke with her. She’s still way too attached to some of our cows. Now we’ll never be able to sell them because they’re her pasture puppies.

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