Page 3 of Sexy Cowboy
As he reaches me he lifts his hat and holds it up to shade my face from the sun. A hand on my elbow he guides me over to the shade of a tree.
“Are you okay?”
I nod. Fuck, this is crazy. Two minutes ago I was ready to run out of here and now I’m telling him I’m all good. But I do feel better as I take a swig of the cold water he hands me. With Levi standing next to me, a caring look in his blue eyes, all his attention on me, I do feel better. Stronger. Not as lost in the crowd as I felt a moment ago.
Stevie comes over and gives Levi a friendly shove. “Hey ya, Mabel, good to see you here. Hope you guys do well.”
“Thanks, Stevie.” My voice sounds shy and small, even to me.
As Levi waves off his sister, he asks me, “Have you done the treasure hunt before?”
“No. I’m not like your sister. I’m not really into all the town events.”
“You won an award just yesterday! I also won sexiest cowboy, since you haven’t asked yet.”
I scoff. “I figured.” He raises an eyebrow. Damn. “I don’t mean thatIfind you sexy just that you are quantifiably sexy. You have all those muscles and you meet the modern expectations for good looks. I mean, your face has good symmetry.” I trail off feeling no less embarrassed from when I started talking.
When I start my nervous chatter most people tend to zone out or just nod with a look of sympathy. I’m always left feeling like a fool.
Levi smiled his charming Cowboy smile. Popped his hat on my head and bopped the tip of my nose with his fingertip. “Come on, cutie, let's get this treasure hunt started.”
For a moment I stand there with my mouth gapping open, with this giddy feeling and my stomach doing little flips. Damn, he is a sexy cowboy.
Chapter 4
Mabel
From the moment we set off I could see that Levi was in his element. The first challenge was to put together a wheel barrow and Levi had the thing half built while I was still unfolding the instructions. We had to fill the thing with potatoes and then wheel it through a little obstacle course to where we had to take turns throwing them at a target.
Each person in the pair had to hit the target once, each taking it in turns to throw. Levi hit it six times before I got mine but when I did he gave me a high five and a big grin. The next thing was the obstacle course. Levi cheered me on and helped me through it. It actually felt really good. A sense of accomplishment. And in all the things I’ve entered over the years, I’ve never had someone cheering me on. And so, when it was his turn, I joined in with the crowd. Jumping up and down, calling out encouragement.
Mr. Daniels the history professor. He is quite a bit older than me but we are good friends. I’m often borrowing books from him. He gave me a nod and a well done. And then later, when Mr. Daniels waved to me from across the town square.
“Is that the sort of guy you go for?”
“What? Old Mr. Daniels? He and I are just friends.”
“Okay, sure. He wasn’t looking at you like you’re just friends.”
There is a hint of jealousy in Levi’s voice, but I must be crazy. And sure, Mr. Daniels isn’t that much older than me, probably only a ten or fifteen years. Probably Levi thinks that is the only guy I could get. An older, quiet professor who like to read. It wouldn’t cross Levi’s mind that I might be attracted to a fucking sexy, hot cowboy my own age.
It’s not like Levi didn’t get his fair of attention. And when he winked at a group of girls and they went off giggling I felt myself feeling strangely jealous.
“Plain to see what sort of girls you like.”
“Just being friendly.” He says it with that damn smile of his. Well, he can be friendly with whomever he likes. I don’t care anyway.
I’ll just keep telling myself that.
And we were finally moving onto the clue part of the treasure hunt. The first being a puzzle that Levi and I sit down on the ground to complete.
“I may not be good at riding or flirting or know how to be popular, but this stuff I can do.” I say with a proud smile.
“Is that why you enter all those competitions?” He asks.
“What do you mean?”
“Are you trying to make up for not fitting in?”
