I wake up and can’t help but smile. I haven’t even opened my eyes, but I’m happier than I’ve been in a long time. I stretch, and that’s when I feel another body next to me. I freeze. Everything rushes back to me from last night.
Hunter.
I slowly open my eyes to look over at him, only to find him resting on one arm, looking down at me.
“Good morning, beautiful,” he says softly.
I can’t help but blush; I’m sure I look a mess.
“That was the best night and the best sleep of my life,” he whispers then leans in to lightly kiss my neck. My nipples harden, and I can’t stop the moan. It feels so good.
I feel him smile against my neck, but he says nothing, just wraps his arm around my stomach.
“Ready to go mudding? It rained last night, so it will be a blast.” He pulls away to look me in the eye.
I’m trying to process how I feel about last night and waking up in Hunter’s bed. His bed, that’s right next door to mine now.
I wait for the panic over the thought of losing my best friend, but it doesn’t come. This all feels right. I want this, but the thought of losing him is still in the back of my head. I don’t think I could survive losing him, but I want to see where this goes.
I couldn’t believe it last night when he admitted to being a virgin too. I guess it makes sense being he hasn’t dated and all, but I never thought about it. It may be weird, but I think that’s what calms me. He’s as inexperienced at all this as I am.
I take a deep breath. “Let’s go mudding.”
We get up and get ready, fighting over bathroom usage just like we always would. Nothing seems to have changed, and it’s a relief.
While I grab breakfast for us, he loads up the four-wheeler on the trailer, and we head out, eating in his truck on the way. It’s been a while since we’ve been mudding. It’s always been a fun way for us to relax and de-stress together.
The rainstorm last night brought in some cooler weather today, so I’m in jeans and a sweatshirt. Hunter is in jeans and a long-sleeve gray and black raglan shirt, one of my favorite styles on him. He catches me looking at him and smiles.
“What?” he asks.
I shake my head. “I’m just liking this, is all.”
He smiles back and reaches out to grab my hand. “Me too.”
We get down to the mud hole, and Hunter gets the four-wheeler off the trailer while I check out the mud hole. It looks like it’ll be a lot of fun today.
“Ready?” Hunter calls.
I grab two baseball caps out of his truck, not that it will be much help saving our hair, but it’s a small tradition we’ve always done.
Hunter drives first, so I hop on behind him and hold on tight. I think Hunter is a little more careful when I ride with him; he worries about me, but we still have a blast. He’s good at hitting a puddle just right to make it spray everywhere.
After about ten minutes, another truck pulls up, and out comes Blaze and Riley. We stop to greet them.
“Hey guys,” Blaze calls, “Looks like we had the same idea.”
“Come on in. It’s perfect today!” I call back.
“Would you believe Riley has never been mudding?” Blaze calls back, talking about his new wife. I can see the love in their eyes when they look at each other, and I can’t help but smile. “We’re here to take it easy, precious cargo and all.”
Blaze rubs Riley’s stomach as they stare at each other. They announced at their wedding reception that they’re expecting, and the family is so excited.
“Well, you should call Sage and Colt, give her the full experience,” I say.
“They’re already on their way,” Riley says just as Colt’s truck appears around the corner.
They unload their four-wheeler while Blaze and Hunter talk for a minute.
“Hold on!” Hunter calls back to me, and I laugh as he circles the pit again, spraying mud across the four of them, making Riley squeal. Sage and the guys laugh.
I’m laughing so hard, I bury my head into Hunter’s back to prevent mud from getting in my mouth. We have all learned the hard way; while the mud is good to play in, it kind of sucks in the taste department.
Sage and Colt join us in the mud, and it looks like Blaze and Riley are watching for a bit. We can’t have that.
I lean over to Hunter’s ear. “Spray ‘em!” I watch a huge smile cross his face. On the next pass, he gets Blaze and Riley good, but I have to give points to Blaze for stepping in front of Riley and taking the brunt of it.
Moments later, they’re on their four-wheeler and joining us in the pit. They are running circles much slower than the rest of us but still spraying up mud, yelling and laughing, and having a good old time. When we all finally stop to take a break, we’re covered in mud.
I hop down and head over to Riley.
“What do you think?”
“OMG, I’ve never had so much fun getting so dirty!”
“That’s what she said!” Sage yells, and we all bust out laughing while a light flush coats Riley’s cheeks.
“You ready to drive? It’s the girls’ turn now!” I say.
She has a huge smile on her face. “Let’s do this!”
I walk back over to Hunter, and he has a huge smile on his face too. “Ready?”
“Always,” he says as I climb in front of him. He wraps his arms around me and scoots so his front is pressed against my back, which instantly scrambles my brain. Sage and Colt head out first as I take a deep breath and try to unscramble my thoughts.
“You okay, Megs?” Hunter leans in and whispers against my ear. His hot breath doesn’t help matters much but when a spray of cold mud hits us, it’s all I need to snap back into action.
“Let’s do this!” I say as I take off and chase after Sage with Riley behind us taking it a bit slower. Sage gains some speed then starts doing donuts, sending mud flying everywhere. I get a few good spins in, hitting Sage and Colt before Riley seems to loosen up and get a few on us as well.
By the time, we stop again. We’re all smiling and laughing. I jump off and head over to Riley and hug her.
“So, still having fun?”
“Are you kidding? I love it! I can’t believe I haven’t tried it before now!”
“Good, it’s a great way to de-stress around here.”
I hear Sage and Colt arguing, so I turn to face them.
“You aren’t tracking that mud up to the bathroom, Colt!”
“But the rain shower will clean me off better.”
“Just no! We all shower at the barn. It’s why we leave a set of clothes there. Once you’re clean, you can use the shower.”
“She’s right, you know!” I yell. “Always been. We clean up at the barn. No mud in the house; she and I have to clean it!”
“Me too now!” Riley interjects and smiles at me.
The men all laugh, and I see Hunter watching me. I walk back over to him.
“You don’t have plans of trying to track mud into the house, do you?”
“No, ma’am. I wouldn’t dream of it.” But he still has a smile on his face and even with all the mud, he still looks as handsome as ever.
I stalk a little bit closer until I’m close enough, I could reach out and touch him.
“You sure about that? You have that evil look in your eye.”
He laughs and reaches out to grab my waist and pulls me in closer.
“I wouldn’t dream of making more work for you.” He pulls me in as far as he can.
“Is that right?” I say, stepping up on the side of the four-wheeler like I’m going to climb on, but I put my knee on the seat in front of him and put both hands on his shoulders.
He doesn’t take his eyes off me. He just tilts his head up to look at me, and I stare down at him. Before I lose my nerve, I lean down and kiss him. I feel one hand move to my leg that’s resting on the seat in front of him, and his other hand lands on my waist.
He doesn’t pull me in, just holds me steady while he leans in and kisses me back. We hear a few loud whistles, and my brothers call out.
“No PDA! Mudhole rules!” Blaze yells.
“Leave them alone!” I hear Sage yell.
“Make me!” Blaze yells right before I see Sage haul off and throw mud at him, making Riley squeal.
I look back at Hunter, with smiles on our faces.
“Want to get out of here?” he asks.
“Yes, you load up. I’ll set up the towels in the truck.”
A few minutes later we’re back at the barn and the first ones to change and hose ourselves and the four-wheeler off before running back into the house.
After we shower, we both collapse onto the couch.
“Oh, I’m so tired now!” I say and lay my head against the back of the couch.
Hunter sits and pulls my legs onto his lap.
“Me too. I’m thinking we grab lunch then we go upstairs, watch some TV, and nap. Then you can do some studying. I can quiz you and have a study night.”
I smile. “Deal, my room or yours?”