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10
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Girl I gotta tip my hat
Never thought a country song would make you move like that, yeah
And she's doing it in daisy dukes
Girl she's got ya tappin' on a boys shoulder
Hey dog check this out
Man, it's how them girls do it in the dirty south, yeah
She'll have you on your knee, "Can I marry you?"
-Bottoms Up, Brantley Gilbert
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Sam sighed and fell backwards into a pile of clean hay. He'd just finished mucking stalls. One of his least favorite jobs on the ranch if you were to ask his opinion. Paul and Jared followed his lead and plopped down beside him. They'd been harassing him all week long about having a bonfire in the back pastures. Thus far he'd avoided giving them an answer. There was too much to be done and he was always tired at the end of the day. Those excuses had grown old though. Blood related or not, Paul and Jared were his family and at times he wished he was an only child- in passing of course.
"So… Sam… we're all free this weekend.." Paul hinted.
Jared shook his head. "Paul.. Come on dude… I mean the only way Sam would agree to help us out is if Bella came… and lately she's been throwing herself into work at the library. Ever since they nearly kissed in the pond."
Sam grinned in remembrance. He'd come up behind her in the water and brushed his hand against the skin of her waist causing her to gasp. She'd thought for a second it was Quil or Embry only to grin when she saw him surface in front of her. They'd been lost in their own little world treading water in a shaded part of the pond. The distance had gotten shorter and if Leah hadn't called his name to come and eat, he would have kissed her.
He was brought from his thoughts by his phone ringing. "Hello?"
"Sam… you busy?"
He rolled his eyes. "Hi to you too, Jake."
"Embry said you might be throwing a party this weekend in the back pastures…"
Sam glared at Paul who pretended to look innocent. "I guess I am… why?"
"I was gonna see if you wanted to invite Bella or if I should just kidnap her for the night." Jacob teased.
"Not you too… I swear… since when are you all so vested in my love life?" He sighed.
"Since you two won't say anything." Jacob quipped before hissing in pain.
"You good?"
"I can't wait for these damn stitches to come out, I pulled my arm the wrong way. !" He huffed.
Sam snorted. "Have they sentenced him yet?" The past weekend at the pond was the first time he'd seen Jacob since before he'd been stabbed. At least it felt that way. He'd been busy with work on the ranch too and hadn't seen anyone save for Paul and Jared.
"With my dad as a lawyer, you kidding me? They slammed the gavel down as soon as they could. James got 15 years for assault and battery with a deadly weapon with the possibility of parole after 10." Sam could hear the grin in his voice.
"Poor sap." He mused.
Paul raised an eyebrow in question. He was too curious for his own good sometimes. Sam only rolled his own eyes and shook his head. He'd tell them eventually. For now, he'd keep both Paul and Jared in the dark. Call it a form of payback. Denying the gossip-mongers their details was sweet revenge indeed to him.
"So are you gonna go visit Bella and talk to her about this weekend then?" Jacob wondered.
"Do I have a choice?"
"Nope… either you talk to her or I do… and… well… are you sure you want me filling her head with all the stuff you've gotten into at parties in your back pasture?" Jacob teased.
Sam narrowed his eyes. "You can't see it, but I'm glaring. How did you even… you know what… never mind. I'll maim Embry later when I see him. What time does she get off today?"
"A couple hours. You finished with work?"
"Yeah.. Don't need to do much else today. Stalls get mucked then mom gives us the day off… dirty work and all I guess."
Jacob chuckled. "Mhm… mucking stalls… so fun."
Sam rolled his eyes. "Bye Jacob."
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Sam sat watching the barn floor from his place in the loft. Friday had finally come and luckily, his parents had been invited to Harry Clearwater's house for some get together. It left the house to him, Paul and Jared for the night but just to be on the safe side, they'd moved to the old barn further away from the house. The insides had been gutted and it was now used to store equipment not being used. It hadn't taken Jared, Paul or Sam long to clear it out, leaving the barn itself open and easy to fill with people..
Jared's head poked up from the hole in the floor next to him. "Thought I might find you up here."
"What do you want now?" Sam teased.
He snorted. "Bella is down there. She came in when you started to climb the ladder."
"I know… I saw her."
Jared huffed. "Do we need to knock your heads together? You know she asked where you were…. Come on, she wants to see you. Get your big ass moving man!"
Sam shot him a glare before standing. "Alright! Damn. I'm coming."
Paul met them as soon as they got off the ladder and nodded his head to the corner farthest from them. Bella stood in a crimson red halter top and a pair of low rise denim jean cut off shorts with a pair of black snake skin boots on her feet. She wore a tan straw hat on her head and a smile on her face. Sam swallowed and tried to readjust himself without her noticing. Paul and Jared only laughed.
"Hey, Bella! Look who we found!"
Bella grinned and moved closer to Sam, trying to tell the man hitting on her with her actions she wasn't interested without using words to do it. "Sam! Hey! Where did you run off to hide?"
He shrugged. "I was up in the loft. Too many idiots down here."
"Should I take offense to that?" She teased.
His eyes went wide. "NO! No I didn't mean you! No, of course not!"
Her giggles cut off his stutters of apology. "It's fine! Sam… It was a joke!"
"That wasn't funny, Bella." He grinned.
Her shoulders shrugged before she grabbed his hand. "Can I make it up to you?" She asked when they were far enough away from Jacob's friend.
"Not a friend of his?"
She snorted. "Hell no! Eric doesn't know the meaning of personal space after he's had a few drinks. Sorry if I used you as a body guard."
"Hush." He purred, his lips close to her ear. "I don't mind."
Bella turned to find him invading her personal space. Were it anyone else, he would have been shoved back. Instead, she wrapped her arms around his neck and started to dance against him. It didn't take long for her to feel exactly what she did to his body. She should have been nervous. She should have moved back. Instead she moved closer- if it was possible.
Sam's breath came out in heavy pants against the skin of her neck as she moved closer. His hands moved down her back to rest on her hips and fuse their bodies together as they danced. She tempted him in the worst of ways. And she wasn't doing anything more than sharing a dance.
"Bella…"
She took it for what it was, a whispered name, pleading for something… she didn't know exactly what, but she knew it meant something.
"Sam?"
He leaned down, closer to her lips, barely brushing against them. She could smell the beer he'd snuck from his dad's cabinet and found it excited her more than it should. They moved closer, mouths inching forward to seal their kiss- all she had to do was-
"Hey! There you two are!"
Sam sighed and pulled his head back, disappointment and annoyance written in his eyes. "What's up Quil?"
"Did I interrupt something?" He asked in clear confusion.
Sam sighed and shook his head. "No… nothing life threatening. What's wrong?"
"Hn… Eric's looking for Bella. Said some tall dude took her away from him. He has Jake all kinds of worried that someone stole you out of here or something." Quil muttered.
"Oh for the love of- ohh! Remind me to knee Eric where it counts!" She huffed. She missed the wince shared by both Sam and Quil at her vehement threat of violence as she stalked off muttering under her breath.
Quil sighed. "You were about to kiss here weren't you." He stated with a small grin.
"Not now…" Sam sighed.
Quil only patted him on the shoulder. He let him know with that one gesture that he was on his side and would help him if he could. He wanted to see Bella happy, and Sam made her happy… she just had to get it around her head that he was more than a friend. Any of them could see it- why not her and Sam?