Page 19 of Embers of You (Amity #1)

Sutton

It takes another several days of Jameson texting me at least once a day for me to give in to seeing him again. I only agree because I feel like I’ve managed to get my mind somewhat in order and I can handle seeing him in a completely platonic way, in a completely platonic setting.

Our dogs are hanging out and running around on his property, that’s it.

I almost canceled because the weather looked questionable.

I knew moving to Washington there would be a significant amount of rain, but in the summer, it doesn’t seem to rain as much as it’s supposed to in the winter.

However, today it seems that may change and I’m on the verge of experiencing some classic Pacific Northwest rainfall.

The reason I don’t cancel is because of the single text I see when I pick up my phone.

Jameson: I can’t wait to see you.

I don’t reply, instead I get dressed in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt debating if I should bring a hoodie as well but even if it rains it’s not going to be cold enough, so I go without.

Bennet and I load up in my Jeep and drive over to Jameson’s property. I guess it’s really his parent’s property, but he lives there so it counts as his to me.

I’m just as nervous driving along the unpaved ground as I was last time.

Actually, maybe even more so. When I get to the barn, I park in the same spot I did before, but I’m instantly distracted by Jameson riding the same brown horse he rode at the rodeo.

What he’s doing right now looks leisurely compared to the racing.

Bennet jumps out of my car, immediately seeking out Duke who just exited the barn. I watch them act like old friends as they start to play.

“Hey,” Jameson greets cheerfully, bringing the horse to a stop.

I step up to the railing of the arena, leaning against it. “What’re you doing?”

“Working out Jasper. I can be done, though.”

“No,” I shout, and he stops from dismounting. “I want to watch.”

“Like watching me ride a horse?” He smirks, and I roll my eyes. “Would you like to join me?”

“Uh, no.”

“Come on, you can ride Juniper. She’s sweet.”

I scrunch my nose. “She may be until she bucks me off.”

He barks out a loud laugh. “She wouldn’t. I won’t let her.”

His words make my stomach swoop, and it feels like everything he says lately is making me feel this way. The fear continues to linger, but I focus on a distraction so I don’t completely lose my mind.

“We’ll see. Now, show me what I want to see,” I taunt.

“Tell me what you want to see, and I’ll show you anything.”

I hide my smile behind my hand resting on the railing. He doesn’t wait for my response before he starts riding around the arena. He does a couple slower laps, then goes a little faster before stopping on one end. The anticipation rises within me as I wait to see what he’s going to do next.

Then he’s off, just like at the rodeo, he’s racing around the barrels so fast it makes my heart race. He turns, and again I worry about him falling off when he takes the turns. I don’t even notice I’m holding my breath until he guides the horse to a stop, and I let out a sigh of relief.

“How was that? What you were wanting?” he asks with a wide smile that makes me weak.

Add in the backwards cap on his head, and the way his shirt is gripping his biceps and it’s a good thing there’s so much space between us because I’m worried how I would react if I had the ability to touch him right now.

“Yeah, it’ll do.” I shrug, sliding my hands off the railing, and turn to go find our dogs, only to create some distance between us and get myself together.

I’m walking through the hallway of the barn when I hear the clicking of hooves on the cement, and see Jameson is tying the horse up to take off the saddle.

“What’s his name?” I ask, daring to approach.

“Jasper, but he’s not mine. I’m helping my mom with him while his real owner is at summer camp.”

“That’s nice of you. Does she know you’re working him to the bone?” I joke.

He laughs, it’s deep and throaty and sends a pang of electricity through me that has my legs feeling weak. Everything he does continues to pull me in.

“Of course she knows. That’s why Ma asked me to help. He needs to stay in top shape for when Summer gets back.”

Of course he’s not only sweet. He’s helpful and thoughtful for seemingly everyone. If the man in front of me could stop being so perfect, that would be extremely helpful.

He takes everything off Jasper, leading him into his stall and after brushing him down, gives him some extra food and a couple treats.

“Where’d our dogs go?” he asks lightly.

“Oh.” I hesitate looking around because I’m just now realizing how distracted I was by him, and I never ended up finding the two canines I was looking out for. “I don’t know.”

“We can go look for them. Duke doesn’t go far, I’m sure they’re close by,” he reassures, leading me out of the barn. “You can see a bit more of the property while we look for them.”

“This seems like a trap.”

“You caught me, this was my plan all along.” He winks, and I turn away to hide my smile.

We walk away from the main house and barn, further onto the property, and I’m starting to wonder if the dogs actually went to the house, and Jameson is just trying to get me alone. The thought should have my defenses rising, but all I can think is that I don’t mind it at all.

That is until he asks the dreaded question.

“What brought you to Amity?”

I sigh. “A story you’d never even believe.”

“Try me.”

“Would you believe it was just because I wanted to?”

“Not at all.” He chuckles.

“Why?”

“No one moves here. People leave here. This is the place you run from, not run to.”

“Why are you still here then? Shouldn’t you have run?”

He raises an eyebrow at me, clearly recognizing the deflection that this is. Luckily for me, he goes along with the diversion.

“I did.” He tucks his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “I moved to Florida for a while, ten years to be exact. I just came back recently.”

“Why Florida?” My immediate thought is that he’s going to say a girl, and the thought has my hackles rising. I have no reason to be jealous of some other woman, yet that’s exactly what I’m feeling before he’s even had a chance to answer.

“It’s the complete opposite of this place. I wanted to experience city life and warm weather. I wanted a change.”

“And you enjoyed it?”

He nods. “I did.”

“Why’d you come back?”

He hesitates, looking straight ahead and I feel like this is the first time I’ve seen him not have a hint of playfulness in his eyes. The lightness he always seems to carry dims at my question, and it reminds me of my reaction when he asked me.

Knowing we both have something that brought us here that we don’t necessarily want to talk about makes me want to reach out and touch his arm. Reassure him that he doesn’t need to tell me.

Before I’m able to do anything, the sky opens up and suddenly it’s dumping rain. I squeal at the sudden flood falling on us. Jameson doesn’t waste any time grabbing my hand without even thinking about it and pulling me behind him as we jog somewhere.

I hardly pay any attention to where we’re going, more focused on not slipping and falling on the suddenly slick ground. He pulls me inside, and I look down at my drenched clothes, my hair is dripping onto the wood floor, and every piece of fabric is sticking to my skin.

“Let me get you a towel,” he mumbles, rushing off. I look around and notice we’re in a small house I didn’t notice before.

It’s simple with a couch that looks unbelievably comfortable, like I could simply sink into it. There’s a TV and a large dog bed in the corner.

Jameson comes out with a towel, wrapping it around me instead of just draping it over my shoulders.

“Now I know this was a part of your plan,” I tease him, and he smiles. The lightness is back in his features, and it makes me curious what he didn’t want to tell me. But I would much rather see him look at me like this than how he was before.

“You caught me. I planned the rain. I’m really close with Zeus and he knows exactly when I need the weather changed.”

I can’t help the loud laugh I let out. “Is Zeus in charge of the weather?”

“To me he is.”

I laugh even more, tightening the towel around me.

“I really like your laugh,” he says, taking me off guard slightly. I look at him, and the way he’s looking at me is full of something I can’t quite place. Adoration, maybe. Whatever it is, I don’t want him to stop.

I shift on my feet. “I like when you make me laugh.”

“You’re still cold. Do you want to borrow some clothes?” he offers, and I look him over before looking down at myself.

“I’m going to say something you may not have noticed, but we aren’t even close to the same size.”

“You’re right, I haven’t noticed that. Here I was thinking we could share closets with each other.”

That earns him another laugh from me, I cover my mouth with my hand wrapped in the towel.

“Please, let me lend you something so we can dry your clothes. You can’t go home soaking wet.”

A surge of panic runs through me, mentioning being soaking wet. “Oh my God, we need to find the dogs; they can’t be stuck out there in this.” I’m about to bolt out of this house, but he stops me, stepping in front of me.

“Hey, it’s okay. They’re up at my parent’s house, Ma texted to let me know.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Was that before or after we were searching for them?”

He gives a wry look. “Possibly during. Though, I didn’t see it until we came back here.”

I want to give him shit for that, but I can’t bring myself to do it. Instead, I accept the change of clothes he offers because the chill has now seeped into my bones, and I’m worried I’m about to start shaking like a little chihuahua.

He leaves me alone in the bathroom to change into his clothes that are drowning me, but the large T-shirt and boxers surround me in his clean, pine scent. So, I take an extra second to enjoy the feeling of it.