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honeypiehotchner · 2 years

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Gravedigger’s Daughter (Hangman x Fem!Reader) -- part one

Holy shit I think I might be slowly coming out of my writing slump. Here’s the beginning of this mini-series about this fine ass man🤪 (Yes there will be smut later on)

Summary: You’re finally back in Fightertown to visit Penny and Amelia, but there also happens to be a group of aviators back at Top Gun. One of which who seems dead-set on wooing you.

WC: 3,996

Warnings: none, I think, unless you count Hangman’s shameless flirting

When Penny told you to come home, back to Fightertown, you should’ve known she had ulterior motives.

But what did you do? You drove down for the weekend anyway.

You’re currently living in the heart of San Diego, so you aren’t too far from Fightertown. You grew up there, but after your dad died, you and your mom had to move somewhere else. It hurt a little too much to be there right after the accident, but you never could move far.

Your mom passed away last year from a cancer that the doctors had found three years prior, just a few weeks after your dad’s death. The punches kept coming that year.

Now, you’re coasting. There isn’t much that a person can do when they’re in their twenties and have already lost their parents. Life feels…different without your mom.

Penny has been trying every second she can to get you to come visit, but you’ve had a litany of excuses. Until today.

The Hard Deck doesn’t open to the public for a few hours, but you walk right in, sneaking up on Amelia who does her homework at the bar.

“Boo.”

“Aunt Y/N!” Amelia knows your tricks too well. She spins and throws her arms around your neck, hugging you tightly. This embrace alone is enough to tell you that it’s been too long.

“Hey kiddo,” you murmur. “I’ve missed you.” You hug her back just as tight, shaking her a little.

“I’ve missed you too!” Amelia pauses, looking over your shoulder before whispering, “Guess who’s here.”

“Who?”

“Maverick,” Amelia says. “He’s outside with Mom.”

“What?” you nearly shriek, whirling around to look down at the beach. Holy shit. “What the hell is he doing here?”

“I have no idea,” Amelia shrugs. “But they’ve been talking for a while. Do you think they’ll get back together?”

Penny has no idea that Amelia knows about her and Maverick. You told Amelia it’s best to keep it a secret between you two that she knows. Penny will say something when she’s ready. Maybe.

But the idea of them getting back together? You scoff. “He’s gotta wait for Hell to freeze over first,” you chuckle. “Let’s go save her, shall we?”

Amelia grins. “Race you.” And she takes off.

“Oh shit.” You bolt after her, nowhere near as fast as you used to be, and Amelia seems to have just gotten faster.

“Mom!” Amelia shouts as she darts across the sand. You jump off the deck and roll, popping up on your feet. “Look who I found!”

“When did you get so fast?” you yell, loving the bewildered looks you get from Penny and Maverick. You clearly interrupted something, but you’re not sure yet if it’s a good thing.

“When did you get so slow?” Amelia fires back, her hands resting on her hips.

“You’re lucky you’re my niece,” you laugh. “Hey Pen.” You wrap your arms around her, squeezing tightly.

“I’m glad you could make it,” Penny says softly. She glances awkwardly at Maverick. “Uhm, you remember--”

“I can’t believe it,” Mav says. “What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same,” you reply. “You get into trouble again?”

He laughs. “Yeah, something like that. What about you?”

“Just missed these two,” you say truthfully, pulling Penny and Amelia into you by your arms. “You missed Penny, I’m presuming-- Ow!” An elbow to the ribs shuts you up real quick.

Maverick answers anyway. “I did. I really did.”

“Gross,” Amelia comments, wiggling out from your arm. “Can we get ice cream?”

“Have you had dinner?” Penny interjects.

“We can get dinner and ice cream,” you offer. “My treat. That okay?”

“Of course,” Penny nods. “You should come back to the bar later.”

“Alright,” you say, a little skeptical. She never outright asks like that unless she wants or needs you to be there. “I’ll put this rascal to bed and then head over.”

“You don’t need to tuck me in,” Amelia groans.

“Yeah, yeah,” you ruffle her hair. “Race you.” And you take off, hearing Penny and Maverick laughing as you and Amelia kick up sand.

+++

Amelia spills everything over dinner and ice cream, catching you up with lightning speed.

Her dad (the Jackass, as you call him when Penny talks to you about him) has a new wife now, all cozy in his stupid Hawaiian home. You’ve never rolled your eyes so hard.

School is as boring as ever, but she’s managing. High school is new and weird but she has friends and seems to be doing okay. It’s hard not to when Fightertown is so close knit.

Too close knit. That’s part of why you and your mom had to move.

Amelia says Penny is still hung up on Maverick. “I’m not dumb,” Amelia says. “I can tell.” And that makes you laugh. Nothing gets past this kid. Granted, Penny and Maverick are painfully obvious about their feelings.

Speaking of that, when Amelia asks how you are, she follows it up with “And don’t say ‘good’ because you look rough.”

“Wow,” you chuckle, licking the ice cream off your spoon. “Thanks, Amelia.”

“Sorry,” she grimaces. “Mom says I don’t have a filter.”

“It’s okay,” you smile. “I am okay, though. Don’t worry. I’m sorry I don’t come see you enough. I really should visit a lot more.”

“You’re just twenty minutes away,” she murmurs. And that breaks your heart.

“I know, kiddo, I’m sorry.”

“Why don’t you move back here?” she asks. “Mom would let you stay with us until you got your own place.”

“I know she would,” you frown. “But my job is in San Diego. I’ll try to visit more, I promise. Seriously.”

“Okay.” You can tell she doesn’t really believe you, and you don’t blame her.

After talking with Amelia, you kind of need a drink. You’re kicking yourself the whole drive back to Penny’s, and then the whole walk over to The Hard Deck. The guilt will eat you alive if you let it, and you can’t. It’s all so complicated, why you couldn’t come visit as often as you should.

You hear the music loud and clear before you’re even close, and you can’t help but grin. You missed this a lot more than you’re willing to admit.

The door is opened for you by a good looking man in uniform. And the entire Hard Deck is filled with others just like him.

Penny, you son of a bitch.

There’s a running joke between the two of you that you’re a bit of a loner while she’s the romantic. Between your dad’s death and your mom’s cancer diagnosis and eventual death, dating has never been on your mind.

But clearly Penny has other ideas for you. Her grin when she spots you is a dead giveaway.

You approach the bar and shake your head. “I’ll get you back for this.”

“A beer? Perfect,” she winks, pouring you your favorite. “It’s on Maverick.”

“Huh?”

To your left, Maverick waves his cellphone.

“Ah,” you smirk, picking up your glass. “Someone didn’t read the rules.” No cell phones at the bar. You take a sip, whistling at the taste. “Damn. That’s good.”

“I’m glad,” Maverick deadpans.

“Come on, old man,” you grin, slapping him on the back. “Let’s see if it’s good enough for me to wipe the floor with you at darts.”

“Not a chance,” Maverick says quickly, hopping up and high tailing it to the dart board.

You get there first, though, but it’s occupied, so you have to do some good old fashioned sweet talking.

“Hey boys,” you grin. “Mind letting me and the old man in for a round?”

“Wow,” the one on the left says. “Maverick, wanna introduce us to your friend?”

Dammit. “Of course you know him,” you roll your eyes. “Fine, introduce us, Mav. I forgot you know everyone under the sun.”

“Y/N, this is Fanboy,” Mav points to the left, “and Payback,” he points to the right.

In the midst of these introductions, though, a crowd of others in uniform have joined the group, so Maverick continues.

“That’s Rooster,” the one with a mustache, “Phoenix,” the only woman, “Bob,” he looks shy, “and Hangman.”

“Pretty good call signs,” you nod. “Not bad. I’ll try to remember them, but no promises.”

“You got one?” Phoenix asks.

“Oh,” you chuckle. “No, not me. My dad was Gravedigger.”

“The Gravedigger?” Fanboy (you think) asks.

Here we go again. “Yep. Anyone wanna play darts? Loser buys me another beer,” you grin, taking a sip for effect, locking eyes with each of them.

“I’ll bite,” Hangman says, stepping forward. He hands off his pool stick to Rooster who rolls his eyes and walks away.

As does everyone else. It doesn’t take an idiot to see that the group’s Resident Playboy Charmer thinks you’ve fallen into his trap.

“Alright,” you act cool. “Let’s see what the Hangman’s got, shall we?” You grab your favorite darts, the ones with the red ends. Your dad always picked the red ones, at least. You used to go for blue before he died.

Maverick gives you a look, muttering, “Go easy.”

“Me?” you point at yourself. “Go easy?” You toss a dart at the board without looking -- and it hits the bullseye. “Never.”

Hangman stares at the board then looks at you. “Damn.”

“Good luck, Hangman,” Maverick says with a laugh. “Hope you’ve got money for beer.”

“You might should stay, Mav,” you chuckle, throwing your other darts, hitting each one with precision. “He might need your help.”

“I’ll be fine,” Hangman quips, grabbing the silver darts. “Don’t get too ahead of yourself.”

“Mhm,” you nod, calculating up your points before removing your darts from the board. “Go ahead.”

Hangman does his best, but he ends up buying you a beer. As you expected.

He gets himself another as well, following you back to the dart board.

“You didn’t learn your lesson, huh?” you ask, sipping, watching him pick up his darts. “Want me to beat your ass again?”

“If that’s what it takes for you to let me buy you a drink, then sure,” Hangman grins. “I’ll play darts all night, sweetheart.”

“Ah,” you raise your eyebrows. “Charming. If you wanted to buy me a drink, all you had to do was ask.”

“Good to know,” he says. “What if I want to take you out to dinner? I just have to ask?”

“You’ve gotta do a lot more than that,” you deflect. He can buy you drinks, he can play darts with you, but dinner and dates are where you draw the line. He’s shit at darts, though, so to lighten the blow, you say, “Win a round of darts, then maybe we can talk about dinner.”

Hangman nearly chokes on his beer. “Sounds good to me.”

You beat him round after round. You played ruthlessly, and he noticed, but he didn’t say anything.

You let him buy you two more beers, only drinking half of the last one. It wasn’t your plan to spend the entire night playing darts with a naval aviator, but it happened anyway.

Most everyone has gone home, including all of the other pilots. Penny is cleaning glasses at the bar and Maverick is keeping her company, glancing your way every now and then. The loud music has been replaced with slower, softer songs as 1am creeps in.

Hours of deflecting personal questions end with Hangman asking the biggest one that you know he was holding onto.

“So…your dad was the Gravedigger?”

You toss a dart clumsily and it lands just below the bullseye. “Yeah.”

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Hangman says softly.

“It was years ago,” you shrug. “But thanks. I appreciate that.” You throw one more dart, lazily, it barely lands. “I should go.”

“Alright,” Hangman says. “Need a ride? Or company on the walk?”

“No thanks,” you smile. “I’m staying with Penny. But um, thanks for the darts. And beer.”

“Sure thing,” Hangman nods. “Goodnight.”

“Night,” you say, waving.

He dips his head respectfully, his southern roots coming out, as he turns and walks away.

You head up to the bar where Penny is smiling, smugly cleaning a glass. “What is that face?”

“What face?” Penny asks.

“That one,” you reply. “You ready to go?”

“Just been waiting on you,” Penny sings.

Maverick snickers to himself and hops off the stool. “Hangman’s a damn good pilot.”

You raise an eyebrow. “Okay?”

“Just saying,” Maverick says with a shrug, and an all too knowing smile. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

“Sure,” you reply slowly, watching the wistful look Maverick gives Penny. Seriously, he’s like a lost puppy.

Once Maverick is out the door, Penny starts in on you.

“Hangman, huh?” Penny says. “He’s attractive.”

“He’s shit at darts,” you laugh. “But I got free beer all night, so that’s nice of him.”

“He’s smitten.”

“He’s not,” you argue. “Maverick is, though.”

Penny scoffs and grabs her purse. “The past--”

“Is the past, I know,” you finish her sentence, despite the look she gives you. “Looks pretty present if you ask me.”

Penny hums, but says nothing else.

+++

You sleep on the couch at Penny’s and wake up early enough to have breakfast with Amelia before Penny takes her to school. Penny has to run some errands for the day, so you accompany her.

Later on, the two of you return to the Hard Deck for lunch, where the beach is…occupied.

“What the hell are they doing?” you ask. You can see clearly what they’re doing, but the question still slips out.

“Looks like football,” Penny says, cracking a smile. “Why? You wanna join them?”

“No,” you reply. “But I wanted to get in the water.”

“I’m sure you still can,” Penny grins. “And you should.”

“Shut up,” you laugh. “Where’s the bread?”

After making your sandwiches, Penny insists that you eat outside. You could say it has something to do with the fact that even Maverick is out there, shirtless, sweating and playing football, but you don’t.

Reluctantly, you follow her outside to a picnic table, watching her wave to Maverick. Which means everyone else has probably looked your way, including Hangman.

Penny confirms it for you. “Y’know, if you’d look, you’d see Hangman waiting for you to turn your head.”

“Exactly why I’m not looking,” you retort. “How’s Mav look?”

Penny glares at you, but she can’t hide her grin. “He looks good. You know the exact kind of good that I mean, too.”

“Oh, Christ,” you grimace, trying to get the image of them two having sex out of your head.

“That’s what you get for teasing me,” Penny chuckles. “By the way, he’s stopped looking. They’re playing again.”

“I don’t trust you.”

“Fine, suit yourself.”

The curiosity nearly kills you, and you finally look. Penny was right; they’re playing again. But that doesn’t stop Hangman from finding your eyes and grinning. He doesn’t wave, but locking eyes is enough, and so is the wink he sends your way. And then he keeps playing, showing off his abs, his skills, and—

He looks the exact kind of good that Penny was talking about.

You quickly snap yourself out of it. Too bad it will never happen.

Your mother always told you to never fall in love with a man like your father. Not because they’re bad men, in fact, they’re very good men. But the heartache that is left behind is too much to bear. The anxiety when they’re alive, wondering what day might be their last, will rot you from the inside out. It is difficult to stay sane. Staying sane is the hardest part. Next to grieving the loss.

You went through it enough with your dad. You can’t do that to yourself again.

“I’ve got some umbrellas in the back if you want,” Penny says out of nowhere.

“Huh?”

“If you want to sit on the beach for a while,” she adds, smiling softly. “Might make you feel better.”

She reads you too well. “Yeah,” you say. “Maybe. I might take a walk.”

“Okay,” she nods, standing up with her plate. “I’ll be here if you need me. Amelia’s going to a friend’s house after school.”

“Okay,” you reply. “Thanks.”

“Anytime,” Penny smiles. “Take care of yourself.”

You look down at your half-eaten sandwich and contemplate tossing it. You decide to just leave it. You might want it later, or not, but you don’t have the energy to decide what to do with it right now.

You hop down the steps to the sand, walking in the opposite direction of the football game. There’s a lot of yelling, so someone must’ve done something good. Who knows.

You should’ve known being back here would be this hard. This is exactly why you haven’t been here, and yet, you thought maybe it would be fine. Maybe enough time has passed. Maybe, maybe, maybe.

You still remember walking this exact stretch of sand with your mom while your dad flew above. You’d always wave to any planes, hoping he was one of them. Or one of his buddies. Sometimes he’d tell you that he waved back, but you don’t know if he was saying that just to make you smile.

He did that a lot.

You find a shady spot and decide to sit down. You’re far enough from the football game that their hooting and hollering is quieter.

You lean your head against the tree and shut your eyes, letting the warmth envelope you.

A few moments of peace are all you get before you hear someone jogging toward you, the sand and shells crunching beneath their feet.

Opening your eyes, you see it’s none other than Hangman.

And you’re 99% sure everyone is watching.

“Hangman,” you call out, smirking a little. “There’s no dartboard here.”

“My wallet is relieved,” he teases, smiling back. He’s still shirtless. It’s hard to focus. “What are you up to?”

“Napping,” you reply. “I thought you were playing football.”

“Ah, we’re taking a break.”

You look behind him and see the game is still very much going on. Maverick has sat down and so has Hondo, but…everyone else is still playing. Meaning, Hangman should be back there, but instead chose to come talk to you.

“Sure,” you nod. “What do you want?”

“I can’t ask a pretty girl how she’s doing?”

“Not this pretty girl,” you chuckle, accepting his shameless flirting. You shut your eyes once more. “She’s sleeping.”

“Well, I’ll wait for the sleeping beauty to finish getting her rest, then.”

He’s too much. He’s too good. Laying the charm on thick, layer after layer. His perfectly toned abdomen and smug smirk. You can’t help but open your eyes.

“Alright,” you say. “She’s awake. What did you really want, Hangman?”

“Just to say hi. And my name’s Jake, by the way,” he says. “I realized I never told you my legal name, just my call sign.”

“Nice to meet you, Jake,” you reply, smiling a little. “You probably answer more to Hangman now, anyway.”

“Yeah, it stuck hard.”

“I used to call my dad by his call sign when I needed to get his attention,” you say, not sure why you decided to share this memory. “Nothing like a twelve year old yelling out, ‘Gravedigger!’ in a grocery store.”

Hangman laughs. “I can practically hear it myself.”

“Me too,” you murmur.

“Mind if I sit?”

You gesture to the spot next to you. “Go ahead.”

Hangman sits, bending his knees and resting his arms there. He looks out at the water before looking back at you. Underneath the tint of his sunglasses, you can just barely see his eyes scanning your entire face. “What do you think your call sign would be?”

“I dunno,” you shrug. “I’m not a pilot.”

“Oh, come on, darlin’,” the pet name rolls off his tongue with ease. “You of all people are allowed an honorary call sign.”

“I’ve never thought about it.”

“I think you’d be… the Mortician.”

You raise an eyebrow. “You’re real proud of yourself for that one, huh?”

“My call sign ideas are great.”

“Mm…”

“Hangman is clever!”

“I’ll give you that, it is.”

“Thank you.” He grins. “I appreciate that.”

“Anytime,” you reply. It slips out too easily. The slight desire to let there be another time. Or anytime. Why does it feel so easy? You nod toward the football game. “Looks like they’re playing without you.”

He glances over and shrugs. “I’ll let them have it.”

“You done playing?”

He shakes his head, feigning contemplation. He raises one hand, “Football with a bunch of aviators I see all day long anyway,” he pauses, raising the other hand, “or talking to you.” He looks over, shrugging. “I’ll pick you.”

“Wow,” you raise both eyebrows. “Pretty bold considering we just met and all I did was kick your ass.”

“Maybe I’m a glutton for punishment.”

“You’re something.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“What am I exactly, sweetheart?”

“Let’s see,” you start counting on your fingers. “A flirt, a player, a pilot -- that’s at least a good one.” Hangman laughs. “God awful at darts, a sweet southern boy, yet somehow, also a love ‘em and leave ‘em kind of guy.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Come on,” you give him a look. “It’s all over your face. It’s all over your friend’s faces. I get it, you’re the one who always gets the girl. But if you’re trying to woo me, it’s a lost cause, Jake.”

“Who says?”

“I do,” you murmur. “I went through enough having a dad in the exact same profession.”

He nods, understanding now. “Right, I see.” He pauses, looking a bit sad. “Am I still allowed to talk to you or…?”

“Yes, oh my God, it’s not that serious,” you laugh. “I just wanted to let you know it’s um… You’re fighting a losing battle and I don’t wanna lead you on. I’d rather be upfront about it now.”

“I appreciate that,” he says. “I guess I should get back to the game, huh?”

“Before Mav comes looking for you, yeah,” you reply. “Have fun.”

“Oh, I will, sweetheart,” he says, standing to his feet. He tilts his sunglasses down to wink at you. “I always do.”

You roll your eyes as he jogs off, waving his arms so someone will toss the ball down to him. Surprisingly, he catches it, and takes off, almost getting tackled before he reaches the end.

You take a few more minutes to yourself before beginning the trek back to The Hard Deck.

Penny is waiting inside in the AC, cleaning glasses and preparing for tonight. With all these aviators back at Top Gun, it’s bound to be another busy night.

“Hey lover,” she says, grinning. “I saw Hangman hunt you down.”

“Yeah,” you chuckle. He is persistent, that’s for damn sure. “He did.”

“So… How’d that go?”

“I let him down easy.”

“Mm,” Penny nods, expecting that. “How’d he take it?”

“He’s fine,” you say, chuckling. “I’m not banning him from speaking to me. I just let him know it’s never gonna happen, so he doesn’t waste his time.”

“Huh.”

“What?” you huff.

“Nothing,” Penny shrugs, putting a glass away. “I just remember telling Maverick the same thing, and yet here he is.”

“Well, that’s you and Maverick,” you say, ready to be done with discussing this. She’s making it a much bigger thing that it needs to be -- or is. “Do you need help getting ready to open?”

Penny accepts the subject change and backs down. “There’s some extra glasses in the back, can you grab them? And check for any chips in them, please.”

“Sure thing,” you nod, ready for some mindless work.

Through the window you can see the football game is still going strong. Maverick has joined again, and narrowly misses being tackled by Phoenix.

Hangman looks your way and locks eyes with you, but you quickly look away.

#hangman top gun #top gun maverick #jake hangman seresin x reader #jake hangman seresin #hangman x reader #hangman x fem!reader #jake hangman seresin x fem!reader #hangman fanfiction #top gun maverick fanfiction #glen powell #top gun

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mayhem24-7forever · 2 years

Text

Cowgirl Lessons

Rhett Abbott (Outer Range) x F!Reader Oneshot

Summary: When she decides to spend her spring break from grad school in Wabang Wyoming, Y/N finds herself getting a little extracurricular education from a dashing cowboy named Rhett Abbott... with important courses like two stepping, cowboy hat law, bull riding, and lassoing/rope work.

Author’s Notes: Firstly, I don’t want minors reading any of my fics, even if they are SFW so this one is especially off limits! I deserve a safe place to express myself so please respect my boundaries. this is super long (like over 15k lmao) but it’s my birthday so #treatyoself. this came out of a conversation with @hyperfixatingmenever and @a-reader-and-a-writer on the top gun discord… so this is dedicated to the server. Big thanks to everyone who helped me out with this including @marvelandotherfandomimagines and @topguncortez. fic divider by the lovely @a-reader-and-a-writer 💕

Content Warnings: bull riding (poor bulls tbh at least this is fake), mentions of injuries from bull riding, people referring to rhett as the town slut/manwhore (because he is and I love him for it), reader is referred to as a “city girl” so i’m very sorry to anyone from the country, small children being embarrassing menaces, overprotective brothers, profanity, drunk guy cat-calling once, drinking, dancing (two-stepping), flirting (like SO much flirting), making out, distracted driving (DO NOT FUCK OR FINGER WHILE DRIVING IN REAL LIFE ITS UNSAFE), fingering, teasing, one (1 singular) spank, dry humping/riding, unprotected p in v sex (please wrap it before you tap it in real life guys even if clean/on the pill), rope bondage, consensual somnophilia (waking up to being eaten out after giving permission the previous night), oral sex (female receiving), shower sex, having trouble walking after getting railed

The tiny town of Wabang, Wyoming was not where Y/N had thought she’d ever willingly choose to take a vacation, especially if she had other more exciting options. Nevertheless, it was where she found herself on her spring break from grad school, having decided to accept her brother’s invitation to spend two weeks there. At first, she had been excited, she hadn’t seen her brother much since he got married to a farm girl and moved to Wyoming to start a family, only getting to see him once or twice a year when he came over for the holidays. She was also excited to finally see his ranch, never having been able to visit before. Of course, she was a little disappointed as she got texts and saw social media posts from the rest of her cohort, practically everyone she knew seemed to have escaped to Miami, L.A., Cabo, or somewhere else warm, tropical and gorgeous. It wasn’t that Wyoming wasn’t beautiful–it most certainly was. From the peaks of the picturesque mountains to the wide open plains straight out of a postcard, it was one of the most beautiful places she’d ever been. But for as amazing as Wyoming was, she couldn’t help but think that she may have made a mistake.

At that very moment, her roommates were likely on a beach, surrounded by shirtless ripped frat bros and gorgeous women in skimpy bikinis, pounding back shots of tequila while grinding on some jacked hotties to a Ke$ha song. All while she was sitting in the uncomfortable metal stands of the Amelia County rodeo ring playing babysitter for her brother’s kids as they watched a bunch of grown men in cowboy hats ride large cows and fall on their asses in the dirt a bunch. While her friends were getting drunk, having sex, and partying, she was swatting flies away from her eight year old niece’s corndog and trying to keep her five year old nephew from dripping his ice cream all over himself and everyone else within a ten foot radius.

“Auntie Y/N?” her niece, Sarah, asked and she turned to look at her.

“Yes, lovebug?” she replied.

“I need to go to the bathroom.” Sarah said.

“Okay, lovebug.” she told her before turning to her nephew. “Come on, Jesse.”

She had never herded cattle before, but if she had to guess, it was probably much like trying to keep two small children focused on the simple task of walking to a bathroom. As they walked down the stairs of the stand, Jesse decided he wanted to run to the top so he could ‘see the bulls in the pens from up high’. After getting him down to the bottom, she realized that Sarah was jumping up and down to try and see over the fence, not believing Y/N when she said that the ring was empty because they were between rides and pouting when her aunt pulled her away.

As they made their way through the crowd towards the porta potties, she tried to no avail to get either of them to hold her hand, meaning she was much more focused on keeping her eyes on them than to the crowd around her. The crowd was thinning a little and the kids were still surging ahead without her, although luckily she could see them heading for the porta potty doors.

“Sarah! Jesse! Come back here!” she called out, too busy watching them to watch her step as she smacked right into a broad shouldered frame.

She was falling backwards for a moment before a pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around her waist and caught her before she hit the dirt. She was pulled up to her feet and steadied by the hands as she looked up at the person who had caught her. He was tall and quite handsome with the most striking blue eyes she had ever seen, his ear-length brown hair pushed back below his cowboy hat.

“Are you alright, Miss?” he asked, his voice low with just the hint of a country accent.

“I’m so sorry! I wasn’t looking where I was going!” she exclaimed, suddenly realizing how close she was to him with her hands on his chest as he still held her waist and she stepped back, embarrassed. “Thank you for catching me.”

“It’s quite alright, Miss. I hope I didn’t get any dirt on your pretty dress.” he replied, dusting off his gloves as she looked past him, relieved to see both kids opening the porta potty doors and stepping inside and he turned to follow her gaze. “Sarah and Jesse giving you trouble?”

“Yes, I-” she began and paused, confused. “How did you know?”

“Sarah is good friends with my niece, Amy, and they live near our ranch so I drive them all home from school on Tuesdays and Thursdays.” he explained before pulling off his glove and holding out his hand. “I’m Rhett Abbott.”

“Y/N Y/L/N.” she replied as she shook it, trying to ignore the shiver of attraction that ran through her body when she felt his strong grip.

He smiled at her name and she knew that the grin of that handsome devil could be the death of her. The crowd had thinned out but she still walked closer to the bathrooms so she wouldn’t miss when the kids came out, Rhett trailing behind her. She finally noticed that he was wearing chaps over his jeans and one of the protective vests the riders had to wear over his blue plaid button up, the sleeves rolled up to showcase his well-defined arms.

“Are you a bull rider? I haven’t been able to pay much attention to the rodeo while trying to watch those two.” she asked.

“Yeah, I imagine those two are keeping you busy.” he said with a smirk. “And yes, I’m riding tonight.”

“I have to admit, I’m not entirely sure how bull riding works. I tried asking the kids but Jesse just said ‘you have to ride the bull the best’ and I have no idea what that means.” she said with a laugh and he chuckled.

“Well, there’s all kinds of rules about only using one hand and not touching the bull and tryin’ to earn the most points and the like but the most important thing is to try and last the full eight seconds without falling off.” he explained and she nodded.

“And do you often last the full eight seconds?” she asked, not entirely talking about bull riding any more.

“Oh, I always last far longer than eight seconds…” he replied with a smirk and she knew they definitely weren’t talking about bull riding anymore. “I was wondering if-”

“AUNTIE Y/N!” Jesse yelled as he ran out of the bathrooms and towards her, interrupting Rhett, who looked a little disappointed.

“WASH YOUR HANDS!” she ordered, pointing at the portable sink and shaking her head as he turned around to do as she asked, running back to her when he was done.

“Auntie Y/N, can I have another ice cream?” he asked, tugging on her dress before turning to the man talking to her. “Oh, hiya Mr. Rhett.”

“Jesse, I’ve told you about a hundred times that you can just call me Rhett.” he said, clearly amused by the young boy’s formality.

“Ma told me I have to say Mister and Miss for any adults who ain’t family.” Jesse said firmly before turning back to his aunt and tugging on her dress again, looking up at her with wide, puppy dog eyes. “Can I have another ice cream pleeeease?”

“One is enough for tonight little munchkin, but it was a good try.” she told him and he giggled.

“Listen, I wanted to ask you-” Rhett started but was interrupted once more.

“ABBOTT! YOU GOT FIVE MINUTES BEFORE YOUR RIDE! GET ON IT!” a man called out from near the fence at the back of the bull pens.

“ONE MINUTE!” Rhett called back, obviously annoyed at another interruption, before turning back to her. “I wanted to ask if you’d like to get a drink with me tonight? There’s a bar called the Handsome Gambler over on main street that I usually go to after a ride.”

He was smiling confidently but she could see a hint of nervousness in his eyes that made her feel special. Here was a man who regularly rode thousand pound cows angrily trying to buck him off but he was anxious that she might say no to a drink with him. She smiled.

“I have to get the kids home but if I’m not too tired after that, I think a drink might be nice.” she said coyly and he grinned. “But fair warning, I’m not a beer and whiskey type girl, more of a fruity cocktail kinda girl.”

“Wouldn’t expect anything less from a pretty city girl.” he replied and she smiled.

“RHETT!” the man called again and Rhett sighed.

“Go on cowboy, you’ve got a bull to ride.” she said, patting his chest before giving him a playful push towards the arena with a wink. “We can talk more at the bar.”

“Looking forward to it.” he said with a smirk before tipping his hat and walking towards the ring.

“Good luck!” she called after him.

“Good luck Mr. Rhett!” Jesse added, waving.

She watched him disappear into the back area of the ring, off limits to the audience and once he was gone, she turned to see Sarah washing her hands.

“Come on, lovebug! We’ve got some bull riding to watch!” Y/N called to her niece who smiled as she ran over to her. “Now, this time, you’re both gonna hold my hands until we get to the stands or you’re gonna be in big trouble.”

Miraculously, they made it back to their seats without either of the kids running off. She was smoothing out her dress skirt when Jesse suddenly started crawling onto her lap.

“What are you doing, you little munchkin?” she asked, amused.

“The seats are so uncomfortable, Auntie Y/N!” he explained with a pout. “Ma and pa always let me sit on their laps.”

“Alright, come here.” she told him and he smiled widely as she took him into her arms and sat him on her lap.

“Time for our last ride of the night, folks!” the announcer said through the crackly old speakers. “And it should be a good one! We have our hometown hero Rhett Abbott, winner of the Wyoming Rodeo competition last year, placed fifth in the semi-nationals, and tonight he’ll be riding the ever ornery bull ‘Napalm’. Napalm has quite the reputation for ending winning streaks and knocking riders out of the competition, and often, into the hospital. If Rhett can last eight seconds on Napalm, he’ll be practically guaranteed to move forwards to the state competition once again this year.”

At the mention of a hospital, Y/N sat up nervously, eyes glued to the back gate where she could see Rhett climbing in a pen, the bull he was mounting bucked wildly even in such a small space. Aside from plenty of nasty looking bruises, the worst injury they had seen that night was a man who broke his leg when he was thrown from the bull but he had been smiling and had his thumbs up as the on-site paramedics had carried him out of the ring.

This bull seemed more determined than any before to throw his rider, looking so angry that he probably wouldn’t want to stop until Rhett was below his hooves. From afar she could see the handlers struggling to keep Rhett upright as Napalm threw itself around the small pen wildly. She put her hand over her mouth and began chewing on her fingernails, a habit she only did before large exams and important presentations at school. Suddenly, she felt a little hand on her arm, pulling her hand down and she turned to see Sarah beside her, looking up at her with a caring expression.

“Don’t bite your fingernails Auntie Y/N, ma says it’s real bad.” she cautioned and Y/N managed a smile as she put her hand in Sarah’s and gave it a light squeeze.

“Thank you, lovebug.” Y/N said before leaning over to press a kiss to her niece’s forehead. “Just a little worried about Rhett, I don’t want him to get hurt.”

“Don’t worry, Mr Rhett is real good at riding bulls, pa always bets on him.” Sarah replied with a big smile at trying to be helpful.

Before Y/N could respond, a loud and low air horn sounded and the gate was thrown open. The crowd rose to their feet, blocking her view as they cheered wildly. Quickly, she shot up, holding Jesse close to her as she looked over the cowboy hats of the men in front of her, Sarah climbing to stand on her seat so she could see too. When she had seen the first bull ride of the night, she thought it was the most terrifying thing she’d ever seen, questioning why anyone in their right mind would do it as rider after rider was thrown from the bucking bulls and into the dirt. But this one made all the rest look like child’s play, the bull bucking higher and faster and harder as it spun, desperate to knock Rhett off.

Everything was happening so fast that it was almost a blur, even though it felt like a lifetime as she watched him struggle to stay on. At some point his hat had flown off and into the dirt and the bull had almost trampled on it. A cloud of dust was kicked up by Napalm’s hooves, making it a little harder to see but still the crowd cheered as Rhett stayed on. Suddenly, a buzzer rang out, signaling the end of the eight seconds. She wasn’t sure if he had jumped or been thrown but in a flash Rhett was on the ground, some handlers helping him up and away from the angry animal as others roped the bull and returned it to its pen.

When Rhett stood up fully, looking relatively unharmed as a handler handed him his hat, she breathed out a sigh of relief, one she hadn’t even realized she had been holding. As he put his hat on his head, he spun around to look at the scoreboard which changed to show him in first place, miles above the other riders in points. The crowd went wild, so loud and passionate that Y/N was certain there were Super Bowls and arena concerts with less excited crowds.

Sarah jumped up and down on her seat, her arms raised as she screamed happily, Jesse pulling himself off of his aunt’s shoulder to holler as well. She shifted her nephew so that she could clap and cheer, smiling down at Rhett’s figure in the ring. He was reveling in his victory but she could see that he seemed to be searching the crowd for something–or someone, she realized when his eyes met hers. His smile spread into a grin and she smiled back as she clapped and cheered. A handler walked up to Rhett and drew him–rather reluctantly–away from the crowd, sparing one last glance over his shoulder as he was led through the back gates out of the ring.

“Another fantastic ride for Rhett that has secured his place in the state competition!” the announcer said as the crowd continued to cheer. “Thank y'all for coming out to tonight’s rodeo, have a safe night!”

With that, the crowd began to file out of the stands and out into the gravel and dirt parking lot as she took a moment to catch her breath and calm her heart rate, so relieved that not only was Rhett okay but that he had seemingly won too. Jesse was beginning to nod off as he came down from his sugar high so she shifted him onto her hip as she led Sarah by the hand, who was rambling about how great of a ride that was and how she knew Mr. Rhett could do it. Y/N had a sneaking suspicion that her niece was harboring a bit of a school girl crush on him, which she found rather amusing.

They stood by the parking lot and played I Spy until her brother’s dirty red pick-up truck pulled up in front of them. Jenna, her sister-in-law, hopped out of the passenger seat to hug her babies, who were definitely very glad to see her. Y/N sat in the passenger seat as Jenna sat in the back between her children’s car seats. As her brother Sam pulled out of the parking lot and onto the road, he looked in the rearview mirror at his family.

“Did you have a good time with Auntie Y/N?” he asked and the kids nodded before he turned to his sister. “Did they behave themselves?”

“Yes, they did.” she answered. “How was your date night?”

“Absolutely perfect.” Jenna said happily. “Thank you so much for watching them, we haven’t had a real proper date night in a few years.”

“Of course, it was fun.” Y/N replied, smiling at her sister-in-law.

“How was your first rodeo, sis?” Sam asked.

“Definitely… interesting.” she answered and he chuckled.

“Yeah, it took some getting used to when I first moved out here, Jenna used to say that I looked more scared than the actual riders.” he said and the kids laughed. “Who had the best score of the night?”

“Mr. Rhett!” Sarah piped up. “Mr. Ricky in the speakers said he gets to go to the state competition. He rode the whole eight seconds and he got way more points than everybody else!”

“Well I’ll be damned, looks like I just made twenty bucks off Carl at the seed store.” her brother said with a smile.

“Mr. Rhett and Auntie Y/N are going on a date!” Jesse exclaimed suddenly and Sam struggled not to swerve the car on the road before looking to his sister in disbelief as his son continued. “I heard him ask her to go to the place on main street where mommy says kids aren’t allowed.”

“Rhett Abbott?” Sam asked and she looked down in embarrassment at being ratted out by her nephew.

“I was going to ask if you could drop me off at the Handsome Gambler instead of my hotel.” she said quietly, referring to the little motel room her brother had put her up in because he was still working on building the new addition to the house for a spare room.

“Rhett Abbott?” Sam asked again incredulously and Jenna leaned forward to slap Sam’s shoulder and look at her sister-in-law.

“Rhett’s a nice man, you’ll have fun.” Jenna said before lowering her voice and giving a wink. “And he’s real good-looking too, you chose well.”

“No, no, no!” Sam exclaimed, hitting the steering wheel for emphasis. “My little sister is not going out with Rhett Abbott the…” he trailed off as he glanced into the rearview mirror to see the kids listening in and quietly added “...the M-A-N-W-H-O-R-E of Wabang!”

“Daddy, what does that spell?” Sarah asked.

“I’ll tell you later, sweetie.” he replied before looking at his wife. “I can’t believe you’re encouraging this.”

“Oh, stop it Sam!” Jenna said as she rolled her eyes. “She’s an adult who can make her own choices! Besides, she deserves to have a little fun on her spring break without her big brother ruining it.”

“Fine. But if he hurts you Y/N, I swear I’ll beat his…” he trailed off again as he noticed the kids were watching. “...butt.”

The kids started giggling, thinking that their father saying ‘butt’ was the funniest thing they’d ever heard.

“So, will you drop me off at the bar?” she asked her brother and he sighed before nodding reluctantly.

“Auntie Y/N and Mr. Rhett! Sittin’ in a tree!” Jesse began to sing and Jenna tried not to laugh. “K-I-S-S… I don’t know the rest.”

“It’s ‘K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in the baby carriage!’” Sarah exclaimed helpfully.

“If Mr. Rhett marries Auntie Y/N, do we call him just Rhett ‘cuz he’s family or do we still call him Mr. Rhett?” Jesse asked his mother.

“He’d be Uncle Rhett then.” Sarah corrected, a proud smile on her face.

Y/N felt like she was going to die from embarrassment and stared out the window to avoid looking at anyone as her sister-in-law hushed the children. She couldn’t stop thinking about her brother’s words. Was Rhett really the town slut? He flirted with her so easily that it was obvious he wasn’t new to picking up girls and he was certainly handsome enough to leave a long trail of broken hearts behind him. Rhett was probably just a player looking to get his dick wet but wasn’t that what she was hoping to do too? She supposed that she could keep her heart out of it for her pussy’s sake and have a fun little spring break fling.

Soon enough, they pulled up in front of the bar on main street and she hopped out, turning back to lean through the open window to speak to her brother.

“Thank you for the ride, Sammy, I’ll see you tomorrow morning!” she said but before she could turn around to head into the bar, he reached out and placed a hand on her arm.

“Hey.” he said lowly, not wanting the kids to hear him. “I’m serious, call me if you need a ride or help or anything, alright? I don’t care if it’s at three a.m. or something, just call me.”

“I will, Sammy, thank you.” she assured her big brother, placing her hand over his to squeeze reassuringly before turning to walk towards the door.

“Have fun girlie! But not too much fun, it might be a bit too soon for you to become a momma!” Jenna called out and Y/N laughed as she grabbed the door handle.

The Handsome Gambler was just how she would expect a bar in a small midwestern town to be. It was dim and smokey, with neon signs on the walls casting colored light onto the packed tables of men in cowboy hats and women in cowgirl boots. When she entered, a man in a trucker hat wolf-whistled at her and she had the sudden urge to turn around and leave.

“Shut up Hendricks or I’ll make you eat your teeth!” Rhett’s voice warned and she looked to where the voice had come from.

She locked eyes with Rhett, who was sitting at the bar, hat on the counter and he smiled at her, giving her the courage to continue walking. If she had thought he was handsome in his bull rider get-up, she was blown away with how he made the most casual outfit sexy. Blue jeans (with an unfortunately large belt buckle), a gray henley and a blue flannel button-up should not have been making her squirm but the way he had the sleeves rolled up to display his muscular forearms somehow made her want to climb him right there in the bar.

This feeling was only intensified when she realized that he was wearing a different blue flannel than he had earlier, meaning he had changed specifically for her. A small voice in the back of her head tried to reason that it was likely just because his clothes had been dirty and sweaty from the ring but she chose to ignore it and allow herself to be flattered he was making an effort for her. He stood as she approached, his eyes briefly skimming over her body to admire her dress before returning to her face.

“Apologies for Mr. Hendricks, he’s an annoying asshole who can’t remember his manners when he drinks but he really is harmless. In about ten minutes he’ll be passed out in his usual corner.” Rhett assured her and she laughed.

“I can handle some cat-calls, it’s when they try to get handsy that I bring out my pepper spray.” she said, partially as a joke but Rhett just pursed his lips.

“Well I can assure you no one around here is going to be bothering you. If your brother isn’t enough to deter them, I’ll make sure they get the memo.” he said earnestly and she smiled.

He pulled back her stool and helped her up, surprising her with his chivalry, so unlike the usual skirt-chasers she ran into at the university. Usually men could barely be bothered to text back and yet here was Rhett, treating her like she was royalty. She’d be lying if she said she didn’t like it.

“Wasn’t sure if you’d come but I sure am glad you did.” He said as he sat back down beside her. “Can I buy you a drink?”

“Only if you remember what I told you earlier.” she said coyly, testing how much he had actually paid attention to her at the rodeo.

“Kenny, I’ll have a beer.” Rhett said to the man behind the bar with a slight smirk as he added “...and can you make something like a fruit cocktail? I don’t believe the lady likes her alcohol to taste like alcohol.”

“You remembered.” she said with a laugh as Kenny went to get the drinks.

“You sound surprised. Do city boys not listen well?” he asked.

“Not too many of them.” she replied.

“Damn shame, I could listen to your cute little accent all day long.” he said and she blushed at the compliment.

“Some might argue that you have the accent.” she shot back.

“Not when you’re in my territory, sweetheart.” he said with that dazzling smile that she thought could charm the pants off a nun.

“I suppose you’re right.” she said before Kenny returned with a beer bottle and what she believed was an attempt at a cocktail, setting down in front of her a glass of pinkish red liquid and ice with a cherry on a toothpick hanging off the side. “Thank you.”

“That may be the fanciest thing I’ve ever seen Kenny make.” Rhett said when he left them to talk to a customer further down the bar. “How’s it taste?”

She took a sip and laughed, causing Rhett to ask her what was so funny.

“I’m fairly certain that this is just tequila mixed with fruit punch.” she answered.

“Really?” Rhett asked, amused and she slid the drink closer to him so he could have a sip. “Oh, that is definitely just tequila mixed with fruit punch.”

“I will say, I actually quite like it.” she said, pulling it closer to her again before popping the cherry into her mouth and taking another drink.

“So, how was your first rodeo?” Rhett asked before taking a swig of his beer. “Everything you thought it would be?”

“It was…” she trailed off, unsure how to summarize it all. “Well, I don’t think I’ve been as stressed as I was watching you ride since I presented my thesis idea last year.”

“You were worried about me?” Rhett asked and although his smirk was cocky, she could hear the undercurrent of vulnerability, like he was genuinely surprised that she actually cared about if he had gotten hurt.

“Yes, I was. That bull was like nothing I’d seen all night and the way the announcer talked about it had me squeezing Sarah’s hand probably a bit too hard.” she replied. “But I guess I had no reason to be worried because you made it look almost easy.”

“Well, I am real good at what I do.” he assured her earnestly before smirking and suggestively adding “I’m real good at everything I do.”

“Easy there, cowboy!” she said with a laugh, feeling more comfortable with him after five minutes than she felt with most people she had known for years. He was just so easy to talk to, being effortlessly vulnerable yet continually making her laugh like he was starved for the sound a way a man is starved for water in a desert.

“Just trying to keep you on your toes, girl.” he said with a wink.

“So what do you do when you’re not riding bulls or winking at girls in bars?” she asked, changing the subject.

“I work on my family’s ranch and sometimes if I have time, I hire myself out as a farmhand to other local ranchers when they need it.” he answered. “But the rodeo circuits are my main job.”

“You enjoy being thrown off thousand pound cows into the dirt?” she asked. “Do you just really like pain, is that it?”

“You and your damn wit, girl…” he said, shaking his head with a chuckle. “Nobody would ever even know you’re related to quiet old Sam with a wicked tongue like that. But yes, I do enjoy it. Maybe not the pain so much but there’s just something about how exhilarating it feels during those eight seconds. So freeing.”

“Sounds terrifying, I think I’ll stick to bike riding. Or maybe horse riding if I can stop almost falling off the damn thing.” she joked.

“Not having much luck with horses then?” Rhett asked, amused.

“I swear, if Sam wasn’t holding the saddle and walking beside me, I would have fallen off the horse more this week than every rider from tonight put together.” she answered. “I’m trying my best but I don’t think I’m very good at all this cowgirl stuff.”

“Maybe you just need a good teacher.” Rhett said.

“I’m supposed to be on spring break from school.” she replied with a laugh. “I’m supposed to be relaxing and having fun, not learning.”

“Who says you can’t do both?” Rhett purred, his low voice and southern drawl sending a wave of heat straight down to her core. “I mean, you just might need some practice straddling and riding something else.”

“I suppose you have something in particular in mind for your course curriculum?” she asked, leaning in to match his low whisper.

“Maybe one or two things.” he answered with that cocky smirk she couldn’t help but love.

“Then maybe we can start class later tonight…” she said so quietly he could only hear it because she was inches from his face before she pulled backwards into her original sitting position as he groaned and added at normal volume “but I don’t go home with just any old cowboy so let’s hope this date goes well.”

“How am I doing so far?” he asked and she smiled as she sipped her cocktail, ignoring the bulge in his pants that had grown as she had gotten closer.

“Ask me again after another drink or two.” she replied and he nodded.

“Yes ma’am.” he said, eyeing her half drunk drink.

They talked for a long while about their lives, their families, their childhoods. They talked about their favorite music and their hobbies and everything in between they could think of. They were getting to know one another, really hitting it off as the rest of the bar seemed to disappear. As they talked, she had to remind herself not to get lost in his beautiful blue eyes or get distracted by his rugged beauty, so handsome he was like a movie star straight out of one of the old western films her grandfather used to watch. When they had talked so long that her cocktail and his beer bottle were empty, Rhett flagged down the bartender to order another round.

“There’s still one thing I don’t understand.” he said as Kenny placed their second drinks in front of them, nodding a thanks. “Why come out to Wabang, Wyoming for spring break? Don’t college kids usually go to the beach or somethin’ like that?”

“They do. In fact, that’s where most of my friends are right now.” she replied. “But ever since Sam met Jenna and they moved out here, we really only see them when they come over for Christmas and Thanksgiving and stuff. I’d never seen the town that my brother fell in love with almost as much as he fell for Jenna or the little ranch that he’s always talking about on the phone. I wanted to see them all for a little longer than just a few days out of the year. So, two weeks in Wabang sounded pretty nice for a break.”

“And now?” Rhett asked. “Are you disappointed that you’re not on a beach with your friends?”

“Not really… I mean of course I’m a little jealous of all the pictures they’re sending me but Wyoming is really growing on me.” she said earnestly. “And besides, it has some things I couldn’t get on a beach.”

“Oh, yeah? Like what?” he asked.

“Well there’s one cowboy in particular who’s really caught my eye.” Rhett quirked an eyebrow in amused interest as she continued. “He told me he’d teach me how to be a cowgirl—an offer I’m still considering by the way… oh, and there’s this fantastic cocktail that you just can’t get anywhere but the Handsome Gambler.”

“And how is that tequila and fruit punch treating you?” Rhett asked and she laughed.

“I’ll be honest, it’s better than most of the ‘fancy’ overpriced drinks I’ve ever had at nightclubs with my friends.” she answered.

“I hope you were getting others to buy those for you. Pretty girls should never have to pay for their own drinks.” Rhett said.

“Aww, you think I’m pretty?” she asked teasingly with a smile.

“I think you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.” he said earnestly, without a single hint of irony and she was taken aback by his candor.

She was so used to men giving cheesy pick up lines and half-baked compliments just so they could get into her pants, that she was thrown off kilter by the realization that Rhett was serious. Evidently, he saw the surprise in her face because he leaned forwards, his blue eyes staring deep into her own.

“I mean every single word. I don’t want you to think that I’m just running my mouth to get you in bed.” he said and she froze under his gaze, struck by just how wrong she had been when she had assumed Rhett was just another player who would say anything to try and get his dick wet. “I mean of course I’d still love to have you in my bed but I really do like you.” She laughed a little at his cheeky addition but was still stunned speechless by his words.

“Rhett, I-” was all she managed to stutter out before blushing and looking down at the bartop in embarrassment. “I really like you too.”

He put his hand under her chin and pushed it upwards to bring her to look at him, his blue eyes holding her gaze intensely.

“Will you dance with me?” he asked with a smile.

“Dance?” she asked, surprised.

“Yeah, dancing. They have that in the big cities right?” he joked and she laughed, looking over at the couples on the dance floor doing some kind of slow dance.

“We do have dancing in the city, just maybe not that kind of dancing.” she said, turning back to him. “It’s more like grinding… you have to be pretty drunk to do it.”

“Well, how about I teach you how to two step and you teach me how to grind?” he replied, flashing that mischievous grin again. “It can be your first cowgirl lesson.”

“I will dance with you but I will not be grinding, I’m far too sober for that.” she answered. “So are you gonna teach me how to square dance? Err, line dance? What is it called?”

“I’ll teach you to two step, I think line dancing may be a bit advanced for a first timer.” Rhett said, standing up, putting his hat on, and holding out his hand.

She took it, memorizing every line and callus of his strong hand against her soft skin, and he helped her down from the stool before leading her over to the area that was serving as a dance floor. They got into a typical slow dancing position, her hand on his shoulder and his hand resting on her waist while their remaining hands joined together. He taught her a simple move called a “two step” and then they were off, waltzing around the dance floor as she tried to remain on beat.

He would occasionally give her a pointer or correction but for the most part he praised her for getting a hang of it fairly quickly. They kept up that simple routine for an entire song and by the time the final notes of “Head Over Boots” played, she no longer had to focus on counting and her steps, instead able to simply enjoy the feeling of his hand on her lower back keeping her pressed up against him.

“Alright darlin’, this next one is a little bit faster.” he warned her with a smile as the next song began to play. “You up for the challenge?”

“Bring it on, cowboy!” she replied and he smirked.

“Alright, I warned you.” he said with a mischievous glint in his eye that made her weak at the knees, distracting her so that when he spun her out and around before reeling her back in, she was caught completely off guard.

She laughed, trying (and failing) to avoid stepping on his boots as she adjusted to the new pace and the added spins but after another song or two, she had acclimated to the dancing quite well. As “Why Don’t We Just Dance” ended, they were both breathing hard through wide grins, her heaving chest pressed against his, grateful to discover the next song was a slow song. They switched from two stepping to simply swaying, catching their breath as some melodic crooning about “Tennessee Whiskey” relaxed them against one another.

“Has anyone ever told you that your hat is sexy?” she asked once their heart rates had returned to normal and their breathing evened out, looking up at him.

“Once or twice.” Rhett replied with a smirk.

“Well, in that case…” she said before reaching up to grab his hat, pulling it off his head and placing it on her own. “How do I look? Sexy?”

“I- err… yes, you do look sexy.” he said, a look on his face somewhere between surprise and nervousness.

“You look like I just took a baseball bat to your truck headlights or something. What is it? Do you not like people touching your hat?” she asked, starting to get a little nervous that she had somehow fucked up in her lame attempt at flirting.

“No… it’s just, uh, around here a girl putting on a guy’s hat means… something special.” Rhett answered.

“Something special?” she asked.

“It’s like a… well, an unofficial rule that if a lady takes a fella’s hat and puts it on herself, then she… she’s supposed to go home with him at the end of the night.” replied, his usual cocky demeanor missing as he seemed nervous to tell her.

“Oh…” she said, understanding the full meaning of what she’d just done.

“But you didn’t know and I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable, so I’ll just take it back.” He said, taking his hat off of her head and placing it firmly on his own, reaching his hand back out to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. “It’s a stupid tradition anyways. Just backcountry nonsense, really.”

She could tell that he seemed nervous, like she’d suddenly just slap him and storm off for daring to suggest that she had to sleep with him. She stared deep into his eyes, touched by the adoration and concern in them, genuinely caring if he had upset her. She took a breath to prepare herself for what she was about to do before launching up onto her toes, throwing her arms around his neck, and pressing her lips to his.

He seemed caught off guard for a moment before smiling against her lips as he deepened the kiss, his hands tightening around her waist to hold her closer. The kiss was so good that she almost forgot why she had initiated it in the first place, reaching up to snatch his hat off of his head, pulling back in his arms to place it firmly on her head with a wink.

“Oh no… It looks like I just have to go home with you tonight.” she purred coyly, giving him a smirk before leaning in and adding lowly “Or I guess you could come home with me since my hotel room is probably closer than your house and I just can’t wait to get my mouth on your cock.”

Rhett looked absolutely stunned, completely in awe of the gorgeous minx in his arms.

“God damn, woman…” was all he could manage to say, tipping the brim of his hat on her head up with a finger so he could hungrily kiss her again, one hand on her waist and the other on the side of her neck.

He kissed her like a man possessed until her chest was heaving against his, breathless from his affection when he pulled back and smirked at the dazed look on her face as she gazed up at him.

“I gotta get you outta here.” he growled before pulling her off the dance floor and towards the door, hand tight on her waist as he called out for Kenny to put the drinks on his tab.

It seemed like half the bar was staring at them as they exited, focused on Rhett’s hat on her head, but she couldn’t find the energy to care as Rhett looked back at her with a devilish grin that made tantalizing promises for when he got her alone. He held the door open for her as they left the bar and his warm palm was flat against her back as he steered her towards the passenger door of a blue pick-up truck. He opened the door for her and leaned in for another kiss, desperately missing the feeling of her lips against his. He had meant for it to be quick, he really had, but they simply couldn’t stop once they’d started. Her hands looped around his neck and into his hair as his hands wandered the silhouette of her body before settling on her ass with a small squeeze. She pulled back to catch her breath and put a hand on his chest as a signal to stop.

“You’d better get me to a bed, Rhett. I’m too classy to let you fuck me against your truck… well, at least not for our first time.” she said with a wink before turning to hop up into the passenger seat.

“Yes ma’am!” Rhett replied smugly as he closed the door and hurried around to get in the driver’s seat.

As he started the truck and pulled out of the parking lot, his hard cock ached, straining almost painfully against the confines of his jeans. The air was thick with sexual tension, the only noises being an old country song playing quietly on the crackly radio and the rumble of the engine. Rhett stared straight ahead at the road because he thought if he glanced at her, he’d likely have to pull over the truck and take her right there on the roadside in the bed of his truck. But he kept himself in check, thinking that she was the kind of girl who deserved to be fucked on the softest bed he could find.

He only lasted about a minute of driving before one of his hands moved from the steering wheel to rest on her thigh, toying with the hem of her dress just above her knee. His fingers wandered her thigh as he slowly pulled her dress up to reveal more and more of her bare skin. She shifted in her seat, squeezing her legs together as she tried to ignore the ever-growing wildfire of desire within her core that hadn’t given her a moment’s reprieve since it had sparked during their first kiss.

“What have we here?” Rhett asked as he caught a peek of her lacy panties as the fabric of her skirt bunched up at her waist.

The hungry rasp in his voice sent a shiver of attraction through her body and she dug her nails into the seat of his truck, gripping so hard that her knuckles were surely turning white.

“How’d you know that’s my favorite color?” he asked with a smirk and she sucked in a breath as his fingers skimmed over the waistband of her panties, and she felt as if they were miles away from the place she wanted him to touch.

“Oh god Rhett, please don’t tease.” she groaned as his wandering fingers advanced towards her clit but retreated just shy of reaching it.

“I’ll take care of you darlin’, just be patient.” he assured her, fingers trailing teasing patterns into the lacy fabric above her pussy. “Fuck, you look so sexy just sitting here all hot ‘n bothered in my truck in your pretty little dress with my hat on.”

She whined, desperately wishing for his fingers to move just inches down to relieve her burning need. Rhett’s teasing had frustrated her enough that she decided to take matters into her own hands, or more accurately, his. She grabbed his hand and pushed it down in between her legs, giving a sigh when she felt the slight pressure against her clit. Rhett chuckled but before she could ask what was so funny, his deft fingers pushed her panties aside and plunged two fingers deep into her wet core. She gasped in surprise and her hands flew to clutch his wrist as he began to slowly drag his fingers in and out.

“So impatient…” he tsked, plunging even deeper. “Do I need to tie your hands up so you’ll be a good girl?”

His words sent a thrill through her body and her pussy clenched at the thought, her walls squeezing his fingers as she let out a slight moan. Her reaction surprised Rhett and he decided to test a theory, still pumping in and out.

“Oh, you like that? You like the thought of being tied up?” he asked, voice low and rough. “You’d look so fucking hot all trussed up in my lasso.”

Once again, her pussy clenched and he chuckled. She was getting wetter by the second and he knew she was just as into the idea as he was.

“Is that what you want, girl? You want me to bring my lasso to bed? Tie you up and take you over and over until you can’t even think?” Rhett asked, stopping his movements completely when she didn’t answer, too lost in the feeling of the delicious drag of his fingers. “I said, is that what you want, girl? I won’t do shit until I know exactly what you want me to do to you tonight.”

“Yes! Oh god yes, Rhett!” she cried out, hands squeezing his wrist as if it would make him continue his movements. “I want you tie me up and fuck me so good, please Rhett!”

“There you go, darlin’. Good girls who use their words get rewarded.” he said, adding a third finger and resuming his movements as she gave a breathy moan. “Fuck, you feel so damn good around my fingers. Can’t wait to feel you around my cock. So god damn wet too, all this for me?”

She couldn’t even answer with anything more than a moan as he finger fucked her but Rhett knew the answer already. His thumb swirled her clit as his fingers thrust in and out of her cunt at a relentless pace and she could hardly breathe as her climax quickly approached.

“Rhett!” she exclaimed, her hands gripping onto his arm as the waves of pleasure finally began to crest.

“Shh, I’ve got you girl.” Rhett tsked like he was trying to calm a spooked animal and it only made her pussy clench down on his fingers harder as she orgasmed. “I don’t know what kind of small city boys you’ve been fucking in the past so I gotta make sure you’re ready to take a big country boy like me.” He rode her through her orgasm, giving one last hard thrust just before it ended and curling his fingers to reach that perfect spot inside before pulling his fingers out and bringing them to his mouth. She watched breathlessly as he sucked his fingers clean of her juices, humming in content as he pulled the truck into the hotel parking lot.

“If you can make me cum like that with just your fingers, I don’t think I’ll survive tonight.” she said and he smirked.

“Let’s see how long you can last riding on my cock. Maybe you’ll make it more than eight seconds like a true cowgirl.” he joked with a wink before hopping out of the truck and heading around to her side.

Still catching her breath, she was vaguely aware of him grabbing something from the truck bed and when he opened her door, she found him hanging his lasso on his belt. She turned to hop out only for Rhett to grab her by the waist and pull her out, setting her down between him and the truck. She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him in for another kiss that slowly built in intensity until she was so caught up in the feeling of his tongue that she just barely noticed Rhett spinning her away from the truck and closing the door, walking her backwards towards the motel. They paused briefly so she could gasp out her room number and take the keys out of her pocket, which Rhett quickly took before he resumed steering her in the right direction.

Luckily, her room was on the first floor so they didn’t have to use the stairs, which would have been impossible with the way they were stumbling around blindly, connected at both the lips and the hips. They fumbled their way down the hallway, bumping into walls and doors as they made out with a ferocious hunger for one another. Evidently, Rhett became impatient with how slow their progress to her room was and he begrudgingly pulled his lips off of hers. Before she could whine or ask what he was doing, she suddenly found herself hoisted over his shoulder, looking down at his delicious backside as his strong arms anchored her thighs to his chest.

“Rhett!” she squealed in surprise and he silenced her with a light slap on her ass.

“Hush now girl, wouldn’t want to wake the other motel guests, would we?” he said smugly as he carefully leaned down to grab his hat from off the ground where it had fallen from her head when he had thrown her over his shoulder.

He put the hat back on his head as he hurried down the hallway to her room, briefly swearing as he fumbled with the keys to unlock the door. He swept inside, kicking the door closed behind him and flicking the light switch to turn on the lamps as he headed straight for the bed. She expected him to toss her onto the bed like a sack of potatoes with his hurry and ferocity but was surprised when he carefully laid her on the bed like she was the most fragile and precious thing he had ever touched. Her heart fluttered at how special it made her feel. She gazed up at him through her eyelashes as he chucked off his flannel and his boots, dropping them on the floor before setting his hat and lasso on the bed.

“Didn’t think you knew how to be gentle, cowboy.” she said cheekily, her breasts rising and falling as she caught her breath from the excitement and Rhett smirked as he pulled off her shoes and discarded them.

“I can be gentle if that’s what you want, sweetheart.” he said as he slowly and carefully climbed on top of her, gently brushing a strand of hair out of her face even as he caged her beneath him. “I can be whatever you want, darlin’. Gentle…” he purred, pressing feather-light kisses to her neck, a smile on his lips just barely ghosting over her skin before he moved to her ear. “Rough…” he growled before surging downwards to give her a bruisingly hard kiss that took her breath away before pulling back and leaving her gasping for air, blinking up at his smug smirk. “Somewhere in between…” he said as he returned to her neck, applying a light pressure as he tongued a spot that would surely be a hickey the next morning. It was just perfect and a long moan escaped her mouth involuntarily, her arms wrapping around his neck and threading her fingers into his hair with light tugs and Rhett chuckled against her skin. “Ah, there it is.” he said smugly.

“Don’t stop!” she cried out and he complied, returning to tonguing her skin. “Fuck, Rhett, don’t stop!”

Rhett’s mouth explored every inch of her skin from the top of her neck to the cleavage above the neckline of her dress, taking stock of what spots made her mewl and squirm the most. He pushed her dress straps aside so he could press tender kisses onto her shoulder, finding a particularly sensitive spot near her collarbone that he spent extra time teasing. His hands slipped beneath her body and began to unzip her dress, only getting halfway down her back before the zipper got stuck. He pulled it again but annoyingly it held fast. He yanked it once more, grumbling in frustration against her neck when it refused to come loose.

“Slow down there cowboy.” she warned and he pulled away from her skin to look at her. “You rip my favorite dress and I’ll cut up your favorite hat.”

“Darlin’, I’d like to see you try.” he replied with a smirk but nevertheless his movements slowed to carefully finish removing her dress, the zipper finally giving way and letting him pull it all the way down.

He slipped the fabric off of her body, reveling as more and more of her body was revealed to him, inch by tantalizing inch. He admired every curve, astonished with how she only seemed to get more and more attractive the less clothes she had on. He divested her of her bra much easier than he had with her dress, able to do it one-handed and without looking from a lot of practice. As her breasts were freed, her hands went to cover them instinctually, looking shy and nervous although he simply couldn’t understand why.

“Don’t hide from me sweetheart.” he coaxed, gently pulling her hands from her chest and taking in the sight of her bare breasts and stiffening nipples. She was gorgeous and he felt like he was looking at a goddess, unable to comprehend why she would ever think she was anything other than perfect. “You’re so beautiful, the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. I mean it.”

She sucked in a breath at his lovely words and the almost irreverent look in his eyes as he gazed down at her body in admiration and she was caught off guard when he stooped down to return to kissing her, capturing her lips with his own before she could even have a moment to think of a response. Without the fabric of her dress as protection, the cold metal of his ridiculously large belt buckle teased her bare skin as it was pressed between their bodies and she wouldn’t be surprised if the next morning, she ended up with an indentation of it there on her stomach.

She realized that Rhett was still completely dressed while she had been stripped all the way down to only her panties. Wanting to even the playing field a bit, she grabbed at the hem of his shirt and began pulling it up, Rhett pulling back from the kiss to remove it completely, tossing it aside. She marveled at his well-toned abs, her fingers skating along the hard lines of muscle. She chuckled at the tattoo of a man riding a bull that he had on his right pec, the black ink a stark contrast to his sun kissed skin even in the low lamplight of the hotel room. He had a bruise on his ribcage that was forming and he knew it would hurt like a bitch in the morning but he couldn’t bring himself to care as he watched her eyes devour him.

“Doesn’t hurt much right now, sweetheart.” he assured her. “This was one of my luckier rides, not as beat up as I usually am even though Napalm was a real mean son of a bitch. Maybe you’re my lucky charm.”

“Are you sure it doesn’t hurt?” she asked tentatively when he winced as her fingertips grazed the tender skin.

“A little.” he answered, dipping down to whisper in her ear. “But I don’t really notice it when I have you to distract me.”

“Guess I better get to distracting then.” she replied with a smirk before latching on to his neck, determined to leave a mark on him to counter all the ones he had given her.

“Tryin’ to mark me up, girl?” he asked, half a chuckle, half a moan. “Let everyone in town know you’ve staked your claim on me?”

She laughed but was cut off as it suddenly turned into a moan, his hands grasping at her breasts. She found herself unbelievably turned on by his wandering hands (and mouth) as they continued to make out, pausing occasionally only to suck a hickey into the other’s neck before returning to their mouths. With his shirt off, her hands were able to explore his body, memorizing the feel of every inch of his skin under her fingertips. Feeling his erection straining against the confines of his jeans as he ground himself against her, she let her hands trail down his body to his belt.

She mentally cursed him for having such a ridiculously large belt buckle, making it ten times harder than it needed to be for her to undo it. After trying and failing a few times, she groaned in impatient frustration, tugging at his belt in angry desperation. She felt him smirk against her lips and before she had time to react, Rhett grabbed her wrists and pinned them above her head. She gasped in surprise and wiggled fruitlessly in his grip as he pulled back to admire the sight of her below him.

“Your hands are getting in my way, darlin’.” he scolded playfully. “Do I need to get my lasso out or can you behave like a good girl?”

“Hmmm…” she said, pretending to think before replying with mock innocence. “I’m not sure if I can control myself, Rhett.”

“You sure sweetheart?” he asked seriously, giving her an out she didn’t need.

“I’m sure.” she replied.

“Gonna need a safeword, darlin’. Got one in mind?” Rhett asked, trailing a finger down her front teasingly and she thought carefully for a moment.

“How about ‘Napalm’…” she said, a sly smile spreading on her face. “You know, in the hopes you can last longer than eight seconds with me.”

He laughed and said “I think I know how to put that wicked tongue of yours to better use…” before pulling her in to roughly kiss her.

She got no warning before he ended the kiss as suddenly as it began and he moved to sit up on his knees, roughly flipping her over before returning to straddle her. She didn’t even have time to gasp or whine as he pulled her hands behind her back and leaned over to grab his lasso. He arranged her arms so that they were one on top of the other with her elbows against the opposite wrists before beginning to wind his lasso around them as if he was making a design of some kind.

As he worked, she groaned at the sensation of his clothed erection against her ass. Her head was pushed against the mattress, the cool sheets cushioning her cheek and teasing her hard nipples. He smugly hummed a tune that she eventually recognized at the song that had been playing in the truck on the ride from the bar. She moved her arms and shoulders around slightly to test how sturdy his work in progress was and he reached around to pull her head up slightly, a careful but firm hand on her throat.

“You really need to learn how to behave, sweetheart.” he growled into her ear and she felt a shiver run down her spine in anticipation. “If you can’t stay still until I’m done, I’m gonna leave you tied up to make you watch me jerk myself off and you won’t get to cum again tonight. Got it?”

“Yes.” she replied breathlessly, his hand around her throat gentle to not hurt her or cut off her air but still firm enough to remind her he was in charge.

“Yes, what?” he asked, squeezing just a miniscule amount so she had to take slightly deeper breaths to answer.

“Yes, sir.” she replied and he removed the pressure on her throat so she could breathe normally again, his hand only serving to keep her head up.

“Good girl.” he cooed, pressing a soft rewarding kiss onto her shoulder before lowering her back down and resuming his work.

She stayed still, just enjoying the feeling of the coarse rope on her skin until her arms were completely bound together and Rhett was seemingly pleased with his work.

“Is that too tight, darlin’?” he asked.

“It’s perfect.” she answered before smugly adding “Sir.”

In seconds, he had her flipped back over onto her back, her arms trapped beneath her but she obediently stayed still, gazing up at him faux-innocently as she waited for his next instruction.

“Alright darlin’, test it out.” he ordered smugly. “See if my ropework is adequate enough for your high city standards.”

Following his instructions, she tried to pull her wrists free but only succeeded in wiggling her upper half. With her shoulders back, her chest was pushed out and Rhett seemed very pleased at the sight of her wriggling form, her breasts jiggling lightly. He cupped her cheek and brushed his thumb against her lips teasingly before moving to run his fingers over her nipples.

She was helpless, but in the best way possible. She liked–no, loved–being at his mercy, completely reliant on him to provide for her pleasure. It was strange, she had never given anyone that kind of power over her in bed, not even long-term lovers, she just didn’t trust them. But for some baffling reason, she was not only comfortable but eager to give Rhett, a man she had met only hours earlier, that power.

“Perfect.” Rhett said, so quietly it was almost as if it was to himself, as he gazed down at her and continued to drag his fingernails over her nipples until they were stiff with arousal. “God, you look so fucking perfect all trussed up in my lasso.” Embarrassed by his praise, she averted her eyes as she felt her cheeks heating up but he simply pulled her chin to look back at him. “Don’t hide from me, girl. You need to know just how perfect you are.”

She had no reply, stunned speechless, only able to respond by surging upwards as much as she could to kiss him passionately. He immediately reciprocated the urgency in her kiss, his tongue parting her lips before delving deeper into her mouth. He was laying above her, hands on either side of her head supporting his weight as he wedged his knee between her thighs, pressing directly against her core. Slowly, she began grinding against it, her only way to bring even a fraction of relief to her aching cunt with her hands tied behind her back. She rocked against his knee several times before Rhett realized just what she was doing, pulling back to watch but leaving his knee in place. She wiggled and whined at the loss of his mouth against hers, helpless to do anything but continue humping his knee like a bitch in heat.

“Darlin’, you look so hot trying to ride my thigh like it’s a bull.” he growled as his blue eyes fixed on her intently.

“I’m not an expert like you, I think I might need some pointers…” she said, batting her eyelashes at him sweetly as she continued to desperately buck her hips, feeling the rough denim of his jeans even through the thin fabric of her panties.

“I think you're right, and I do believe I promised you some cowgirl lessons.” he replied smugly.

Carefully he pulled her up with him, sitting against the headboard with his legs spread obscenely as he pulled her to straddle his thigh. He reached over to the nightstand and grabbed his cowboy hat, placing it upon her head as she narrowed her eyes at him with an amused curiosity.

“Can’t ride without the hat, darlin’.” he said simply and she opened her mouth to reply but was cut off when his strong hands grabbed her hips and pulled her down onto his thigh so she would moan. “Go ahead and let me see what I’m working with.”

His hands fell from her hips to lie beside him, watching her with hungry eyes as she began to ride his thigh, chasing enough friction against her core to bring her relief. Strangely, she didn’t feel nervous or self-conscious anymore. She had thought that she’d feel silly dry humping Rhett’s jeans like a bitch in heat but when he looked at her the way he did, she just felt sexy. She bit her lip to contain her moans as she shifted her hips back and forth, up and down, and everything in between. Her head fell back slightly but she pulled back up just in time so as not to drop his hat.

“How am I doing? Passing for a cowgirl?” she asked after a minute of dragging herself against his thigh over and over again.

“You’re a natural, sweetheart.” he said, gazing up at her reverently. “Only thing I can teach you is to use your thighs too, not just your hips.”

“Like this?” she asked, continuing her movements but clenching her thighs down against his to keep herself steady.

“Perfect…” Rhett replied, leaning forwards to press sloppy kisses on her breasts as she rode, his large hands warming her skin as they returned to her hips and then traveled up her sides to assist in his assault on her breasts.

“Fuck, Rhett…” she moaned, struggling to keep her rhythm as she got ever closer to her climax, control of her body slipping away as her stamina ran out but her need increased.

Evidently, Rhett noticed her beginning to struggle, dragging his hands back down from her breasts to grab her hips and guide her movements, taking over when she was getting too close to the edge to keep it up. With his grip bruisingly hard on her hips, he helped to keep her riding through the intensely pleasurable waves of her orgasm when it hit suddenly.

“That’s it, baby. I’ve got you.” he assured her as she got lost in the feeling, throwing her head back with a loud cry, his hat flying off her head and onto the floor. She panted, her chest heaving as her orgasm ran its course.

“Good girl.” Rhett purred and despite having just cum, she felt a stirring in her core once again at those words, her body seemingly not satisfied with just the one soul-shattering orgasm.

She slumped forwards in exhaustion against his chest, unable to push herself back up with her hands still tied behind her back. He let her sit there for a moment to catch her breath, her head still spinning as he kept an arm around her waist to pull her against him and keep her grounded, his other hands stroking her hair comfortingly. When she had had enough time to reorient herself, he carefully laid her back down onto the bed, her bound arms trapped uselessly between her body and the bed once more.

She whined, wiggling in disappointment as he got up out of the bed and he paused to lean over and inspect her panties, now drenched with her cum. He traced just the tip of his finger against the fabric, chuckling when she lifted her hips to chase his hand as it retreated.

“Look at that, darlin’... fucking soaked. Even got a little on my pants.” He said before he shucked off his jeans, discarding them to the floor and returning to his place in between her legs. “Sweetheart, are you particularly attached to this pair of panties?”

“No…” she answered, her brows furrowing in confusion.

“Good. I’ll buy you a new pair.” he said, with only that serving as a warning before he literally ripped them off her and she gasped, half in surprise and half in desire. “Well if that ain’t just the prettiest little pussy I’ve ever seen.”

“Rhett, I need you…” she moaned, feeling particularly empty as admired her cunt.

“Think you’re ready for me?” he asked and she nodded vigorously, pulling his dick out of his boxers to let her see it for the first time.

Rhett smirked as her eyes widened at the sight, well aware of how above average his dick was and reveled in people’s stunned reactions when they saw it. ‘Of course’, she thought looking at his large member, ‘Rhett not only had movie star looks but he had been blessed with a porn star cock as well’. From his position kneeling between her legs, he let his cock rest on her abdomen, showing her just how deep he would go when fully seated inside of her. It was intimidating but she felt as if she’d explode if she didn’t get it inside her soon.

“You sure you’re ready for me, sweetheart?” he asked again, tapping his cock on her stomach, a bead of precum leaking from it’s head onto her overheated skin.

“Yes Rhett, please!” she whined, wiggling in her bonds desperately.

“Want me to wear a condom? I swear on my mama’s life I’m clean.” he assured her.

“I’m on the pill and I’m clean, Rhett, please just fuck me.” she begged impatiently.

“Shh darlin’...” he said quietly, amused at her desperation but still reaching down to stroke her hair out of her face. “I’m gonna take care of you, I promise. Good things come to girls who are patient, sweetheart.”

“Rhett, please let me touch you, please, please, please.” she babbled and he shushed her again.

“Alright, alright, sweetheart. Take a breath.” he said, reaching under her to untie the ropes expertly with one hand and without a minute, she was free.

Immediately, her hands went to his body, touching every inch of his bare skin that she could, surging upwards to kiss him as if his lips were the air she needed to breathe. She pulled back for air and he cupped her cheek with one hand, the other by her head holding his weight off of her.

“Ready for me, darlin’? He asked, the head of his cock resting against her entrance and she nodded vigorously. “Tell me if you need me to stop.”

He entered her slowly and she gasped, feeling suddenly as if all the air had been knocked from her lungs. Rhett moved at a glacial pace, giving her time to adjust to the feeling of his large cock stretching her open. He groaned as he felt her walls squeeze him, grunting when he finally bottomed out in her hot, wet cunt. He stayed still, giving her a minute to get used to the feeling of being stretched so deeply, resting his forehead against hers and murmuring encouragement and praise. He wiped a tear when it fell from the corner of her watering eyes and pressed a sweet kiss onto her lips, reminding her to breathe.

“You alright sweetheart?” he asked lowly and she took a breath, beginning to feel the discomfort fade and the pleasure return.

“Yes.” she said, gazing up into his blue eyes as he smiled down at her.

He began slow, pulling out almost all the way only to push back in at an agonizingly slow pace, increasing the speed just a miniscule amount with each thrust. When he bottomed out in her again after a few thrusts, she moaned and her legs went instinctively around his hips, heels digging into his ass like she was trying to keep him from pulling out.

“Faster, Rhett, please.” she moaned and he obliged, setting a steady pace as he thrust in and out.

As he sped up, she clung to him like a lifeline in the sea, tugging on his hair and raking her nails lightly (for the most part) across his back. The wet slapping noises of their bodies meeting rose in intensity, his grunts and her moans growing louder and louder until it was all she could hear. As he pounded into her, she threw her head back and closed her eyes in ecstasy. Never before had she been fucked so good and so hard and she was surprised at just how much she was loving missionary position, reveling in the intimacy of it instead of the impersonal and quick doggie style fucks most guys went for.

She could feel herself getting closer to the edge and evidently Rhett noticed too as he slipped a hand down between their bodies and rubbed circles on her clit, sending her crashing over into her third soul-crushing toe-curling orgasm of the night. Rhett wasn’t far behind, the feeling of her clamping down on his cock as she screamed in pleasure being enough to push him over the cliff, the pace of his hips stuttering as he came hard buried deep in her cunt. He groaned as he emptied himself into her, taking a moment to breathe and memorize the feeling of her around him before he pulled out and sat back on his heels. He watched in stunned awe as his cum mixed with hers, dripping out of her hole and onto the sheets.

Satisfied with himself, he smirked when he saw her staring up at the ceiling in a dazed bliss, glassy eyes and wide smile on her face. He put on his boxers and went to the bathroom for a washcloth and a glass of water. She vaguely registered him cleaning her up, coaxing her to drink from the cup and felt chaste kisses on her wrists as he confirmed she didn’t have rope burns. She had never felt so satisfied, her mind a pleasurable fog as he put his flannel shirt on her, buttoning it up before he clicked off the lamp and settled into bed beside her.

“You still with me, darlin’?” Rhett asked, pulling the sheets up to cover them both.

“Yeah… I just…” she replied, trying to force her brain to form coherent sentences instead of reveling in the post-orgasmic haze.

“Never been fucked like that by a city boy?” he asked with a grin that revealed he already knew the answer and she laughed as she turned her head to look at him, thoughts finally clearing up.

“Three orgasms in one night? No, no one’s ever done that.” she replied as he reached across her to grab her waist and hold her closer, her hand going to trail mindless patterns on his arm as she spoke. “Usually I’m lucky if I can get one that I don’t have to do myself.”

“That’s a damn crime.” Rhett said. “You deserve to be getting them morning, noon, and night… and a few in-between for good measure.”

“I gotta say you’re pretty good at pillow talk.” she replied.

“It ain’t just talk, sweetheart. You should be waking up with a mouth on your cunt every morning.” he said and she laughed, unsure if he was joking or not.

“I’ve always wanted to wake up like that.” she mused.

“Then that’s how I’ll get you up tomorrow morning.” Rhett replied and when she gazed into his blue eyes and that devilish grin, she knew he wasn’t kidding, a shiver of anticipation running down her spine.

“Careful cowboy, don’t make promises you can’t keep.” she said with a smile as she curled closer into his arms with her head on his chest, slowly letting sleep overtake her as she listened to his steady heartbeat. She was so exhausted that she wasn’t sure if she imagined him pressing a soft kiss to the top of her forehead just before she fell asleep.

She thought it was a dream at first, the feeling of a tongue lapping at her folds, a nose bumping against her clit. It felt heavenly, like she was an angel floating among the clouds, with only two strong arms anchored around her thighs to ground her and keep her tethered to reality. She sighed out a breathy little half-moan and heard a deep chuckle from the mouth at her core, the vibrations against her wet cunt only intensifying the sensations before the mouth retreated from her entirely.

“Ah, there’s my pretty little city girl wakin’ up for me.” A deep voice rasped and she opened her eyelids, still heavy with sleep, to find Rhett grinning up at her like a devil between her legs, the lower half of his face glinting with her slick.

“Rhett?” she asked sleepily. “What are you doing?”

“I promised you I’d wake you with my mouth on your cunt…” he replied. “And I always keep my promises.” He winked before licking a strip on her clit that made her throw her head back and moan.

Surprised that he was not only willing, but eager, to eat her out she moaned for him to continue. He obliged obediently, sucking at her clit as she begged for him not to stop, his strong arms anchored around her thighs to keep her wide open for him. With one hand tugging on his hair and the other gripping the sheets hard, she orgasmed, chanting his name like a prayer as she came on his face. Rhett dutifully rode her through the waves of her orgasm, smiling against her cunt as he was pleased with her pleasure. He licked one last stroke over her folds as she panted in the wake of her orgasm.

He climbed up her body to give her a hungry kiss, the taste of her still on his lips making her head spin before he pulled back.

“I think I just proved I was telling the truth when I said I’m real good at everything I do.” he said

“Are you always this humble?” she laughed.

“Modesty is overrated, sweetheart.” he replied, smiling before he kissed her once more, his fingers swiftly unbuttoning her flannel to give himself better access to her breasts. “My shirt looks better on you than it does on me… but I think it’d look even better on the floor.”

She giggled against his lips as he pulled it off of her, tossing it onto the floor as he continued to play with her breasts. His phone buzzed on the nightstand and he groaned as he rolled off her to check it.

“Fucking Perry…” he muttered and she laughed, remembering he had told her Perry was his older brother. “One sec darlin’.”

She hummed in acknowledgement, taking the time to ogle at his naked torso in the daylight. His bruise was getting worse and she was noticing more in other spots that she hadn’t seen before in the low lamp light. His bull rider tattoo on his right pec looked even better now that she could make out all the little details. She had marked him up with some hickies, no doubt in her mind that she looked much the same. Realizing she had to use the bathroom, she sat up and swung her legs over the edge, pausing to look back at Rhett when he asked where she was going.

“To the bathroom and then maybe a shower, that alright with you cowboy?” she asked sarcastically and he shook his head and smiled.

She went to stand up but her legs were too wobbly and she began to fall, Rhett lunging forwards to catch her, wrapping an arm around her waist and hauling her back up onto the bed, now sitting right behind her. He laughed and she could feel his chest rumbling against her back, clearly proud of himself for contributing to her current state.

“Not funny, Rhett.” she scolded, shaking her head as she was unable to stop herself from smiling.

“You seem to very clumsy sweetheart, that’s twice now I’ve caught you while you’re falling.” he joked. “Maybe I make you a little weak at the knees, huh?”

“Asshole.” she laughed, shoving him away before he swept her off her feet and began walking her to the bathroom, her arms quickly flying around his neck.

He carried her to the bathroom, depositing her on the toilet before stepping to the sink to get a drink. After she finished her business, she stuck her head out the door and batted her eyelashes at him.

“Wanna join me in the shower, cowboy?” she asked coyly and he smirked as she crooked a finger towards him.

“I believe I’m obliged to, someone needs to keep you from slipping and falling again on your shaky little legs.” he joked as he walked to the shower and turned it on.

She should have known that having just an innocent shower was impossible with Rhett Abbott. What started as him washing her back quickly turned sexual when his hands wandered down to her ass and she found herself yet again being railed within an inch of her life by him. Afterwards, she shooed him off so she could wash her hair without him trying to seduce her again and once he ensured that she could stand on her own with a cheeky little smile, he hopped out to get dressed while she finished her shower. When she walked out of the bathroom covered only by a towel, Rhett tried to steal her it to make her laugh before they began making out once more.

“I wish I could just spend all day between your legs.” he groaned, trying to pull himself away from her so he didn’t do just that. “I could show you all the different uses for my lasso that are way better than roping cattle.”

“Tempting offer but I think my brother would break down the door thinking I was in trouble if I didn't come out.” she said with a laugh as she patted his chest and playfully pushed him away. “Speaking of which, you’d better get out of here before he comes to pick me up.”

She quickly got dressed, spying him slipping her ripped panties from the previous night into his back pocket with a cheeky smile out of the corner of her eye.

“Excuse me sir, are you stealing my panties?” she asked with a laugh.

“Well ma’am, I have to know what size and brand to get you for a replacement.” he replied smugly. “That’s all it is.”

“Oh, that’s all is it?” she asked, raising her eyebrows in amusement as she pulled him against her by his belt. “It wouldn’t be because you want a souvenir of your conquest? Because I don’t think it’s very fair that you get one and I don’t.”

“Well, I could give you my boxers but going commando for a day of ranch work might be a little painful.” he said and she shook her head. “So, how about this as a souvenir?” Rhett asked as he placed his hat on her head.

“So if cowboy law says that a girl taking a cowboy’s hat and putting it on her head means she’s going home with him, what does a cowboy taking off his hat and putting it on her head mean?” she asked and he smirked.

“You’ll have to find out by going out with me again tonight.” he replied.

“Hmm.” she said, pretending to think about his offer. “I guess I might be free tonight for some more lessons. Besides, I told you last night that I wanted to get my mouth on your cock and I still haven't so I have some promises to keep too…”

“Damn it woman, you’re really gonna make it real hard for me to leave aren't you?” he asked and she laughed.

“I’m certainly making something hard.” she said with a smirk as she trailed a hand down to palm his hardening bulge before stepping away to open the door in feigned innocence. “See you tonight, cowboy.”

“Can I get your number before I go, darlin’?” he asked as he stepped out the door and a sly smile grew on her face.

“Check your shirt pocket.” she said with a smirk and a wink before closing the door, leaving him dumbfounded on her doorstep when he reached into the pocket of his flannel and pulled out a slip of paper with her number on it, knowing that he’d truly met his match.

Looking through the peephole, she watched him walk towards his truck, a slight spring in his step. She could hear him whistling even through the door and down the hall and she laughed when she realized that it was the same song that had been playing when he fingered her in the cab of his truck, the same one he had been humming when he had been tying her up.

Peering out the curtains of the window, she watched him drive away, her brother’s truck passing Rhett’s exiting one as he entered the parking lot and she could swear that she saw her brother staring Rhett down through the windshield. Quickly, she got dressed and ready to go before heading down to the parking lot, deciding to leave Rhett’s hat on her head to mess with her brother. Sam was checking his phone when she hopped in the front seat, Jenna and the kids in the back seat.

“Good morning!” she said cheerfully and he nodded as he glanced over at her, returning his eyes to the wheel before they shot open in surprise and he had to do a double take.

“Whose hat is that?” he asked sternly. “That had better not be Rhett Abbott’s.”

“In an attempt to stop you from having a heart attack, I’m choosing not to answer that question.” she replied, barely able to hide her smug smirk at her brother’s panic.

“Good for you, girl!” Jenna cried, leaning forwards from the backseat between her children’s car seats to pat her sister-in-law on the shoulder. “Domesticate that wild cowboy.”

“No!” Sam said quickly, turning to look at his wife in stunned disbelief. “There will be no ‘domesticating’ any cowboys, especially not Rhett Abbott.”

“We’ll talk later…” Jenna mouthed to Y/N with a wink as she sat back in her seat.

Sam sighed grumpily, his face contorting into a frown as he shifted gears and pulled the truck out of the parking lot and down the road towards their ranch.

“Auntie Y/N, can I be the flower girl at the wedding?” Sarah asked suddenly from the back seat and Sam just about jumped out of his skin.

“WHAT?” he panickedly sputtered, Jesse laughing at his dad’s reaction. “Sarah Ann Y/L/N, what are you talking about?”

“Wearing someone else’s hat means that you like like them.” Sarah replied, cheerfully. “Chrissy and the older girls told me that her big sister was wearing a guy’s hat and the next week they got married!”

“If there’s a wedding, do I have to wear my sunday clothes?” Jesse whined. “I hate them, they’re so itchy!”

“No one is wearing sunday clothes because no one is getting married!” Sam insisted, his wife and sister struggling not to laugh at how virulently against even the suggestion of his little sister marrying the so-called “manwhore of Wabang”.

Y/N was so amused that she didn’t even try to reassure her brother that she was not going to be getting married after one date, but she also didn’t mention her second date with Rhett later that evening, deciding to give his heart a rest for a while as she thought about what cowgirl lessons Rhett might teach her that night.

#rhett abbott #rhett abbott x reader #rhett abbott x y/n #outer range #outer range fic #lewis pullman #lewis pullman said manwhore rights

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yankstrash · 7 months

Text

october 10

the weekend was over

the hockey team has returned from their first game of the season

and they did in fact win.

amelia had texted gabe after the game on saturday

from: amelia

"guess i owe you ice cream."

from: gabe

"yes, you certainly do :)"

from: amelia

"you actually gonna let me pay this time?"

from: gabe

"now, why would i let you do that??"

she rolled her eyes and smiled at his response

she didn't tell him, but she did watch the game.

and she can't even lie, she enjoyed it. a lot.

her eyes were glued to gabe every second he was on the ice

he sure did look good in his hockey uniform.

and to top it off?

before the game she was doing a little stalk through his instagram tags and saw an interview video of him from over the summer

and yeah, he looked GOOD.

it may be hard to believe, but amelia has found gabe attractive since day one

if you thought it was so easy for her to just reject him, wrong.

it wasn't easy, and it got less easy each time she did it.

not only because of his good looks, but because of his charm

and his persistency

and his willingness to come back each time, more determined than the last

she constantly felt her walls coming down each time he asked her out, and she hated it

but now that she's been out with him a few times, she doesn't hate it

she likes it, a lot.

it still scares her, but she has a better feeling about him each time

and honestly, if you asked her right now where her head is at she would say, "i'm not sure, but i do know the third date sounds like the perfect time for a first kiss..."

it was sunday night and amelia was at her desk finishing weekend homework

her eyes darted from her notebook to her phone when she heard it ding

from: gabe

"i am back. third date tomorrow?"

amelia grinned at his message

well he didn't waste a second.

from: amelia

"what'd you get back 2 minutes ago?"

from: gabe

"3 minutes actually. so, date night? tomorrow?"

she smiled and texted back

from: amelia

"i get off at 6"

from: gabe

"perfect, i will meet you at the coffee shop"

from: amelia

"okay gabriel"

from: gabe

"okay miss amelia"

amelia dressed cuter than normal for work on monday since she and gabe were going out right after she got off

she texted him beforehand to make sure her outfit was in dress code for their evening plans, which she, per usual, had no idea what they were

from: amelia

"is a skirt and sweater dress code approved for tonight?"

from: gabe

"that is perfect."

perfect.

at five minutes to six, she looked up at the sound of the coffee shop door opening

she smiled when she saw gabe walking in

he pointed to a table, signifying that he would wait for her

she finished up her last 5 minutes before grabbing her things and clocking out

gabe stood up when he saw her grabbing her things

"ready?" he asked as she came out from behind the counter

"i am"

gabe opened the coffee shop door for her, letting her go before him

"thank you" she says as they walk out

"so" she begins "where to tonight, gabriel?"

gabe looks down at her hand and catches it mid swing, lacing his fingers through hers

"you hungry?" he asks

she nods her head, "very."

he smiles and nods, "good, let's grab dinner."

they drive into boston and gabe parks near a restaurant

"i hope there's an ice cream shop nearby.." amelia jokes as they walk into the restaurant

gabe laughs, "i'm sure we'll find one so i can buy you some ice cream, miss amelia"

amelia stops walking and turns to gabe with her mouth open

"gabe..." she warns

"sh sh" gabe walks up to her and gently places a hand on her cheek

amelias breath hitches a bit in her throat as her eyes landed on his lips, but very quickly moved up to his eyes

"dinner first." gabe says lowly, smiling

she smiles back and slowly nods her head

"mmhmm" she hums, barely audible

"cmon" he takes his hand off her cheek and grabs her hand "dinner time, m'lady."

"i think i am going to explode." amelia says as they exit the restaurant

gabe nods his head in agreement

"walk it off?" gabe asks, holding his hand out to her

she smiles as she looks at his hand and nods her head

"please."

amelia thought they were walking to no destination, but she had an idea gabe knew where he was going when they started walking on a bridge

amelia turned her head and saw an amazing view of the city

with the sun setting in the back

"wow." she said as she walked over to the railing and looked out "this is so nice"

gabe stood next to her, still holding her hand

"isn't it? i love it here. i come here after practice sometimes just to walk and clear my head." gabe says

"does it help?" amelia asks, releasing his hand and turning around so she's leaning against the rails

gabe nods, leaning forward and resting his arms on the rails

"it does. it's peaceful and the view is incredible." he says

"your teammates come with you?" she asks

he shakes his head

"just me."

"hmm" she hums in response

she turns her head to the side, looking at gabe

"so you just take your dates here then?" she jokes with a grin

gabe smiles lightly, but still feels a pang in his chest

he knows she's joking, or at least he hopes she is.

but he wants her to believe he isn't screwing around.

he slowly shakes his head

"only special ones.." he jokes back, easing some of the tension

he lifts himself off his arms, taking a step towards amelia

"only you." he says

amelia looks up at gabe, looking into his eyes

she's unconsciously searching them

for something

anything.

lies

doubt

dishonesty

but she finds nothing.

only him staring back into hers

her bottom lip gets pulled slightly between her teeth as her eyes wander down justtt a tad

she can tell gabe is thinking the same thing, yet he doesn't do anything about it

they stand there for a moment, just looking

neither of them saying anything

they're not sure what to say

she breaks the ice.

"you know," she tilts her head "for a guy who was so eager at first to make a move, doesn't seem like you want to make one now."

gabe laughs lightly at her words

"just don't want to make a move that you don't want me to make." he says

amelia shrugs, "who says i don't want you to?"

gabe purses his lips, inching a little bit closer to her

"only if you want me to.."

she darts her eyes up to his, then down to his lips

they keep dancing back and forth as she lifts her chin a bit

"i want you to." she whispers, bringing a hand up behind his head and pulling him down to her

until their lips are touching

softly

gently

they keep them pressed together for a moment, not moving them

amelia starts to move hers when she feels gabes hands go to her cheeks

she moves the hand that was in his hair to the back of his neck, putting her other hand there too, holding him close

when they break apart, both their eyes remained close for a moment

their foreheads are leaned against each other

gabes hands are still on her cheeks

amelias arms are still around his neck

their eyes finally open, and they look at each other, smiling

"only you, amelia."

gabe dropped her off that night, walking her up as always

"y'know.. we never did find the ice cream shop," amelia says, turning to gabe "i still owe you."

"hmm, maybe next time." he shrugs

she shakes her head

"one of these dates... you're going to let me pay."

he chuckles and shakes his head, "doubtful, pretty."

she bites the inside of her cheek, trying to fight back a smile

gabe smiles, taking a step towards her and bringing a hand down around her waist

he slowly leans down and connects their lips, giving her a quick kiss

"hmm," she hums against his lips "that move took longer than expected." she says

gabe chuckles, "what do you mean?!"

amelia shrugs, bringing her arms back up around his neck

"i really thought you'd try that on our first date"

gabes mouth falls open at her confession

"i'm trying to be a gentleman here, miss amelia.. if you couldn't tell."

she chuckles, "oh i can."

he smiles, leaning back in and capturing her lips in another kiss

when they break apart, he smiles against her lips

"goodnight, amelia."

she laughs lightly, taking her forehead off his and looking up at him

"goodnight, gabe."

#princess!gf x gabe perreault #g + m timeline !

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tip-top-cloud-surfer · 1 year

Text

The Benjamin Effect - Rooster

Pairing: Rooster / Fem!OC (Kate Benjamin-Mitchell)

Length: 3.2k

Warnings: (Childhood) Enemies to Lovers; Mentions of Goose and Carole; Angst; Feelings of Abandonment; Tension; Strained Relationships; Daddy Issues; Questionable Decisions; Age-Gap (about eight years), but Everyone is Very Much Adult; Female OC with Physical Description

This work, all of my other works, and my entire blog are 18+ Only.

Summary: With Maverick and Penny's wedding drawing closer, Rooster is called upon to convince Maverick and Penny's first daughter, Kate, to come around to the idea. Of course, Rooster and Kate have their own history to work through and Kate is definitely not going to make it easy for him.

Note: Amelia is Maverick's biological daughter in this too. Kate is about eight years younger than Rooster, but is very much an adult. She's in her late 20s and Rooster is in his mid/late 30s.

Part 2

Master List

Rooster should have known that Maverick had an ulterior motive for taking him out to dinner.

If Maverick wanted to just hang out and catch up without any additional bullshit, he would have simply set up the grill and they would have shared a few beers outside on the back porch. But buying him dinner at a restaurant was a move that Maverick played when Bradley was young and easily swayed by the promise of French fries and ice cream sundaes. And, apparently, now too.

“You want me to do what?” Rooster asked his godfather, staring over at Maverick incredulously.

“I need your help in getting Kate to talk to me again,” Maverick explained casually.

“Kate? Your daughter Kate?”

Kate, who went by Katie as a kid, was Maverick and Penny’s daughter from one of their previous will-they-won’t-they situations. She was a surprise addition to the family and a near-death sentence for Maverick when Admiral Benjamin, Penny’s dad, found out about her. But by the time that Kate was born, Penny and Maverick were both completely dedicated to co-parenting.

So, why did Maverick need his help with getting Kate to talk to him again? And why did Maverick think that Bradley of all people would be a good candidate for that job?

Bradley and Kate were never close.

There was several years difference between them—probably eight or so, if Bradley did the math right. And Bradley thought that she was a whiny brat whenever their paths crossed as kids. She was always upset whenever Maverick and Bradley did something together without her and she complained until she got her way, which Maverick always gave her in the end.

The last time that Bradley saw Kate, it was at his mom’s funeral. And he hadn’t heard from her since the paper pulling incident. That was eighteen, nearly nineteen, years ago now. For fuck’s sake, he just found out that she went by Kate now instead of Katie.

“Yeah, you remember her, right?” Maverick asked, folding his arms underneath him.

“I mean, yeah, but why do you need my help?” Rooster inquired, raising an eyebrow.

“She doesn’t . . .” Maverick started to explain but then he trailed off. Maverick sighed, rubbing his face tiredly, before turning back to Rooster. “I wasn’t the best dad for her. I wasn’t around and I didn’t make the right efforts when I needed to because I got caught up in my own demons and fears. And she—and I understand why—hasn’t forgiven me for any of it.”

“I’m still missing the part where I fit into this whole scheme,” Rooster replied honestly.

“I’m hoping that since the two of us started to reconcile and address what happened in the past with our relationship, that you could help me do the same with Kate. To at least help me show her that I’ve changed and I’m taking my personal relationships seriously.”

“So, you want me to help you steal an F-14 to patch things up with your daughter?” Rooster asked sarcastically, earning a sigh from Maverick.

“No, I just . . . maybe just talk with her about what we worked through. I’m prepared to do all of the talking and amending on my own, but I need help convincing her to talk to me in the first place,” Maverick explained softly to Rooster. “She just shuts down every time that I try to make amends or bring up the past.”

“So, that’s why you took me out here?” Rooster asked, glancing down at his plate. “To try and bribe me to help your daughter talk to you again?”

“You love the French fries here,” Maverick pointed out, earning an incredulous look from Rooster.

“I did when I was nine,” Rooster corrected Maverick.

“Bradley,” Maverick stated, trying to get the conversation back on track, “will you help me? Or at least just try? If she doesn’t come around to you, then she doesn’t come around to you, and that’s fine. I just . . . I want to try to make things right with her. Before Penny and I get married.”

Rooster could hear the sincerity dripping from every word that Maverick spoke. And he recognized the borderline desperation in Maverick’s eyes. And as Maverick’s best man, this seemed to fit into his promise to help Maverick with wedding preparations.

And maybe Rooster did really like the fries here and the special sauce that they always came with.

“I feel like I’m going to regret this,” Rooster groaned, lowering his head for a moment. “But, sure. I’ll try and help you. I’ll be your wingman with this.”

“Thank you, Bradley,” Maverick stated sincerely, smiling softly. “It means the world to me, really. And Penny too.”

“Can it count as your wedding present then?”

~~~~~

Kate Benjamin wasn’t exactly the warmest or friendliest person by her own admission.

She took after her grandfather, retired Admiral John “Pike” Benjamin, more than her mom in that regard. Penny could talk and comfort any person off the street. And Penny gave people the benefit of the doubt, believing that people changed and second chances were only fair.

Kate did not share her mother’s forgiving disposition.

People could change. People did change. But that didn’t mean that Kate was willing to forgive, forget, and sing kumbaya with them afterwards. Second chances were earned, not given. And Pete Mitchell was on his seventh or so chance in Kate Benjamin’s book.

“I just don’t understand why he’s so suddenly interested in settling down,” Kate complained over the phone to Amelia as she sat in rush hour traffic.

“He’s retired now,” Amelia pointed out, sitting up in her bedroom.

“So, he’s bored? That’s why he wants to marry Mom?” Kate huffed, drumming her fingers on the steering wheel. “Bullshit, is what I say.”

“He seems really sincere this time,” Amelia replied calmly, shrugging her shoulders.

“I’ll be the judge of that.”

Amelia didn’t respond for a moment and Kate could hear a background conversation between Amelia and their mom. Kate waited patiently, staring at the same blue Honda that she’d been stuck behind for what felt like hours when Amelia returned to the call.

“Mom wants to know how far you are from home.”

“Around forty-five minutes. Give or take. Are Grammie and Pop there?”

“Yeah, they flew in this morning. And Maverick and Rooster are joining us for dinner.”

“Rooster?” Kate repeated, clearly confused. “Who the hell is Rooster?”

“Bradley,” Amelia translated for her sister.

“So, they’re talking again?” Kate muttered gruffly.

Kate remembered Bradley. She remembered how he called her a brat. And she remembered telling him that his name was stupid in retaliation. And Kate stood by that sentiment. ‘Bradley Bradshaw’ was one of the most ridiculous names that she had ever heard in her life. It wasn’t quite Philip Philips, but it was damn close.

“How in the hell did he get . . . never mind, because I don’t care,” Kate cut herself off.

“Mom also told me to tell you to be on your best behavior.”

“I’m always on my best behavior, Ames,” Kate insisted innocently, though her smirk betrayed her words. “Tell Mom that everything’s going to be fine.”

“I will. See you soon, Kate.”

“Bye, Ames.”

Amelia hung up the phone and Kate switched back to the radio while she inched through traffic.

So much for a quiet family dinner with her mom, sister, and grandparents after a long week of work. But she knew that she was going to have to get used to Maverick —if he wanted the title ‘Dad,’ he was going to have to earn it—and Rooster too.

~~~~~

Rooster sat in Penny’s backyard with Amelia, Grammie Joan, and Pike, which is what everyone except for his immediate family called him, while Maverick and Penny went to pick up dinner.

“You’re a Lieutenant Commander?” Pike asked Rooster, leaning back in his chair.

“Yes, sir. Got promoted after that mission with Mav.”

“A well-earned one then,” Pike mused grimly, glancing over at the Kawasaki. “Maverick told me what he could about the mission. You’re either really smart, or have a lot of dumb luck, kid.”

“Or both.”

“Or both,” Pike echoed, nodding along. “And you just transferred back to North Island then?”

“Yeah, I was stationed out at Oceana most recently, but after the mission, I thought that it was finally time to return to the West Coast, so I put in the request and it was approved. And now I’m working as an instructor out here.”

“How many years are left on your contract?”

“Two and a half,” Rooster replied, doing the math in his head.

“And do you think that you’ll stay on after that’s up?”

“Don’t know,” Rooster answered honestly. “I’ll have to see what life looks like then.”

“Smart. Focus on what’s right in front of you,” Pike agreed, nodding curtly.

“Kate’s home!” Amelia exclaimed when she spotted Kate’s car pull into the driveway.

Without another word, Amelia stood up from the table and hurried around the gate. Grammie Joan smiled when she heard the two sisters reunite from the other side of the fence and shuffled down to Rooster and Pike’s side of the table.

“Have you met our Kate?” Grammie Joan asked Rooster, sitting beside her husband.

“Back when we were both kids, but not for a long time,” Rooster answered honestly.

“She’s grown into quite the firecracker,” Pike chuckled, waiting patiently for his two granddaughters to return. “Her mother says that she takes after me. Maverick seemed to agree with Penny, though he didn’t say it to my face.”

“I think that he still gets flashbacks about the ass chewings you gave him in the eighties and nineties,” Rooster joked, taking a sip of his beer.

“Which time?” Pike asked, seemingly amused.

“Oh, be nice, John. You know that if Kate sees you giving Maverick a hard time, she’s going to give him an even worse time,” Grammie Joan replied knowingly, shooting her husband a look. “And I’m not sure that Maverick can survive the two of you at the same time.”

“Well, if he’s going to finally marry into this family, he’s going to have to learn,” Pike pointed out gruffly.

“Don’t hold onto the past, John. That flyover business was so long ago,” Joan dismissed with a wave of her hand. “It was before the girls were born. Let it go.”

“Rooster?” Pike asked, out to prove a point.

“Yes, sir?”

“Have you ever done a high-speed pass over an air traffic control tower?”

“Never as the pilot, no.”

“What about a high-speed pass over an admiral’s daughter? You’ve ever done that, Rooster?”

“No, sir.”

“See?” Pike told his wife, who shook her head at him again. “Not normal conduct.”

“Oh, get over it, John.”

The back door opened, cutting off Pike and Joan’s back and forth. Amelia trotted down the stairs first with Kate Benjamin—or Katie Mitchell, which is what she went by the last time that Bradley was around her—close behind.

But the woman that stepped out of the house was not anything like Rooster expected.

Kate seemed to be a perfect mix of her parents. Her hair was dark, like Maverick’s, but wavy, like Penny’s. Her smile was far too mischievous to come from Penny, but Kate walked with Penny’s seemingly flawless grace. And when they locked eyes, Rooster realized that Kate seemed to have inherited her mom’s captivating gaze.

He subconsciously straightened his back a bit as Kate walked past him.

Kate greeted her grandmother first with a hug and a kiss on the cheek before greeting her grandfather in the same fashion. And when she straightened up, the breeze blew the scent of her shampoo—which was something sweet and flowery—in his direction and let the subtle natural highlights in her hair to catch the sunlight.

A sharp pinch in Rooster’s side caused him to whirl around to spot an annoyed Amelia.

“Stop staring at my sister like that,” Amelia stated quietly, looking disgusted. “We eat out here.”

“I wasn’t staring.”

“Yes, you were.”

“No, I wasn’t.”

“You’re a horrible liar,” Amelia replied, ending the argument.

“How was the drive?” Pike asked Kate, who missed all of Rooster and Amelia’s conversation.

“Not too bad. Traffic, but what else did I expect?” Kate joked, moving to take the seat across from Amelia. “How was your flight in?”

“Not too bad.”

“Maverick was a gentleman and picked us up from the airport,” Joan replied with a kind smile.

Joan was clearly trying to put in a good word for Maverick with Kate, probably under the direction of Penny. Rooster, however, didn’t miss the grimace on Kate’s face at the mention of Maverick. Joan simply smiled wider and gestured over to Rooster.

“And you remember Bradley, right, Kate?”

“Yes,” Kate replied, reluctantly turning to Bradley. “Though I hear that you go by Rooster now.”

“I do,” Rooster agreed, nodding along. “And I hear that you go by Kate now.”

“I do,” Kate returned, looking bored with him.

“You heading home to your apartment tonight?” Pike questioned his granddaughter, ending Kate and Rooster’s staring contest.

“No, I’ll stay the night. We’re supposed to do some errands tomorrow morning for the wedding.”

“Have you met any nice men recently, Kate?” Grammie Joan asked her eldest granddaughter.

Kate immediately grimaced at her grandmother’s question. Amelia snuck a giggle until Kate kicked her shin under the table.

“No, Grammie.”

“Don’t pressure her, Joan,” Pike grunted, leaning back in his chair. “Better that she’s single and working hard at a good paying job than wasting her time with some no-good dumbass freeloader.”

“Yes, but this wedding planning has me thinking about the girls’ weddings,” Joan replied wistfully.

“Here we go,” Amelia murmured under her breath.

“One wedding at a time, Grammie,” Kate reminded Joan gently. “How is the wedding planning going around here anyways?"

"It's not,” Amelia answered, sharing an amused look with Rooster. “Mom’s mostly busy with the bar and Maverick doesn’t want to make any decisions without her approval. And he’s still trying to move all of his stuff over here.”

“He’s living here now?” Kate asked, immediately on the defensive. “At the house?”

“No, he’s rooming with Rooster for now.”

“Oh.” Kate’s gaze flickered over to Rooster, causing him to subconsciously straighten up again. She seemed to study him for a moment before asking, “How’s that going then?”

“It’s going well,” Rooster replied, trying to keep Maverick in a good light.

“So, he’s living in Miramar full time then?” Kate asked, still analytical.

“Mostly. He has the hangar out in Nevada, but he’s here more.”

“Lovely,” Kate replied dryly.

“Speaking of Maverick, I believe that’s them,” Pike stated, glancing down the driveway.

Kate got up and headed inside and Amelia followed after her sister. Penny and Maverick stepped inside and Kate hurried into her mom’s waiting arms. Penny squeezed Kate to her chest while Maverick stood behind them, smiling at their interaction.

“Oh, I’m so happy that you’re back home,” Penny breathed out.

“I’m not that far away, Mom,” Kate reminded Penny softly. “But it’s nice to be home.”

“How was the drive?” Penny asked Kate, letting go of her eldest daughter.

“Not too bad.”

“Good.” Penny turned to Maverick, who was clearly waiting for some kind of acknowledgement from his daughter. “Aren’t you going to greet your dad, Kate?”

“Maverick,” Kate greeted him stiffly, unwilling to call him ‘Dad.’

“It’s good to see you, Kate,” Maverick returned quietly, clearly subdued.

“Likewise.”

“Help him with the food, please, Kate,” Penny told her eldest daughter.

Kate took one of the bags from Maverick and quickly moved to put distance between them. Penny and Maverick shared a look before following Kate out into the backyard again. Amelia carried out some plates and utensils while Kate pulled out the takeout boxes.

“Amelia, can you grab the wooden spoons for the salad?” Penny questioned, glancing over the table.

“I’ll do it,” Rooster offered immediately, standing up. “You need anything else?”

“No, I think we’re all set. Thank you, Rooster,” Penny replied with a smile.

Rooster nodded, glanced over at Kate, before he headed inside. Maverick was in the kitchen, putting away some extra plates and pulling a few drinks out of the fridge.

“How did it go with Kate?” Rooster asked, opening drawers to look for wooden spoons. Maverick sighed, causing Rooster to pick his head up. “That bad, huh?”

“Could have been better,” Maverick sighed, grabbing some beers from the fridge. “But I suppose that it could have been much worse too.”

“That’s the spirit.”

Rooster glanced out the window, watching as Kate talked with her sister and her mom. Catching himself staring at her again, Rooster turned back to Maverick, who seemed to be unaware of Rooster’s sudden staring problem.

And that was good. For Rooster’s personal safety.

“Did she at least acknowledge your existence?”

“Only when prompted.” Maverick shook his head at himself. “I guess I’ll have to just keep trying to make things right with her.”

“I don’t think that she’ll make it easy for you.”

“No, she won’t. But I’m not going to let that stop me.” Maverick turned around and squeezed Rooster’s shoulder, smiling up at him. “Thanks again for trying to help me out. With making amends with her. I really do appreciate it.”

“Yeah, of course, Mav,” Rooster replied quietly.

They walked outside together to join the Benjamin family for dinner. Rooster ended up seated next to Kate somehow but they didn’t really acknowledge each other. It wasn’t until the wedding got brought up by Joan that they even looked at each other.

Well, that Kate looked over at Rooster. He still seemed to have a bit of a staring problem.

“So, you’re Maverick’s best man then, Rooster?” Joan asked kindly, causing Rooster to nod.

“Yeah, I am.”

“And Kate and Amelia are both the maid of honor?”

“Yeah, we’re sharing the position,” Kate agreed, sharing a glance with her sister.

“Yeah, but I don’t know how much I’m going to be able to do to help because of school and everything,” Amelia replied, shrugging her shoulders.

“I can handle most of it,” Kate insisted, looking down at her plate. “The only big thing that I should need your physical presence for is the maid of honor dresses.”

“Either way, it seems that the five of you will be spending a lot of time together over the next few months,” Joan stated with a kind smile.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Rooster spoke up, earning a sharp, curious look from Kate. “And to getting to know you guys more.”

Kate tilted her chin up a bit, challenging as she met Rooster’s gaze again. Amelia glanced between the two of them and stuck her tongue out. Penny and Maverick also shared a look, but Maverick signaled to Penny that it would be fine.

“Yeah, it’s going to be a lot of fun,” Kate replied dryly.

Part 2

#bradley rooster bradshaw x oc #bradley bradshaw x oc #rooster x oc #bradley rooster bradshaw #bradley bradshaw #rooster #rooster fanfic #top gun rooster #rooster bradshaw #bradley bradshaw fanfiction #rooster top gun #tgm fic #tgm fanfiction #tgm #top gun: maverick #top gun maverick #top gun fanfiction

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kassies-take · 8 months

Text

If You Had Your Happily Ever After

<Prev || Part 25

Black-Hale Family: *having a picnic*

You: Amelia don’t run too far! *to Rosalie*

Rosalie: *cooes over her’s and your second baby/ Sarah*

You: *smiles* you’re going to make her cry *grabs Sarah’s small wrist waves it around*

Rosalie: stop it I just got her to stop crying

Amelia: *squeals*

Leah: look what I reeled in! *holding Amelia upside down* I caught an Amelia fish

Amelia: *giggles*

Leah: *blows raspberries on Amelia’s stomach*

You: *stands* Lea! Thanks for watching the babies for us.

Leah: it’s good practice for Alex and I before we have our own

You and Leah: *hug*

Leah: looking good Rose

Rosalie: *smiles* thanks. How are you *suggestively smirks*

Leah: sore

You: *laughs*

Sarah: *hits you*

You: hey! I was just laughing! *takes Sarah out of Rosalie’s arm, lays down and holds Sarah up*

Rosalie: Lia come here honey.

Amelia: *runs into Rosalie’s arms*

Leah: I will never get over you naming your first daughter after me

Rosalie: *wipes Amelia’s hands*

You: I just expect you to name your first daughter after me

Leah: she will be named Rose and you can’t change my mind

You: *scoffs*

You, Leah and Rosalie: *laughs*

Black- Hale Family and Leah: *eats*

Leah: Okay It’s time for a sleepover!

Amelia: *cheers* yayyy!!

You: *buckles Sarah into her car seat and gives her a pacifier* Bye Sarah you be good okay *kisses Sarah’s head* Momma loves you

Rosalie: *adjusts blankets and seat belts for Sarah* Mommy loves you

You: you be good Amelia *kisses her cheek* love you

Amelia: love you too *kisses your cheek*

Rosalie: *hands Sarah’s car seat to Leah and kneels beside Amelia* we will pick you up tomorrow *kisses Amelia’s cheek* love you

Amelia: bye mommy love you! *kisses Rosalie’s nose*

Leah: Okay Aims *holds out her hand for Amelia to take* you, Shay and I are gonna have so much fun with so much ice cream

You and Rosalie: *smiles at Leah, Amelia and Sarah’s disappearing figures*

You: *steals a kiss* c’mon babe we have a date to go to. * cleans up the picnic*

Rosalie: *takes the folded blanket and basket out of your hands and placed them in the floor*

You and Rosalie: *holds each other*

Rosalie: thank you for giving me everything I ever wanted. I thought it was only made for movie screens, then you came along and you changed everything.

You: just one look into your eyes and I knew I was gonna spend my life with you.

Rosalie: *whispers* I promise I’ll love you

You and Rosalie: *whispers* forever and ever and always

#if you series #twilight saga #twilight saga imagines #twilight #twilight imagine #quileute pack imagine #quileute pack #quileute pack x reader #quileute shapeshifters #Jacob black sister #Leah Clearwater #Leah Clearwater imagine #Leah clearwater x platonic!reader #rosalie hale #rosalie hale imagine #rosalie hale imagines #Rosalie hale x reader #rosalie lillian hale

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barkspawn · 1 year

Note

I totally understand if this is beyond your purview, but I have a request for a farmer married to Shane, with Shane seeing how well Jas and farmer get along and bringing up if they would want to adopt her? Lots of fuzzy feelings and talk about how far Shane has come, and dealing with his self doubt as a father figure. Thank you whether you’re up for the request or not! <3

You all are making me realize all of the crazy shit I want to write lmao. Of course I'll write this! and probably whatever else y'all ask

I love it a lot actually and I ALMOST made her pregnant too for the drama lmao

Shane sat on the porch watching Amelia and Jas play in the small yard area by the house. Jas was a princess (who also was a knight) and Amelia was some sort of fearsome dragon. He smiled to himself as Amelia dramatically collapsed in her unfortunate death. Jas' giggle echoed through the farm as Amelia pulled the girl down and attacked her with tickles.

The sound of Jas' laugh filled him with pride as he took a small drink of his sparkling water.

"Uncle Shane!" Jas ran up, still giggling, "I slayed the mightiest dragon in the land and your kingdom is safe!" He glanced over at Amelia, who gave her best 'dead' face.

"Why, thank you, my fearless princess," he stood, picking her up and hugging her to him, "how can I ever repay you for saving me?"

She pretended to think, her mischievous smile not well hidden at all, "I will accept your thanks in the form of ice cream."

Shane laughed, kissing the girl's temple before setting her back down. He gave a small wave to Marnie who was heading up the southern path, "I think I can manage that. But when you don't have to go get ready for bed."

She pouted, pushing her lower lip out in protest, "can't I just stay here tonight?"

"Not on a school night, kiddo," he ruffled her hair as Marnie and Amelia approached the porch. Shane crouched and she threw her arms around him in the biggest hug her small frame could muster. With one last kiss to the top of her head, he smiled down at her, "farmer Amelia and I will take you for ice cream on Saturday morning. How does that sound?"

The pout turned into a massive grin as she gave him one more quick hug goodbye before running to hug Amelia, who gave a small bow, "Goodnight, princess."

Once everyone was settled and Marnie and Jas had made their way south, Amelia dusted herself off before inviting herself to sit on her husband's lap, peppering his face with small kisses. She often did this if she saw that he was thinking way too hard about something.

He chuckled and scrunched his nose up before halting her with a crooked kiss to her lips, her smile never faltering.

"She had a lot of fun today," Amelia smiled, absently toying with the hair on the back of his neck, "I mean hell, I think being a dragon might be my new favorite hobby."

Shane laughed, nipping along her jawline playfully, "well fine, I'll have to be a dragon too, or else this gets weird fast," he pulled back to look over her face for a long moment, "she loves you a lot, you know. She hasn't taken quite so well to anyone other than me and Marnie since… well, you know."

Amelia smiled and rested her forehead against his, her voice soft, "I love her, Shane. She's a great, brilliant kid. You're her hero though."

Shane laughed, the sound not quite humorous, "after all that shit I put her and Marnie through? I doubt I'm her hero."

She pursed her lips and pulled back to look at him with a stern look, "first of all, dear husband, she told me so," she punctuated the thought with a chaste kiss, "and second, you have gotten so much better and we both know it. You were never even bad, to begin with. You needed a knight- er, dragon," he laughed, bringing her smile back, "to save you. You haven't slipped up at all since you quit, you're seeking the help you need," she playfully flipped her hair, "you married me, and you help run a whole damn farm where we make good money. You are more than worth calling a hero."

He just smiled and pressed his lips to hers once more, groaning in protest as she pulled away and stood, that devilish teasing smirk playing at her lips.

"I'm going to make us a pizza. Relax for a bit and I'll be out with some snacks."

He shook his head and laughed, leaning his head back when she went inside.

He'd always had self-doubt issues, and that wouldn't change for a long time and he'd accepted that much. But lately, a thought kept creeping into his head after moments like before.

He wanted to adopt Jas officially.

He wanted to be her dad, but that was just it: he had no idea if he would be even remotely good enough as a father. The entire thought process sent him into a spiral of being a bad father and trying to find if Amelia ever got pregnant, would she want that with him?

He started to consider whether he'd be an okay dad more and more recently since Jas had been coming over to hang out and play. She looked up to Amelia for sure and loved her to pieces. If what Amelia said was true, and she thought of him as her hero, it would only solidify that decision. He had no doubt in his mind that Amelia would make an incredible mother, that spark of playfulness she'd always possessed definitely making her good with the kids in town. He spent a decent amount of time imagining his overworked wife very pregnant.

After a long moment, he stood, tossing his empty seltzer can into the recycling bin. He opened the door and watched for a moment as Amelia was spreading the toppings over the pizza. It was a long moment before she saw him, her face lighting up immediately.

"Well hey, hot stuff," she teased, steadying the pan on a sheet to put in the oven, leaning on the counter on her elbows as she smiled his way.

"Talking to yourself again, I see," he chuckled, walking to the opposite side of the counter, taking a breath, "can we talk about something?"

"Uh oh, did I do something wrong?" She searched his face, her frown more of a pout.

Yoba, she was adorable.

He shook his head, brows knit together as he tried to find the courage to continue. It was easily found as she leaned forward and took his hands in hers.

"I've been thinking recently…" he took a breath, looking at their hands, "about you and me officially adopting Jas."

Amelia gasped, her grin finding its place again over her features as she squeezed his hands, "Shane, that's a great idea. I have no doubt it'd mean the world to her."

A weight seemed to lift off of his shoulders at her approval, though he still frowned as she walked around the counter to wrap her arms around his neck. She scanned his face before giving his hair a little tug from the back of his head.

"Ow! A, what the f-"

"Stop it."

"Stop what?"

"Stop talking yourself out of it," she moved so her hands held his face, keeping his vision trained on her, "I say this with absolute certainty: you will make a spectacular father. You already do so well with Jas and she'd be thrilled to move in with us and be able to call you her dad."

Shane's features softened as he broke free, turning to press a kiss to her palm.

"You'd be her adoptive mom too, you know. You are my wife."

Amelia laughed, moving her hands down his neck and over his chest before she fell into a long pause, "we've never talked about if we want kids someday."

Shane frowned, scanning over her face, "for as long as I can remember, I've only ever thought of myself as a failure and a drunk," he rested his head against hers to focus her attention, "but I'm not a drunk anymore. And if I am a failure, I'm just working to do better. Maybe I won't be world's best dad, but I think I'll be proud of our kid every second for simply living their lives," he planted a soft kiss to her lips, pulling back to say, "I'd like to adopt Jas as soon as possible and then we can start the first phase of making our own."

She laughed as he wiggled his eyebrows, nodding slowly, "that's a perfect way to look at it, Shane," she started, brushing her lips over his own, "I like this new, optimistic Shane," she pressed her lips to his once more, the shock and excitement of being parents taking over. She melted into his kiss, his hands finding their way to her waist. His hands were warmer than usual through her shirt. After a moment he pulled her closer against him, his hand moving to the small of her back as he hummed, deepening the kiss. After a long moment, she pulled back, pulling his lower lip with her between her teeth as she did so. A groan of protest escaped his lips as he met her eyes with a pout.

With a small smile and brush of her nose against his, she teased, "I thought you said after we adopt Jas."

He laughed and slid his hand down to give her ass a playful squeeze, "doesn't mean we can't practice."

#shane stardew valley #stardew valley shane #sdv shane #stardew shane #shane sdv #sdv #stardew #stardew valley fanfic #oh look a one-shot #barkspawn oneshot

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betterbooktitles · 2 months

Text

My wife and I got married in the Hamptons of Cleveland, a small gated community an hour south of Buffalo called the Chautauqua Institution. A year later, steps from where we had danced to a Beatles cover band, someone stabbed Salman Rushdie.

I worry Chautauqua will be known for that attack someday. When I tell a friend where we were married, will I see their face change in subtle recognition? Will it become like saying you went to Columbine High School but graduated years before the shooting?

Probably not. The Chautauqua lore is so rich that it’s unlikely to be known for any single event. It’s been praised by the New York Times for being a spiritually and intellectually satisfying retreat, and bashed in the New York Times for its Boys’ and Girls’ Club, the oldest children’s day camp in the country, one that still separates the sexes.

“Chautauquas,” according to the first few pages of Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance once littered the United States. Intellectuals toured the country giving lectures during the Lyceum Movement, an experiment in adult education for the masses. Chautauqua, New York was the flagship community and is also one of the few Chautauquas that has survived.

An entire page of my sophomore American History textbook was devoted to Chautauqua. Writers, politicians, comedians, and essayists all traveled on the lyceum circuit to get their message out to the world. William Jennings Bryan was likely the most exciting speaker, a man who I first heard about in the play Our Town where the Stage Manager excitedly tells the audience that “Bryan once made a speech from these very steps here.” Thanks to my family’s yearly vacations in Chautauqua, I too had seen some steps where Bryan had once made a speech. Exciting stuff. I was walking through a page of my history textbook every summer.

Though I knew the place was somewhat famous, Chautauqua’s history often seemed embellished. Once, a nice white-haired lady walking past me on the road, unprompted, pointed at a patch of grass beyond the institution’s fence and said “You know, Amelia Earhart landed her plane on that golf course once.” Sure she did, lady. Then a few days later, I’d found myself in the Chautauqua library staring at a giant black-and-white photo of Amelia Earhart standing on the Chautauqua golf course. It’s near a few photos of FDR in front of the Chautauqua Opera House.

It’s difficult to describe Chautauqua to the uninitiated. I happily let my wife describe it for others whenever the subject comes up: “It’s the set of Dirty Dancing.” Aside from the fact that it’s not in the Catskills and the spirit of the place is a little more centered on intellectual/spiritual edification, it is exactly like the set of Dirty Dancing, complete with a treelined lake, an enormous hotel, and a house full of actors and dancers at one end of the grounds who let loose, partying every night to the wee hours (10 PM) when everything in the Institution closes and strict quiet hours are enforced. Women can even take Ballroom Dance classes with young men, though I get the sense that both parties are a little more puritanical than Swayze and his students. Unfortunately, also like the movie, thanks to a few speakers from the Heritage Foundation, there are also several Chautauquans who like Ayn Rand.

For the kids who grew up going to Chautauqua every summer, it was a giant playground. We went during Week Five of the season consistently and became fast friends with anyone our age. Boys’ and Girls’ Club hours went from 9 AM to noon, and from 2 PM to 4 PM so parents could attend talks or a pottery class while the kids were playing dodgeball and rehearsing for Air Band (a lip-syncing competition for all club attendees). Because the Institution is safe compared to nearly every place people visit from, the kids roam free. They have carte blanche to do whatever they please during daylight hours. We biked, ate mountains of ice cream, or played ping pong for hours when we weren’t at club playing GaGa Ball, a game where you hunched over and used your hands to hit your opponents’ ankles with a volleyball.

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ourloveisforthelovely · 1 year

Text

To the Ends of the Earth. Part 18

Supernatural

Pairings: Gabriel x Reader

Rating: Mature

Summary: AU Supernatural. Gabriel is tired of Micahel and Raphael’s constant interfering and dictating what's best for him. Little do they know that he’s been sneaking to earth to fall in love with you. When he convinces you to run away with him, all hell is about to break loose.

Link to Part 17

AO3 Link

_________

You stood looking at Raphael’s now dead body as the sprinklers in the parlor began to go off. With a groan, you looked up to Sam who shook his head as the water poured down on your heads.

“Haven’t we been through enough?”

Sam asked, shoving his now wet hair out of his face as Amelia stared up at the water falling down on her face. You, meanwhile, turned and walked across the room to pick up your angel blade that had fallen on the floor. As much as you wanted to, internally, celebrate Raphael’s grizzly demise…you couldn’t. Not only had Amelia witnessed it but you would have to explain this one to Gabriel. You weren’t 100% sure how he would take this but you were totally positive that he wouldn’t be happy.

“Well, isn’t this special?”

You murmured before turning back to Sam. Amelia came over to hold your hand with a scrunched-up face. Whether it be the innocent comment in the face of horrific darkness or it just being funny, both Sam and yourself laughed.

“Yuck, I’m all wet.”

You lovingly stroked your niece’s face.

“We should go home.”

Arriving back at the bunker, Sam reached out to grab your hand before you opened the door.

“Let’s not blurt it out about Raphael dying. We should probably ease into it.”

You nodded.

“Maybe ask them to play twenty questions? Like the first one will be why we are all soaking wet…Sam, you know that I’m a blurter.”

Sam rolled his eyes.

Sam: “Try to be different today. I know that you have unofficially declared war on Gabriel and Dean but this is big.”

You had to agree with that one. Killing an archangel was beyond big. This had to be your “biggest accomplishment” to date. Unfortunately, it wasn’t an accomplishment that you were presently proud of.

“Yeah, you’re right. Well, let's get this over with.”

You pushed the door open and walked inside. As you suspected, the moment that you walked in soaking wet, Gabriel and Dean automatically stood up. Dean looked totally confused as to why you were dripping wet, Sam’s hair was totally stuck to his head, and Amelia sat down to wring out her socks.

“So…why are you all wet? It's not raining outside?”

Gabriel moved to come to you but you stepped away. As much as you wanted nothing more than to crawl on his lap and let him comfort you…that wasn’t about to happen. You had to “face the music” first. Something told you that once you blabbed about just what your trip to the ice cream entailed…cuddling wasn’t going to happen.

“Don’t ask questions that you don’t want the answer to.”

You replied as you tried to squeeze water out of your hair. Dean raised an eyebrow and turned to Gabriel. If he couldn’t get through to you then no one could.

Gabriel was wary of whether or not to open his mouth. After the argument the two of you had, he knew that you weren’t very happy with him. Sure, you would come around and “makeup” with him soon enough but that didn’t help the situation now (when you were still clearly angry with him).

“Sugar…what happened?”

Gabriel finally asked. You took a breath as Sam started shaking his head.

“Oh, Raphael tried to kill us all…just another day.”

Gabriel’s mouth dropped. Had he heard you correctly? Every fiber in his being, whether it be archangel or soul mate, was going crazy. Did you really just say that Raphael had tried to kill you and he wasn’t there to protect you?

“WHAT?”

Dean and Gabriel both shouted at the same time. Before you could open your mouth, Gabriel was in front of you clearly looking for any kind of injuries.

“I’m okay.”

You said softly. Gabriel looked beyond ready to unravel a sweater. You had never seen a more petrified expression on your lover’s face. The cocky attitude that you had left and come home with was rapidly beginning to fade. Now you were left with an exhausted and “blah” feeling.

“Is she okay?”

Dean snapped in Gabriel’s direction as he did the same thing to Sam and Amelia. Gabriel was silent as he looked into your eyes. The expression on his face made it impossible for you to look away. Now was the time that you were again ready to curl up against him and never move.

“She’s fine but I want to know what happened and where is my brother?”

Gabriel was ready to kill Raphael. There would be no forgiving him for this. Even though Gabriel knew that his brothers would launch an attack on you some time; he didn’t think that it would be today. Gabriel found himself wishing that he had never upset you earlier. If he had never brought up leaving to play “I spy” with his brothers then you would never have left the bunker in a fit of rage.

You were quiet a moment longer as Gabriel gently stroked his thumbs over your cheek.

“You won’t find him.”

You finally replied. Gabriel raised an eyebrow. He was tethering between being the concerned lover or losing his ever-loving mind. How he had been able to keep a grip on his temper was still an amazement.

“And why is that, love?”

You groaned. It was the moment of truth. Your attention turned to your niece who was looking at you innocently. Once again, you found your heart aching. You didn’t want Amelia to know what the “family business” was for A LONG time. If it were up to you, Amelia would be able to have a normal childhood without the emotional complications that you grew up with. Unfortunately, it looked like that would not be the case.

Maybe I can stop one bad thing from happening…

You turned back to Amelia with a gentle smile.

“Uh hold on, Amelia, go change your clothes and find Jack.”

The little girl quickly left the room. You waited until you were positive that hse was out of earshot before turning back to your very angry-looking soul mate. Gabriel had his arms crossed over his chest and looked more “archangel” like than ever. You slightly winced before taking a breath.

“Raphael is dead.”

Both Gabriel and Dean’s mouths dropped. Gabriel was the first to be able to even utter a word. Dean moved to sit on the couch. What he was hearing was making him want to faint. How could he have been able to live with himself if something had happened to you? If something happened to Sam, Amelia, for yourself…Dean would never have been able to function ever again. He would have personally gone to Michael and let the archangel “off” him.

“How?”

You were quiet again for a moment. Gabriel, meanwhile, was ready to scream. He wasn’t really “hurt” by the thought of losing Raphael. His brother had pushed him past the point of ever forgiving him. The moment that Raphael threatened you was the moment that Gabriel had no further use for his older brother.

“Y/n, answer the question.”

Gabriel added. You bit your lip before taking a breath. Something told you that you should be proud of yourself. While the whole ordeal was a mess, you still killed Raphael. This task proved not only were you a good hunter but you were on the same level as your brothers. You weren’t some weakling or “little girl” that needed her boyfriend to look after her.

“I shot him with the gun that Dean gave me. Those angel-killing bullets worked.”

Dean’s mouth fell and he moved to just lie flat on his back. While he was proud to hear his perfectly crafted little bullets were able to serve a purpose…he wasn’t totally prepared that you were the one that tested them.

Gabriel stood motionless. He didn’t even say anything for a moment. Had he heard you correctly? Surly his hearing was failing him in some weird way.

“Please tell me that you are joking.”

Gabriel managed to say before putting a hand over his face. Some guardian he was. He had been so irritated with you that he hadn’t even been fully keeping you safe. His thoughts of you being a handful returned yet again.

You shook your head.

“No, Raphael and a bunch of his pals attacked us and he got what was coming to him. Now you don’t have to go off after all…”

You gave Gabriel a frown before turning and going to your bedroom without another word.

When you were out of the room, Gabriel and Dean both turned to Sam.

“Is she telling the truth?”

Dean asked.

“Or is she totally just screwing with us because we ticked her off earlier and you, for whatever reason, decided to play along with it?”

Sam rolled his eyes.

“It's not a joke. We weren’t looking for them. They came to us. Raphael went after her and she shot him.”

Gabriel turned and instantly went after you. He didn’t want to hear anymore. If he heard much else, he would have gone into either a full-blown panic or rage. While he was thankful that Raphael was dead, Gabriel knew that Michael would be livid when he realized what had happened. This was just putting a bigger prize on your head and he couldn’t stand it.

Stepping into the bedroom, Gabriel sighed looking at you. You had your back to him and were busy taking off your soaked bra.

“I suppose you want more information.”

You said after a few seconds. When Gabriel didn’t respond, you turned to face him. You had never seen him look more upset. This was worse than when Michael stood in the middle of the road to make a go at you.

“I am horrified to realize just how close I came to losing you today. I haven’t spent all of this time looking after you and loving you to lose you…and I wouldn’t have been there to save you.”

You didn’t move to say anything immediately. In fact, you wanted Gabriel to know that you did value his feelings. In addition to giving him some comfort in knowing that you didn’t just go after Raphael for shits and giggles.

“I’m okay though, Gabe. I swear to you, I didn’t go after him. I wouldn’t have just gone after him to prove you wrong. When he stepped out of that booth, I had to do something.”

Gabriel stood silently for a moment before pulling you against him. You wrapped your arms around your lover’s shoulders before pressing your forehead against his.

“It could have gone badly.”

Gabriel replied. Putting a hand on your cheek, he breathed your scent in while trying not to think of you dying. While Gabriel didn’t think much of his father anymore, he could only hope that God wouldn’t have paired you as his soul mate only to watch you die. What kind of lesson would that have taught Gabriel? The best that he could think of was unreasonable cruelty.

“But it didn’t.”

You said softly, hoping to comfort Gabriel in someway. It was no secret to you that he was going through every horrible experience that he ever had with Raphael. You knew there were so many events in history Gabriel lived through that you had no clue on. However, something told you that the turmoil going through his mind at the moment was possibly one of Gabriel’s worst moments.

Gabriel tilted your face to his for a kiss. All of the stubbornness left your mind and you were more than happy to enjoy each kiss that he offered.

“It could have.”

Gabriel murmured against your mouth. Stroking a hand up his back, you hovered over where his wings would be. When Gabriel moaned against your mouth, you knew that you had your lover exactly where you wanted him.

“I’ll be careful, love.”

Gabriel gently backed you to the bed before pulling you down with him. The two of you were quiet for a moment. You quietly ran your fingers over Gabriel’s hand. Without him saying a word, you knew that he was still upset. Taking a moment longer, you wiggled your way on top of him.

“Its not that I don’t think you are a capable hunter, Y/n. I know you are. Taking Raphael out only proves it even more. However, do you realize that this will put an even bigger target on us now, don’t you? Michael won’t let this go easily. If we had to be careful before, we have to do so even more. He will be after both of us. I don’t think that you exactly realize how dangerous this is, sugar.”

You lay in silence stroking your fingers over the expanse of Gabriel’s chest and stomach.

“I did actually think about that. That is why I don’t want you out spying on him. I want you with me…where you’re supposed to be. I wish Michael would just suck an egg and leave us alone.”

Gabriel chuckled at that.

“Michael doesn’t know what to do when he isn’t controlling a situation…as you can clearly see. Now, as far as us, I will try my best to stay here. Y/n, you're a hunter. You know that there are times when we all have to do things that we don’t want to. I want nothing more than to be with you all of the time but I have a job to do too. I will, however, promise that I will be as careful as I can. Don’t forget I have a lot of Michael’s tricks memorized. Now, I want to kiss every inch of your body…”

A few hours later…

You quietly snuck out of your room for a drink of water. Glancing at the clock, you were relieved to see a late hour. The last thing that you wanted was to run into Dean with all of the love bites on your neck that Gabriel had left. As you walked quietly through the hallways, you muttered a quick thank you to Chuck for makeup.

Stepping into the kitchen, you were so lost in your thoughts that you didn’t notice Chuck sitting at the table. He grinned the moment that he saw you.

“You’re welcome.”

You stopped dead in your tracks before turning to face Chuck. Your eyes widened before clutching your silk robe together.

“Damn it, Chuck! Do you just sneak up on people? What the hell?”

Chuck shrugged innocently before taking in your appearance. You were always such a nice thing to look at. Tonight, however, Chuck could clearly see what you were up to for the past few hours.

“I see Gabriel is enjoying himself with you.”

You blushed, crossing your legs. The last thing that you wanted was for Chuck to see any sign of Gabriel’s come dripping down your legs.

“I did not need to know that.”

Chuck quickly squeaked. You blushed before crossing your arms over your chest.

“Maybe stop reading my mind without my consent and you won’t hear things that will make your cringe. What can I say? Your son has an insatiable sex drive and I do well at keeping up.”

Chuck’s mouth dropped.

“Okay okay! We can stop this conversation.”

You gave Chuck a cocky smirk.

“Figured as much. So what do we owe the pleasure of your presence? We haven’t heard from you in…in well years.”

Chuck nodded.

“Sorry, I have been away. I heard about Raphael.”

You winced. If this was what Chuck had come for then you knew that you were in for one hell of a tongue lashing.

“Yeah, well…sorry about capping your son. I can assure you, he was totally stunned when I pulled a gun on him”

Chuck blinked.

“I mean, he kind of asked for it. No harm no foul.”

You stood looking at Chuck stupidly. Had he really said “no harm, no foul” over you killing his son.

“I expected some kind of anger…or something…”

Chuck giggled.

“Well, I’m not here for that. I’m actually here to talk to you about something else. Anyhow, how are things with Gabriel and yourself? I have sensed a lot of angst from the two of you.”

You began to twirl a strand of hair around your finger. Was Chuck really here for gossip?

“We’re fine now…I suppose. All of this with your other thugged out archangel’s is causing some chaos. Maybe you can miracle your way over to Michael and tell him to go fuck off. He is on this ego trip about you making me Gabriel’s soul mate. He seems to think that we are going to go create a nephilim or something.”

You considered telling Chuck to go fuck himself because thanks to his rules you could never have a child. How were you supposed to tell Chuck that “his choices” were what seemed to be driving a wedge between the two of you?

“Easier said than done. You’re doing great with Jack.”

You frowned at Chuck’s response.

“Yeah, well, he’s not ours and he tends to do well. Maybe you should tell Jack that. After all, you haven’t met your grandson. You’re missing out.”

You turned to get yourself a cup of tea while wondering just where Gabriel was. He would be “thrilled” to see the father that abandoned him. You mentally told yourself that might not be such a good idea, after all. The last thing that you wanted was to have to clean up after some epic showdown between Chuck and a very pissed-off Gabriel.

Chuck meanwhile watched you with a mischievous glint in his eye. He knew that he was about to drop a bombshell on you and he couldn’t wait to see your reaction.

“You do very well with Jack that’s why you’re pregnant. Congratulations!”

You dropped your cup before spinning around to stare at Chuck. Had you heard him correctly? Did he just say the “P” word that would result in another nephilim child? Surly you were going crazy and this was some weird dream. There could be no way this was actually happening.

The next thing you knew, Chuck walked over and pinched you.

“OW!”

You squealed, nearly ready to punch Chuck in the face.

“I wouldn’t do that. You would break your hand and it wouldn’t be good for your baby.”

Your mouth dropped yet again.

“Chuck you are saying a lot of words that don’t go into my vocabulary and I am VERY concerned.”

Chuck giggled as if he was telling you some huge joke.

“You shouldn’t be. I know what you have wanted and am giving it to you.”

Your head was spinning as you moved to sit down.

“I mean my dream isn’t to die…”

Chuck finished making you a fresh cup of tea and sat it down in front of you.

“You aren’t going to die, silly. I would never let you die. I actually adore you. That is why I paired you with Gabriel.”

Your mind went immediately to your lover who was still in the bedroom. How was he going to handle this? Most likely not well. He had been so against even speaking about nephilim from day one. How would he react to the realization that he was about to have one of his very own?

“You’re messing with me, right? Is this for me not responding to your cat Tik Tok’s that you sent me?”

You asked. Chuck just stared at you.

“After that little romp that you had with Gabriel in your car…that did the trick.”

You made a face before covering yourself.

“Gross! You were watching us! That’s fucked up, man.”

Chuck shook his head.

“I didn’t watch…watch. I just overheard what was going through both of your heads. It wasn’t hard to miss. Anyway, long story short, you're going to be a mommy. Congratulations!”

________

@amelie-black @justfinishthis @georgeweasleydumbhoe @acciosiriusblack @jessyballet @knreidy1 @siriuslyceleste @coffeeaddictednymph @millies0bsimp @fific7 @rogue-nyx88 @readtomeregulus @starsval @daddyslittlevillain @panpride @saramaple @f4iryluvy @s-we-e-t-t-ea @i-love-scott-mccall @taylor-will-be-the-death-of-me @missgorldafirst @buttercup-beeee @padf00ts-l0ver @goldensunshineshit @haroldpotterson @aurorasnape12 @stelleduarte @mentally-unstable-hoe @quinis @lostarc24 @un-lovesherself @gugggu6gvai @jag9000 @yousmellllikecaca @play-morezeppelin @ravenhood2792 @dummybinch @bennyberry @rubyroscoe1 @mimisparkle12 @teletubiswszpilkach @criminalyetminimal @ad-astra-again @lucasfilms77 @spideyxalmighty @brokencasbutt67-writer @authoressskr @moldy-old-boot @hankypranky @summer-novak @emiwrites3reads @shaylybaby2032 @deanwherescas @shitfaceddaniel-blog @sprnaturallover @tas898 @li0nh34rt @knight-of-gleefulness @untoldshortsofthefandoms @wontlookaway @melaninnbarbie @marichromatic

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negative-speedforce · 3 months

Note

cute character questions for pippa? :)

the basics:

name: Penelope Amelia Lowe age: 21 zodiac sign: Cancer one good trait: Compassionate one bad trait: Overly idealistic

habits:

one bad habit: Giving too much of herself to others and getting burnout from it one good habit: always choosing to be kind to others, no matter what one habit they can’t break: Praying to St. Michael the Archangel before she goes out on patrol for protection, even if she's not even sure she believes anymore. one they’ve broken: The insane amount of Catholic guilt she used to feel just for existing as a queer person what they’re afraid of: Failing and destroying her parents' legacy

family:

their parents names: John and Therese their siblings names: John Jr. (older brother) favorite childhood memory: Going to the beach with her family and finding a bunch of jellyfish that had washed up on shore favorite childhood toy: A stuffed panda named Pandy embarrassing story: Pippa used to do ballet as a kid, and she pushed two other kids off the stage in 3rd grade for making fun of her weight (they deserved it tho) favorite family member: Therese, her mom, who died of sarcoma when Pippa was a little kid a story about that family member: Therese was the first family member to understand that Pippa was a girl, since she had been expressing that since she had

what they prefer:

coffee or tea? herbal tea, Pippa doesn't really do caffeine because ADHD showering in the day or night? Pippa prefers morning showers taking baths or taking showers? While she used to prefer to take baths, after getting struck by lightning in one, Pippa now prefers showers tv or movies? Movies, especially romcoms or period dramas writing or reading? Writing, especially fanfiction platonic or romantic love? she can't decide iced tea or lemonade? Lemonade, since caffeine makes her sleepy ice cream or smoothies? Depends on her mood. Depressed Pippa will eat a whole tub of ice cream as therapy, and happy Pippa loves a good mango smoothie. cupcakes or cake? Cupcakes, because they're fun sized beach or mountains? The beach, because it reminds Pippa of her family

favorites:

song: Bitch by Jessi Juno band: Jessi Juno (like most people, does not know that Jessi is evil) outfit: Pink puffy dress with pink and white striped knee-high socks and a crocheted beret that looks like a mushroom cap place: The roof of the community art center that she works at. She hangs out up there when she wants to be alone. memory: her parents taking her to get her hair braided like her mom's and to get her first dress after coming to terms with the fact that their child was a girl person: Onnie Thawne (but why tho-) movie: The Wedding Singer show: Downton Abbey

#ask revan #oc shit #vexic :D #pippa lowe

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greatwyrmgold · 1 year

Text

Holocure 0.5 Character Guide

This is going to be less in-depth than my 0.3 guides, because there are a lot more characters and I don't want to break this up into, like, half a dozen posts. (And even writing this much took way longer than I expected!) So I'll stick to the following information:

Name (self-explanatory)

Theme: A brief phrase identifying the character's mechanical strengths. Signature Skill: The character's skill which best exemplifies how they play. Not necessarily their most important one, and often not one you should focus on early. Favorite Weapon: The weapon I feel works best with their playstyle, and the collab of that weapon I feel works better. Key Item: The item I feel works best with their playstyle. Best Stamp: The stamp that I feel works best with their playstyle.

And a brief paragraph giving a broader explanation.

Akai Haato/Haachama Chama

Theme: Duality Signature Skill: Favorite Weapon: Spider Cooking/Broken Dreams Key Item: Idol Costume? Best Stamp: Projectile Up

To understand the mysteries of the Haato, you must also understand the Haachama, and vise versa. Her skills all revolve around different abilities used by the two halves of her self. Haato's half of the skills tend to be more defensive and Haachama's more offensive, but this isn't 100% consistent. You switch between the two as your (rapidly-charging) Special Attack, while Coexistence lets you briefly use both side's abilities (less commonly). I prefer to stick with Haachama most of the time, switching to Haato when I get low on HP or want the Special benefits, but YMMV.

Bounce Ball is more effective for Haato/chama.

Aki Rosenthal

Best-known to EN fans as "the one that looks like Haachama but isn't".

Theme: Debuffs Signature Skill: Belly Dancing Favorite Weapon: BL Book/Frozen Sea Key Item: Energy Drink? Best Stamp: Weaken Flower

Aki is a bit awkward to play. Part of that is her weird sorta-homing mostly-aimed two-part base attack, part of it is Belly Dancer not activating quite as quickly as it feels like it should. (Probably better than having it go off when you don't want it to, but still.) But once you get the hang of her, Aki can be fun to play.

Aki's special, her max-level base attack, and the Aromatherapy skill apply debuffs. More importantly, Mukirose deals increasing damage as more and more debuffs are applied to a target. Sources of debuffs include the Flower and Slow stamps, and the Rap Dog, Broken Dreams, and Frozen Sea weapons. And possibly Snow Flower Sake? (No items cause debuffs, as of 0.5.) Increasing Haste means these debuffs can be applied more rapidly.

But the real star of Aki's show is Belly Dancing. Move around to build up dancing charges, stand still for a second to release them in a screen-nuke. There doesn't seem to be any limit to this, which can get pretty wild, though I'm not sure how much you need to charge Belly Dancing.

In my first Aki run, 247 stacks were enough to wipe out Mikodanye (once I found a safe place to stand), but 157 wasn't enough to beat A-chan, and also I died immediately afterwards because I was standing still next to a danmaku emitter (with no defensive items). In retrospect, I probably should have picked a different boss to test on, but in my defense I didn't look at Aki's skills before the run. Still, the science was worth it!

Anyways, it seems like most non-boss enemies crumble under low two-digit stacks and midbosses can be handled by ~100, but I'd advise someone whose computer runs smoothly with damage numbers on to do some more testing.

Amelia Watson

Theme: generic Signature Skill: FPS Mastery Favorite Weapon: CEO's Tears/Ring of Fitness Key Item: Credit Card Best Stamp: Haste Up

Amelia Watson is the vanilla ice cream of HoloCure. She's not as bland as people claim, but she still makes for a good default to compare others to. Bubba is a pretty cool perk, and the pistol's aim is a bit narrow (though more flexible than before 0.5). Overall, though, she works well with pretty much any build. Pick a weapon that covers directions other than forward, then go wild.

AZKi

Theme: Momentum Signature Skill: Performance Favorite Weapon: Idol Song/Idol Concert? Key Item: Body Pillow Best Stamp: Size Up?

AZKi is a character who does well, as long as she's doing well. She gets substantial buffs to Speed, Haste, and dodge chance, which she loses if she takes damage. She needs to keep moving to build up her Performance buff. She explodes in song every several seconds, which deals more damage if she's been defeating plenty of enemies. It's possible to play as AZKi if you're not good at avoiding/defeating enemies, but the effects of good (or bad) play compound more than they do for most characters.

Calliope Mori

Theme: It's all about that scythe, 'bout that scythe, 'bout that scythe. No flail, it's all about that scythe, 'bout that scythe, 'bout that scythe. Signature Skill: Death Favorite Weapon: Spider Cooking/Broken Dreams Key Item: Idol Costume? Best Stamp: Solo Stamp?

Call's skills focus on making her scythe attack more powerful, to the point that her special just gives the scythe an extra buff. The Rapper also boosts other short-ranged weapons, and Workaholic requires a reasonably constant stream of defeated enemies, so stick with weapons that hit close enemies and keep close. Spider Cooking fills in the gap behind the scythe—not as critical now as before 0.3.1656470021, but still a useful gap to fill.

I haven't tried Calli with the Solo Stamp, but if anyone can master it, she can. Also, Bounce Ball is more effective for Calli.

Ceres Fauna

Theme: Healing Signature Skill: Guardian Tree Favorite Weapon: Spider Cooking/Broken Dreams Key Item: Nurse Horns Best Stamp: Life Steal

There are lots of healing-focused characters, but Fauna was the first (well, tied with IRyS) and the purest. Two of her skills and her special heal her, the third gives her healing something to do. Get as much healing as is practical. Also: Keep your enemies close, so Guardian Tree has something to hit when you heal.

Nurse Horns are effective, both because they trigger healing pretty often and because they can trigger Guardian Tree off of Guardian Tree kills. This makes it remarkably easy for Fauna to eliminate entire flocks of chickens/bats/etc; the only character with an easier time wiping those hordes out is Calli.

Gawr Gura

Theme: Death of a thousand cuts Signature Skill: Shark Bite Favorite Weapon: Spider Cooking/Broken Dreams Key Item: Energy Drink Best Stamp: Slow

Gura's Shark Bite skill encourages her to use weapons which can hit targets many times (notably the CEO Tears, Spider Cooking, and Lava Bucket). The Power of Atlantis drags enemies together, making it easier to hit enemies with tridents and the like; it also deals rapid minor damage. Short Height lets Gura get out of danger better.

Gura is flat, improving the effectiveness of Cutting and Flattening Boards. However, Bounce Ball is less effective.

Hakos Baelz

Theme: Critical hits (and randomness) Signature Skill: FPS Mastery Favorite Weapon: Glowstick/Idol Concert Key Item: Sake Best Stamp: Trumpet Projectile Up

Baelz is one of the few crit-based characters who I think actually needs crit chance boosts. Her skills boost crit chance to 40%, but CRATical Hit gives a "super-crit," which only happen 16% of the time; another 20-30% of critical hit rate won't make much difference, but in this case it also gives 20-33% cratical hit rate (ie, more than double). Baelz doesn't have any attack boosters or much in the way of defense; pick those up, too. Also consider which weapons would cause the most chaos when unleashing her special chaos; Spider Cooking and Fan Beam are boring, wide-spread projectile weapons are promising. (CEO Tears is promising as the last weapon to pick up once you have four collabs.)

Hoshimachi Suisei

Theme: Critical hits (and Tetris) Signature Skill: Suicopath Favorite Weapon: Psycho Axe/MiComet Key Item: GWS Pill Best Stamp: Crit Up

Suisei's skills all relate to critical hits. Suicopath boosts her crit chance, Blocks Master summons small Tetris blocks on crits, and Stellar boosts Attack on crits (which are then shared to nearby enemies). Plus, her awakened Axe Swing always crits and deals extra damage on crits. Pick up the Psycho Axe—it and its Collabs heal with Suicopath.

She also has two different abilities that cause Tetris blocks to smack your enemies, making me wonder if one of them was originally something different that had to be cut late in development because it wasn't coming together, or something.

Suisei is flat, improving the effectiveness of Cutting and Flattening Boards. However, Bounce Ball is less effective.

Inugami Korone

Theme: Aggression! Signature Skill: Endurance Favorite Weapon: Spider Cooking/Broken Dreams Key Item: Piki Piki Piman Best Stamp: Stun Stamp?

Korone plays best if you rush into danger and occasionally get hurt. Endurance blunts the damage you take and gives you a periodic buff if you get hit; Choco Coronet strengthens other healing, increases your max HP, and of course heals you a bit more. Korone's skills make it safe to get hit, Endurance rewards you for it, and Korone's punches make it necessary to get close to enemies (at least at first). Getting Spider Cooking, CEO Tears, or something similar to cover angles the punches don't cover should be an early priority.

IRyS IRyS

Theme: Criticals & Healing Signature Skill: Half-Angel Favorite Weapon: CEO Tears/Stream of Tears* Key Item: GWS Pill Best Stamp: Crit Up

IRyS's crit chance is increased by Hope. Half-Angel makes crits heal her. Half-Demon makes healing increase her attacks. Note that there's a limit to how often crits can heal IRyS (once every 0.3 seconds), and you can max out Half-Demon with a heal every 3-4 seconds, so she doesn't need that much item support. Low-level Nephilim Blast is a bit tricky to aim and doesn't pierce, so at low levels, position yourself carefully and keep an escape route open; it gets better.

Minato Aqua

Theme: Distance? Signature Skill: Sololive Favorite Weapon: BL Book/BL Fujoshi Key Item: Limiter Best Stamp: Projectile Up

The HoloCure team looked at Calli and Ina and Korone and Mio, and realized that they'd found a whole bunch of ways to encourage players to stick close to enemies but not much for the opposite. Aqua was, apparently, the best choice for the role. (I don't know enough about Aqua to know if this was an obvious choice or a "Sure, why not" choice.)

Sololive encourages you to keep a 75-px-radius area around you enemy-free; knockback weapons help with this. But Cleaning Maid also rewards you for keeping enemies within your Pickup Radius. (I haven't been able to find how long that is by default, but I don't think it's hard to extend it past 75px, or even Devil Hat's 150 px.)

Note that Minato Aqua's base HP is very low. This means that Injection-Type Asacoco deals less damage, but is perilous for rather self-explanatory reasons. The sacrifices we make for fandom references...

Murasaki Shion

Theme: Zones of Control Signature Skill: Magic Garlic Favorite Weapon: EN's Curse/Bone Bros Key Item: Headphones Best Stamp: ATK Up?

Shion has two skills which create zones that damage enemies and have positive effects on Shion, which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice. Stick close to the garlic; if it wanders into a bad location, reset it with the warp thingies. There are probably other ways to use those, but I'm not sure how.

Cheeky Brat gives you a significant Attack boost whenever you avoid taking damage, which requires almost taking damage with some regularity. Therefore, stick close to enemies. But don't rely on the one dodge per 15 seconds you get from Cheeky Brat, like I belatedly realized I was doing my first run. And maybe get some healing.

Shion is flat, improving the effectiveness of Cutting and Flattening Boards. However, Bounce Ball is less effective.

Nakiri Ayame

Theme: Come closer, I want to hit you with my sword! Signature Skill: Nakirium Favorite Weapon: Bounce Ball/Absolute Wall Key Item: Just Bandage Best Stamp: Bomb

My first impression when playing Ayame was that she was the Second Coming of Calliope Mori. There's less focus on her katanas, but not no focus, and they're both encouraged to focus on nearby targets. However, while Calli just deals extra damage to nearby targets, Ayame gets extra XP from defeating them. To avoid losing XP, stick even more strongly to short-range weapons and avoid effects like Knightly Milk.

Nanashi Mumei

Theme: Growth Signature Skill: History Favorite Weapon: Any Key Item: Any (except Special-related items) Best Stamp: Projectile Up

Like Amelia, Mumei's skills give pretty generic bonuses and include a companion who attacks and picks up drops. Unlike Ame, Mumei's skills have a clear mechanical theme: They get stronger over time. Still, not much special strategy here. Keep in mind that History lvl 2/3 does nothing until you've reached 5,050 or 7,550 kills (respectively), and doesn't do much until well after that point. Also keep in mind that True Horror destroys drops 70% of the time; do not use it if you don't need to.

Natsuiro Matsuri

Theme: "Touch me and die" Signature Skill: Seiso Representative Favorite Weapon: Spider Cooking/Elite COoking Key Item: Body Pillow Best Stamp: Slow?

In my first playthrough, the most notable thing about Matsuri was her basic weapon's movement. Ebifrion moves relative to the aimed direction; spinning the cursor clockwise makes it move faster, spinning counterclockwise can make it stop. If you're using mouse aim to spin clockwise, you can spin more quickly if the cursor is near Matsuri; I could consistently get 2-3 rotations per strike if I focused on precise spinning (as opposed to, say, movement or whether any enemies were about to hurt me). With aim locked to movement, I could get about half that many.

In any case, it makes Matsuri seem like a decent candidate for a no-movement run (if you're aiming with mouse or a second control stick). Outside that situation, I recommend getting enough forward-firing weapons that you have to stop playing around and just aim at the nearest cluster of weapons—you'll get more done that way.

With that aside: Matsuri is another character who encourages you to get close to enemies. Seiso Representative helps protect you from damage; it and GOD can damage nearby enemies. Most significantly, Cheerleader doesn't do anything if you're not regularly killing enemies within 100 pixels—a much shorter distance than it sounds. Avoid anything that increases your range. No big weapons, no Knightly Milk, no Size Up stamp. It's probably not necessary, but you can absolutely screw yourself out of cheerleading if you (for instance) grab BL Fujoshi at a time when the enemies are too weak to survive getting to the 100px mark. Yeah, I guess you're doing fine if

The Special is a bit tricky—not because it's hard, exactly, but because rhythm gaming requires a different mindset. Switching between rhythm gaming, VS-style gameplay, and messing around with Ebifrion makes it hard to excel at any one of them.

Matsuri is flat, improving the effectiveness of Cutting and Flattening Boards. However, Bounce Ball is less effective.

Nekomata Okayu

Theme: Food & eating Signature Skill: Yummy Favorite Weapon: Spider Cooking/Broken Dreams Key Item: Uber Sheep Best Stamp: Haste Up?

Fun lie: HoloCure developer Kay Yu is named after O-kay-yu.

The first thing you'll notice about Okayu is that her onigiri are hard to aim. Because of this, and because her skills mostly involve healing or eating enemies, I recommend focusing on short-range weapons (especially ones that cover angles that you keep missing with onigiri); the risk of getting close to enemies is minimized by all the food you eat. Speaking of which: I've never tried a food-based Injection Asacoco build, but if I was going to, I'd pick Okayu.

I believe that enemies that get eaten due to Sensitive Voice or Mogu Mogu still drop XP, but it would get picked up too quickly to be seen, and when I tried to X-ray Okayu to check, she tried to eat me.

Ninomae Ina'nis

Theme: Crowds Signature Skill: The Void? Favorite Weapon: BL Book/BL Fujoshi Key Item: Headphones Best Stamp: Size Up?

Ina is, in some ways, a very simple character to play. She has a couple other skills that make it safer to be surrounded by enemies and a special attack that absolutely devastates all the enemies surrounding her. In other ways, though, you need to throw her into the middle of enemy swarms to play well, and it can be tricky to survive that. It's certainly less important now that Cult has been removed, but staying close to enemy crowds makes it more likely for The Forbidden Wah to activate.

Ina is flat, improving the effectiveness of Cutting and Flattening Boards. However, Bounce Ball is less effective.

Ookami Mio

Theme: "I can't beat the sh*t out of you without getting closer." Signature Skill: Cheerful Laugh Favorite Weapon: BL Book/BL Fujoshi Key Item: Breastplate Best Stamp: Weaken Flower

I'm not just referencing JJBA because of Hatotaurus, though Hato's definitely a significant part of Mio's build. The other reason is that Mio...well...beats the sh*t out of enemies better when she gets close to them. She has one skill that makes nearby enemies take more damage, and another that heals you more the more enemies are around (rewarding you for keeping enemies close while blunting the danger). You'll probably want more healing, though, especially in stages with lots of bullets (which damage you but don't increment Mama).

Oozora Subaru

Theme: You ain't ever gonna keep me down Signature Skill: Sunny Optimism Favorite Weapon: BL Book/Frozen Sea Key Item: Just Bandage? Best Stamp: Size Up

Subaru's skills revolve around reducing risks. Oozora Police's handcuffs go all Derek Chauvin on any enemies close enough to Subaru; the radius is extremely small, but non-boss enemies just vanish, so it's still pretty effective (until you run out of handcuffs). Likewise, Sunny Optimism basically lets you build up a backup HP pool that activates if you get killed. Duck Whisper...um...well, it serves as an attack that covers angles the baseball doesn't, which is most of them?

Okay, it's a weak theme. But it all encourages Subaru to get close to enemies, especially once she awakens her baseball and wants it to start hitting enemies as soon as it's thrown, the better to use its bonus damage.

Ouro Kronii

Theme: Speed (and pride) Signature Skill: Perfection Favorite Weapon: Bounce Ball/Ring of Fitness Key Item: Body Pillow Best Stamp: Stun

Kronii has a lot of boosts to Speed and Haste. Under optimal conditions, her skills provide 2.25x speed and +60% Haste, plus bonuses to Attack, Crit, and Pickup Distance. However, to maintain those optimal conditions, you need to be at full HP and crit with your clock hands every few seconds. The latter condition is easier (especially late-game), but less important; keeping Kronii at full HP is a major build consideration. Beyond that...be aware that you can run sideways while your clock hands are out to "swipe" them through a crowd of enemies. Most weapons work pretty well on Kronii.

Bounce Ball is extremely effective for Kronii.

Roboco San

Theme: Upgrades Signature Skill: Hi-Level Favorite Weapon: Spider Cooking/Broken Dreams Key Item: Study Glasses Best Stamp: Bomb?

Roboco is a pretty straightforward character. Her weapon is focused but flexible, and her skills grant basic bonuses that work with any build. Just pick up a weapon that covers the directions you aren't shooting...and stuff Roboco with XP, of course. Hi-Level demands as many levels as possible, Discharge only works if you continue to jam XP into her charging port, and Battery Charged gives you more XP for the purpose. Pick up Battery Charged ASAP, alongside Study Glasses (even if they first show up later than you'd normally consider the glasses). Also consider picking up Halu to buff Roboco—more enemies means more XP, after all!

Sakura Miko

Theme: ...I don't know. Signature Skill: Eroge Hero Favorite Weapon: Elite Lava Bucket/MiComet** Key Item: Energy Drink? Best Stamp: Stun?

I'll be blunt, I dunno what to make of Miko's kit. I understand each individual component, mind you! Eroge Hero gives you regeneration as long as you keep conquering enemies, Elite gives you bonuses to ATK & SPD if you keep that regen up, Baby Language? creates damaging/debuffing Nyehs. But I don't see any theme, and I don't see much synergy, and I don't play Miko enough to have any useful intuition about her playstyle.

Keep in mind that MiComet inherits its Elite-ness from the ELB.

Shirakami Fubuki

Theme: Speed Signature Skill: Fox King Favorite Weapon: CEO Tears/Stream of Tears?* Key Item: Energy Drink Best Stamp: Slow

Who needs a hedgehog when you have a cat? Fubuki doesn't actually have the highest base speed, but she more than makes up for it with skills that boost her speed, let her dodge attacks, and increase her damage with speed buffs. Pick up items that boost Speed, and avoid weapons that you can outrun. Kon Kon and Friendzone mean it's usually safe to run through a thin line of enemies, but be careful not to try this with a crowd.

Takanashi Kiara

Theme: Running away Dance Signature Skill: Dancer Favorite Weapon: Elite Lava/MiComet Key Item: Idol Costume? Best Stamp: Reverse Stun

Kiara is arguably the most newbie-friendly character in the game. He sword hits a wide area, her special attack and skillsprovide straightforward boosts and safety nets, Trailblazer lets you damage enemies by running away. What's not to like? Just make sure you keep moving and you should be fine.

Tokino Sora

Theme: Restoration Signature Skill: Idol Healing Favorite Weapon: Idol Song/Idol Concert Key Item: Uber Sheep Best Stamp: Life Steal

Sora is yet another character who does special things when she heals, which incidentally makes her the only character who (sometimes) feels like she's restoring fans instead of beating the sh*t out of them. When she heals, fans near her come closer to being restored/beaten up. (Incidentally, this is the only on-heal effect that cares about how much you healed.) Idol Healing and Idol Dream both encourage you to stick close to enemies (so they can be "healed"), so weapons that can cover your blind spots are critical. Ankimo helps, but don't rely on him.

Yozora Mel

Theme: Life-Steal Signature Skill: Genius Vampire Favorite Weapon: Spider Cooking/Eldritch Horror Key Item: Nurse's Horns Best Stamp: Bomb?

Another healing-based character...sort of. Mel's basic attack steals life from its victims, Acerola Juice lets other attacks (occasionally) do the same, and Genius Vampire encourages you to steal as much life as possible for your fuzzy flying friends. In my test, her base kit plus horns was plenty to fight off Injection-Type Asacoco. What weapons should she grab? Aside from Eldritch Horror's innate life-steal and making sure you cover angles that don't get Kapu'd, slow-firing weapons might be best; Acerola adds life-steal to a fixed number of attacks per glass.

Note that the Life Steal stamp does not seem to actually heal via life-steal. It just heals via healing. Also, Bounce Ball is more effective for Mel.

Yuzuki Choco

Theme: ICU (In Critical, Unharm) Signature Skill: Nurse (natch) Favorite Weapon: Bounce Ball Key Item: Uber Sheep/Sake (I couldn't decide—they work too well with each other and Choco's skills) Best Stamp: Life Steal

There are two sides to Choco. On one hand, she charms enemies, turning them against other fans; this is neat and handy, but has relatively little impact on strategy (other than encouraging critical builds). She also has yet another spin on healing being important. In this case, healing can be critical (presumably at an equal rate to critical hits), which heals extra and also damages "cures" nearby enemies. This damage seems to increase with critical hit damage, so Hope Soda is more appealing than for typical crit builds.

Bounce Ball is extremely effective for Choco.

Tsukumo Sana

Last but not least; gone but not forgotten.

Theme: BEEEG Signature Skill: Speaker of Space Favorite Weapon: Wamy Water/Frozen Sea Key Item: Knightly Milk Best Stamp: Size Up

Sana's builds focus around big, overlapping, indiscriminate area attacks. Built properly, it's easy to run Sana; enemies can't get close without running into several of your weapons, which hit entire hordes as hard as they do lone roamers. Her biggest weakness is that she can't focus fire on bosses; Wamy Water is a good area weapon which can do this to some extent. Her biggest irritation is that XP is scattered all around her, to the horizon and beyond; her special helps mitigate this, but only a bit. If the Knightly Milk wasn't basically the only area-increasing effect (aside from Speaker of Space), I'd consider suggesting Limiter as her key item. (Especially since, you know, it's hers.)

Bounce Ball is extremely effective for Sana.

#holocure #hololive #fangame #guide #sorry for the poor editing; I want to make a good guide but I also want to post this at some point #and I have a limited amount of time I can spend on HoloCure stuff

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