The Choice - A Small Town Love Triangle
The
CHOICE
By
Piper Phoenix
All rights reserved.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright
©
2016 Piper Phoenix
No part of this book my be reproduced, transmitted or stored in a retrieval system in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the express written permission of the author. Except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
First Edition March 2016
CHAPTER ONE
She tickled the condensation that had accumulated on the side of her glass of diet soda. Traci looked up and down the nearly empty bar. Even though she was old enough to drink, she preferred to have her diet soda instead of alcohol. It was easier to people watch when she was completely sober. Because Traci only ever came to this bar for one thing and it wasn’t to drink.
It had been about three months ago she’d come into this same bar and ordered her usual. Traci had been wearing a tank top with some barely there cut-off shorts where the pockets peaked out from under the shredded threads. Then of course to complete the outfit she wore her brand new cowboy boots that were in desperate need of breaking in any way. It hadn’t been her first time to the bar, but it had been her first time seeing him.
* * *
He came in alone, his cowboy hat tipped down covering his eyes. She’d only noticed that they were blue when he took a quick peek to look around the room. They sparkled like gemstones at her from across the bar. The bartender nodded at him as he slid a bottle of beer in his direction. Traci pretended she hadn’t noticed him, same as all the other patrons seemed to be doing. But she had noticed.
Her imagination kicked in and she imagined him walking over to her, talking to her. In her mind they had really hit it off. She could almost feel him kissing her, lightly at first then more passionately. Next thing she knew he was running his hands all over her body, cupping her tits and lazily brushing his fingertips across her nipples. Neither of them had a care in the world about who was watching.
“Miss?” the bartender said, but Traci hadn’t heard him, she kept the daydream going seeing herself straddling the cowboy. Before she knew it her body was reacting, she could feel her nipples pushing against the thin fabric of her top and her panties dampening.
The cowboy grabbed his beer and clicked his boots over to the jukebox. It was already playing country music, but he scanned the selections anyway. He didn’t pick any songs. Instead he sunk down into a booth in the back of the bar where she couldn’t see him without obviously leaning forward and cranking her neck. Not something she could be subtle about.
“Miss?” the bartender said.
Traci almost tipped over her mostly empty glass when he’d brought her back from her fantasy. “Sorry?” she said realizing he had been trying to talk to her.
“I asked if you wanted another.”
“Oh… Yes, sorry,” she answered without hesitation. There was no way Traci was going to leave the bar anytime soon, she was way too interested in the mysterious cowboy.
About an hour or so passed before she saw a couple of girls slink into the bar. Both girls were older than her, both dressed practically identical to the other— flannel button-down shirts, short-shorts and high heels. They looked good,
scratch that they looked great
she thought, as their hips swayed to the booth the sexy cowboy was sitting in. They immediately started giggling. After a couple minutes, one of them came up to the bar.
“I need three beers, Smitty,” she’d said glancing at Traci only for a second. The woman seemed to smirk at her but Traci figured that was probably just her imagination considering this woman didn’t know her. The bartender handed her the drinks, and she sauntered back over to the booth as if she knew Traci was watching her.
Traci hadn’t realized she’d been staring at the girl until a face popped into her view. A little startled, she blinked a few times until the face came into focus. A fairly attractive guy stood there smiling at her, he wasn’t in the same league as the cowboy but cute enough. The cowboy oozed sex out of every pore, this guy oozed nothing, at least nothing she could name based on first impressions.
“Hi!” he said overly enthusiastic. Her eyebrows pinched together trying to figure out if she was supposed to know him based on his approach, but she couldn’t place him.
“Hi.” Traci smiled politely.
“Are you waiting for someone?” he asked her.
She had wanted to tell him she’d been waiting her whole life for that hot cowboy back in that booth but she withheld that information.
“No,” she said wiping at the red lipstick that had transferred to her glass.
“Can I sit here?” he asked but sat down before she could answer, he seemed a little nervous, “I’m Sawyer.”
“Jane.” She lied. Sawyer reached out his hand to her and she took it giving him a solid handshake.
“Good to meet you Jane, you come here a lot?”
“Nice line,” she smiled even though she was almost certain he hadn’t intended for it to sound like a cheesy pick up line. She thought he seemed like a gentleman and was just being friendly.
He ducked his head down and laughed. Sawyer had an amazing laugh and an even better smile, both made Traci smile brightly back at him. She could tell he was tall based on how high he was even just sitting next to her. His light blue button-down shirt was neatly pressed and fit him nicely, same as his dark blue jeans, held up with a dark leather belt complete with a shiny oval shaped buckle. His beat-up cowboy boots indicated that he probably wore them all day long, maybe even worked in them. The man was solid, she guessed that he probably worked on a farm.
“Aw, come on now Jane, I didn’t mean it like that, but you are awfully cute,” he said looking away shyly. Traci thought he was adorable, but she couldn’t quite get her thoughts off of the cowboy and his two women friends. Sawyer seemed to notice her looking around him. “I see you’ve noticed Cash and his groupies,” he said with a tinge of disappointment in his voice.
“Uh, yeah I guess so,” Traci said trying to down play it, she knew a cowboy like that was out of her league but it was still hard not to notice someone like that. Not to mention an older guy like that wouldn’t even notice her. He wasn’t looking for the inexperienced type who just wanted to fool around a little. Traci was practically a virgin. The closest she had come to any real fucking was one time in high school when her then boyfriend had attempted to have sex with her. It had been a complete disaster, but they had both counted it at the time.
“Yep, Cash catches everyone’s eye,” Sawyer said taking a swig from his beer and looking up at the TV.
“Who is he?”
“Aw dude just breezes through here every now and again, never stays long. Works with horses, buying, selling and the like,” he said with a sniff, “honestly I don’t pay him much mind.”
“I see,” Traci said trying not to make it seem like she was interested in him at all. “Do you live around here?” she asked changing the subject.
“Nice line,” he joked turning back towards her.
Traci let out a small laugh, she liked Sawyer he was definitely cute enough and funny enough, he definitely seemed sweet enough.
“No I own a farm around here, don’t get away too often, work too much I suppose,” he said taking another drink.
“Oh,” she said sipping her soda at the same time and pleased she had made a pretty accurate guess. Sawyer watched her lips curl around her straw.
“How about you?”
She wasn’t sure how to answer, she never did when people asked. She was supposed to have gone to college after she graduated, but decided not to and was sort of between jobs right now. What that translated to was that she couldn’t find anything she liked doing that paid well enough, and she was currently stuck living with her parents. There was no way she was going to tell Sawyer any of that though. She’d already lied to him about her name, what was one more lie? “I answer phones, it’s boring, but it’s a paycheck.”
Traci was trying to think up a question for Sawyer so she wouldn’t have to make up more lies about herself, but the cowboy stood up and she lost her train of thought. The cowboy, Sawyer had called Cash, tossed some money down on the table and walked towards the exit with the girls hand in hand at his heels. As he walked passed her and Sawyer he glanced at Sawyer then at Traci and tipped his hat to them. His eyes were squarely set on her, she shifted in her seat. Traci wondered if she had stopped breathing, he was even more gorgeous than she thought.
The cowboy was tall, but not Sawyer tall, and quite muscular, she could tell even though he was clothed because the shirt he wore hugged his body. She would have given anything to see him without those clothes on and run her hands over his firm chest.
They walked out of the bar and when the door closed behind him she figured that would be the last she’d see of the sexy cowboy and started breathing again. She’d said a silent farewell to the sexy stranger and continued her conversation with Sawyer.
The bartender made his last call and Traci stood up. Sawyer had enjoyed several beers as they’d talked and it had built up his courage. “You know, I’m really having a good time with you,” he said standing close to her. He towered over her but she kind of liked it, he made her feel small. He nudged his body lightly into hers, “I don’t want it to end.”
“Yeah, I don’t either,” she said surprising herself a little, but it was true and Sawyer was really sweet. Other than not being able to stop thinking about Cash the cowboy, she truly was having a good time with him.
“Would you be interested in coming over to my place? And no, that’s not a line… just to talk,” he said sincerely, but she knew he was interested in more, he just wasn’t the type to say so. She was never afraid to initiate the first move if need be.
“How far away is it?” she asked not that it mattered, her parents wouldn’t be waiting up for her, she was a grown woman.
“Not far, if you need to go I understand, but I’d love to see you again sometime?”
“Oh, no, it’s not a problem, I’d love to go back to your place,” she said grabbing her purse.
“Ready?” he asked putting a small pile of money on the counter, she couldn’t help but notice there was a lot more where that came from in his wallet. It wasn’t like Sawyer was trying to show her, she just couldn’t stop herself from taking a peek when he opened it.
She reached into her purse to give him some money for her drinks, but he put his hand up and shook his head. There was no way he was going to accept money from her so she just slid her purse over her shoulder, “Thank you.” Sawyer lightly placed his palm on her back and guided her out of the bar.
Traci couldn’t even take a guess at how old Sawyer was. He didn’t look older than twenty-five or twenty-six, but he owned a farm so she worried her guess may have been off. She hadn’t known anyone that young and successful, which she didn’t even know if he was but she figured to own property, a farm for that matter, must mean some amount of success. He hadn’t asked her how old she was but she knew she probably looked a little older than she actually was.
Sawyer helped her up into his truck which stood at least a foot higher than a standard pickup truck. The truck shimmered and gleamed in the moonlight, it was obvious he took good care of it. The inside was immaculate and still had that new car smell. Traci wondered if he had paid for the truck upfront or it he had taken a loan out for it. Not that it mattered of course.