Wham Bam Thank You Ma'am

"This is so weird," Ferin laughed, finally breaking the silence between her and Bam as he drove them into West Chester.

"What is?" he glanced over at her before returning his eyes to the road.

"Us going out for supper," she looked over at him, "alone."

He smiled but kept his eyes on the road. "Well for the stunt you pulled earlier, I should have brought Vito."

Ferin rolled her eyes. "The stunt I pulled? You need to try looking at that man naked and knowning you have to massage body oil into his skin."

The thought alone made Bam's skin crawl and he shiverd. Ferin chuckled beside him. She was holding his hand across the console and she'd felt him shiver.

"That's what I thought." She turned to him with a smile.

"So where to?" Bam asked, quickly changing the subject as they entered West Chester.

"How about Kooma?" Ferin suggested. She loved sushi, and having DiCo dressed in the fish suit earlier on in the day had reminded her of it.

That time he looked at her. "You sure? You know we could even go to Philadelphia if you want. Or New York, it's not that far away."

She smiled softly and squeezed his hand. "Kooma is fine." She didn't want anything extravagant. Maybe they'd go for something more fancy next time.

Bam parked the hummer and they walked hand in hand to Kooma. It was starting to get dark out, and chilly outside. Ferin snuggled into Bam's arm as they walked. Her black shoulderless top wasn't proving to be very warm.

Inside they got a table alone, relatively away from everyone. They ordered drinks and opted to talk for a little while.

"So tell me more about yourself," Bam leaned back in his chair. "I wanna know everything. Good and bad."

Ferin laughed. "Why would I tell you the bad stuff?"

He smirked. "Because you're not perfect." He recognized the look on her face and he laughed. "That's no what I meant, Ferin. I just meant that no one is perfect. If we were, how boring would everyone be? I wanna know you inside and out, because I think, that no matter what flaws you have, you're the most beautiful person I've ever met."

Ferin couldn't keep the flush from appearing on her cheeks. This was the side of Bam, that no one probably knew. Well, except for maybe Ape and Jenn.

"You trying to seduce me?"

He grinned. "I'll do that later." The waitress appeared with their drinks and they thanked her for them.

"Where did you grow up? Where did you go to school? Tell me about your brothers and your parents." He took a sip of his drink before setting it back down making eye contact with her. "Tell me about Cody."

Ferin was silent for a moment as her eyes locked with Bam. He looked sincere. And god she hoped he was, because she didn't talk about Cody to anyone. Not even Tash.

"Well," she started softly. "I grew up on a horse ranch just outside of Las Vegas. Went to school in Vegas. Spent most of my highschool years either hanging out with Natasha, or barrel racing. We both spent alot of time on the road with our horses, traveling back and forth from home to small rodeos. Ater highschool, I took a year off. Focused on rodeo, my dream was to make it to the National Finals Rodeo, but after a year, I realised all it would ever be is a dream. So, I gave it up. It became a hobby, and I went to college for massage therapy. I actually work on both humans and horses."

"I really can't picture you all...countrified," Bam grinned. "Though I would enjoy it if you took me for a roll in the hay."

Ferin laughed and leaned forward, placing her elbows on the table.

"What about your parents?" he asked. "You already know all about mine."

She smiled the best she could. "Well, my parents...they're, I dunno," she struggled to find the right words. "Let me put it this way. When my mom got married, she wanted two kids, that's it. She got her wish when she had twins first off. So, Trace and Tyson are the wonder children. Tyson went after the family roots, and he bull rides for a living like our dad use to do. Trace, tried his hand at rodeo, but found he'd rather be on a dirt bike than a horse. So, he chased his motor cross racing career." She stirred her straw around in her drink before continuing. "I came a few years later. I was a mistake. I guess she even debated on abortion but decided to have me anyway. The only thing I got from her was barrel racing. She taught me how. That's the only thing she took time out of her busy schedule with my brothers to do with me. My dad, is more parental towards me I guess. But I think mom still blames him for me. So, I've always been the outcast of the family."

Bam was amazed she was spilling everything to him without a fight. "But your brothers love you."

Ferin nodded. "Yeah they do. They are my family. Not my parents. They've both sworn that anything I want or need, they'll make sure I have and for that I'll forever be greatful."

"So where does Cody fit in?" he asked carefully, knowing full well how touchy a subject it was.

"Well," she sat back in her chair again amazed that she was ready to dish a little more on Cody to Bam of all people. "When I turned sixteen I was out of the house as fast as possible. Cody and I met in our sophmore year. He still lived with his parents, but I lived with them for two years." She paused for a moment, tears stinging her eyes. "We both moved into our own place in our senior year and things were going so great," she couldn't help it anymore. A few tears slipped down her dry cheeks. "I don't know what I did to deserve it, but I guess the man upstairs decided I'd had enough time with him."

Bam's heart felt like someone was squeezing it. He hadn't meant to make her cry, but he wanted to know what made her tick. Needed to know. "Do you believe in fate?" he asked.

Ferin brushed her hand over her cheek inconspicuously. She didn't need everyone in the restaurant to know she was crying. "Yeah I do."

"Think," he leaned forward, reaching for her hands and squeezing them tightly in his own across the table, "if that hadn't of happened, I may never have met you. And let me tell you, that would suck."

Ferin locked eyes with him.

"I know it hurts, and I can't ease the pain. I wish I could. And I don't mean to be an ass when I say this, I really don't. And I hope you believe me. But if it took losing him, to bring you to me, then I'm thankful to Cody."

Ferin was caught in a storm of fury...and love. Part of her was screaming how dare he. The other part was falling more and more in love with Bam. And that, she decided, was scary.

***
The next morning Ferin found herself wrapped snuggly in Bam's arms. Her face just below his chin, breathing in his scent as they both lay on their sides facing each other.

Last night had been an experience. She'd spilled her entire life history to Bam, and all before dinner. By the time she was done, she was crying, and unable to eat, so Bam got their supper to go, and they came home. Everyone was still up watching a movie, so they'd went outside and sat by the pool and ate a little bit and chatted some more about Bam's childhood. Then, they went swimming, but not by choice. Bam had pushed her in, then decided to join her.

Afterwards, they went upstairs, shared a shower, which to her surprise, lead to nothing more than a shower, then got dressed in their PJ's and crawled into bed. And now, here she was, nearly ten hours later, still in the same position as when she crawled into bed.

"Bam," she whispered softly. But he didn't budge. She opted to try another way by kissing his neck softly. He shifted slightly but never really moved. Smiling against his skin she bit his neck lightly and his eyes popped open.

"What are you doing?" he grumbled.

Ferin smiled and shimmied up the bed a little until her head was resting on a pillow beside his. "Waking you up," she smiled.

"I'm tired," he mumbled, closing his eyes again.

"Babe, let's do something today."

He cracked his eyes open again. "Like what?"

"I wanna go riding."

His eyes opened all the way and he grinned. "Well a few more kisses like that, and I'll be ready to go."

Ferin rolled her eyes. "Not that kind of riding you bum, I want you to come horseback riding with me."

Bam laughed and released her as he rolled onto his back beside her. "You want me to ride a horse?"

"Yeah." Ferin slipped a leg over his waist and maneuvered her body so that she was stradling her boxer clad boyfriend.

He placed his hands on her thighs. "Don't you have to work?"

She shook her head. "No, not on weekends." She slid her hands up and down his chest. "Please?"

He groaned. "It's going to take a whole lot of convincing to get me on a horse, Ferin."

She laughed. "How about, I promise that we'll...play later."

That seemed to pique his interest. "Play huh? I think you're going to have to elaborate."

Ferin slid further down his legs, kissing his stomach softly then tracing the heartagram tattoo peeking out from beneath his boxers with the tip of her tongue. She felt Bam's stomach muscles contract beneath his warm skin and she smiled before sitting up. "I'll take you for a roll in the hay," she elaborated for him.

He laughed and within a few movements he had her pinned to the bed. "That better be a sincere promise, or there will be consiquences," he warned.

Ferin kissed him softly and wiggled out from beneath him. "It's a sincere as they come." She moved to the closet. "Now come on, Bam. Let's go have some fun."

"Fuck me." He laughed before getting out of bed as well. "I know that I'm going to regret this."