Big Sky

“Fine, but I’m picking the place.”

The words came out of my mouth begrudgingly. Jon, who was shirtless and distracting, beamed that wonderful, slow and toothy smile. Between the abnormally warm morning and his presence, I was melting.

I knew I should have given him a firm “no” for an answer. I wanted to be aloof, and to protect myself the only way I knew how – by shutting out anything resembling attraction and romantic interest. Of course, I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that this famous, talented athlete wanted to take me on a date even after getting me in bed.

However, Shae’s words rattled around in my head, and I had never been so attracted to a human being the way I was to Jonathan. And despite the knowledge that he was leaving in two days to go back to his life while I was stuck here in mine, I found myself agreeing.

Clearing his throat, he drew my attention which was admittedly traveling down his frame. Returning my eyes to his smirk, my face burned like I got caught passing a note in high school.

Trotting Remi away to hide my awkwardness, I called over my shoulder, “Pick me up at 7, dress casual.”

I heard him laugh and I turned to see him shake his head. “You’re really something, El,” he said, and jogged off again, the stones crunching under his Nike sneakers.


I spent most of the day trying to keep myself as busy as possible. Not in a million years would I admit I was nervous for the date with Jonathan. In fact, I was hesitant to call it a date even in the sanctity of my own mind.

Taking it upon myself to turn in horses and feed a bit early, I started chores on my own. I had officially run out of productive things to do and I didn’t want to go inside to get ready yet.

After letting all of the horses in, I grabbed a stack of grain buckets to dump their feed. The buckets stacked as high as my eyes obstructed my view, causing me to nearly run over Mason who had wandered in.

“Whoa, Eliza, what’s gotten into you?” he asked, taking the heavy stack of buckets from me. “You’re running around like a headless chicken.”

Sheepishly grinning, I apologized, “Sorry Mace. Just distracted today, I guess.”

“Everything okay? Is it Remi?” he questioned, concernedly.

“Oh no, Remi’s fine, everything’s fine. Just got something on my mind,” I explained, subconsciously glancing out the barn doors at the cabins up the hill. Realizing my error, and hoping Mason wouldn’t notice, I hastily grabbed the buckets back and started to distribute the feed.

Mason’s voice came out with a degree of exasperation, “Eliza, I trust your judgment, but getting involved with those guys is a bad idea.”

Shooting him a weak smile, I said, “I know Mace. They leave Monday, it’s not like I have time to get emotionally invested.” I knew that was a bit of a lie, seeing as I already was on some level, but I wanted Mason off my case. I conveniently failed to mention I had a date with one of “those guys” in a few short hours too.

With a sigh, he disappeared into the feed room to grab more buckets.

Thankful to him for dropping the subject, I helped him finish chores in silence, and hurried inside to avoid further conflict.

Cussing when I realized it was nearly 6, and that Jonathan would be picking me up in one short hour, I jumped in the shower to clean the day’s dirt and grime off. Leaving my hair dry, I pulled it out of the braid it had been in most of the day when I got out. Satisfied with the pretty waves it was left in after I ran my fingers through it, I applied some makeup. Without Shae here to guide me, I left it fairly basic, only putting on some mascara and eyeliner and a bit of peachy lipgloss.

Throwing a pair of jeans and a passably cute top on, I stared at my doe-eyed reflection in the mirror… this was as good as it was going to get.

Checking the time, I realized I still had ten minutes before I should expect Jonathan. Pulling out my phone, I called Shae. I hadn’t told her of the development of Jon asking me out, seeing as she was a bit…excitable. I figured I was in the safe zone as far as telling her now though.

“Eliza, thank god you called. I’m so bored, hang out with me”, Shae whined into the phone.

I giggled a bit at her desperation, “Sorry Shaezie, I have a date.” It felt weird to admit that out loud.

Laughing as I held the phone away from my ear, Shae screeched that I was a horrible friend for not telling her immediately, and that she should have been here to dress me since ranch-chic isn’t cute for dates with super-hot famous athletes.

A sharp knocking at the door reminded me of the subject of this phone call, and I interrupted Shae, “Shae, I have to go, he’s here.”

Abruptly stopping her diatribe, she changed her tone, “Eliza, I know you don’t believe it but he likes you. Just remember that.”

I hung up on her without responding because I didn’t want to think about it. Running to the door, I bolted out of it before my dad could even get from his study to the top of the stairs. I definitely didn’t want to start tonight off with a scolding from my father.

Closing it quickly behind me, I leaned against the door for a moment.

“Hi,” I said lamely.

He crookedly smiled, “Hi.”

I assessed Jon in the fading daylight. He wore dark, well-fitting jeans, a pair of white canvas sneakers and a light blue button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to show his toned forearms.

With a cheeky grin, he said, “You look good too.” My stomach squirmed as he caught me checking him out again, but he broke into that goofy laugh of his.

Relaxing at his nervous laughter, I let him guide me towards the black rental SUV parked in the drive as I explained how to get to the restaurant. To my chagrin, he held the car door proudly as I got in the car. I complained, but admittedly found it charming.

We made small talk on the drive, but mostly rode in comfortable silence as the scenery passed by the windows.

He said, “You know, I never get sick of seeing mountains.”

I couldn’t help but smile a little, “Me neither.”

A few minutes late, we arrived at our destination, and climbed out of the car. He looked at me with raised brows, as he took in the dinky little restaurant I had chosen. Grinning, I rolled my eyes at his hesitation.

“Trust me,” I said.

He shrugged and put his arm around my shoulders as we walked up the path to the door. I tensed up at the sudden contact, but after a few moments of letting his clean, comfortable scent wash over me, I relaxed. I was almost disappointed when he removed his arm to, again, open the door for me. I stared at him with faux annoyance and he just blinked innocently, not going to let my independence get in the way of chivalry. I found myself wondering why I agreed to this.

After sitting at a booth with a red checkered tablecloth, we ordered and chatted. I decided that despite my reservations, I might as well make the most of this evening and be a good date. I asked questions about winning the Stanley Cup, his family back in Winnipeg, living in Chicago, and his friendship with Patrick. He asked me about Remi, growing up in Montana, and my plans for vet school after college.

At this point we had received our food, which arrived in paper baskets on a metal tray. Taking a break from my monologue, I watched him expectantly as he took a bite of the barbecue brisket he had ordered.

Tipping his head back, he nearly moaned (eliciting an unwarranted warmth in the pit of my stomach) and said, “Okay, I’m sorry for ever doubting you.”

I laughed and took a bite of a fry off my tray, “See, I told you to trust me.”

He happily took another bite, and watched me start eating my own meal. It dawned on me that I hadn’t taken time to eat since first thing this morning, before Jon had harangued me into going out with him, and I was nothing short of ravenous.

Noticing that he was staring at me, I began wiping at my face, thinking there was barbecue sauce on it. “Sorry, I think I got busy and forgot to eat today,” I said self-consciously.

He reached across the table, and pushed the napkin back down from my face. He shook his head, “You’re fine, Eliza.”

He stared at me for a moment more and my face heated up again before I probed, “Then what is it?”

He sighed and looked at the table. His expression was calculating, and there was a divot between his eyebrows.

“I just think it’s kind of incredible that you wanted me to take you to a hole-in-the-wall barbecue place, after I had to beg you to go out with me.”

Screwing up my face, I wiped my hands on my napkin, “Well, if that’s a problem…”

He waved his hands in front of him and laughed, “No, not at all. It’s just confusing, and I find the fact that you don’t give a shit about who I am fascinating and just really, really sexy.”

I balked at being described as sexy, as it is not an adjective used in regard to myself very often.

He continued anyway, “You’re brutally honest, confident and incredibly interesting and I can’t stop thinking about you.” The waitress brought us the check, and glanced back and forth from Jon’s ever-intense, hooded eyes and my beet-red face.

I wanted to jump his bones right there. No one had ever said something so totally straightforward to me, and it kind of blind-sided me. For a long moment I wished I could throw caution to the wind.

Quietly, I said, “Too bad you leave Monday.” I picked at the remnants of my dinner.

Frowning, he picked up the check and flagged down the waitress before I could object to him paying for my meal.

He stood as he held out his hand to me. Taking it to allow him to pull me up from the booth, I assumed he was annoyed with my sulky comment and wanted to leave.

However, without letting go of my hand, he pulled me outside. I had to trot to keep up with his long stride back to the car.

I felt guilty because my comment had clearly shifted the mood of the night, and it wasn’t fair to him to ruin our date with my attitude.

“Jon, I didn’t-,” I started to apologize, and was alarmed when the words unexpectedly stopped coming out of my mouth. My back was pressed to the cool exterior of the SUV we had driven in. It took me a moment to realize that his mouth was pressed against mine again, and I couldn’t help but press back, my mind liquefying with the heat of the kiss.

It wasn’t until my fingers were entwined with the hairs at the nape of his neck and his muscular arms were roaming under my flowy shirt that I remembered that he was going to be going back home soon, and I would just be a footnote in his life.

Pulling away, I rested my head against his shoulder. “Jon, I can’t do this,” I murmured. Tearing myself away, I stepped back and walked around the car to the passenger door without looking directly at him.

After a moment of hesitation, he unlocked the doors and I slid in, allowing him to drive me home in a heavy silence that reverberated around the vehicle.