Falling for Bentley (Part One) Read online

  “That’s fine!” Mandie yelled just as I reached the door. “I was done with you anyways. I need a real man that is actually going to make something of himself, someone other than a washed up nobody.” I stopped, but decided to not make a scene. I pushed the door open and stepped outside.

  I walked over to where Haley was sitting on a bench just a little down the street. “Haley, I’m so…”

  Haley stood and cut me off, “Don’t apologize for what she just did. You and I both know nothing would, or could, control that mouth of hers.”

  “Was she always like this? For the life of me, I can’t see what I ever saw in her.” I said more to myself. The look in Haley’s eyes gave me my answer.

  “That was then, and this is now. The difference between the two of you, Bentley, is you grew up, and she stayed in high school.”

  I pulled her in for a hug, “You, Haley Wells, have one of the biggest hearts I have ever known.”

  Dropping Haley off at her ranch was just something I wasn’t ready for. I knew she still had a few things to do in town, but after the whole Mandie disaster, Haley just wanted to go back to her place.

  “Thank you for letting me tag along today,” I said trying to lift the mood in the truck.

  “Thanks for the ride and for lunch. I guess I should pay you back, since I pretty much left you in the diner with no option except to pay.” she spoke as she reached for her back pocket.

  “Haley, put your money away, I don’t want it,” I almost growled.

  She shifted her hand away from her back pocket, “Okay, well, thanks again.”

  I walked her to the door, prolonging the goodbye as long as I could. I felt like such a dick for what happened at the diner, and I have a feeling any leeway I had with Hales, just went back to square one. I leaned on the porch railing while she opened the front door, “Thank you, again, Haley, for hanging out with me today.”

  She turned around and smiled, “I enjoyed myself, well, minus the unpleasant visitor.”

  “Could we maybe do it again sometime?” I gripped the rail, trying to hide my nervousness.

  Haley moved in front of me, “Why, Bentley Knight, are you asking me out on a date?”

  I pulled my hand off the rail and took a step closer, lacing my fingers through her hair, “Hales, will you please see me again tomorrow?”

  “I’d like that,” she answered shyly.

  I leaned in and placed a small kiss to her cheek, “Tomorrow.”

  I waited in my truck until she went inside before I pulled away.

  On the way back to town I decided to call my brother to see if he wanted to meet up.

  “Hey bro, what you up to?” Travis answered the phone.

  “Just calling to see if you want to hang out, maybe go for a run and do some weights at the gym.”

  “Needing to talk?” my brother asked in a serious tone.

  “Yeah.”

  “Cool. Come pick me up at the farm. Want me to grab your gym shoes?”

  “Please. See you in ten.”

  I hung up the phone, knowing Travis and I needed to have the conversation about what he and I really wanted out of the farm.

  A mile into our run on the treadmill, Travis looked over to me, “Bentley, are you going to leave the farm?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “What do you want?”

  “I don’t know,” I answered back.

  “Do you miss playing football?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “You don’t know, or you don’t want to be honest with yourself?”

  I ran for a bit before answering him, “I’m scared. What if what I want doesn’t make anyone else happy?”

  “Who cares about anyone else, Bentley, you need to only think about you.”

  “I don’t want to let Mom down.”

  “You’re not going to let her down. Mom is giving you the out, if you want it, man. She’s not going to turn you away, or love you less, for whatever decision you make.”

  “Yeah and what about Dad? He’s been on that farm, growing it into something. I’m not fond of the idea of throwing that away on him,” I answered back.

  “Bentley, I hate to sound like an ass or an ungrateful son, but when Dad got hurt it kind of left him without an option. It’s no different than someone having a heart attack and having to leave his job early. Dad was just handed an early retirement.”

  “When did you get so smart, little brother?” I questioned.

  “When my big brother became my best friend,” Travis answered simply.

  I smiled over to him, “First one to hit five miles picks the weight training routine.”

  TRAVIS AND I left the gym all sweaty, “Dude, you stink,” he said, pushing me away from him.

  “It’s not like you smell any better, little douche bag,” I taunted, shoving him back.

  “At least I smell manly, you just smell like an old jock strap.” I grabbed my brother in a headlock and started giving him a noogie.

  “Don’t be an asshole, Bentley.”

  “I’m not. I’m just being your older brother,” I said letting him go, “What do you want to do now?”

  “Maggie’s?”

  “No, I was there for lunch.” I tried to sound causal.

  “Oh right, Whitney mentioned you went there for lunch. She also mentioned you were there with a pretty lady named Haley.”

  “Get that smug look off your face, Travis. We just had lunch after running some errands for the farm.”

  “Riiight,” Travis snickered while hopping into the truck.

  Driving my brother back to the farm, I decided to go check on the cows and see if the damn bull finally decided to make his way back to them. “When was the last time anyone checked to see if that bull went back with the herd?”

  “I think the last time is when you did it. I was going to check when I got home.”

  I raised my eyebrow, “Want to go with me, we can take the four wheelers out?”

  Bentley: I hate to do this, but I have to cancel our date today L

  Haley: Why?

  Bentley: Damn bull got out and we need to get him back in.

  Haley: Have fun with that, lol.

  Bentley: I’ll make it up to you J

  Haley: Bentley, it’s fine really, I understand. We’ll have our date the next chance we get, okay? J

  Bentley: sorry L

  Haley: lol no puppy eyes! I’ll talk to you later.

  Bentley: later.

  It finally stopped raining on Friday, so after letting things dry on Saturday, I decided to tackle the sheds and scrape off all the old paint after church. I put my hair up in a ponytail, wore some old jean shorts that have seen better days with tons of holes in them, and a tank top. Then grabbed my flip-flops and sunglasses, making sure to fill up a water bottle.

  Putting my headphones in and getting a good grip on the scraper, I threw on some tunes and away I went. I have no idea how much time passed, only that I was making some great headway. After drinking half of my water, I put on Come and Get It and went back to it while dancing and swinging my hips.

  I started moving my hips more and more, letting the song take me over, and before I knew it, I had the scraper down, dancing and singing along with Selena Gomez. When the song finished, I pulled the ear buds out and drank the rest of the water. Turning around, I went to head into the house for more water.

  “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” I screamed dropping the water bottle and my ear buds. “Fuck, Bentley, you scared the living shit out of me.” I placed my hands on my chest, trying to slow down my heartbeat.

  “I didn’t want to disturb the show I was getting. You looked beautiful being so carefree.” Bentley smirked as he shoved his hands in his pockets. “Besides, I have a feeling you don’t let go as often as you like, and I’d hate to take that away from you.”

  I looked over to Papa’s dog, “Some guard dog you make,” I grumbled.

  “Well I may have bribed him with some beef jerky,” Bentle
y said as he threw another piece at the dog.

  “Figures,” I mumbled.

  After getting my breathing back to normal, I bent over and picked up the water bottle and ear buds. I heard Bentley clearing his throat. I turned around while covering my butt, “Bentley, were you checking me out?”

  “Maybe.”

  “Well get the smirk off of your face, mister.” I tried to sound like I had some authority in my voice.

  “Nah, I liked the view,” he teased back.

  “So…” I said walking towards him, “What are you doing here?”

  “Well I was hoping that I could take you out on a late lunch, then see if you were able to help me with something at my farm.”

  “You did, did you?” I answered, still slowly walking up to him.

  “Mmm hmm,” Bentley smiled, his eyes on my lips.

  “Well, how about I offer you lunch, since I have leftovers and fresh lemonade I made yesterday,” I answered back, looking at his lips while licking my bottom lip.

  Bentley took hold of my hand with the ear buds in it then leaned in and kissed me. “I’d like that, Hales.” I took his hand and we walked up to the house.

  Opening the screen door for me Bentley asked, “What did you do yesterday?”

  “Well, I did my laundry, tided up the house, made dinner; talked to my dad, my grandparents, and Carleigh.”

  “How is everyone doing?” he asked, taking a seat at the kitchen table.

  “My dad is doing good, I think I’m going to visit him for a bit when my grandparents get back. Grams said they are having a great time, but Papa is starting to get itchy to come home, and Carleigh…well, she’s Carleigh.”

  “Who’s Carleigh?”

  I started washing my hands, “Carleigh is by best friend. We met freshman year of college; she’s also a teacher, but she teaches at a public school in the city. I think she’s coming to visit on Wednesday.”

  “I’d like to meet her.”

  “Well, be prepared, because she’s one of a kind. You either love her, or hate her.”

  “Sounds like Curtis.”

  I grabbed two glasses from the cupboard and the lemonade from the fridge. I poured both glasses before returning to the fridge to grab out the leftovers.

  “Haley, this looks good,” Bentley complimented.

  “It’s nothing much. It’s hard to cook just for yourself.”

  “Well, I love meatloaf, so anytime you’re lonely, call me.” Bentley chewed on his second meat loaf sandwich.

  After drying the last dish, I asked Bentley, “What do you need help with today?”

  “Well, after I dropped you off, my brother and I finally got this stupid bull back to the farm. Then he escaped again, which led to another shit day of catching him and me having to cancel our date. It wouldn’t be a big deal if I didn’t need his sperm.”

  “His sperm?” I ask confused.

  “Yeah, we need to make sure he is still producing. We are getting a lot of open cows.”

  I leaned my hip on the counter, “I still don’t understand, what do you need me for?”

  “Really, I just need you to hold the cup in place.”

  “Ah, there is no one else that can help you?”

  Bentley stepped in front of me and placed one hand on my hip, “You’re not squeamish are you?”

  “No.”

  “Then why do you suddenly look green?”

  I cleared my throat, “Wouldn’t you want Travis to help you, or maybe your dad?”

  Bentley ran his other hand over my flushed cheek, “My brother had a date day planned with Whitney, and my parents went to a doctor’s appointment. You’re the only one that’s available.”

  “Alright, let me go get some pants on.” I turn to run upstairs, but not before Bentley’s hand smacked my ass.

  On the way to Bentley’s farm, we talked more about our hobbies and interests.

  “Let me get this straight, you learned how to crochet on YouTube?”

  “Stop laughing, it’s not that funny.”

  “Yes it is; crocheting is a grandma thing.”

  “It is not, take that back!” I punched him in the arm.

  “Ouch,” he whined while rubbing his arm.

  “You might want to remember that, next time you tease me.”

  We pulled up to the farmhouse and I was barely able to get out of the truck before Bentley was at my side. “Bentley, this house is so charismatic. It’s like something out of a book or a movie.”

  Bentley laughed, pulling me beside him, “Come on, beautiful girl. Let’s get the bull out of the barn and do what we came here to do, then I’ll give you a full tour.”

  I stopped, which made Bentley stop, “A full tour, and what all does that include, sir?”

  Bentley smiled and kissed me, “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

  I kissed him back, “I sure would.” We kissed a little more before Bentley pulled away and rested his forehead on mine.

  “We better stop.”

  Opening the barn door I saw the biggest bull I’ve ever seen in my life, “Holy shit, Bentley, he’s huge.”

  “He has the attitude to go with it, believe me.” Bentley walked over to him with a handful of barley and offered it to the bull, “Don’t you, big guy.”

  The bull let out a loud snort and moved one of his legs, which made me jump and scream a little. Bentley laughed at me once again, “He was just telling me he liked his treat. Don’t be such a scaredy pants.”

  “I can’t help it, he scares me.”

  Bentley walked over to me and put his arms around my waist, “I’ll protect you.”

  “Promise?”

  Putting one hand over his heart, “Promise.”

  I placed my hand over his and smiled.

  We walked in front of the bull and Bentley put some barley in my hand. “Hold your hand flat and he will lick them off your hand.”

  I opened my hand flat and shakily reached out to the bull. I giggled when his tongue took a swipe of barley. “It feels funny.”

  “Have you never had a cow lick you before?” asked Bentley.

  “When I was younger, we used to bottle feed the calves, but I don’t remember it feeling like this. Usually, it’s more wet and gross with saliva and the slimy milk replacer.”

  “I thought I saw cows on your grandparent’s property?”

  I kept watching the bull in amazement, “We do, but we only summer graze them, then Papa sells them in the fall.” The bull finished the barley and I wiped my hand off on my pants.

  “Are you okay here by yourself while I get a rope to pull him to the head gate?”

  “Can I feed him more barley?”

  “Sure.” Bentley kissed my cheek, “Be right back.”

  I offered my hand again and the bull went back to licking the barley off it. I kept giggling as I slowly reached my other hand over the panel and tried to pet his head. The bull snorted really loud, louder than last time, and threw his head back. Which made me jump back and land on my butt.

  WATCHING HALEY INTERACT with the bull gave me such a warm sensation, and I couldn’t help the smile on my face. Every time I turned around, this girl surprised me. Makes me wonder if I hadn’t been such an asshole in high school if we would have dated, or at least been friends.

  I led the bull into the cattle squeeze and made sure he was secure before I went back into the barn to get everything else I needed.

  “Bentley, do you need any help?”

  “No thanks, I think I got everything.” I passed her a set of gloves, “You will want to put these on, though.”

  Taking them from my hands, she looked up and smiled. How is it this girl can take my breath away every time she smiles?

  “Before we start I need to clip his preputial hair.”

  “Why?” Haley asked while bending over, looking at the bull.

  “Because I need his semen in the cup and not tangled in the hair.”

  “In other words, you’re man-scaping your bu
ll?” she teased.

  “Pretty much.”

  I was just putting the lube on the end of the probe when Haley looked at me,

  “Is this safe, Bentley? I’m not going to lie, I’m scared to be sticking my hand in here.”

  I put everything down on the table and walked over to her, “Hales, I already promised you I would keep you safe.”

  “I know but…”

  “With him in this device, he can’t go anywhere, and he’s not able to move his feet. There is no way he can hurt you. I would never put you in harm’s way, sweetheart, ever.”

  “Okay.”

  “Haley, are his testicles getting tight?” I asked while turning on the probe.

  “I-I don’t know. I don’t see any change.”

  I let out a snort, knowing I got her now; she’s going to kill me. “Haley you can’t see it, you need to actually feel them.”

  She looked at me glaring with an are you kidding me face. “What? I’m serious.” I couldn’t believe it; she’s actually doing it.

  “I think so,” she said seriously.

  “Okay that’s good.” God, it took all I could not to laugh out loud.

  “Now, I need you to hold the cup under his penis. I’m going to try to get him to come, but if this doesn’t work then you may need to stroke him a little.”

  Haley jumped up and away from the bull, “No. No fucking way am I doing that, Bentley.”

  “I’m kidding, you don’t have to do that…but you didn’t need to feel his testicles, either.”

  “BENTLEY!”

  Having her scream while hitting me was the funniest thing I have been a part of in a long time.

  “Haley, that was the fucking funniest shit I ever saw, and here I thought Travis was gullible.” I gasped out, bending over trying to catch my breath.

  “I can’t fucking believe you did that to me, Bentley. I’m so pissed off at you right now.”

  “Oh come on, I was joking. My dad did that to my mom once.” Haley crossed her arms and huffed. “Okay, I’m sorry.”

  “Not funny,” she growled.

  “Should I tell you now that my mom didn’t find it funny, either, when my dad did it to her, but it’s one of my dad’s favorite stories to tell us kids.” That seemed to cool Haley down a little.