Summer Lovin' (Eric)

[brooklynn catalina raine]

This could not be happening to her right now!?
She had been looking forward to this summer all school year and now that it was here, her mom had decided that instead of letting her stay at home and hang out with her friends, go swimming, go shopping and partying it up, she had to get flown out into the middle of nowhere to spend the summer on a ranch she had no business being at! All because she had gotten suspended from school for the third time that year. It wasn't that big of a deal. It wasn't her fault that bitch had to go running her mouth about how her best friend was anorexic. Brooklyn wasn't the type of girl to just sit back and let that shit fly and not do anything about it. But none of that mattered now because here she was, standing in the yard of a ranch in the middle of Oklahoma with just a suitcase, her duffel bag, her backpack and her purse. She couldn't even bring her computer because they didn't have any internet out here. How did they survive?

All she knew was that there was at least one thing she was looking forward to despite how bleak the whole situation seemed. The horses. Ever since she was a little girl she had been in love with horses. Of course that had gone away a bit since she knew she would never be able to afford to own her own horse and she didn't really have the time to care for a horse anyways but now that she would be roughing it for the next three months of summer, she might as well take the chance to live one of her dreams. She remembered that her aunt use to own horses and she had taught her how to ride whenever they would go visit her but it had been a year or two since she had seen her aunt.

As she stood there with her bags at her feet, her light green eyes scanned the house, pastures, barns and then they finally came to rest on a group of horses grazing by the fence. A small smile raised the corners of her mouth as she watched them and she had to admit, it was rather peaceful out here. She almost felt like a different person. The sounds of nature were the only things around, no screeching cars or trains passing by. Just peacefulness. She was half tempted to close her eyes and just listen to the birds chirping and the breeze ruffling through the graze and the soft noises the horses made to one another but she decided against it, she was suppose to be hating this place after all. Though she was starting to think hating this place wasn't going to be as easy as she thought it was going to be. And she still hadn't decided if that was a good thing or a bad thing just yet. . .

[eric michael fletcher]

Graduation. It had happened only a week ago for Eric. Most everyone had been looking forward to putting their school years behind them and moving on forward to their college years, but not him. In fact Eric had been hesitant about graduation. His junior and senior years had been full of suggestions and decisions to be made. His family had pushed him to find and then apply to a few universities. They wanted nothing better for their oldest child. Eric was thankful for his loving parents, but he didn't feel as though the college life was for him. Not at the moment anyways. There was something else out there for him. He could feel it.. just wasn't too sure what it was. His parents had no clue as to what his ideas were for his future, but he knew he'd have to tell them soon. He wasn't exactly looking forward to that as even now, already a week into the summer, he knew not what he was going to do with the rest of his life.

Working seemed to help get Eric's mind off of everything that weighed him down, so thus far into the summer he had done nothing but work on the ranch. Repairing this and that, doing yard work, feeding the animals, repainting the older buildings, even planting a few flowers upon his mother's request. Pretty much his normal given chores just times ten. Even when his hands fell idle Eric went off offering to help their neighbors work their land, not wanting to leave any time for him to think.

Now today was a normal beautiful sun shining summer day for Oklahoma. Smoldering hot for newcomers who weren't use to the southern heat. One hundred and two degrees with no clouds in the sky for shielding and no breeze to cool ones damp skin. It was on days such as this that Eric replaced his usual baseball cap with a stetson in order to protect his ears, neck and face from the sun's rays. He had removed his shirt a few hours ago and hung it on a fence post after having fed the animals for a second time that day. He then had gone to repairing a section of the barb wire along the fence which had become loose.

After having finished the job Eric decided it was time for a quick sweet ice tea break. So after gathering up his tools and recovering his red plaid button up Eric turned and began sauntering over to the house. About halfway there he had noticed a feminine figure standing in their yard with bags of plenty. He smirked as he changed direction heading straight for her. So this was the girl whom they were to board for the next few months. Eric had heard only some of her story knowing only that her mother felt a great need to send her daughter away for the summer. No doubt she had gotten into trouble somewhere along the way. How else would a city girl like her to end up here, but they had not been expecting her until tomorrow.

Once close enough Eric set down his toolbox on the ground and went to wiping his dirt covered hands on his shirt which hung over his shoulder. "Good afternoon," he acknowledged her with a tip of his hat, his voice evident with a thick southern accent, "Ya lost or somethin'?" He knew she wasn't really lost, but he decided to have a little fun at her expense.

[brooklynn catalina raine]

It took a moment for Brooklynn to finally bring herself out of her thoughts and back to the present. Her eyes scanned the area to see if there was a person in sight but no one seemed to be anywhere. Confusion and slight irritation was clear on her face and she was starting to think she might be in the wrong place. Damn mother. If she gave her the wrong directions then she would be hearing it as soon as Brooklynn was able to call her and give her a piece of her mind. It was bad enough she had sent her only daughter off to live with strangers for the entire summer. And on top of everything, the heat was insane here. She was use to the summer heat sure, but this heat made her want to run around in nothing but her bra and underwear. Which she was pretty close to wearing already since now that she was sixteen years old and had gone through the pains of puberty, she had started dressing a bit more slutty simply because now she had the body to pull it off and it drove her mother crazy.

Where a pair of short cut off shorts, a plain white tank top and a pair of Nikes, she could easily be seen as a city slicker. Especially thanks to her shoes. Her long honey brown hair was hanging down to almost the middle of her back and it was wavy as it usually was. Her eyes had a bit of liner and mascara on them but nothing more. Her skin was normally a light golden color but soon it would be a darker gold thanks to this sun. She was about to head up to the front door of the house when the clang of a toolbox being set on the ground caught her attention. Turning her head and then her body around so she could see the source of the sound, she was careful to keep the broad smile that threatened to spread across her face at bay.

Standing in front of her was her definition of a sexy cowboy. He was a muscular man with washboard abs but not the kind one got from working out in a gym. No, his were legit abs that a guy could only get from working a lot. A stetson was on his head, shielding his eyes from the sun and he had a red flannel shirt slung over his shoulder. He was also wearing jeans and cowboy boots and as she pulled her light green eyes back up to look at his face, she couldn't help but let them linger on his body for a moment longer. When she heard his question it only made her go back to the thought that her mother had indeed given her the wrong directions.

"I hope not. . I'm suppose to be staying with a family this summer and this was where I ended up after attempting to follow my mom's shitty directions." she replied, hoping that after her brief explanation he could tell her whether she was in the right place or not. And as she gave him one more appreciative look, she sure as hell hoped she was in the right place.

[eric michael fletcher]

Before the girl spoke Eric watched as she looked him over as if he were on display and did little to hide the fact of her wandering eyes. They probably didn't grow men in the city like they did out here in the country. Nobody in town, at least that he knew of, owned a fancy sports car or wore a tuxedo, no expensive name brand clothes or shoes for that matter. The stores in which they all shopped at were not heard of in the big cities, but the same could be said for the female species when it came to how they were built. Most of the girls in town wore blue jeans or shorts, muddy boots, and simple teeshirts or western button up. Hardly no make up at all with their hair thrown back into a ponytail or braid.

He didn't exactly keep it discreet that he too was looking her over. Starting from her shoes his eyes skimmed up along her toned smooth legs and over the slight curve of her luscious hips and waist. Eric didn't tarry long at her chest, but he definitely took notice. Her hands were well manicured and looked as if they had never lifted anything but a credit card. She sure as hell seemed more developed then the girls her age whom lived around town. Although he wasn't too sure of her age Eric knew one thing.. she was under the age of eighteen which meant she was off limits to him. A real shame really since he had just recently turned eighteen himself.

"Well if I can have yer name I'll probably be able to point ya in the right direction." Knowing her name really had nothing to do with anything other then that fact that he just wanted to gain that small bit of information. "The Johnston's down the road are expectin' their ten year old niece. Might that be ya?"

(( ooc: sorry about the legnth Dx ))

[brooklynn catalina raine]

As her own eyes were looking him over, she could feel his eyes on her and she was glad that he seemed to be liking what he was seeing as well. A smile remained on her face but it was subtle enough that it just barely rose the corners of her mouth up. She didn't want to look like some little school girl who wasn't use to seeing a guy as good looking as him. She found herself still hoping that she was in the right place and she waited for him to speak once more to confirm or deny that fact. When he did finally speak, he asked for her name but before he could speak, he informed her that another family not far from here was waiting for their ten year old niece to arrive and he asked if that could be where she was going. Her brows raised a bit at his comment and she smiled a bit more before speaking.

"First of all, I'm sixteen, not ten. And second of all, my name is Brooklynn Raine. And you are?" she replied, asking him a question this time to get back at him for calling her ten. She kept her brows raised and a smirk was on her face as she waited for him to answer her question, her arms crossing under her chest and she shifted her weight to one hip.

While she waited for his reply, her mind began to wander like it usually did. But this time her thoughts went to him. She couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking as he had sized her up but she had a pretty good guess that it was something along the lines of her being too much of a city girl to be able to be much use to him. She was almost hoping that was what he was thinking because if that were the case then she would enjoy proving him wrong. While she hadn't done the things that probably needed done around here, she had been working since she was thirteen. She had worked as a waitress, washed dishes, babysat, you name it. Brooklynn was no stranger to working hard to get what you wanted.

Especially since her and her mother were on their own. It had taken her four months to save up enough money to buy the shoes she was wearing and the majority of her other clothes she had gotten when they were on sale or at goodwill. Money was definitely tight for them and while Brooklynn could hate her mom sometimes, she would always be there for her and help her stay afloat.

[eric michael fletcher]

Well she was pretty much correct in her wonderings about what he thought of her. For as his eyes continued to survey her he had to fight back a laugh at the thought of her being the spoiled brat that needed some straightening out. The thought of this girl getting down and dirty in the mud and the muck painted quite the picture. He couldn't wait to get her working around the ranch in one way or another. Of course, it wasn't really up to him on what would happen to her while she stayed with them. His parents held guardianship over her for the summer. So her future was in their hands. Speaking of which, his parents had gone into town a few hours ago, needing to stock up on groceries and a few hardware supplies. Eric expected them back soon enough. Until then he figured he'd have a bit of fun.

He stood there silently waiting for her to answer either one of his questions. And when she did he couldn't help but finally chuckle. "Really? Ya could have fooled me," he responded in which to her correct age. At the same time he deliberately looked her up and down making sure that she saw his jaunting gaze taking her all in. Eric was a heavy flirt and quite the tease. Without saying anything more Eric stepped forward, drawing dangerously close in proximity with her. He stood there for only a second before reaching down and grabbing a hold of her suitcase and throwing her duffel bag over a shoulder. As he turned to go he called to her, "This way city girl."

Eric didn't wait to see if she would follow him or not as he walked his way on towards the house, fully leaving his toolbox behind. He made his way to the back door and kicked open the screen before walking in. "We only use the air conditionin' two days outta the week. Sunday and Monday. The remainin' five days yer just gonna have to sweat it out. We have a bunch of fans goin' and lots of ice tea to keep ya cool. Plus there's a decent sized lake just a rocks throw away. Swimmin' is the best way to cool off 'round here."

Once they were both inside Eric nodded towards the stairs. The house was of decent size with four bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms, two living rooms and a large kitchen and dining room. "There are three bedrooms up them steps. Mine is at the end of the hallway. Ya can have a pick of the other two." Again, he didn't wait for her as he began climbing the stairs. Once he reached the top Eric stood off to the side with her bags and waited for her to check the rooms out in order to decide which one would become hers.

[brooklynn catalina raine]

When he replied, saying that she could have fooled him, she didn't reply but was glad to see that he had a sense of humor and so far wasn't that terrible of a flirt either. It was always a disappointment when you met an attractive guy that had no clue how to flirt with a girl. It could be quite a turn off. And luckily that didn't seem to be Eric's problem at all. When he didn't answer her question when she had asked for his name, she didn't push the matter but instead made a mental note of it so she would remember to bring it up later if the moment arose. She was suddenly pulled out of her thoughts as he took a step towards her, only a foot or less separating them as he looked down at her for a moment before leaning over and grabbing two of her bags. As he stood up straight again, he turned his back to her but called over his shoulder, telling her to follow him. So that must mean she was in the right place.

A smile spread across her face as she looked at his back, swinging her backpack onto her shoulders and her purse on her arm. Following after him, they both entered the house through the back door and he began to explain that the house was almost as hot as the outdoors was. Perfect, she thought as she continued to following him through the house. He didn't wait for her to look around so she didn't take her time, just glancing about her before following him up the stairs. He went on to explain that the room on the end was his and the other two were fair game.

Coming up to the top of the steps, she saw his bedroom door was closed while the empty bedrooms were both open. Looking into one and then the other, she finally walked into one of them that had a view of the lake and the horses grazing in the pasture. A smile spread across her face as she looked out the window for a moment more before turning around, remembering that he was still there.

"This one's perfect." she replied, setting her backpack and purse on the bed before looking around at the country style decorations that adorned the room. There were pictures of horses running on the walls and the whole room had a sort of rustic feel. A soft breeze blew in through the open window and brushed Brooklynn's hair over her shoulder, revealing her toned shoulders and neck a bit more. A sly smile made it's way across her face as she figured she would flirt with him a bit as well, just to see what his reaction would be. Taking the few steps it took to be standing in front of him once more, her eyes looked him over quickly before returning to his face as she stopped, standing very close to him.

"You gonna be okay with me being right next door to you?"
she asked, her voice soft as if it were almost a secret. A smile played at her lips as she watched him for a moment, waiting for his reply.

[eric michael fletcher]

Eric watched as she first glanced into both of the bedrooms then took her pick and walked into the one on the right. It was his sister's old room, but since she was now off to some all girls school, even for the summer, the room was unoccupied.. well, until now. "Good choice," he congratulated her as he knew what sort of view the window held. It was the best in the whole house, but the smallest room. That was the reason why Eric had chosen the room he had. It was near double the size of this room. As she continued staring out the window he quietly he set her bags just inside the door and then stepped back out.

After she seemed to get her fill of the view and the room's surroundings the girl spun around and began walking towards him. Eric took a step back in case she planned on walking past him, but soon he realized that had not been her plan at all as she ran her gaze up his physique before stopping at a daringly close distance in front of him. He smirked and raised an eyebrow at her enticing question. "Well.. that depends," Eric leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms across his bare chest, "Do ya snore? I am a very light sleeper."

The wall felt cool upon his naked back so Eric hardly moved from the spot as he waited for her to dish out whatever was to come next, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips the entire time. She seemed to be enjoying his little game. Perhaps having her around wouldn't be so bad after all. Just then before Eric could say anymore he heard the screen of the back door open and then slam shut, as it had no springs to minimize it's impact upon the frame. "Looks like the folks are home. C'mon on down when yer ready to meet them." Eric awarded her with a wink before walking down the hallway and disappearing down the stairs.

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ONE WEEK LATER

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It was very early in the morning. Five thirty am to be exact, but for Eric it was the usual time he woke up. There was always much to do on the ranch and the sooner one got started on their chores the sooner they'd be finished. So after getting dressed in his blue jeans, white teeshirt and a blue plaid shirt Eric walked out of his room and on over to Brooklynn's door. They had given her a week to get settled in and it was decided as of last night that she would start helping out with the chores herself. With a grin plastered across his features Eric lifted up a hand and very loudly began beating on her door. "Rise an' shine!" he near yelled through the door, "if ya want yer breakfast before doin' the chores ya better get yer ass outta bed." Eric decided that he'd wait a few minutes to see if she would reply. If not he'd have to get his mom to walk in there and wake her up.

[brooklynn catalina raine]

When he replied, she smiled back and was about to reply when the screen door downstairs slammed shut and voices could be heard. He told her to come downstairs when he was ready to meet his parents and she watched him walk back down the stairs. She remained where she was for a moment, an amused smile on her face as she thought about the little game they seemed to have going on but pushed it aside as she headed back down the stairs to meet his parents.

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ONE WEEK LATER

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The morning light always seemed to pour into her bedroom as soon as it was visible over the horizon and while Brooklynn had no problem getting up early in the morning since she was use to it with work and school, during the summer she liked to be able to sleep in and over the last week, her schedule had changed from going to bed early and getting up late to going to bed late and getting up early. Lots of the time she would just sit up late at night in her room and stare out the window at the moon and the stars, not believing there were actually that many stars in the sky. In the city you were lucky to see just one star in the sky at night. But out here it felt like you could see every single one.

Brooklynn was woken to the sound of Eric banging on her door and yelling at her to get her ass out of bed if she wanted breakfast. Perfect. Now it was time for her to start helping out around the ranch. She knew it was coming and his parents had told her last night that Eric would be showing her what to do tomorrow morning but she still wasn't quite prepared for it. But she wasn't going to let him see that.

"Yeah yeah I'm comin'!" she called back to him so he would leave her poor door alone. It was only when his footsteps dissappeared down the hall that she climbed out of bed and started getting ready. Pulling on a pair of cut off shorts again, she looked through her bag until she found an old tank top. She had experienced the heat and was going to have to modify her wardrobe if she was going to survive the day. Pulling the tank top on, she took the pocket she kept on her at all times out of her purse and used it to cut up the middle of the shirt and stopped right below her chest. Cutting off some of the excess material around the bottom, she tied up the sides she had just cut so the shirt revealed the majority of her stomach and stopped just under her boobs.

Pulling on a pair of tall socks and her own pair of cowboy boots she had been glad she brought, she grabbed a ponytail and pulled her hair back into a low ponytail, though the few shorter pieces around her face fell out but she left them be, her ponytail reaching down her back and her golden brown hair wavy as usual. Grabbing the cowboy hat the family had lent her, she pulled it on her head and headed down the stairs, grabbing some toast and taking a long drink of some orange juice before she headed out the door and made her way to the barn. As she finished eating her toast while she walked, she finally caught sight of Eric and jogged to reach him.

"So? What are we gonna do today?" she asked, pumped and ready for a productive day. She had been getting a bit tired of sitting around doing nothing for the past week and was ready to get a routine of some sort and make herself useful.

[eric michael fletcher]

After having heard Brooklynn announce that she was coming Eric left her door and made his way on down the stairs. He was a big breakfast eater and was glad for his mother's excellent cooking skills. For the first meal of the day she had fried up a bunch of eggs and bacon, made pancakes and had wheat toast ready to be toasted if one so desired. There were homemade jellies of plenty as well. Apricot was Eric's favorite therefore his mother made sure to have a jar ready for him every morning. Quickly he ate as he felt he was already running behind schedule. There was a lot to be done and with him having to show Brooklyn the ropes he assumed that the chores would go by much slower than usual.

After he had cleaned off his plate, rinsed it and threw it in the sink Eric made his way toward the back door. Before stepping out, however, he made sure to grab up his worn stetson. Now there were a few things around the ranch that the girl wouldn't be able to do. So Eric got right to those chores. He was nearly done stacking the hay bales, the ones which had just been delivered yesterday, when Brooklynn made her appearance. Turning around at the sound of her voice Eric's eyes couldn't help but fall upon her midriff which was exposed for all to see. "Wow," he stated leaning up against a wood pole, "If I didn't know any better I'd say ya could almost fit in around here dressin' like that." He nodded in her direction as he continued assessing her wardrobe. Eric was surprised that his parents had let her out of the house dressed like that, but who was he to question their authority.

Eric reached for a pair of gloves, the smallest ones available which belonged to his mother, and threw them at her. "Put these on darlin' less you want to damage yer well manicured hands." He snickered some before motioning for her to follow him. First up on her chore list was the milking of the cows. They weren't a dairy farm so there was only a handful of cows which needed to be milked, therefore they also didn't have those nifty gadgets which you just hooked onto the teats of the cows. Nope. They milked their cows by hand. "Before we start the milkin' we need to feed them cows some hay. Just grab a handful from over there and place it in front of them." Eric got right to it and soon enough all the cows were chewing away on their own hefty breakfast. "The secret to milkin' a cow is havin' warm hands." Eric removed his gloves and rubbed his hands together to create friction. "Now why don't ya have a go at it." It wasn't a request, but more of a command. A friendly command nonetheless which he hoped she'd follow without a fuss.

Brooklynn had made quite a mess of herself and split some of the milk. It made quite a picture for Eric and he couldn't help but laugh at her failure. "Maybe tomorrow will be a better day for ya." Once the milking had been finished and the pails of milk had been delivered to the back door for his mother to separate, Eric took Brooklynn out to the pasture where the horses were located. He showed her how to catch their attentions in order to bring them in for their morning oats and grits. Next he took her to the garden and the two of them pulled all the weeds. There were a few other little chores here and there like collecting the eggs and feeding the farm dogs. All real simple jobs really.

She had done quite well for a city girl. There was more to her then what one just saw on the outside, although Eric kept these thoughts to himself. He couldn't let her find out he was actually growing to sort of like her. So he came up with an idea. "There's one more chore that must be done before we take a break." Eric wrapped an arm around her shoulders and led her out towards the back of the barn. There three large mud covered hogs lazily laid out in the sun. "See 'em hogs? Well we need to wake 'em up and then line 'em up along the fence. That way we can spray 'em off with the hose." It wasn't something Eric ever did, as the pigs didn't really need a bath, but he was looking to have some fun with Brooklynn. Watching her run around in the muddy stall chasing after the pigs, just the thought of it made him smile mischievously.

[brooklynn catalina raine]

When she came outside and wiped the crumbs from her toast off on the sides of her shorts, she found Eric stacking hay bales. When he commented on her clothes she rolled her eyes at him but smiled a bit and came over to stand by him, putting her hands on her hips as she waited for his further instructions. Catching the gloves that she tossed him, she pulled them on before giving him a playful shove when he made fun of her manicured nails which she had painted herself.

As they went through the many chores, she had to admit it was hard work and some things she was better at than others, liking milking the stupid cows, she kind of failed at that. But the horses she was better with since she was remembering everything her aunt had taught her as she was around them once again. When they were finished with the majority of the chores, the sun was already starting to set behind the horizon a bit and it would be dinner time soon. She had to admit she wasn't that hungry, the huge lunch Eric's mother had prepared them was still in her stomach and she felt tired more than anything.

She thought they were finished when he slung an arm around her shoulder and brought her around to the back of the barn where there were three huge pigs laying out in the mud. When he instructed her to wake them up and line them up by the fence, she gave the pigs a confused and unsure look since the whole chore didn't exactly make sense to him. Glancing over at him, she finally gave in and climbed into the pen, her boots getting stuck in the mud a bit as she started to make her way towards the first pig.

When she finally reached the animal, it didn't move or even acknowledge her presence. As she gave the beast a shove, it grunted but remained still. Frustration started to fill her and she continued to shove and push the pig with no luck. Finally deciding to try another pig, she went to a bit smaller one and gave it a really hard shove since she didn't figure it would wake up very easily either. Boy was she wrong. As soon as she shoved the pig, all hell broke loose. All three pigs jumped to life and started squealing and running around her. She wasn't quite sure what to do and tried to wrangle them with little to no luck. Getting even more frustrated than before, she went after one pig, only to have it shove past her and knock her down.

As she fell, the side of her temple caught on the corner of the pig's metal feeding trough, cutting her head a bit but not bad enough to get stitches. It was bad enough to start bleeding though and a pain started in her head as she climbed up out of the mud, her clothes and hair caked in mud. As she made her way out of the pen, her face was clearly angry with him and she was beginning to think that the pigs didn't need a bath after all.

"Wow. Thanks asshole." she snapped at him, putting her muddy hands on his chest and giving him a shove, leaving two mud prints on his shirt as she stormed past him. Wiping one of her hands on her shorts, she reached up and touched the cut before pulling it away to see her fingers had blood on them. Perfect. At first she thought about going into the house and getting cleaned up but she was still pretty angry at Eric, she just needed to be alone for awhile. The lake.

She spotted it and changed directions before heading towards it. When she reached the bank, she stripped off her cowboy hat, socks and cowboy boots before taking the ponytail out of her hair as well. The sun was completely set by now and the stars were starting to come out as she dove head first into the cool water. Swimming into the middle of the lake, she came up for air and washed as much of the mud off of her clothes and out of her hair as she could before swimming into the shallower water so she could touch the bottom, the water level coming up the just under her chest. Her fingers went to the cut again and she winced a bit as she touched it and it flamed up with pain once more, a bit of blood still coming from the scratch.

[eric michael fletcher]

Eric had to do everything in his power to not bust up laughing at her even before she climbed into the pen. The look of confusion on her features said it all, but the city girl still complied. Who was she to know that the hogs rarely ever needed a bath. They were always the best animals on the ranch to mess around with. When he had been younger his father had even played a few games on him such as this one. However, Eric should have thought about the fact that Brooklynn was not a boy or a man for that matter. Her physique was much different from his own.

Leaning forward onto the fence Eric watched her as she trudged through the mud with difficulty. Her attempt at waking up the first hog had failed just as he had assumed she would. Why even Eric himself could barely budge any of those filthy animals. They had thick skin and were lazy creatures. But then when she moved on to the second hog both Eric and Brooklynn were left in surprise as he woke up and began squealing which in turn woke up the others. They were all running around frantically and kicking up mud which made it all the more difficult for him to spot her. He was about to jump the fence himself and go in to retrieve her, but just as he lifted a foot she came crawling out with blood trickling from her temple. Shit. Now he was in for it. "Damn girl," he spoke softly while reaching out a hand hoping to get a good look at the fresh wound, but before he could even touch her Brooklyn shoved him back unexpectedly. He deserved that and then some, but at the moment he was more interested in checking out that cut.

Eric called after her, but she made no motion to comply and allow him to play doctor. So after the fact he just stood there watching her walk off towards the lake as he contemplated on whether or not to follow her. Coming to the conclusion that he should, less she faint from the blow to the head, Eric took off after her. He was quiet and didn't call out to her less she turn and run away from him. He needed to get her stuck somewhere somehow so she had no other choice but to let him assess her.

When she reached the water's edge Eric made sure to stand back far enough that she wouldn't notice him at first. The darkening sky did much to camouflage him. From that distance he could see her silhouette as she stripped off her socks, boots and hat before releasing her hair from their binds. Then with ease and such grace she dove into the water. An idea came to mind then and soon Eric followed suit in peeling off his boots, socks and his two shirts. Slowly he crept up to the shore and walked in not wanting to alarm her as she was making her way to shallow water. As he was now in stealth mode Eric slipped all the way underneath the water's surface, without hardly making a sound, and right away he began swimming towards her.

Had she been in a better mood he might have grabbed a hold of her from below with hopes of scaring her some, but instead he pushed himself back up and took in a deep breath of water. "There ya are," he spoke softly trying not to frighten her too much, "now come here so I can get a look at that cut." Slowly he began swimming towards her, his eyes growing more serious the closer he got. "Ya weren't suppose to get hurt. I was just lookin' to have a little bit of fun." Before she could protest Eric reached out and grabbed a hold of her arm in case she tried to swim away. With the other hand he brushed her damp hair back and away from her face so he could get a better look. "Ah. See! It ain't that bad. Just a minor cut. Ya will probably have a headache for the next few hours is all." He looked down into her eyes and gave her a reassuring smile.

The water's temperature did well in cooling his body down and the moonlight which now reflected off it's surface seemed to light up her features he noticed. Without thinking Eric's hand fell from her temple and gently cupped the side of her face. The pad of his thumb brushed along her cheekbone before he daringly pulled her closer to him, his hand grabbing a hold of her hip. His smile turned into that of a smirk once he realized what he was about to do. He could have warned her or even asked her if it was okay, but instead Eric just went right into it. Tilting his head to the side he leaned forward and lightly brushed his lips up against her own. They were so soft and enticing that he went in for the kill, firmly pressing his lips upon her's in a heated open-mouthed kiss.

[brooklynn catalina raine]

Brooklynn was just starting to relax a bit as her light green eyes looked up at the stars and the moon when a familiar voice sounded behind her and she clenched her jaw a bit. Why couldn't he just leave her alone? After he had embarrassed her and all, he just had to follow her to make it worse. She kept her back to him, knowing that he wouldn't leave her alone and there was no way she would be able to out run him to get away so she might as well see what it was he wanted. Not speaking to him, she remained still, raising her brows in irritation as he came around to stand in front of her so she could look at the cut on her temple. She was about to turn away from him when he caught a hold of her arm. Suppressing a smart ass comment, she bit her tongue and didn't look at him as he brushed her damp hair away from the cut. Once he spoke once more, telling her she would live, she rolled her eyes, wanting to get away from him but his next motion kept her frozen in place.

Instead of pulling his hand away from her face and backing up, his face fell to her cheek and his thumb brushed softly against her cheek bone. Her light green eyes couldn't help but look into his eyes, furrowing her brow a bit as she wondered what he was doing but didn't speak, too curious to ask out loud. Before she could protest, his other hand went to her hip and pulled her closer to him. Looking down at his arm for a moment, her lips parted as she prepared to speak, her eyes returning to look at him. As she was about to speak, he leaned towards her and softly kissed her, their lips barely touching at first. Her eyes instinctively closed as he leaned down once more and pressed his lips firmly against hers.

She couldn't think straight and almost didn't want to at that moment. Her eyes remained closed as she kissed him back, completely forgetting about the incident with the pigs for the time being. Her lips moved fluidly against his as they continued to kiss. She was about to move closer to him, wanting to feel that skin on skin contact but her mind suddenly came back to her and the pig incident and her scratched up head brought her back to reality. Putting her hands on his chest, she shoved him away from her a bit though didn't back away herself.

"What are you doing!? You think you can just make me look like a total dumbass and then come kiss it and make it better? Well sorry, but that's not gonna work." she replied, turning her back on him and taking a few steps towards the middle of the lake where the water was deeper, the cool water coming up to her collarbone now. She stopped, still wanting to touch the muddy bottom but kept her back towards him. She probably hadn't done the best thing for herself but eagerly kissing him back because now there probably wasn't much question in his mind that she had enjoyed kissing him and that wasn't going to help her current case in trying to stay mad at him.

[eric michael fletcher]

When she didn't pull away or even try to stop Eric from laying one on her he felt beside himself. The last thing he had expected was for her to lean into the kiss which made it all the more satisfying. The hand which held her hip tightened it's grip on her, his fingertips pressing into the softness of her skin. It had been a while since he had last been with anyone let alone held someone in his arms for he had been too busy with working on the ranch and concentrating on his studies for his last year of high school, but he wouldn't allow himself that luxury with Brooklynn. She was underage and if caught he could get into a lot of trouble. There was no harm in kissing her though, was there?

The deep kiss must have lasted at least a few seconds longer before it came back to Brooklynn on why she had run away from him in the first place. As she pushed away Eric's grip released her and he looked down at her with a playful pout, but her words quickly wiped it away. With a raised eyebrow he looked at her in question instead. "Nobody else was around an' it was a harmless joke. C'mon now.." Eric left his current spot "I was the only one around when it happened an' I don't think yer no dumbass." Reaching out he grabbed a hold of both her shoulders and forced her to turn around and look at him. "I still think yer okay.. for a city girl." Coming from Eric that meant a lot since he wasn't all to fond of city folk.

"Now if ya really want me to I'll leave ya alone." He leaned down as if he were going to kiss her again, however instead he dove down into the water before she could give him a yes or no sort of answer and began swimming towards the shore. Slowly of course, in case she was to change her mind, which he hoped in all honesty that she would.

[brooklynn catalina raine]

When he came back over to her and took a hold of her shoulders before spinning her back around, she still had a look of slight irritation on her face as he tried to explain himself once again. Her eyes stared at the water for a long moment before they finally turned to look up at him and she thought for a moment, trying to figure out what she should do about the whole situation. He had made her roll around in the mud with a bunch of pigs which had resulted in her scratching her head up but at the same time, he had kissed her and for some reason she couldn't get that kiss out of her mind. Her lips still tingled a bit from it all and she looked back up into his eyes as he started to lean closer again. If he was going to kiss her once more, she wasn't going to stop him but he surprised her by instead diving under the water before surfacing behind her as he started slowly swim towards the shore.

Now she had to think fast because she knew that if he got out then she probably wouldn't get to kiss him again and as much as she hated to admit it, she really wanted to kiss him again. Putting her fingers to her lips for a moment, she stared at the water as she thought of what her next move would be. Finally she smiled and turned around to face him, her hands on her hips as she prepared to speak.

"Ya know, you do owe me now so I suggest you get back over here and make it up to me." she replied, raising her brows a bit as a suggestive smirk spread across her face. Her eyes watched him, hoping that he would return to her so they could continue what they had previously started.