Love or Leave (#1 of the Grey pack)

John Wayne

Jessica’s P.O.V.

I groaned, looking at my reflection in the mirror. I was standing inside the restroom of some old country-looking saloon in the middle of Goddamn nowhere. Out of all the places I had seen all over the world, this one really seemed to fit the ‘middle of nowhere’ part to a Tee. Apart from this bar, there almost wasn't anything around here to do at night. A few farms here and there. But this city couldn’t be any more different than New York City, for example. Although I had to admit, that this small town also came with a lot of silence and tranquility, something I had learned to appreciate over the last couple of days, especially after hopping from city to city and from story to story. Because that was who I was now, and what I did for a living. I was a travel journalist, a reporter. The amount of money in my bank account depended on the amount of stories that I wrote and the number of readers it would get me. It sure had made me travel all around the world at the age of 29, making me end up right here, as I was chasing the next story. I was asked to come here and write an article about all the ways that this little part of the US would be ideal for travel. Long story short, the mayor needed tourists, and he wanted me to get them here for him by writing an article about his town. Once my story was published, I would be gone and on to the next plane, to the next city to write the next story. Little did I know, that coming back here, coming back to the place I once had called home, would make me feel this way.

Because yes, this wasn’t my first time here. In fact, I had lived here most of my life, until I had hit the glorious age of being old enough to leave for college. It had been my ‘get out of here’-ticket and I had grabbed it with both hands and I had run as fast as I could, without ever looking back once. Just like my father had run out on me and my mom when I was only three years old. Leaving my mother all alone and depressed, making sure that I was the one to run the freaking household, while he was off to God knows where doing God knows what, while my mom was working three jobs, in order to put clothes on our backs, food on the table and a roof over our heads. Once I had gotten myself a scholarship, I had just run for it, just as badly as my old man had back in the day. I guess running was a vital part of our matching DNA. And because my mom was always out working or feeling depressed when she was not, it wasn’t like we shared a great relationship either. We still talked a lot. But it wasn’t as if my life would fall apart without her, either. I had learned, at a very young age, to take care of myself. Which I still do to this day.

But coming back here to write this story also made me reconnect with some old friends from my high school. One of them, Rachel, was about to get married soon. Since a small town also meant few friends, she immediately asked me to come to her bachelorette party when I ran into her in the grocery store. I had honestly wanted to decline the invitation, but she had not listened to me, and she insisted on me coming here with her. Telling me that this bar would be great for me to use for my story. So, here I was, washing my hands in a bar in the middle of nowhere. I looked at my own reflection, greyish-blue eyes staring back at me. For the occasion of going out for once, I had used more make-up than I would on a normal day. I wore a simple tank top and a jeans skirt with matching cowgirl boots. And to my surprise, I felt good in these clothes. I guess what they said was true. You can take the girl out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the girl. But I had decided to at least enjoy my time being here again, no matter how long or short it would last. Once I got back on an airplane, the cowgirl boots would be placed back inside the closet, where they would just be catching dust again, probably for the rest of my life. Because apart from the article that I was writing now, I highly doubted that I would come back here ever again. Maybe once, when my mom would be gone, and I would have to deal with the house and her funeral, but after that, I would forever close the door on this place behind me. Following the wind and seeing where it would lead me when that time would come.

I dried my hands. I thought of my friend, Rachel, and realized just how different we really were. In great contrast to me, Rachel had never even left the state. She had lived here her whole life. She went to school here and after graduating, she found a job as a cashier in the grocery store, found herself a man, fell in love, moved in with him and, probably not too long from now, she would become pregnant and start popping out some kids. Something that would never happen to me either. I would never settle down, I would never have kids, and I sure as hell would never get dependent on a man either. I had seen my mother break down, once my father had run for the hills, that woman would never be me. Not in a million years. So, for tonight, I just needed to be a friend, a part of the bachelorette party. It was the least I could do for Rachel. And so, with one final sigh, I left the restrooms to go back into the Ranch House.

Country music was blasting through the speakers. A group was line dancing on the dance floor, while a few others were dancing freely in a corner. There was even a mechanical bull standing in the far corner to the right, but for now, it remained still. People probably weren’t drunk enough just yet, to climb on that monstrosity and risk their lives for someone else's pleasure. I sure as hell would never climb on that damn thing. But I guess I was too busy looking at the fake bull since I hadn’t noticed that I had almost bumped into a man. I quickly apologized, wanting to back off and walk away, while I searched for the group of girls that I had met up with half an hour ago, but the stranger reached out to me, placing his hand on the small of my back. I looked up at him, being greeted by a whiff of alcohol, which made alarm bells go off inside of my head immediately.

“Hiya gorgeous, you wanna dance?” The man asked me, his hand still very present on my back. I swear I could even feel it going lower to the point where he was almost holding my ass.

“No, I’m good,” I told him, sounding stern and serious. But the fool just smiled, pulling me closer to him.

“Oh, come on now, I can show you a good time.” He countered, his hand lowering even more. So low, that I placed both of my hands on his chest and pushed him back with as much force as I possibly could use.

“I said no! Leave me alone!” I yelled at him. Wondering if this fool was really that drunk, or either that stupid. I wasn’t sure which of the two it was. Hell, maybe it was even a combination of the two. But if he didn't back off, he would end up with my knee between his legs, crushing his nuts.

“Is there a problem?” A new voice mingled into the conversation, making me turn my head to the right and gasp for air.

Sweet baby Jesus…

The man that had joined in on the conversation was freaking eye candy. No, not just a man, but a cowboy. This man was a hot-as-hell cowboy. Because he was in fact wearing a dark brown cowboy hat, even though I spotted some black hair coming down as it was neatly tucked away behind his ear, matching his equally black eyebrows and eyes so dark they could easily be called black as well. He had broad shoulders with a matching broad chest that was packed into a plaid shirt, neatly tucked into his dark jeans, jeans that hugged his long and muscular legs. Even though he had a black stubble beard, I could easily see that he had a square jaw and delicious-looking lips. This man was a damn vision. If I had placed a photo of him in my article, I knew for a fact that this town would be flooded by single ladies within a week looking for this guy. But apart from his dangerously good looks, the man also looked… dangerous? Like a bad boy, only this bad boy had popped up to protect me, it seemed.

“Back off!” The drunken goof shouted at him, seeing that it did nothing to handsome John Wayne here. No, I did not know his real name, but John Wayne definitely came to mind while looking at him. He was, for a fact, the most handsome cowboy my eyes had ever seen. This stud of a man could put me on his horse and drive me off into the sunset any day of the week.

Damn Jessica

Control yourself!

“Why don’t you leave the lady alone and go home? You’re drunk.” John Wayne stated, making my heart melt, along with my panties, not just because he was that good-looking and seemed strong and very able to protect himself, but he was also respectful of women.

Gah!

Was there anything this man did not have?

But when the drunken goof placed his hands on John Wayne’s chest and pushed him back, I knew a fight was about to happen any second now. With me standing smack in the middle of it. But I was once again, surprised, as the gorgeous John Wayne stepped up to drunken Goof, and grabbed him by the neck. I felt how my own eyes opened wide, while I wasn’t able to look away from him at all. This man sure did it for me.

Goddamn.

“Next time I see you annoying a woman, lay your hands on her or even look her way, I will cut off your balls and feed them to you. Understand?” John Wayne asked the drunken Goof, who was starting to look purple by now. Maybe the sight of this, of seeing how strong and evil John Wayne could be, should have scared me off. But if anything, I was impressed by what I saw. And turned on... a lot. Especially when I saw the fire in his eyes and the way his arms flexed when holding on to drunken Goof.

Sweet Mary and Joseph…

John Wayne pushed the drunken Goof back, telling him he didn’t want to pick a fight with him, but also making a damn good point here. John Wayne was protecting the ladies like a true gentleman. A superhero.

God damn,

lucky us, all women in the world!

But the very next second, drunken Goof managed to form a fist and swing it right into John Wayne’s handsome face. I gasped, waiting for the real fight to start any second now. Only, that never happened. John Wayne was being backed up by handsome Cowboys #2 and #3, even though they had no game on John Wayne in my humble opinion. But I grinned, seeing how other men started to drag drunken Goof outside, and I almost wanted to wave at him, just to spite him. But I couldn’t, I only had eyes for John Wayne, John Wayne, and what looked like his very broken nose.

Shit

John Wayne got his nose broken while protecting me!

Hot Damn…

“Oh my God, I am so sorry!” I yelled at him, once the music had started to play again and the club seemed to move on from this argument as if nothing had happened just a few seconds ago. The Ranch House might have been able to move on from this, but I for one, could not. For one, because I felt guilty as hell, that this handsome man had gotten his nose cracked in half because of me. Thank God, he still looked handsome as hell. And two, starting a conversation with my savior, seemed like the most humble thing to do right now.

“That’s OK.” He told me, nodding as he reached up to feel his nose, it didn’t look too bad to me. But it would probably swell and hurt as hell for him right now.

“Are you OK?” He asked me then, making me wonder if we had really just been through the same event here. The one where he had gotten himself punched in the nose and I had just stood back and watched the spectacle of studs.

“You’re the one with the broken nose, you tell me,” I answered him sounding sassy, and to my surprise, he threw his head back and started laughing. And thank God, I had steady legs standing underneath me, because the sound of him laughing, the sight of seeing his lips curl up and show me his teeth, almost knocked me off of my feet again.

Holy Mother of God

When I thought he couldn’t get any more handsome…

He laughed.

“Shouldn’t we put some ice on that or something?” I asked him, wanting to make myself useful in some way or form. This man had protected me from that drunken Goof. The least I could do was make sure that his nose would at least heal up just fine and wouldn’t keep standing cricket for the rest of his life.

“I’ll just go outside, some fresh air will be enough.” He told me, while he was even able to give me a smile.

Holy crackers on a stick…

He nodded at me and turned himself around. Still being a gentleman with a cowboy hat, while honestly, my feelings were hurt right now. I didn’t want this gorgeous specimen of a man to step away from me right now. Hell, I wanted him to pick me up, throw me over his shoulder, and take me back to his cave, where he would lock me up for all eternity. I had never seen a man like him before in my life. Never had I felt so attracted to anyone ever before either. So, I swallowed, but made up my mind pretty quickly, before I called out to him. You only live once, so I might as well make the best out of it. And so, I opened my mouth and I called back at him.

“Do you want me to join you?”