Hatin’ on It All!

My first few days at university are done. I’m hating the course, as predicted. I met my classmates, and out of the twenty-eight of them I like a total of two.

The other twenty-six seem like assholes and just bragged about their participation in publications and business reports—I felt like I was on an episode of the ~Apprentice~.

~Fuck that~

The field trip to Chile is the only thing I like the sound of, but not if I have to go with that crew.

I leave on my second day feeling more deflated than the first. I can’t do this—I have to speak to my dad.

“Isobella, right?” A guy says as I stalk back to my car.

I turn and it’s one of the morons from my course. He looks like a real douche with a pair of blue jeans, a pink shirt, and a suit jacket.

In my head I say, ~Hey, 2018 called and wants its jacket back~. But in reality, I hold back.

“Hey, you’re from my course, right?”

“Yeah, I’m Jeffrey.”

“How are you finding it?” I ask.

~I hate these fucking pleasantries!~

“Love it, amazing. I’m so excited to dig in,” he says as he watches me open the car. “Is this your car?”

“No,” I reply. “I’m stealing it.”

He eyeballs me for a second, then laughs. “Ha, you’re joking right?”

I nod—~what a nerd~!

“Yeah, Jeff, I am joking.”

Evident to say he is one of the ones I did not like in the course.

I already know that he’s skied at twenty-six different resorts across the world, his dad owns a cabin in Aspen, and that his great, great, great grandfather was one of the top ten richest people in America.

The others were pretty similar to him. The course must just attract them. If I had arrived here in the hope to find a nice boyfriend, then I would be pretty disappointed with the selection.

“A few of us are going for a drink if you want to join us,” he asks.

“Sorry. I’m meeting my boyfriend.”

I know Tobias isn’t technically my boyfriend, but what other word could I use? “Boy toy”? “Fuck buddy”? “Piece of ass”? I couldn’t put a label on it because right now I don’t even know what we are.

“Nice, is he a student here at Vanderbilt?”

“No,” I smile. “He’s a cowboy.”

Jeff’s eyes widen as he clutches his books tightly to his chest. He appears to have run dry of conversation.

“Next time, though,” I add as I climb into the car and start the engine.

~What a fucking doofus!~

As I head back to the ranch and leave the big city behind, I notice the shift in the environment: the traffic reduces, the place becomes more open and natural. It impacts me.

I feel lighter, and my mind starts to unclog from all the pollution the big city brings—the noise, the hustle and bustle, the busyness. The way the sun shines on the road even hits different here.

I have lived in London for so long the busy city life just became the norm for me, but my dad was right—not having a car had made me work with what I had, and I think I actually prefer being around the horses and sitting on Frankie’s porch drinking Coors Light.

Frankie is waiting for me on the porch when I pull in. I fear he has found out about me and Tobias, as he looks disturbed.

There’s no way he could know, though. As far as he knew, I had just let him have a spin in my car. Frankie was none the wiser about the spin Tobias had me in when he bent me over in a disused barn.

“How was day two?” he asks as I pull my books out of the car.

“I hate it,” I reply.

He stands. “You need to give it time. Maybe my surprise will make you feel better.”

“Surprise?” I ask. I assume this is the surprise he came rushing home to tell me about a few weeks back.

“Check your phone,” he says.

Strange, he usually tuts when I get my phone out—what’s the old boy up to?

I pull out my phone and look back to him with questioning eyes.

“We have Wi-Fi!” he finally announces.

I laugh at his pronunciation, but you gotta love him!

It’s a euphoric moment. I haven’t been this happy since Tobias gave into his urges that night in the hotel. I follow Frankie into the house and wrap my arms around him.

“Thank you, Frankie. I have my life back,” I yelp as I unlock my phone to try and pick the signal up.

“Well,” he says smiling at my happiness, “it’s for your course, not your social life.”

“O-M-G, you don’t know what this means,” I screech.

“I don’t know what O-M-G means, but I assume that’s good?”

“Very good,” I smile.

“Hello,” shouts Tobias as I am in the midst of my excitement. He leans into the house with apprehension.

“Tobias, come celebrate with us,” Frankie mocks. “We have Wi-Fi.”

Tobias laughs and steps into the house, assuming it’s safe as Frankie hasn’t pounced.

After the excitement dies down, Frankie heads off to see Antony. He’s still struggling with his chest, and I told Antony about his reluctance to get it looked at.

Antony called Frankie over tonight for a few beers on the porch—code for he’s going to give him a lecture about his health.

As I watch Frankie walk up the dirt road, I turn to Tobias, who is sitting with a beer in Frankie’s wooden rocking chair.

“What do I owe the pleasure of your visit?” I ask.

He runs his tongue around his lips before biting his bottom one.

“Don’t give me that look!” I smirk.

“What look?” he flirts.

“You know what look—your TikTok look.”

He shakes his head and moves toward me. “My TikTok look,” he laughs.

“I can show you at least three pictures of you pulling that face.”

“I’ll delete them then, because this look is only for you, princess.”

I laugh out loud. “Yeah, not being suckered in, cowboy. Go home with your flirting.”

“I don’t flirt,” he laughs.

“Oh, so it’s natural that everything you say sounds like butter on a hot tortilla?”

He smirks and lifts my chin with his dominant hand. “Shut the fuck up and kiss me,” he smiles.

How can I refuse those eyes and the cute-as-a-button dimples that appear on his cheeks?

We kiss as the sun sets behind us. It’s all very romantic and movie-like.

~Me and my cowboy!~

“Fancy another spin in the car?” I ask.

“Oh, you want round two?” He smirks.

“Maybe.”

“Come up to my place once Frankie’s home. I want to wake up with you next to me in the morning.”

Sounds like a good trade-off—I do have to be up early tomorrow to get to uni, but I’m sure it’s feasible.

“Great.” I smile. “Be ready, cowboy.”

Once I’m alone, I pull out my phone and check out the newly installed Wi-Fi.

The first place I go is Instagram and check Tobias’s page. He uploaded a video yesterday of a song he wrote.

I watch as he sings. His voice takes me away from the porch and transports me in front of him. I’m facing him and he’s looking into my eyes, singing to me. He’s good.

I want him to do it for real when I get to his place later. I want my own private show, unique and just for me.

I video call my dad to tell him the good news about the Wi-Fi. I assume he already knows, but I can show him my car properly now.

“Hey, I take it the Wi-Fi is installed,” he says as he smiles into the camera. He looks like he’s in the office.

“Yep,” I beam. “Let me show you the car.” I turn the camera toward the car and walk off the porch.

“Looks good, honey,” he says. “But I thought you would have gone for something more suited to Nashville.”

“Like a truck?” I laugh.

He shakes his head. “How’s the course going?”

“Not good, I hate it.”

“Bear with it, El. Have you met any friends there?”

I shake my head. “Some nugget asked me to go for drinks with him,” I reply.

“A nugget according to you.”

“No, Dad, he was a total douche.”

“Do I sense a love-hate relationship coming on?”

Ha, if only he knew. “Nope, and how do you know I don’t already have a guy?”

“Do you?” he asks sternly.

My cheeks flush. “Well, you remember the guys on the ranch I told you about?”

“Please don’t tell me you mean one of them brothers.”

I frown. What does he know about them?

“El,” he says. “I sent you there for an education, not a cowboy. You wouldn’t want the life they have, stuck in one place, no vision or experience. You’re cut from different cloth.”

“Why?” I question. “Because we’ve traveled around the world and stayed in five-star hotels? We’re the ones who haven’t experienced anything, really, in our sheltered life of money and designer things.”

Dad laughs. “Oh, you are showing your Southern side.”

His comment angers me, and I realize he has the same attitude against the people here that I had when I arrived. How could he forget his roots so easily?

Maybe he needs some time out here too so he can remember what’s really important in life.