"Are you havin' fun?" Tanner turned his gaze from the bonfire to me. His rough face was illuminated by the glow of the fire. He put an arm around me and smiled.
"It's so different.. but it's great." I smiled back at him. It was true; I was elated.
I had moved to Broken Bow, Oklahoma just a few months ago, right when the school year was starting. Tanner was a junior. He was a year older than me at 17, but he didn't act like most guys that age. He seemed to truly care for me.
He was as backwoods as it gets. Coming from Conway, Arkansas as a city boy, I really hadn't known many rednecks growing up, even in Arkansas. I was born in the city, lived in the city, and never had any reason to go to the smaller, more rural towns.
Tanner was the kind of guy who wore his cowboy boots every day. Granted, that wasn't so uncommon around here. He woke up at 5am to do chores before school and he spent his evenings baling hay and shoeing horses for money. He had a well-established work ethic, more so than even many college students have.
I was at my first bonfire with him, out in the boondocks near his parent's ranch. We were with some of our closest friends. Mostly girls, but some fellas were there too. People often think of the rural South being completely anti-gay, and let's be honest; it usually is. But, Tanner didn't face any problems with his sexuality, even in this small town. I had to admit, though, that he was tough as nails and could get meaner than a bull. That probably had something to do with it. I often wondered if I was faced with the same acceptance because I was with him, or because they truly didn't care.
His Dodge was running, setting the mood with some Casey Donahew band. I had heard mainstream country: that was one part of Arkansas I hadn't been able to avoid growing up. But, Texas country was a completely new concept to me, and it was growing on me. This particular song was the kind that set ablaze all the feelings in the air. I felt the butterflies in my stomach flutter.
I had always been attracted to redneck boys, even though I had hardly known any growing up. Just the poser ones who drive their daddy's work trucks to look cool, buying jeans with tears and stains already on them, wearing cowboy boots without even knowing what they're for.
My heart had done a 360 when I first met Tanner. You always hear about the "good Southern men", but hardly ever do you actually meet them. A lot of city girls think that a country boy will always do them right, but that's far from the truth. There're so many "players" at Broken Bow High that it's not funny. I was glad he was different.
"You look beautiful tonight." he said, quietly so the others wouldn't overhear, though they were engrossed in their own conversations anyway, primarily about the upcoming football game against Idabel.
"Thanks." I said, blushing. I was what the gay world calls a twink. But I didn't have the attitude of one. I wasn't ditzy or self-centered. In fact, I didn't really find myself to be that attractive. Certainly, I had the messy brown hair look with blue eyes, and I was slim, but that didn't sound too special to me. My only outstanding feature was my clear skin, a rarity amongst adolescents. As Tanner often reminded me, though.. it didn't matter what I thought, as long as he thought I was attractive. I couldn't help but laugh thinking about his blunt reasoning. That's a Southern boy for you.
"Don't be shy." he said as he put a strong hand up to my soft cheek.
"Don't you know by now? I'm the shyest person there is." I said quietly.
"Well, it's fine. I think it's cute." he flashed a smirk.
"But don't you realize your own beauty?" I asked.
"Me? Beautiful? Maybe that's the wrong word to use." he laughed.
"I'd say `sexy' but I wouldn't want to objectify you." I said timidly.
"I'm not a woman, Tyler. So why am I sexy?" he asked with a genuine look of curiosity.
"Well damn, Tanner. You're as strong as at least a grown man. You know how to work on your truck by yourself. You're a redneck and you're not scared to stand up for me. That's sexy." I said.
"Wow, thanks. But don't you know by now I'm not a redneck?" he asked playfully.
"You yourself should know by now that us city boys don't know the difference between a country boy and a redneck. They're one and the same to me." I shrugged.
"I guess that's why I like you so much. You're like a virgin to my way of life. It's so fun. Maybe someday you'll get to drive my truck." Excitement glinted through his eyes as if he were bestowing me with an honor.
"You'll have to teach me how to drive a manual first. Oh, and you'll need to help me improve my depth perception. I can barely park my Civic, let alone a big 3/4 ton truck.
"You'll learn." he said reassuringly. Our eyes met and it was like electricity was in the air. We had only been dating for a few weeks now, but there was something different about this guy. Of course I had been with a few guys before, but nothing too serious. Their idea of a `date' had been to take me out to Chili's and maybe a movie if I was lucky. The way Tanner treated me couldn't be further from that.
It took me a while to get used to it, but he showed me the bliss of driving around Oklahoma's country roads in a 4x4. I learned not to recoil away from him when he put his rough hands on me. He had already assured me he wasn't going to make me do anything I didn't want to do, which was good considering he was twice my size and the odds of me being able to fight him off were slim.
It had been a genuine surprise to me that the most he had done on our first night of hanging out was hold my hand. I remember how hard he laughed when I asked why his hands were so callused. My innocent ignorance is always giving him a laugh and he could barely contain his grin as he explained to me how long he had been doing physical labor in his parent's ranch. I was almost worried I'd drive him away with how little I knew about the country lifestyle, but he was more than eager to explain.
His brown eyes pierced through my being and I could tell what he wanted. I gave him a smile as if to urge him on, and he stole a glance around the field. Everyone was talking amongst themselves, and I got the feeling they were intentionally leaving us alone. We headed towards his truck and as we passed the tailgate, he put two sinewy arms around my lower backside and lifted me up. My ass touched the driver's seat as he sat me down and he flashed me another smile. Even with his truck being lifted, Tanner at 6'4 was still able to look at me in the eyes.
The music was loud being that we were so close to the speakers, but no words needed to be said anyway. He gently placed a rough hand around the back of my head and caressed my ear with his fingers as he leaned in and let his lips meet mine. I nearly melted. He didn't go in like a hungry shark, biting away at my lips like most teen guys would. After that first kiss, he pulled back some and looked at me.
I couldn't hear him, but I knew what he was saying: "Flawless". I let my hand wander across the arm that was still caressing my head and I gently felt his forearms. I could feel sheaths and sheaths of muscle lying underneath his skin, built by years of fierce bullriding. He let a grin escape from his lips and lifted up his arm, letting it slowly curl into a flexing position. I felt those butterflies swarm up again in my stomach as the explosion of muscle showed itself in front of me.
The song was ending, and I seized the opportunity to say, "One more?"
"I can't resist." he answered and leaned in once more for a kiss. Except we let this one go on for a bit longer.
The sound of engines starting sounded in the distance, and we looked over to see our friends walking towards their vehicles.
"Y'all leavin?" Tanner shouted across the field.
"We didn't wanna interrupt! But we'll see y'all tomorrow! Remember to wear black and gold!" Our friend, Dani shouted back in reference to our school's colors. Tomorrow was Friday, and Broken Bow was playing Idabel. Small towns like these lived for their Friday night high school football.
"Be careful!" another guy, Taylor, yelled back at us. They all loaded up into their vehicles and drove off. Tanner reached across me and lifted up his truck's center console, and I scooted over so he could get in the driver's seat.
His truck roared to life as he turned the key and he put his arm around me. He drove out of the field without saying anything and onto that gravel road near his house. He didn't turn towards his parent's ranch, though; he made his way back to the highway, towards my house which was in town.. what little town Broken Bow had.
As much as I liked Tanner, his driving scared me. I was hesitant to go over 15mph down these gravel roads, and he flew down them like he was in a rush. Granted, his truck had no problems keeping steady down these bumpy roads, and his ranch hand grille guard seemed to make him feel invulnerable to passing deer, but I still couldn't help but feel on edge. I had to hand it to him, though.. he made it to my house in less than ten minutes driving that way.
Before I got out of the truck, Tanner turned down George Strait, turned to me and asked, "You were pretty quiet the way here. Did I do somethin wrong?"
"You didn't do anything wrong, Tanner. I've just never known a guy who was able to kiss me and leave it at that without going for more." I said, feeling kind of stupid for letting him think something was wrong.
"Well, look here Tyler.. we do things a little different round here. And I know you ain't never been treated right, cause you ain't never been with a country boy. So here's what I'm gonna do." he said seriously. He killed the engine, got out of the truck and made his way to the passenger door. He opened it and extended a hand to me. I let my soft hand be grasped by his and allowed him to lead me to my front steps. The lights in the house were dimmed.. I guess my parents had gone to sleep early.
"I done told you what kinda man I am. But I don't blame you if it's gonna take me showin you for you to believe me. So let this serve as a reminder that I ain't gonna treat you like a piece of meat." He placed his hands underneath my bottom and lifted me up. I instinctively wrapped my legs around his wide chest and smiled gently as he garnished my lips with one more kiss. His arms didn't quiver as he held me in the air like that, but they did get goose bumps as he felt me kiss back.
"I'll be here to pick you up in the mornin." he flashed another smile as he eased my feet back onto the ground. I listened to the sound of his boots walking across the cement as he got into his truck and started it up, leaving me on my front steps still shaking in euphoria. The butterflies in my stomach were past the fluttering stage; they were migrating to other parts of my body. I let myself into the house and laid myself down on the bed, Tanner's words still ringing in my head: "You look beautiful tonight." Not hot', but beautiful'. Playing back the night in my head let me fall into a blissful sleep, characterized by such tranquility that I hadn't felt in quite a while.