For hours, Jesse and Jordyn just lay there in the soft hay of the barn, just talking about anything and everything that crossed their minds as they passed the day away. Eventually, the clouds parted to reveal a sky of pink and purple as the sun sank below the horizon. It seemed extremely close from the skylights, through which they had a view of the distant lolling hills and the forest beyond the fields and pastures. Just before the sun finally set, the highest point of the sky started off in a dark indigo blue that melted and darkened over the sky, chasing the golden sun into its place and bringing with it shining white stars and a silvery sliver of the moon. Jesse lay stretched out with his arms folded behind his head and Jordyn’s head resting on his still-naked chest.
“You should get a tattoo,” Jordyn murmured sleepily, drawing with her finger on his chest.
“Of what?” Jesse asked, looking down at the top of her head and what he could see of her face.
“My name,” she said.
Jesse laughed softly and wrapped his arms around her. “Maybe someday I will.”
“Yeah,” Jordyn said, stifling a yawn. “Someday.”
Suddenly, the barn doors opened, letting in a slice of the bright outdoor light that shone from the back of the house. An elongated shadow of a man appeared in the sliver of yellow light on the hay streaked floor, sending the pair bolt upright.
“Nate,” Jordyn said, surprise and relief mixed in her tone. Jesse let out a sigh of relief. He still wasn’t sure what Nate would say; there was still the fact that they were laying together covered in hay, Jesse half naked, Jordyn in his clothes.
Nate had an eyebrow raised in suspicion. “You guys having fun?”
Jordyn pushed herself up off the floor and began brushing herself off. “You know I’m not like that.”
“Yeah,” Nate said. Then, suddenly, his face brightened, as if he were a little kid who’d been offered a cookie. “Hey, wanna play football?”
Jordyn shrugged. “Sure,” she said. She looked back to Jesse. “Wanna play?”
Jesse looked from Jordyn to her eager brother and back. “Alright. With just three people?”
“Where’s your sister?” Nate asked.
“At home.”
“Wanna go get her?”
“Yeah, let’s do it,” Jordyn said before Jesse could object, looking up meaningfully at him. She grabbed his hand and pulled him forward, following her brother to the truck. They sat together in the back as Nate started the ignition, causing a loud stream of incomprehensible music. I jumped a little at the sudden sound of it, but Jordyn seemed to be used to the jolt. She laughed at me a bit, and the car took off down the driveway like a shot.
Nate turned out to be the most reckless drivers I’d ever seen, and I’d lived in just about every state, including Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York. He swerved and bucked as if he were trying to get us all killed, or at least pulled over to get a DUI. Apparently this wasn’t too regular of a thing, because Jordyn began to curse at him.
“Damn it, Nate, what the hell is wrong with you!?” She half-screamed, clutching the ceiling handle so as not to lose balance and smash her head into the window. “There’s gunna be a little girl in here in a minute!”
