UNDER MY SKIN

one. dance with me

Sam just wanted to dance. She wasn't any good at it. Admittedly, she had two left feet - which her mother had claimed she had gotten from her dad. Still, she was in too good of a mood not to dance even in the middle of a field that was lit up by headlights.

She was fresh off of her first ever first place win at the rodeo. She had scraped by in the Bronc riding event, just barely beating the others by a few style points even if she had hit the ground so hard she now sported a bruise on the left side of her jaw.

Her clothes were still covered in red dirt, the left knee of her jeans freshly ripped, and her new buckle shining in the yellow light coming from Jeb's Toyota.

She laughed as she jumped around, her arms in the air as she flung her hair around. Kate laughed, snapping pictures of her sister. She'd never seen a bigger smile on her face.

"You're not even on beat!" Addy laughed at the girl from where she sat in the van, the side door opened. She brushed her hand over the border collie that was curled up in her lap.

"I don't care!" Sam shouted back then she turned again, smiling wide as Josh Turner's Why Don't We Just Dance started playing from the speakers of Jeb's car. "Javi!"

The boy laughed, shaking his head a little as he sipped on his beer, "no, I'm-"

She rushed towards him, dropping to her knees when she reached where he sat on the ground. She leaned towards him, her nose brushing his as a smile pulled at her lips, "please, dance with me."

He groaned a little, but a smile tugged at his lips, "alright."

"Yes!" She pushed herself up, holding her hand out to him then she pulled him up. He wrapped his arms around her pulling her in close as they spun in circles and the others laughed.

"Guys, it's getting late." Praveen huffed, ever the downer.

Addy threw her balled up chip bag at him, hitting the side of his head, "lame!" She then looked down at the dog in her lap, "isn't he a party pooper?" She mumbled to Winston, scratching behind his ear.

The boy narrowed his eyes at her, "we have a lot riding on this. We should be-"

"Just let 'em have their fun," Kate waved him off, leaning back into Jeb's chest with her camera still in her hands. Jeb smiled, kissing the top of her head as he wrapped his arms around her. "She just won, let her live a little." She snapped another picture of the two dancing, just as Javi kissed Sam's cheek, making her smile grow even wider.

"She's never gonna take that buckle off," Jeb chuckled, making Kate laugh.

Sam had her arms around Javi's neck, his hands on her hips and their bodies pressed together. He had been trying to teach her how to salsa for a while - she wasn't very good, but he'd been patient.

But the second he heard Kate's laugh, his eyes moved towards her and Sam could've sworn that his smile faltered and a look of longing danced in his eyes. It was only for a second, just long enough for her to take a breath, before he met her eyes again, his smile wide once more.

Then he leaned down and softly brushed his lips against hers. She hummed softly, pushing up onto her toes to deepen the kiss.

She had to have imagined it, she was drunk and when she drank her insecurities reared their ugly head. That's all it was, she was sure.

Javi loved her.

He'd said so himself. So it had to be true.

He pulled back, and she looked up at him with stars in her eyes, "now, follow my lead." She nodded her head. "One..." he led her into the steps, but even with him counting she couldn't keep up.

Even though she stepped on his feet, he couldn't help but laugh along with her. Her smile was infectious, so big and bright. Even the purple spot on the side of her face didn't take away from it.

She shook the lingering thought, only to have the boy step into a hole. He fell backwards, pulling her down on top of him as they laughed, the rest of the group laughing along with them.

And Kate snapped a picture just as Sam leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to Javi's lips, before rolling off of him.

As they laid in the grass, looking up at the stairs, Winston jumped down and rushed towards the blonde, attacking her face with kisses as she laughed.

Eventually she got him calm enough, and he laid down with his head on her stomach.

A smile pulled at her lips as her eyes drifted closed, it had been a perfect day. Her smile only grew when Javi slid his hand into hers, intertwining their fingers. But she didn't move, not wanting to disturb Winston, who had his eyes closed as he curled up against Sam's side.

>>>>> • <<<<<

Sam was pissed Kate had decided to wake them up by honking the horn of the van. She had jumped a little, groaning as she tucked her face into her boyfriend's chest. He let out his own groan, tightening his arms around her as he pressed his nose into her hair.

"Storm's here, guys!" Kate shouted. "Let's go!"

"Nah. Nah, can't be." Javi grumbled as she shifted, pulling the sleeping bag up and Sam settled against him. "I went way too hard last night." Sam merely hummed in agreement.

"Guys, get up! Come on!" Kate pulled the sleeping bag over them, making the couple groan in sync only to have Winston make his way over and licked Sam's cheek.

"Okay, okay," Sam huffed as she sat up. "I'm up." She scratched under the dog's chin. She smiled a little as she looked over at Javi, who reluctantly sat up next to her before leaning over, his head on her shoulder. "Mornin', sunshine."

A sleepy, very hungover, smile tugged at his lips as he kissed her cheek, "mornin', cariño."

"You should eat somethin'," she told him, resting her forehead against his. "I'm gonna take Winston for a walk."

"Don't go too far," he brushed his lips against her cheek again and she smiled, a soft hum leaving her lip. She pushed herself up, stretching her arms over her head before she pulled her boots on. Then with a whistle, Winston followed her as she made her way across the field.

Sam made her way back towards the others, laughing as Winston ran around her feet. He jumped up, his paws on her thigh as a small, excited bark left him and she scratched the top of his head. "Come on, let's go." She nodded towards the others as Jeb held a video camera and Kate explained their experiment.

Sam leaned over, sticking her tongue out as she passed Jeb, who held a camera.

"Sam!" Kate huffed, making the girl chuckle as she made her way towards Javi, who was messing with one of the sensors they were gonna use to record all the data. "Our experiment is designed to decrease the moisture inside of a tornado to see if we can make it collapse."

Javi looked up as Sam neared him, his eyes slightly squinted despite the sunglasses that rested on his nose, "damn, that looks worse than it did yesterday."

"I've had worse," she shrugged, sitting on the ground next to the chair he sat in, and Winston curled into her lap. "It'll fade in a few days."

"Crazy woman," he mumbled, leaning over to kiss the top of her head and she just grinned. She scratched behind Winston's ears as she watched Kate explain their experiment that she knew nothing about, she wasn't technically part of the team but Javi had asked her to join. And she could never tell him no.

"Um, the Doppler doesn't show a storm until the afternoon." Praveen stated as he neared them, his laptop in hand.

"Well, data doesn't see what Kate sees, remember?" Addy told him matter-of-factly.

"How about Kate sees a few more hours of sleep?" Javi mumbled, still very hungover. "That might work."

"Trail mix," Sam handed him the small bag and he took it with a smile, before dumping some into his hand and shoving it into his mouth just as Praveen sat his laptop on top of Dorothy - the old machine that helped collect data.

"Praveen, what are you doing?" He huffed, making the boy jump. "Dorothy's not a desk."

"Yeah!" Sam added, her voice muffled but a handful of trail mix she had just shoved into her mouth. "Be nice to Dorothy."

Praveen merely made a face at the two as he lifted up his laptop before closing it, and the two chuckled a little.

"Come on. Get in, get in, get in!" Kate waved them over and Addy, Praveen, Jeb, and Javi all moved towards the trailer as Kate held the camera. "Sam, you, too."

The blonde huffed, but pushed herself up and joined the other, "come on, Winnie." She patted her thigh and the dog yipped as he followed her. She stopped next to Javi and he wrapped his arm around her, pulling her in close as he kissed her cheek and she smiled up at him.

"You know what today is?"

"The day we tame a tornado!" They all shouted before hollering and cheering.

"Alright. But, I'm gonna yak first,"Javi muttered as he walked away from the group.

"Hey, drink some water!" Sam called out as she followed after him, reaching into the cooler as she passed it. Fortunately, he didn't yak, and he gratefully took the water bottle his girlfriend held out towards him before taking a few sips.

>>>>> • <<<<<

Sam sat in the passenger seat of the van, Winston in her lap and his head hanging out the window. He chuckled a little, as she wrapped her arm around his torso to hold him in place. Javi smiled over at her before shoving a few Hot Cheetos into his mouth, then he focused back on the road as he sang along to the radio.

"You gonna put ice on that?" He asked, glancing over at the girl, the purple spot on her jaw seemed darker and he was worried.

"Javi, I'm fine." she smiled at him, reaching over to place her hand on his shoulder. "Seriously, I'm okay."

"Still worried," he mumbled. "You didn't see you fall, it was a little scary."

She chuckled as she shook her head a little, "you've seen my fall off of horses before. Hell, it's half my job."

"Not on your face though," he countered and she playfully rolled her eyes.

"Just eat your Cheetos." She hummed, "and keep singin'."

He chuckled, shaking his head a little, but he reached over and turned the radio up a little as he sang along and Sam smiled as she ran her hand down Winston's back. Then her phone buzzed and she pulled it out of her pocket, seeing a text from Kate.

"Oh, Kate said mom has barbecue waitin' on us," she happily told the boy. "I love barbecue." She mumbled before pulling Winston fully into her lap, "Ya hear that, boy. You get good leftovers tonight." She kissed his nose then rolled up the window as the dog licked her cheek, making her laugh.

She eventually got him to lay down in her lap, he wasn't but a few months old, so he wasn't big enough that it was uncomfortable. She smiled a little as she leaned forward, her eyes on the sky as the storm formed. She'd never been like Kate, she didn't love storms the way she did, but she could appreciate the beauty of one, that was for sure.

Javi smiled over at her, as she smiled up at the gloomy sky. But he couldn't ignore the nagging feeling in his gut, because despite how much he liked Sam, he wasn't in love with her. No matter how hard he tried, that wouldn't change.

He shook the thought and reached for the radio, "all right, how are we getting to this thing? I need a southwest position to read my sensors."

"Yeah, comin' right up." Jeb replied before taking a left turn, and Javi followed.

Sam hummed along to the radio that played quietly from the speakers as she smoothed her hand over Winston's back. And the dog happily shifted in her lap before laying his head on her chest, making her smile as she kissed his nose.

Javi chuckled, "you and that dog."

She let out a small playful gasp, "you don't listen to him." She mumbled kissing Winston's nose again. "He's just a big meanie. Yeah, the biggest meanie." She hummed and Javi shook his head just as it started raining.

Jeb pulled over on the side of the road and Javi came to a stop not far behind him, and while Javi hopped out to help the others get everything set up, Sam sat in the van with Winston. She watched as he walked over to Addy, who was struggling to get Dorothy then he smacked it, making Sam chuckle to herself.

Sam loved Javi. She had since the day Kate brought him home for dinner one night a couple years ago. He was smart, so much so that she didn't expect him to have a wild side. But he did, and while Kate spent most of her nights doing homework, Sam and Javi spent their nights dancing.

He had even started going to her rodeos, when they were close by.

She was easily infatuated with him. He was different then the guys she met on the circuit, and she loved that about him. She even hoped that maybe, just maybe, he wasn't gonna break her heart like the two guys she dated before him - one was a team roper, and the other a steer wrestler.

And neither was much of a boyfriend.

She could see herself maybe even settling down with him... if only that annoying voice in the back of her head would go away whenever the thought crossed her mind. But she was determined to ignore that voice because Javi loved her too, said so himself.

Sometimes she had to remind herself of that fact, hoping it would smother that nuisance of a voice.

What she and Javi had was real... at least she hoped it was.

NOVA SPEAKS

chapter one is finally here!!! i hope you enjoy it!!

i'm really excited about this story and i have so many ideas! i already love sam and tyler - who will show up soon, i promise!

thoughts???