UNDER MY SKIN

eleven. boone's ass

All Sam could do was nod, she wished she had a notebook, but for the most part she managed to retain almost everything Kate told her.

The two had even sat in the dirt as Kate went on, a smile on her face as she explained updraft, upward movement of warm, moist air within a thunderstorm. Wind shear, a change in wind speed or direction with height. And instability, warm, moist air near the ground and cooler, dry air above. Just to name a few.

They even laughed, both easily falling back into the rhythm they had seemingly lost five years ago. They even talked about other things, like how Sam's life at home had been.

She has adjusted to the tending to the livestock pretty well, and though she would prefer to sleep in, she didn't mind the early morning talks with her mom over coffee and pancakes.

And not once did Sam mention Javi, she knew it wasn’t her place to tell Kate about his feelings for her.

“We got way off topic,” Sam chuckled, leaning back on her palms and Kate just hummed as she did the same.

“I guess… I didn’t realize how little we actually talked, even when you would call. This is nice. It's good.”

“I think so, too.”

“Now, tell me about the tornado cowboy.” Kate nudged her with her elbow, laughing at Sam's pink cheeks before she looked up at the sky once again.

But before Sam could lie and tell her that he was just a friend, a familiar voice cut in, “well, nothing’s coming outta that one.”

Kate huffed, but Sam smiled as she looked up at Tyler as Buck rubbed his head against her arm until she lifted it up, then he leaned into her as he licked her cheek.

“That one?” Kate pushed herself up, dusting her pants off. “No, no.” She shook her head a little.

“‘Cause it’s moving into a stable environment, clearly.” Sam added, pushing herself up and dusting off her jeans, her smile wide when Tyler met her gaze, a smirk on his lips.

“Yeah,” He nodded, pulling his sunglasses off before hanging them on his shirt. “No low leave CAPE, not enough shear to keep it interesting.” He added and she nodded along, wanting to see just how much she knew. She never showed much interest in chasing, other than his videos and the long calls after a storm.

“Yeah, it’s gonna die out.” Kate nodded.

“Not enough moisture to grow,” he added before looking over at Kate. He was curious, she seemed to know what she was talking about. She always seemed to be close to Sam, and any chance to get to know Sam a little better – even if he knew her better than most people – he was gonna take. “Where’d you say you learned to track storms again? And how do you know Sam?”

I didn’t,” she told him, an amused smile on her lips as she watched Sam take his sunglasses off his shirt. And she didn’t miss the smile that tugged at his lips as he watched the girl slide them up her nose.

Sam grinned as she looked up at him, he chuckled, his hand absently slipping around her waist, “I think we can all get along, if we tried really hard.” She told them. “If nothing else, for me. Can’t have my two favorite people at odds, makes things uncomfortable.”

Tyler chuckled, pulling her closer to him, his finger hooked around her belt loop, “I’m telling Boone.”

She rolled her eyes and bumped him with her hip, “we all know Boone’s my favorite.”

“That right?” He hummed and she nodded, but he knew better.

“What do ya say, Katie?” Sam looked over at her sister, leaning into Tyler’s side like it was the most natural thing on the planet.

Kate’s eyes bounced between the two, her sunglasses still over her eyes. She didn’t really have anything against the guy, even if Javi had done nothing but complain about him, she knew that if Sam liked him, then he had a good guy.

“Yeah, we’re gonna be stuck here all day, waitin’ for nothing to happen.” He spoke before Kate could. “How ‘bout we we try to get along?”

It was then that Sam saw a familiar – albeit, old – spark flicker in her sister’s eyes. She had to contain her smile, she knew Kate was planning something and she was excited to see what it was, “yeah, you’re right.” Her eyes jumped from the cowboy to Sam and with a subtle, barely there look – a look they used to communicate when they were younger and they didn’t want their mom to know – Kate looked back at the brewing storm.

She was gonna pull one over on Tyler, again, and Sam was all for it.

“Tell you what, I’ll… I’ll get us a couple of drinks.” She told him. “What would you like?”

“Really?” He tilted his head a little, his eyes narrowed almost suspiciously.

Kate nodded, seeming genuine. “Really. I’d like to hear more about this.” She motioned between the two and Sam rolled her eyes a little.

Tyler smiled, one thing he loved to talk about endlessly – other than storms – was Sam. Just ask Boone, he’d been on the receiving end of Tyler talking almost non-stop after he’d gotten off the phone with her.

“Wouldn’t mind an iced tea.” He told her, “Thank you.”

“Comin’ up,” she hummed, turning to leave.

“Better help her,” Sam smiled up at him, standing on her toes to press a quick kiss to his cheek. He smiled at her, letting her slip out from under his arm. She stepped over Buck, who had laid down at their feet then he caught up to her sister. “I love when you get like this.” She mumbled, her voice low.

Kate chuckled before grabbing her hand and breaking into a quick jog towards Javi, who was leaving the diner with Scott and the investor. And of course, the second Tyler saw he rushed over towards his crew.

“We gotta go,” Kate rushed out, pulling Javi to the side and interrupting their conversation.

“Alright.” Javi waved Scott on and stepped away with the two blondes, “um, look… we’re almost done here.”

“Now,” Kate insisted. “We got something big.”

Javi looked at her, recognising the look in her eyes, then he glanced over at Sam, who had her eyes on her boots. She knew it was gonna be awkward, but she wanted to be there for Kate, even if she’d much prefer to be strapped into the shotgun seat of Tyler’s truck.

"I’d listen to her.” She told him, glancing over her shoulder to see the Wranglers packing up. “And fast,” she added when Boone picked up Cairo before launching the drone into the air.

And that seemed to kick Javi into high gear, “Let’s go, guys!” He shouted, getting the crew’s attention. “Let’s go!” They all rushed to their cars, and Sam opened the back door of Javi’s truck, but a smile tugged at her lips when Tyler pulled out before they were even in the truck. He even added a few teasing honks, and when he caught her gaze he simply waved.

She shook her head as she pulled herself into the seat, both Javi and Kate watching the caravan follow after the truck.

“Damn, Tyler’s on it.” Kate huffed.

“If you would’a just kept your cool,” Sam mumbled as Javi took off after the Tornado Wranglers. “You’re the reason mama always caught us.”

“Hush you,” Kate muttered, playfully glaring at the girl, who just hummed before pulling her phone out when it dinged with a notification – she knew it was YouTube.

Javi, who was slightly confused, glanced at Sam in the rearview mirror. He wasn’t sure if she had told Kate what he had admitted to the night before, if she had, then it didn’t seem to cause a problem between the Carter sisters. But that also meant that Kate hadn’t brought it up to him, which couldn’t be good.

But he knew better than to bring it up now, even as silence filled the cab of the truck.

Sam watched her phone, pushing Tyler’s sunglasses up into her hair. One of her favorite things on the channel was the footage that Lily captured with her drone. It was beautiful, even if they hadn’t reached the forming storm yet.

Kate leaned forward once Javi got around Dexter and Dani, who Sam waved at when they passed them. Kate adjusted her sunglasses as she looked up at the sky.

Javi glanced over at her, “what do you see?” He asked, and that had Sam looking up at her sister.

“Okay,” she mumbled. “It already has a nice structure. Moisture levels are just right, lots of CAPE.” Sam smiled as Kate pulled her sunglasses off, her phone forgotten on the seat next to her.

“What else are you seeing?” Javi asked, smiling over at her and Sam saw that look in his eyes again. But she shook her head a little, and looked up at the sky, hoping she could see what Kate had explained to her.

“Flow is clean. Pulling tons of warm moist air from the south.”

Kate went on and Sam followed along, having a somewhat better knowledge of what Kate was saying. But more than that, it felt like old times when Kate would spend hours explaining the ins and outs of storms while Sam brushed Biscuit. Back then, Sam hadn’t really been listening, at least not enough to retain much other than the tornado needed warm air and water.

She closed her eyes for a moment, taking a breath as let the familiarity of it sink in. And she knew her hope for Kate's future wasn’t just wishful thinking.

A thin funnel formed just up ahead, and Javi shouted in excitement as it touched down, his hand hitting the steering wheel, “Yeah, baby!”

Sam jumped, her eyes flying open. Her eyes stopped on the funnel in front of them and a smile played on her lips as she watched it.

“Wow,” she breathed out, holding onto Kate’s seat as she leaned forward. Then her brows creased a little, “Katie, what’s that?”

“Wha-” Kate trailed off as another funnel formed and hit the ground.

“Holy shit,” Sam mumbled, tossing Tyler’s sunglasses to the side before she grabbed her phone as the two tornados rotated. “Haul ass, Javi.” She told him as she unbuckled and reached over for the switch for the window

Javi chuckled, looking over at Kate, “you ready?”

“Let’s get our data,” she smiled and he held his hand out towards her. She grinned and did their little tornado handshake.

Sam rolled her window, squinting against the wind as she pulled her body out of the truck, then she adjusted herself so she wouldn’t fall. She held up her phone, getting as many pictures as possible in hopes of some being decent. Then she tossed her phone back into the truck.

“Sam!” Kate shouted, twisting in her seat. “Samantha Carter! I swear to God!”

Sam just smiled as she let the wind wash over her, it felt like flying… like riding a bronc, almost. She felt free, and for a moment, at peace with the world.

Then a whistle pulled her out of the moment and she looked over as they passed Tyler, who had rolled his window down, “what the hell are you doin’?”

“Chasin’ a tornado! You?” She shouted over the rush of the wind and he chuckled, shaking his head a little.

“Samantha Jane!” Kate shouted, her fingers gripping Sam’s jeans before she tugged.

“Baby, get back in the truck!” Tyler told her. “Before Kate has a heart attack!”

“Sam!” Boone shouted, holding his camera up. “Say hey to YouTube!”

She chuckled as waved at the camera, then she blew a kiss, though that was more so aimed at Tyler, then the camera.

“The Sam Carter, ladies and gentlemen,” Boone told the camera, turning it towards himself as he spoke, then it was back on the blonde.

“Sam!” Kate shouted, smacking her sister’s thigh and Sam took that as her final warning. She pulled herself back into the truck and rolled up the window, which Javi then locked – per Kate’s request. Sam grinned doing the Tornado Wrangler sign with her hand, which just made Tyler’s smile grow. “I don’t think your doctor would approve of that.”

“Live a little, Katie.” Sam told her, and for the first time in a year, Sam finally felt like she was living again.

“Alright,” Javi chuckled, the air a lot less awkward. “Let’s stop playing games. Let’s cut these guys off.” He sped up, overtaking Tyler’s truck. 

“There you go, Owens,” Javi laughed once the rest of the StormPAR team had overtaken the Tornado Wranglers. “Alright, which one’s gonna stay? Which one’s it gonna be, Kate?”

“Okay, I’m on it,” she leaned forward, her eyes scanning the computer. “Let’s go for the right. Uh, there should be a road coming up.”

“Alright, right, guys. Right.” Javi told the rest of the team over the radio.

Just as they approached the fork in the road, Kate saw something only she could see, something that had her changing her mind.

“Go left!”

“What?”

“Take a left!”

Javi did as told, yanking the wheel to the left and the back of the truck fishtailed before the tires gained traction in the mud.

“Javi, you sure?” Scott asked over the radio, him in the car behind them. “The right one’s got better numbers.”

“Screw your numbers,” Sam mumbled, pulling her phone out as she glanced back to see the others take a right. She hit the notification that was still at the top of her screen and it pulled up a video from inside of that large, red truck that she loved so much.

She smiled a little as she watched Tyler reach for the radio, cranking Jelly Roll's Dead End Road at an ear-splitting volume – which she could hear even though she had her volume down low.

“Alright, get us set up, Boone.”

“Yes, sir.” Boone hummed as he put his camera away, relying on the camera in the cab of the truck to get the footage.

“Gonna fire a couple flares straight up this thing’s ass.”

“Will do,” Boone saluted.

“Alright, drone’s on the ground,” Lily pulled her off and shifted in her seat as Boone turned and crawled over the center console.

“Hey, Ben. How are ya?” He mumbled to man and Sam laughed as Boone’s ass took up nearly her entire screen.

“Lily, I need you up here,” Tyler told the girl and when Boone was in the middle of the backseat, she moved and climbed into the passenger seat, it was amusing to watch, and Sam so wished she was in that truck for no other reason than she knew it’d be one hell of a good time.

“You’re seriously watching that right now?” Kate asked, looking back at her sister.

Sam met her amused gaze and shrugged, “got a nice shot of Boone’s ass. No way in hell am I gonna miss that.”

“Boone?” Javi mumbled, his eyebrows pinched in confusion. “I thought you and Tyler were…” he trailed off, because he wasn’t sure and really didn’t want to think about it.

“She pretends to flirt with Boone, so no one sees how much she actually likes Tyler.” Kate told him, getting a punch on the shoulder from her older sister.

“Shut up, Katie.”

“Just admit it,” Kate chuckled. “It’s so obvious.”

“So what if I like him?” She mumbled, glancing at her phone as the truck pulled to a stop and she could see Boone climbing out the back window as he sang along to the Jelly Roll song. “But we’re just friends.”

Kate parted her lips to argue that just friends didn’t look at each other the way Sam and Tyler looked at each other. But Javi cheered before she could, interpreting their conversation as he smacked the steering wheel in celebration. The other tornado had died out merely a few feet away from the red truck and it's awaiting occupants.

“Whoo! Baby, let’s go!” Javi grinned, his eyes moving from the road to the rear view mirror and both girls turned to see what he was talking about. When she saw no funnel, Sam looked back at her phone to see several confused faces. “That was amazing. How did you know that?” He looked over at Kate, amazement dancing in his eyes.

“Well, did you see the wheat?” Kate asked like it was so obvious, “Winds moved to the north, just what this one needed.”

Sam left the video and quickly dialed Tyler’s number, smiling to herself as she slid his sunglasses back over her eyes.

“Don’t gloat,” his voice carried through the phone and she chuckled.

“Wasn’t gonna, but that was a sad, sad video.”

“You were watchin’?”

“Always do,” He hummed, not paying much mind as Javi let Kate know that Scarecrow and Tin Man had dropped their radars in position. Kate smiled, listening as Sam teased Tyler, but she pointed Javi in the right direction.

When the truck was parked both Javi and Kate jumped out and Sam watched them, her phone still against her ear.

“You gonna cheer me up tonight?” Tyler asked and she could practically see that suggestive smirk tugging at his lips. “Cause I’m pretty bummed, ya know.”

She grinned, her attention pulled away from the tornado that was right in front of them, “have anything in mind?”

“A few things,” he hummed as he leaned against the side of his truck. “Most of them involve you wearin’ nothin' but my hat.”

“Ty-” Kate and Javi jumped into the truck and Javi hit the gas. The truck lurched backwards, which shocked Sam out of the little bubble she had found herself in.

“Javi, it’s turning fast!” Kate shouted

“Holy shit,” Sam mumbled, her smile gone, her eyes wide and jaw hanging open. “Javi, drive faster!”

“Baby?” Tyler questioned, not liking the fear he could hear in her voice but he didn’t get a response. The phone slipped from Sam’s hand as she gripped the back of Kate’s seat.

“How we looking, Wizard?” Javi shouted, turned around in his seat. “Talk to me!”

“We lost your radar, Javi. You got eyes on the tornado?”

It was right there, tearing down trees and powerlines and a barn that sat on a patch of grass. Then a small wooden structure hit the back of the truck, jerking them around and Tyler hated that despite how many times he called her name, he never got an actual response.

“What the hell was that?” Sam asked, her voice panicked as she wiped around.

“I think I killed some chickens!”

Javi lost control and the truck jerked a little, they slid off the road and into the ditch, the movement tossing Sam’s head into the window before the truck came to a stop.

“Fuck!”

“Get down!” Javi shouted and both girls ducked their heads, Sam reaching forward to make sure Kate was covered despite the rush of panic that flooded through her.

Then suddenly it was over.

All three sat up, panting as they looked around, the storm had just barely grazed them. Sam glanced around for her phone as she held her hand to the right side of her head. She could faintly hear Tyler calling her name over and over again, each one more panicked than the last.

Her hand shook when she reached for the device, her breathes heavy as she held it to her ear.

“Damnit, Sam! Answer me, please, baby!”

“Ty…” she mumbled, her voice shaky.

“Baby,” he let out a relieved breath, dragging his hand down his face and the other Wranglers let out a relieved breath – they'd all be standing around the pacing cowboy, but waiting for some kind of information about the girl they all cared about.

“We’re okay. Just grazed us.” She told him, leaning back into her seat as she squeezed her eyes closed as her head throbbed. “We’re okay.”

NOVA SPEAKS

some of these chapters are super long and others are so short, i'm not usually so inconsistent but sometimes there just isn't a good place to break up the scenes

anyways, love this book so much, which i'm sure y'all are tired of hearing but it's true!

sam holds a special place in my heart and i'm sure she always will!!

and i'm just curious, but do y'all have any predictions??

p.s. i love reading predictions lol