UNDER MY SKIN

sixteen. she's in love

It took no time at all for them to sit around the table, Cathy at the head of the table, Sam to her right with Tyler right next to her, his arm around  her and Kate sat across from the two. Buck ate from a silver bowl, and next to him Grizzly gnawed on a bone.

Sam smiled as she looked over at Tyler as he went on about storms, she loved the look in his eyes. It was clear that he loved it, maybe more than anything else in the world.

“Data only gets you so far, and every chaser has to make a guess, and the good ones have an instinct for it.”

“Oh, she had that early on.” Cathy told him, nodding towards her youngest. “Always knew when weather was coming. Even better than the cows.”

Tyler smirked teasingly, “oh, you hear that? You’re better than the cows.”

Sam chuckled, shooting Kate a teasing look, to which Kate merely rolled her eyes. Tyler smiled at the interaction.

“That’s a compliment,” Cathy continued. “Gotta have a feel for it.”

“She always have a feel for it?” He asked.

“Always.” Sam nodded. “Used to drag me outta bed and into the rain at all hours. It could be the middle of night and freezin’, but she just had to see the sky. We got sick a lot when we were little.”

“This one time, I was giving her a bath-”

“Can we not?” Kate cut her off, her nose scrunched in embarrassment – she knew what story her mama was about to tell.

Cathy raised her finger, a small space between her index finger and thumb, “maybe just a little.”

“Yeah, Katie, let mama talk.” Sam told her, leaning against Tyler.

“And we heard thunder, and she shot up out of the tub, and ran out of the house naked as the day she was born–”

“Oh, my God,” Kate groaned, her face red.

“And I had no idea where she was – I was terrified.” Cathy continued. “And when I finally caught up to her, she was standing in the middle of the wheat field, staring at the sky. Sam was next to her, wrapping a blanket around her.”

“I gotta try that,” Tyler joked.

Sam hummed, the thought crossing her mind, “tell me if you do.”

“Will you stop encouraging her?”

“Keep your clothes on, Kate. Let your mom finish,” he scolded her playful and Sam laughed when Kate shot him an unamused look. She liked that they were getting along, it warmed her heart that he fit so well with her family.

“All I’m saying is, she always loved weather. Worse the weather, the happier the girl.” Cathy smiled at her daughter.

“How about we talk about Sam, huh?” Kate smirked at her sister and Cathy grinned, she had plenty of stories at the ready.

“Oh, no, don't even.” Sam stopped her before she could even start. “He knows all my embarrassin’ stories. He was there for most of ‘em.” She raised her glass to her lips. “So, just keep on talkin’ about tornados.”

Cathy chuckled, watching as Tyler kissed the top of Sam's head, pulling her closer to him. “So, how'd you come to do this work?” She asked the cowboy, she’d been curious ever since Sam had told her what he did and why he always seemed to be on the road.

He thought for a moment, his eyes on Sam as she leaned down and scraped some of her leftovers into Buck's bowl, then she did the same in Grizzly’s bowl. He smiled as she put her plate on the table before reaching down to pet both dogs.

“Well, when you love something, you’ll spend your whole life trying to understand it.”

His eyes never once left Sam, his smile small but genuine. Cathy smiled, raising her glass to her lips as she watched Sam sit up, turning towards the cowboy with a smile of her own.

They looked happy and utterly in love, but that was how they had always looked at each other – at least from what Cathy had seen.

“Oh, God,” Sam mumbled, realization washing over her features.

“What?” Tyler asked, his brows creased a little as he thumb moved softly against her side.

“You're basically the guy version of Kate.” She told him, looking up at him. “You both get all awestruck when you see a tornado, you both do that thing where you try to teach me stuff, even though I keep tellin’ y'all it just ain't gonna stick.”

Cathy laughed, she’d had a similar thought. But while Tyler and Kate had things in common, he and Sam shared some things, too.

“There's a few differences, I hope.” Tyler hummed, pulling her in closer.

“Yeah, a few.” Sam mused, leaning up to press a kiss to his cheek, which made him smile. “Oh, and you both quit school. Just another similarity.” She added, making Tyler laugh and Kate shifted a little as to the mention of school.

“You quit?” He asked, looking over at Kate with a crease between his brows. It was meant as nothing more than a simple question, he wanted to know more about Sam and her family.

But it was Cathy that answered, “Katie was studying for her PhD.” She bragged, her smile genuine. And Kate just settled her eyes on the table. “I keep telling her to come back and finish it.”

“Okay, mom,” Kate muttered, uncomfortable with the topic.

“She was heading up a big study with her friends; disrupting tornado dynam-”

Kate stood up, cutting her mom off with the sudden move, “Uh, does anybody need anything?”

“Nah, I’m… I’m good. Thank you,” Tyler told her, shaking his head a little.

“I'm okay,” Sam told her, scanning her sister's face.

“Okay,” she grabbed her plate and her glass before making her way towards the house and Sam watched her go.

“I’m gonna check on her,” Sam pulled herself, grabbing the plates left on the table before she made her way into the house. She met Kate at the sink, “I'm sorry. I wasn't thinkin’.”

Before Kate could say anything, the tv in the other room caught their attention, the weather man was talking about the outbreak and the tornado from the night before, which made Kate's shoulders tense.

Sam quickly made her way into the living room and shut it off before turning back to check on her sister, “I’m really sorry, Katie.”

Kate managed a small smile and shook her head as silence descended around them, then the creak of the door echoed through the house.

“I invited Tyler to stay the night,” Cathy told them, making her way into the kitchen as Buck and Grizzly followed behind her.

Sam perked up, a smile playing on her lips, “where's he sleepin’?” she asked, they didn't have a spare room and she knew Cathy would never put a guest on the couch.

Cathy rolled her eyes, “I ain't under any kind of impression that you two haven't shared a bed before.” She pulled a drawer open. “And I got ear plugs.”

“Mama,” Sam gaped, making Kate laugh.

“Got an extra pair?” The younger girl asked, but Cathy was two steps ahead of her as she tossed Kate a small plastic container with two bright orange ear plugs.

“Oh my God,” Sam groaned, her eyes closed as she drug her hands down her face in embarrassment. The door opened and Tyler stepped into the house, his eyes on the red faced blonde.

“What'd I miss?” He asked, stopping in the doorway of the living room with the rest of her dishes. An amused smile tugged at his lips because of the look on Sam's face, then he looked over at Kate and Cathy who were sporting teasing smirks. He definitely missed something.

“Nothing,” Sam shook her head. “I'll take those.” She took the dishes from his hands and made her way into the kitchen, and he followed.

Cathy watched as they disappeared into the kitchen, sharing a look with Kate, “they look happy.”

“She's in love, mama.” Kate  nodded, her own smile on her face then Sam's giggle echoed through the house.

“She deserves it.”

“She deserves the world.” Kate hummed before making her way up to her room, she wore a smile as he went. It was nice to hear her sister's laugh echoing through the house, followed by Tyler's own laugh. The laughter reminded her of how the house was once always full of laughter, usually from Sam and Addy, but Kate shook the thought and closed her door, muffling the sound a little.

>>>>> • <<<<<

After they had finished the dishes, Sam and Tyler had taken the two dogs for a walk, and it seemed Grizzly had some training at least. He listened pretty well, and he knew a few basic commands. And when they got back, they'd made their way to that old couch in the barn that had definitely seen better days.

Buck was curled up next to Tyler, his head on the armrest and his eyes closed while Grizzly was curled up next to Sam. He had his head on her thigh and his eyes closed as she brushed her fingers through his fur.

“Still can't believe you got me a dog.” She mumbled, leaning into her cowboy as he twisted a lock of her hair around his finger.

He chuckled lightly, kissing her temple, “I knew how much you wanted one. Figured it was time.” He told her and she merely hummed, looking down at the dog. “I know it's not the same, but I know how much losing Winston hurt. And I tried to find one that looked more like him, but Buck picked this guy out.”

“He's perfect,” she assured him.

He swallowed hard before he asked his next question, “was it the storm in the paper? Was that the one you lost Winston in?”

She took a breath as she nodded, “yeah. Javi and I were in the van. We'd lost contact with Kate and the others. And he just took off, right into the storm. I always thought that maybe he was goin’ to save them, or somethin’. Or maybe he just got restless."

“I'm sorry, baby.” He kissed the side of her head and she smiled as she turned into him a little more. He held her close, rubbing her side comfortingly as his eyes wandered the barn. Most of the stuff was still covered in tarps, and what wasn't was mostly stuff for the horses like extra feed, extra blankets and a saddle or two.

Sam shifted a little, looking up at him and she saw the curious glimmer in his eyes. She smiled a little, “you can check it out, if you want. Katie might yell at you but I won't tell her.”

He chuckled, “Thanks, baby. I won't be long.” He pushed himself up and she laughed as she situated herself without disturbing the dogs too much.

“Hey, you still wanna go out later?” She asked and he looked from the notebook in his hand.

“Your mama okay with keepin’ the dogs?”

“Yeah, she loves ‘em.” She nodded before pushing herself up, she held Grizzly in her arms, the puppy letting out a small yawn before laying his head against her arm. “Well, I'm gonna go change. I'll be back in a bit.”

“Wear a dress, please.” He called after her, and she looked over her shoulder at him. “Wanna see those pretty legs.”

She flushed, rolling her eyes a little as she left the barn, then she whistled and Buck followed after her, and Tyler chuckled as he watched her go, following the sway of her hips with his eyes until she was out of sight.

And even as he read over Kate’s notes and calculations, his mind was on Sam. She'd even been on his mind when Kate had found him reading her notebook… and she had yelled.

>>>>> • <<<<<

“What?”

“Nothin’,” Tyler shook his head, but a smile rested on his lips.

The two were in his truck headed for the local bar, he had one hand on the wheel and the other wrapped around her hand.

“Ty.”

His smile grew as he glanced over at her, “you wore a dress.” It was a simple black sundress with tiny yellow sunflowers all over it. It had a square neckline and little sleeves, which she had made sure covered the scar on her shoulder. It had black buttons all the way down the front and it stopped just shy of mid-thigh. And her boots, they were her special occasion boots, had sunflowers embroidered onto them.

She'd even curled her hair, so it fell over her shoulder and down her back in tight, golden ringlets.

She looked damn good. So good it drove him crazy.

“Was gonna wear it anyways,” she shrugged a little, making him laugh as he brought her hand over towards him and kissed her knuckles. She smiled over at him, but something still weighed on her shoulders, “what'd you say to Katie in the barn? She seemed upset but she wouldn't tell me.”

He sighed, “I asked about her project, about disrupting a tornado. She yelled at me, deserved it though, I pushed. She said it was her fault and I told her otherwise. That's all there was to it, really.”

“It wasn't her fault,” she mumbled mostly to herself, hating that Kate had lived with that guilt for five years. “It changed so fast. And I wasn't even out there with her, but it just kept getting bigger and bigger. And Javi wasn't tellin’ me what was going on. Then they weren't answerin’.” She closed her eyes and shook her head, focusing on the way his thumb moved against her hand.

“I know, baby.” He hummed, his voice low. “I'm sorry.”

She leaned back in her seat, smiling over at him despite the tears that had started to form in her eyes, “it was scary for me. But Kate had it so much worse. She was in it, she was there. It's a miracle she even…” she trailed off, the thought was too hard to even speak. “The tornado last night was the first one I’d been close to like that, and just the thought of losing you – I do know what I’d do if I had.”

She couldn't comprehend losing him, not in the same way Kate had lost Jeb. Sam was sure she'd lose her mind if a tornado had taken Tyler from her, especially if it had been because he was trying to save her.

“You ain't losin’ me,” he told her, kissing her hand again. “Promise.”

She smiled over him, letting the Luke Combs songs fill the silence. She both loved and hated when he made that promise, because despite how she felt, she knew what they were… Just friends.

She just didn't know how wrong she really was.

NOVA SPEAKS

i think one of my favorite things about this book is the fact that sam is never jealous of the friendship tyler and Kate are building... i definitely could've gone that way and it definitely would've made sense because of everything with javi in the past

but i just feel like this is more sam, to want the guy she's 'just friends' with to be close to gee family as well

anyways, that's all !!

thank y'all for reading !!

more chapters coming very soon <3