Jump Start

27. Twenty-seven

Twenty-seven

Thomas

W e reached the gates to my family property, large wrought iron gates in the shape of flowers with gold spiked fence tips. Ridiculous. We weren’t the bloody royal family.

Harper’s eyes lit up as I waited for the gates to open.

“These give yours a run for their money,” she said looking over to me and back towards the front of the car.

“Mine are normal, these are stupid.” My tone was a little too curt, and I regretted it immediately.

Her face dropped a little. The last thing I wanted to do was make her more nervous before getting to my parents’ house.

I put my hand on her shoulder as I drove down the long and winding entrance, past the ridiculous gates to the house. She seemed to soften a little.

“Harps?” I asked, gently.

“Yeah?” Her reply was quick, and she looked up at me, hazel eyes searching mine.

“You know I love you, yeah?” I asked, not really meaning it as a question.

“I know. I love you too, Thomas. It’s going to be great today!”

I pulled up on the circular driveway to my family home and walked around to meet Harper as she jumped out of my car .

Having her here was surreal. This was where I spent the first twenty years of my life. I’d brought girls here before to meet the family, but never one I loved.

The stakes felt higher this time, like if I fucked this up, that would be it for me.

I would never do better than Harper Allenwright.

“Alright, ready?” I asked as I took her hand and led her towards the front door. Just as it opened, my family appeared.

“Thomas!” Mum yelled out as she rushed towards me. It was so good to see her. Dad followed with his typical handshake and smile. I could hear my brother yelling out from down the hallway, “Coming!”

“Guys, this is Harper. Harper, these are my parents Leonard and Trudy.”

“So lovely to meet you both,” Harper said with confidence, her handshake strong, taking my dad by surprise.

“Great to meet you, Harper. That article you wrote on Thomas was so insightful and interesting.”

Trudy seconded her husband “Yes! We learnt more about his career than he’s told us.” She shook her head at me.

It was true. I didn’t let my parents in on what my life was like as a racer, but maybe this was something I needed to change. Maybe Harper would be the bridge between my parents and me. Not that I would put that kind of pressure on her.

“Well, come in you two!” Mum rounded us up through the door. Suddenly, Xavier appeared out of nowhere. If I smiled any wider, my mouth would be stuck in my hair. “Bro!” I yelled.

We laughed and hugged. It had been too long.

Xavier let go and turned to look at Harper.

“Wow! What a bloody knockout. You know you’re punching, right?” he said to me with a wink.

Harper laughed. “He knows it.” Xavier leant in and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

It was weird to see them meet. Seeing them together made my heart feel full for the first time in a long while.

***

Harper

Thomas’s mum insisted on giving me the grand tour of the property. It was breathtaking.

The house was filled with several large photographs of winning horses, ribbons, and awards.

There were a few family photos, which I laughed at. Young Thomas had no front teeth for a little while, longer than normal.

“We used to call him Bugs Bunny,” Xavier laughed. I felt Thomas’s hand grip mine just a little tighter.

The lounge and dining area was one large space filled with beautiful, neutral-coloured furniture, and a large island kitchen bench. The outdoor area had a pool, a kitchen, and the best feature, in my eyes, was a large open paddock that descended to a small dam.

“This is just beautiful, guys!” I walked out to the border of the pool to look out over the luscious green grass. Several horses grazed outside a block of stables to my right.

“Can we go see the horses!?” I asked excitedly, looking at Thomas.

Xavier jumped in. “Sure, I’ll take you guys.”

“Lunch will be ready in half an hour or so,” Trudy yelled to us as we walked towards the stables.

“I can’t believe you guys grew up here, this is crazy!” I commented. I couldn’t find a single thing to concentrate on, my eyes darting around, trying to catch all the beauty in my surroundings.

“Your parents’ place is great though, Harps,” Thomas said calmly.

“I know, but I didn’t grow up there. We moved so much with Dad’s work.”

I had always longed to stay in one place for longer than one to two years, but it was just impossible with the Army.

“That’s right, your family are military, hey?” Xavier asked as he slid open the stable door.

“My dad and brothers, yeah. Dad’s retired now, though.”

There was a row of ten enclosed stables on each side of the walkway, all filled with the most majestic looking horses I’d ever seen.

“Welcome to the Jackson Racing Stud!” Xavier said as he started to pat one of the horses, who was less than impressed to see any of us.

The other end of the stable opened up to the same green rolling hills we saw from the outdoor area of Thomas’s home.

I was blown away by the magic of it all. I walked up to one of the horses but didn’t put my hand out. To be honest, I was a little terrified.

“She’s right, you can pat her,” Thomas said as he walked up behind me and grabbed my hand, guiding it towards the horse .

“This is Roo. She’s retired and lives a life of luxury here. She’s my girl,” Thomas said as we both patted and stroked her.

I raised an eyebrow. “I thought I was your girl?” He didn’t respond, just winked and kept patting the horse.

“Yeah, right, your girl, yet you never come to see her,” Xavier said as he fed some hay to one of the other horses.

I had to wonder—how often did Thomas come to visit his parents? Why was he holding back so much?

“Have we got any carrots or apples for her?” Thomas asked his brother.

“Yeah, Mum and Dad have some in the fridge back at the house.”

Removing his hand from mine, he kissed me quickly on the cheek.

“Just going to get some.”

He ran off, leaving me with Xavier in the stable.

“So…” he said, darting his eyes around the stable and patting Roo.

“So,” I echoed.

“I guess this is where I say, ‘Don’t hurt my brother.’” He used quotation marks with his fingers.

I smiled, only now realising how similar he was to Thomas. Xavier was a shorter, dark-haired version of Thomas, but still equally as handsome.

“That’s fair. I would never hurt him, but I get it,” I answered calmly.

“Yeah, he’s a special one. You can probably tell he’s being a little stand-offish here with our parents today.”

Xavier leant against Roo’s stable door, and she sniffed his ear.

“Yeah, I have. He hasn’t told me much about why that is,” I confessed, my voice going higher the more I spoke.

“I guess he’s just always felt like an outsider. My parents had only planned for one kid and then Thomas came along. Mum and Dad have always been super busy with the horse racing stuff, so they weren’t around a lot when we were growing up. Always getting dressed up to go on the TV or going out to racing events. I think Thomas resented that a lot. It didn’t really bother me because I had him. He’s always been my best friend.”

Hearing Xavier talk so warmly about Thomas was pulling at my heartstrings. I wanted to ask him everything I could think of about Thomas, but he would be back soon, and I wasn’t sure he would appreciate me trying to dig up information on him.

“My only advice is to stick with him. He will open up to you, I promise.”

I smiled and nodded. “I appreciate that, thank you. I will.”

He pulled me into his side briefly and laughed.

“He’s finally picked a good one,” he said, making eye contact with Thomas as he walked back in with a bag of carrots and a smirk on his face.

“Cocktail hour,” he announced to the stable, to no one in particular, and handed his brother and me a few carrots each.

I decided I would stick with Roo as she was calm and seemed to be enjoying my company.

Xavier and Thomas walked on either side of the stables giving carrots to the other horses, who were very excited, neighing and blowing their noses.

I understood now why Thomas built a home where he had. It was rural enough, green, and had horses nearby. It reminded him of home. A home he wanted me to be a part of.

“Lunch is ready!” we heard faintly through the stable doors .

“Shit, better get back before Mum loses it,” Xavier said, feeding his last carrot to a horse.

Thomas and I patted Roo goodbye and headed towards the house.

***

Lunch was extravagant, and way too much for me, but I ate until I was full anyway. Leonard asked everyone to raise their glasses after we had finished.

“To Thomas and Xavier, both home at the same time. We love you both and a big welcome to Harper, as well.”

“Cheers!” we all said cheerfully.

I thought that was a particularly nice gesture. Thomas smiled and kissed me again.

“I love having you here,” he whispered into my ear, placing his hand on my upper thigh, sending electricity through my body.

“I want to see your old room!” I said as soon as the idea popped into my head.

“Ohh, actually, we are currently repainting the bedrooms. Everything is in storage,” Trudy said in answer to my question.

“You’ll have to come back, sweetheart!”

***

A little while after lunch, Thomas announced that we best be heading home. His family begrudgingly said goodbye to their son .

“See you soon, bro,” Xavier said, disappointment obvious in his voice.

Thomas opened the car door for me, and we hopped in, then drove in silence down to the front gate. I looked back at the beautiful property and hoped I would be able to come back.

“That was so lovely. They all love you so much, Thomas,” I said, trying to gauge the look on his face.

He grabbed my hand and smiled but didn’t speak for a few beats.

“I know they do. You were such a hit; I could tell they really liked you.”

“Thomas, what happened with them? You didn’t seem yourself. I don’t want to upset you, I only want to understand.”

His face remained calm. “I don’t really know. I always felt like the odd one out in my family. I wasn’t planned. I came fairly late, and they already had their family unit. I don’t have anything in common with my parents. Xavier is different, but my parents…I just don’t know.” He let go of my hand to put both on the steering wheel as he approached the road.

“You have more in common than you think. Your house now reminds me of theirs. I think that was intentional.”

He smirked. “My little reporter girl. I love you.”

I smiled, wanting to hop onto his lap right then and there. “Pull over.”

“What’s wrong?” Thomas’s face creased in concern as he pulled his ute over. Luckily, it was beginning to get dark and his car had tinted windows.

“You alright?” Thomas looked across at me.

I nodded. “Seatbelt off. Now”

The perplexed look on his face, the fact that he still had no clue what I was thinking, almost made me laugh. Instead, I took my own seatbelt off and climbed over the centre console to straddle in his lap. Thomas finally caught up.

“Harper Allenwright! Are you trying to seduce me?” His hands were frantic, trying to take his pants off while my body was pinned against him.

His hands ran up my dress and all over my back. He planted kisses on my chest and neck. I didn’t know what came over me. I think it was the way he looked at me when he said he loved me. That was all I needed to hear.

I could feel him hard and ready, his breath catching in my ear as he guided my hips back and forth, running my soaking panties along the length of him and hitting my clit in the most delicious way.

“Uhh, my god, Harper.” He could barely get out his words.

“Fuck me, now,” I said, barely able to control myself.

Not wanting me to move off him, he ripped my panties clean off before he bit down on my neck lightly and pulled me onto him. I cried out his name, not caring that we were in a car in the middle of nowhere.

“Harper,” his voice rasped in my ear.

I ran my hands through his hair, revelling in the luxurious pull of his hands on my hips, dropping me down on him and lifting again, the sweet pressure of him deep inside of me.

I started to lift myself faster, feeling him harden even more inside me. His breath was getting shallower with each lift. He was so close.

“Ohh, I’m gonna—” My mouth on his put an end to his words.

We matched each other’s pace, grinding faster until I felt him fill me. My world fell apart around him, and I yelled his name.

We stayed connected, him lying back in his seat as I draped against him. His kisses travelled over my cheek and neck.

“I should take you to my parents more often.” His voice was back to its typical sarcasm.

As he helped me get back to my seat, I searched for my underwear before realising he had them in his hands.

“Can I have my underwear back, please?”

“No. I deserve a trophy to commemorate the first time my ute has been christened.”

“Sicko.”