Honey Lee
Avery Sam
Honey Lee
by Avery Sam
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
The Montana Zone
Don’t Let Go!
Honey Lee
Nice and Soft
Deep Down Inside
My Naughty Secret
Natural Grace
Juicy Fruit
The Sweetest Peach
Bursting With Energy
Coffee to Go
Hold Your Horses
The Montana Zone
Aaron looked over at the GPS display and laughed. "Turn right in 112.8 miles." Jeez, what kind of place was this?
He pressed down on the accelerator, but it was no use. No matter how fast he pushed it, it still felt like he was barely making any progress.
On the plane, he'd read that Montana was nicknamed "Big Sky Country," and now he understood why. The heavens above were like a giant blue dome, and he in his car was just a tiny ant crawling along a ribbon between endless grass fields.
Aaron leaned over and activated the satellite radio function, but it couldn't seem to lock on a signal. He whacked it with one hand as if they might get it to work, but it was to no avail.
Everything in this crappy rental car was junk. The front passenger visor was hanging down askew after he'd gone over a tiny bump in the road, and there was a streak across the windshield thanks to the wiper fluid tank being empty.
Oh well, he sighed to himself. He'd be back in civilization in three days, where there were three noodle shops within a five-minute walk of his apartment and the sky didn't look as though it wanted to swallow him up whole.
Just then, Aaron heard a loud thud, and the car began to vibrate. The accelerator turned to mush under his foot, and he had to use both hands to steer the car to the side of the road. As soon as he got the vehicle stopped, there was a loud popping noise and then steam began to billow out from under the hood.
"Damn it!" he shouted, putting the car in park and then climbing out.
Aaron walked around to the front of the car as if he could better diagnose the problem from there. The truth was that he knew nothing about cars other than he docked his Uber drivers a star if the air conditioning didn't work.
Aaron walked back to the driver's seat and hunted around for a minute or so until he found the button to release the hood. Once he popped it, even more white smoke began rising out. Aaron walked back around to the front of the car, peering inside as if he had any clue as to what had gone wrong.
Crap! Out of frustration, Aaron kicked the front tire, causing the small car to rock back and forth for a moment. He then reached into the front compartment and got out his phone. But when he held it up, he saw that there was no signal. Of course! His car had broken down in the literal middle of nowhere.
Looking around, all he could see was miles of wooden fencing that separated the road from the grasslands beyond. He assumed that this was someone's ranch or something, but he hadn't seen any buildings in a long time.
Everything related to human inhabitation was few and far between in this godforsaken state. Heck, he couldn't even remember the last time he'd seen a vehicle on this road. It was just him, the grass, and the endless sky above.
What the heck was he going to do? Aaron got back in the car and played around with the GPS for a while. The nearest town was more than twenty miles away, far too far for him to walk. His phone had no signal, and now his car was toast. He was well and truly screwed.
"Stupid car, fix yourself!" shouted Aaron, kicking the tires over and over again until his big toe began to squeal in protest. But the car just sat there, hissing as more white vapor billowed out from whatever rusty piece of junk car part had sprung the leak. Clearly, the car wasn't going anywhere.
Aaron walked over to the side of the road. Maybe some yokel in his oversized pickup would come rumbling down the road and give him a ride to the nearest town. Or maybe some farmer on his way to a steer auction or whatever it was that people in Montana did would come driving past and then fix Aaron's car.
But none of those things happened. The road just lay there, empty of all traffic and completely useless as it stretched off toward the distant horizon.
Realizing that he was going to probably be there for a while, Aaron did an inventory of his possessions. He had a protein bar that he'd brought from Chicago and two bottles of overpriced Fiji water that he'd bought at the airport in Bozeman, but that was it in terms of food supplies.
In the trunk, he found a tiny first aid kit that had some band-aids and gauze but nothing else, not even any aspirin. But there were no roadside flares or emergency lights, something he could use for when it got dark.
Frustrated, Aaron climbed up on the trunk and sat there, hoping against hope that he'd soon see a tiny dot in the distance that signified an oncoming vehicle, but there was nothing.
After a while, the hissing from the car stopped, and he began to realize that he could actually hear the wind as it moved through the grass. It made a kind of faint rustling noise that was rather unsettling, as if the landscape was alive.
But there were no sounds of birds chirping or squirrels chattering or any other friendly animal sounds. It was just the rustling of the grass and the beating of his heart in his chest as he grew increasingly more despondent. Was there really no one who ever used this road?
Did they build it as some kind of joke to trap unsuspecting tourists? Or was it some boondoggle project authorized by some corrupt rancher years ago and then abandoned? Whatever the case, it was nuts! How could there be a two-lane highway without any vehicles on it?
Aaron cast about for something to look at. Even a mountain in the far-off distance would've been a welcome respite from the endless waves of grass, but there was nothing.
Eventually, he spotted a couple of trees far off in the middle of a field and settled for that. He sat there and sipped on his water, wondering if he'd somehow been caught in an episode of the Twilight Zone or something.
Imagine, if you will, a place that is only a three-hour flight from Chicago but exists on another level of space and time. A place, allegedly inhabited by more than a million people, yet they are nowhere to be seen.
A place where thousands of cattle are ranched, yet even they are swallowed up by the vastness of this stupid dumb prairie that just makes creepy rustling noises designed to scare out-of-towners whom the rental company gave the crappiest car on their lot to. This is... the Montana Zone.
Aaron chuckled to himself and jotted down a few notes on his phone. His friend Larry worked in Los Angeles as a part-time scriptwriter. Maybe he could sell the story to him and make a few bucks from this horrible, stupid day.
But for now, that would have to wait because he was as stuck as a person could be stuck.
After a while, the feeling of the sky above him got to be too oppressive, so he got back into the car. He wished he had some music to listen to, but the stupid car had no Bluetooth, so he couldn't connect his phone.
Instead, he leaned the seat back and began imagining himself back in his office, explaining to Steve and the gang how he'd suffered in the wilds of Montana, but it'd all been worth it when he'd signed the contract, everyone clapping him on the back and congratulating him for being so brave and courageous.
Just then, Aaron heard the faint neighing of a horse. But was that just a bit of color from his imaginary anecdote, or was it a real animal?
He sat up and watched in amazement as he saw a person on a horse slowly make its way down the fence line. Yes!
Don’t Let Go!
Aaron sprang out of the car and began waving his arms. "Hey! Over here!"
But the person on the horse made no sign that they'd seen him. They were still quite a ways off, making painfully slow progress as they ambled along in his general direction.
Aaron reached into the car and pressed the horn, giving out three painfully inadequate electronic toots. The darn thing sounded more like a kid's toy than a real car horn. Looking over, the horseback rider still seemed not to have noticed him.
"Hello! Help! I'm over here!" shouted Aaron as loud as he could. He grabbed one of his T-shirts from his bag and began waving it in the air above his head. "Hello! I need some assistance, please!"
As the rider got closer, Aaron saw that it was a woman. She was kitted out as a cowgirl with a large white Stetson hat and dark blue jeans. She looked so tiny compared to the massive animal, but it was clear that she was an experienced rider, her back ramrod straight.
"Hey! Over here!" yelled Aaron. As the woman got closer, he saw that she had a smile on her face, as if his broken-down car and cries for help were a source of amusement to her.
When she got closer still, he saw that she was quite young, a teenager, in fact. But beggars couldn't be choosers, and she was the first person that he'd seen in hours.
"Hi there," said Aaron as the woman eased her horse over to the fence post just across from his car. "My car broke down. I was hoping maybe you could give me a lift into town."
The young woman looked down at him and adjusted the angle of her hat. "You're not from around here," she said, a statement, not a question.
"No, no, I'm from Chicago," said Aaron. "I don't know what happened. I must've hit a pothole or something. My car just started making all this white smoke, and now it won't start."
"Ah, rental car," said the young woman.
"Excuse me?" said Aaron.
"Your car has Montana plates," said the young woman. "But you're not from around here."
"Right," said Aaron. "Anyway, can you give me a ride into town? Or call a tow truck or something?"
"Ain't no phone signals around these parts," said the young woman, still scrutinizing him intently from her high perch on the horse.
"Please, you have to help me," said Aaron. "You're the first person I've seen in hours. Please. I'd be happy to pay you for your trouble, ma'am."
The girl laughed. "Ma'am? Do I look like a ma'am to you?"
"No ma'a... excuse me, no, uh... miss, you don't," said Aaron. "So, can you help me?"
The girl grinned. "It depends."
"Um, sorry, what?" said Aaron. "Depends on what?"
"Depends on whether you've ever ridden a horse before, Chicago," said the young woman.
"Um, my name is actually Aaron," he said, feeling a bit peevish at this girl's intransigence. Why was she just sitting there, staring at him instead of helping him? "And no, I've never ridden a horse before."
"Hmm," said the girl. "Well, that's gonna complicate things, Chicago. My cabin's about three miles that way, but it's pretty rough country for walking, especially in them city shoes of yours."
"Um, I don't understand," said Aaron.
"Well, I reckon you're cute enough," said the girl. "Come on now. We're burning daylight."
"Excuse me?" said Aaron.
"Come on, time's a' wasting," said the girl. "You coming with me or not?"
Aaron gulped. "Um, on your horse?"
The girl laughed. "Your momma drop you on your head when you were a baby?"
"Hey," said Aaron, blushing.
"Come on, now!" said the girl, gesturing at him.
Aaron sighed and then began the laborious task of climbing over the fence. His foot slipped the first time, nearly causing him to fall back and land on the ground.
Eventually, he got himself onto the other side. He then cautiously walked up to the horse, being sure to keep a respectful distance.
"Um, it's a little high," said Aaron. "I don't know how to get up there."
"Give me your hand," said the girl.
Aaron extended his arm. Aaron hopped up and, with a lot of assistance from the girl, somehow managed to swing his leg up and over the back of the horse. A moment later, he found him astride the horse, nestled just behind the saddle.
"Woah!" he said, swaying and nearly losing his balance.
"Gotta hold on tight, Chicago," said the girl with a chuckle.
Aaron looked around on the saddle for something to clutch onto, but he saw nothing. It was only then that he realized that she meant that he needed to hold onto her waist. Feeling incredibly anxious, he gingerly reached out and placed his hands on her hips.
"Tighter than that, darling," said the girl, a mirthful smile in her voice.
Aaron gulped and then wrapped his arms around her slender waist.
"Whatever you do, don't let go!" called out the girl.
She clucked her tongue, and then they were off. Aaron did, indeed, almost go flying backward off the horse, but he somehow managed to stay astride it as she turned the horse around and began proceeding away from the highway.
Aaron just could not believe that he was horseback riding for the first time, his arms clenched around the waist of a teenage girl whose name he didn't even know.
But he had to admit that she was rather beautiful, her long brunette hair waving as they cantered along. And she had a pretty nice figure, too, with a round butt that he'd be lying if he said he wasn't enjoying looking at as much as possible.
But he had to try and focus on not falling off. He tried to relax, letting his body move with the motion of the horse. It was kind of fun, actually!
Aaron looked out across the prairie and saw that the sun was beginning to set. There were streaks of pink and orange in the sky, and the clouds were turning purple and red. It was a stunning sunset, something he'd never seen in the city.
He closed his eyes for a second and breathed in the fresh air. Maybe this is why people spend so much money to go on vacation in remote places like this.
Honey Lee
Suddenly, the girl pulled the reins hard, bringing the horse to a halt.
Aaron opened his eyes, expecting to find that they'd run smack into a tree or something. Instead, he saw a small log cabin in a clearing. Was this where she lived? The place was tiny.
"Come on, Chicago," said the girl. "We're here."
Aaron sat there for a moment until he realized that she was waiting for him to dismount. Sending up a silent prayer that he wouldn't fall on his ass, he nervously swung his leg over and hopped down.
He stumbled, but he managed to keep his balance, which was a point of pride that he was definitely going to include in his anecdote when he got back home.
A moment later, the girl dismounted and led her horse over to a fence rail. Now that she was down on the ground, he saw that she was quite short, maybe just a few inches over five feet tall.
She patted her horse and whispered a few words into its ear as she tied him up to the fence rail. She then looked over at Aaron and beckoned for him to follow her.
Stepping inside the cabin, Aaron saw that it was just a single room, albeit one that was neat as a pin. There was a small bed in one corner as well as a wood-fired cookstove and a small kitchen. There were two wooden chairs on either side of a thick rug, and Aaron walked over to one and sat down.
"Wow, um, nice place you have here," said Aaron. "The view alone would get you a million bucks if this were in Chicago."
"Well, this ain't Chicago," said the girl with a laugh as she took off her hat and rested it on a peg near the door. "And this isn't my place."
"Oh?" said Aaron.
The girl laughed. "This is just one of the cabins on my daddy's ranch. We use it when we're running calves in the spring or when one of the cowboys has to come out here and mend a fence. Did you really think I live here?"
Aaron blushed. "Well..."
"My goodness, you are a city boy, ain't you, Chicago?" said the girl, grinning at him. The more he looked at her, the more he realized that she was downright pretty. With her clear skin and bright eyes, she would be a knockout on the club scene back home.
"Hey now, I've been camping once or twice," said Aaron. "My dad used to take me fishing when I was little."
"Well, good for you," said the girl, kicking off her cowboy boots, revealing a pair of petite little feet with delicately painted toenails, something he had not expected at all. "My daddy and my uncles love fishing, but I just find it boring. I'd much rather be riding Wesley."
"Um, excuse me?" said Aaron, his cheeks flush with heat.
The girl somehow saw the naughty image that was in his mind and laughed. "Wesley's my horse. Oh, and I'm Honey Lee, by the way."
"Ah," said Aaron, blushing. "That's, um, a pretty name."
"Why, thank you," said the girl, grinning. "So, Chicago, I'm hoping you got at least a hundred dollars on you."
"What? Why?" said Aaron.
"Because that's what Jed charges for a tow," said Honey Lee. "He's the only fellow with a wrecker in this county."
"Oh, right," said Aaron. "Well, the rental agreement covers tows, I think."
Honey Lee snickered. "Doesn't matter what that big city paperwork says. Jed only takes cash, darling."
"Right," said Aaron, feeling a tingle of warmth in his chest after she called him darling, although he couldn't figure out why he liked it so much. "Well, yes, I did bring some cash. I was warned that, uh... ATMs around here might be far and few between."
"Well, then we're good to go," said Honey Lee, walking over to the counter. She then picked up the handle of what he realized was a rotary phone, something he'd only seen pictures of on the internet.
Honey Lee dialed a number while Aaron watched with fascination. Honey Lee then had a short conversation, telling Jed or whoever it was on the other end of the line where to find his car.
"Yep. Little Asian shitbox. You can't miss it," said Honey Lee with a laugh as she hung up the phone. "All right. That's settled. Jed will give me a call once he's got your car in his garage and had a chance to look over it. Now, what do you say about some grub?"
"Um, some food? Sure!" said Aaron, feeling his belly rumble.
"But first, I need to get out of these riding clothes," said Honey Lee. "Assuming you can be a gentleman, of course."
"I'm sorry, what?" said Aaron.
"Turn around and face the wall," said Honey Lee. "It's rude to watch a young lady when she's changing."
"Oh, right," said Aaron, blushing as he turned around. For good measure, he also put his hand up to cover his eyes.
As he sat there, he heard the rustle of clothes dropping to the floor. Something about imagining Honey Lee undressing just a few feet away was rather arousing.
He had truly never met a girl like her before, pretty without being bitchy and confident without being bossy. Was this what all Montana women were like?
"All right, I'm decent," he heard Honey Lee say. When he turned around, he saw that she was dressed in a pair of denim shorts and a simple white crop top.
It wasn't a look that would fly in Chicago, but on her, it just looked right, especially now that he could see the outline of her small but well-shaped breasts.
"Wow," muttered Aaron, unaware that he'd spoken aloud.
"Oh, you like?" said Honey Lee, smiling as she gave him a little twirl.
"Oh, yes ma'... I mean yes, miss," said Aaron.
Honey Lee giggled. "You know, you sure do blush a lot, Chicago. Not something the guys around here do too often unless they want to get teased."
"Sorry, it's just been a long day," said Aaron. "My flight left at 5 am and, well, it's been a bit of a stressful trip."
Honey Lee nodded sympathetically. "Yeah, I hear ya. Travel can be a pain. But hey, I bet you're glad you decided to come out here, right?"
"I suppose," said Aaron. So far, the trip was one big disaster. Except for meeting Honey Lee, of course.
"Aw, darling, cheer up!" said Honey Lee. "This here is God's country. Ain't no better place in the world."
Aaron nodded. The fresh air and the sunset were pretty nice, he had to admit.
"I'm hoping you ain't one of them vegenatarians or whatever you call it," said Honey Lee. "You eat meat, right?"
"Sure," said Aaron.
"Good! Because I feel like making my famous fried chicken," said Honey Lee.
Aaron watched as she bustled around the kitchen, and it wasn't long before a delicious aroma filled the cabin. She was beautiful and she could cook? Wow, she'd have guys fighting over her right and left in Chicago.