The Arrogant Asshole

Fine

We got into another scuffle, Jedediah and I.

He grabbed the collar of my shirt to pull me up into a standing position, and I didn't like it. So I sat right back down, and he didn't like that.

"Get up."

"No."

"Make me."

I never learn my lesson.

He reached down to grab my arm, but I bit his arm first.

He never learns his lesson.

He cursed, then looked at me murderously, rubbing his arm off on his fancy cowboy shirt.

Last time I had escaped before he could catch me again, and this time I wasn't going to experience what I hadn't yet experienced, so I ran for my life.

But, I always took the easy gym classes and never exerted much energy in building muscle. He had worked on a ranch his whole life.

I got maybe seven feet before being tackled.

I yelped, squirming from under him, panting from that short seven feet I had attempted to run.

While I was working out the odds of playing dead or somehow flipping around and punching him, I felt him lean closer and his breath fanning on my ear.

"When are you going to listen to me?" He said, making me freeze. I hated Jedediah now. I hated how I felt a blush creeping on my freckled face, and the heightened awareness of how close he was to me. I hated how I could feel his jeans against mine, his calloused hands holding my smooth wrists down. I hated that I could hear his every breath, and most of all, I hated how much he drove me crazy.

"N-never," I huffed out, wrestling against his strong arms to turn over so I could face him.

I regretted it when I finally flipped onto my back.

His hazel eyes burned into mine, with such an intensity I lost my voice. My breath faltered, leaving me tracing my eyes over his face and carving all of it into my memory.

He had a mole under one eye, three freckles on the bridge of his nose, his perfect nose, and those beautiful hazel eyes. His hair fell wonderfully into place, thick and unruly and dark.

He interrupted my examinations when his eyes flicked over my head and stopped at something that made his eyes widen a smidge.

"Don't move," he commanded, stiffening his own body.

I was snapped out of my voiceless stage, and decided to be annoyed.

"I can't anyway, with your wall of a body in the way," I said snarkily, but stayed still.

He lowered himself fully on top of me, which made me self conscious of how thin I was, and I felt my ears turn red to match my face.

He slowly let go of my arms, and started unbuckling his belt with one hand, the other occupied with keeping his main weight off me.

"I- What are you doing?" I said with an edge to my voice, as he slipped his belt off.

"Shhh." He said, shutting me up before he whipped his belt harshly against something right above my head. I jolted, startled, and turned around quickly.

There laid a snake, writhing from the injury inflicted on its midsection. Jedediah stood up and put his arms on his hips in satisfaction, looking down on the creature.

I stood up next to him, frowning at him.

"Why'd you hurt the poor thing?" I said, crossing my arms.

He turned around sharply, staring at me in confusion.

"That's a rattlesnake, dimwit. They're venomous, we have to kill them if we see them near the ranch so the animals don't get hurt," He remarks, pointing at the dying snake. "Now, I wouldn't mind if it bit some of you all..." He muttered, raising his hand to his chin to imagine some possible murder scheme.

I looked at the snake again, studying its pattern and pretty scales, which reflected the sun in every last twist and turn the snake did.

I still felt bad for it. It didn't choose to be born venomous.

I sighed, turning away from the pitiful sight, and trudged up to my horse. As I was taking it inside the stable, I felt a looming presence behind me and decided to ignore it.

Until it bit me.

I shrieked, punching Jedediah's horse so it would let me go. Is this what it was like for Jedediah when I bit him? I didn't care quite frankly, and focused more on screaming when I saw my blood seeping through my shirt.

Jedediah ran in, shaking his head when he saw me.

"Fuc-Just, nevermind, c'mon, let's get you bandaged up." He said, motioning for me to follow him.

"Were you cursed, by chance?" Jedediah muses as he wraps gauze around my wound.

I stay silent, brooding.

"-ry for biting you." I mumble, looking down at my feet.

"Ah, got a taste of your own medicine and didn't like it?" He says.

I brush his hand away, taping up the bandage myself and slipping my shirt back on.

He smiled, knowing he'd gotten on my nerves again. His smile slipped off his face when I looked over to glare at him, and he sighed, carding his hand through his messy locks.

"Sorry about my horse. He's never done that before, but I'll work with him. You might want to reconsider punching him again, though. Might make him want to bite again." He said, following me out of the bathroom after putting up the first aid kit.

"I hate horses." I say, looking up at him.

"Shocker," he said, his eyebrows bouncing with his comment.

I grunt in annoyance, heading back outside. It was around three by now, and I was hungry but not hungry enough to ask him if I could eat something.

I started down an unkempt path, stepping on vines that got in my way. I attempted to ignore the crunching of vegetation behind me, but soon the source of the noise caught up with me.

"You hungry? You didn't eat lunch with the others." Jedediah said, loping along beside me.

"No," I grunted, blowing the strands of hair falling over my eyes.

Perfect timing for my stomach to growl.

"You say something, and I'll choke you with these vines." I grit out, glaring at him.

He snorts, trying to hold in his laughter, and my face flushes from it.

"Ju-Just leave me alone." I mutter, crossing my arms and sitting down on a nearby log.

And he does. He straight up looks at me, then leaves.

For five minutes.

He's back again, and cupping something with his shirt, and I look away quickly when I see skin.

He walks over to me and sits down beside me, the log creaking under the extra weight.

"Here," he says, plucking a wild blackberry out of his 'shirt bowl'.

I snatch it from him and inspect it before nibbling on it. No bitterness. I decide it's not poisonous because it would be too much work for him to bury my body, although no one would miss me.

I eat it, and am surprised with how it tastes.

He raises an eyebrow when I grab more, but helps himself to some.

"Where'd you get these?" I say once I finish chewing, pointing at the assortment of small and medium sized berries.

"In my special blackberry bush," he replies.

"Of course." I mutter, finishing off the last of them. Now I felt a little sick from all the sweetness. Great.