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floursramona · 6 months ago

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I love how sweet this is! The build up of their friendship and flirtation pays off wonderfully gentle. The background of the rainstorm is perfect - the thunder and lighting is crashing around them but they come together so softly. Such a lovely piece, thanks for sharing!

Southern Nights

Pairing: Jack ‘Whiskey’ Daniels x f!reader.

Summary: Gettin' caught in the rain with a cowboy.

Word Count: 2.8k

Rating: Mature 18+

Warnings: Complete absence of horse lore. Jack’s hat. Brief alcohol references. Flannel shirts. Hay bales. British author writing cowboy stuff. Reader is shorter than Jack and he can pick her up. Heavy petting.

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Nicknames drove you to despair and always had. As the shortest and, frankly, dorkiest looking kid in your class at school you’d heard them all, and they never got any funnier or more original.

So it was just your luck to take a job on a horse ranch with a bunch of cowboys who told you their first names once and once only. You needed a spreadsheet to match up their names with their booze themed monikers. Jack ‘Whiskey’ Daniels seemed to delight in this enforced joviality, playing up to his merry persona every chance he got.

You'd gotten the job, in part, because you were a woman. The other guy's testosterone filled whip-cracking was becoming a little old-fashioned in today's world. Your interview consisted of little more than you proving you knew how to tack a horse and confirming whether or not you could start right away. You'd half expected a tobacco spitting contest.

Jack charmed pretty much all the visiting day guests, and the guestbook on reception read like a teenage girl's diary. For the most part, you saw through his corporate sponsored flirting, and you tried to ignore what it did to you when he turned that molasses deep voice on you while you brushed the horses or rode quietly together in his truck to the feed store, his hand drumming against the open window frame as you rumbled along the dirt roads into town.

You wouldn’t necessarily say that you and Jack got off on the wrong foot, but at first, you thought he just wasn’t your kind of person. He'd swagger over and drop down onto the bench next to you at lunchtime and you'd end up eating in silence because you were so determined to avoid both his cheeky questions about your weekend plans, and that little honey flecked flash that would creep into his eyes.

You wanted to pass the weeks as quickly as you could, to keep your head down and work hard. He spent a large majority of his time just leaning on things, watching you, and making heat prickle under your skin.

You were as Southern as they came, so his dashing cowboy routine should have had you rolling your eyes into next week but, most days it left you flustered and a tad irritable and you found yourself dropping things a lot more when he was around.

The boss seemed to pick up on something and kept pairing the two of you up to work together. “We’re a family here”, he’d said knowingly as he slapped you on the back a little too hard. This was how you’d ended up mapping out a new trail route together ahead of the summer season of guests arriving.

You had set off late in the afternoon once all the daily chores were done and the midday heat had started to ease up. The air was thick with humidity and beads of sweat dripped from underneath your ageing hat, running off the end of your nose at regular intervals and carving salty rivets through the last of the sunscreen on your face. You tugged at the long point of the red cotton bandana around your neck and wiped your cheeks with it, a somewhat pointless endeavour, but at least it gave a few moments relief.

Jack was up ahead, his narrow denim clad hips swaying gently in the saddle as the clip-clop of his silver dappled horse’s hooves matched the steady rhythm of your chestnut mare. There was a peaceful silence between you both that you were grateful for after a busy morning’s work.

After an hour, he caught your attention with a quick, high-pitched whistle and pointed towards the pebbled edge of the riverbank, signalling that it was time for a rest stop.

“Hot as hell out here.” He said as he dismounted with a thud and fished his water canteen out of the saddle bag. He downed the whole thing in a couple of large gulps, and you watched an errant drip run down his chin and disappear beneath the open collar of his shirt. He crunched his way over the shingle to the water's edge, where he crouched down to refill.

“Yup.” You nodded and wiped your itchy eyes with the sleeve of your linen shirt. “Hot as Hades, as my Momma would say.”

He chuckled at how you always over exaggerated your Southern lilt when you talked about your family.

You hopped off your horse and led her down to the river for a drink, letting the reins drop to the ground as you pulled a worn map out of your pocket. You sat down on the hot stones and leaned the paper against your thigh, tracing the faded colours of the route with your finger.

“So, we have about another mile and a half of the riverside path, then we cross the bridge, and it should be an easy ride through these fields as we come back around on ourselves.”

Jack took off his brown leather Stetson and splashed his face with some cool water. You watched out of the corner of your eye as he ran his hand through his damp hair and smoothed down the corners of his moustache with his fingertips. He really was infuriatingly handsome.

“Ok, Calam’.” He nodded. “Let’s keep movin’.”

You bristled at the nickname. ‘Calamity Jane’ he’d christened you one night in the town’s only bar when he’d seen you down a whole beer without taking a breath and almost break some fella’s wrist when he stood way too close to you and called you “Sugar.”

Mostly, you liked that he thought of you as tough, that you weren't some delicate flower angling your petals towards his megawatt smile. But there was a small part of you, one that you couldn't quiet, that felt a little deflated at him thinking of you as ‘just one of the guys.’ You saw the softness underneath his bravado, and you hoped he saw yours too.

You heaved yourself back into the saddle, and Jack tossed you two apples from his pack. You fed one to your horse and kept the other for yourself.

“See how you have everyone eatin’ out of the palm of your hand?” Jack joked.

You shielded your eyes from the sun, which had dipped low enough to shine under the brim of your hat. “I’d need to be real careful around you, Jack. Wouldn’t want to lose a finger now.”

He laughed and snapped his jaw at you before giving his horse a firm ‘giddy up’.

The two of you set off again, trotting your way towards the bridge, the river quietly babbling at the side of you.

When you reached the old beam bridge, your horse needed a little gentle encouragement to cross the rickety wooden slats. Jack turned his head to check on you, his mirrored aviators slung low on his face. “Ah, come on now, gorgeous. Nothin’ to be afraid of."

You patted her softly on the mane. “She doesn’t need you sweet talkin’ her, Jack.” Your horse let out a small nicker of agreement. “This here’s an independent lady.”

“You’re assumin’ I was talkin’ to the horse.” He winked at you from beneath his shades before pushing them back up the bridge of his nose.

When you reached the other side, you paused to check the map again. You were pretty sure you were heading west, but didn’t want to give Jack the pleasure of proving you wrong. The teasing would be unbearable.

“Ok, so we just need to be headin-” You were cut off by a loud whinny from both horses.

“Well, shit.” Jack pointed to some ominous looking black clouds that had appeared seemingly out of nowhere. “We’d better get goin’ before that hits us.”

You scanned the map again. “There’s some sort of barn three fields over. If we can get there, we can sit it out.”

“Passin’ the time with Jack in the hayloft?” His mouth curved into a crooked smirk, showing off the deep dimple in his cheek. “Can’t say I mind that idea one bit.”

“Oh be quiet, would you?” You kicked your heels in the stirrups and kept your eyes forward. You didn’t trust yourself not to return that smirk. “Let’s get goin’.”

By the time the barn was in sight, the rain had caught up with you and was bouncing off the rim of your hat in increasingly large droplets. The damp leather rubbed the skin of your forehead, and you lost grip of the reins more than once.

Your horse huffed and snorted, the change in the air making her nervous. You hummed to her absentmindedly for a few minutes and stroked her mane with your knuckles.

“That’s a nice tune you’re hummin’ there, Calam’". Jack said playfully from up ahead. “I’m guessin’ that it’s just in your head on account of your nickname, not cause’ you’re tryin’ to tell me somethin’?’”

You felt embarrassment burn under your skin at the realisation that you’d been humming ‘Secret Love’ from the movie Calamity Jane. Jesus Christ. You couldn't have chosen any other song from any other old movie, could you?

“Don’t get your hopes up now, Jack.” You shook your head as he chuckled and started whistling the same tune, only louder.

The ground underneath you was rapidly turning from dust to mud, and you were keen to get to shelter sooner rather than later. As you reached the brow of the hill, you saw the barn up ahead, all red timber and orange rusted metal.

“Roof looks like it’s hangin’ on for dear life, but it’s better than nothin’.” You shouted ahead to Jack.

It was at that moment that the first rumble of lightning and crack of thunder hit. Your poor spooked mare reared up before you could calm her and sent you sliding off the back of her. You hit the ground with a thump and heard something pop in your ankle.

“Fuck!” You cried out as you hissed at the pain and the indignity of falling flat on your ass.

“Shit, you alright down there darlin’?” Jack was off his horse and striding towards you.

You rubbed your ankle and wiggled your toes tentatively inside your boots. “Yeah. Think it’s just a sprain, but dammit it hurts.”

There was a flash of concern in his warm brown eyes. “Think you’ll be alright for just a minute while I get these two inside?” He gestured his thumb towards the barn, which was now just 100 feet away.

You chewed the inside of your cheek as you calculated how long it would take him to get there and back to you. “Yeah, I think so. So long as you don’t take your sweet time about it.”

Jack huffed out a laugh. “Don’t go anywhere, now.” He said as he mounted his horse and grabbed the reins of yours. You watched him gallop away, dismount, and tie them both up underneath the shelter. He gave them both a nuzzle and a scratch behind the ear before he sprinted back to you.

You were turning your sodden hat around in your hands when he returned, and the leather flopped apologetically in your lap. “Safe to say the waterproofin’ on this has seen better days.”

“Now, haven’t I been tellin’ you for weeks you need a new one?” Jack lifted his hat off his head and placed it on top of yours.

His hat was warm and comfortable, but much too large. The brim covered almost all of your eyes. You held it in place with your palm as you tipped your face up to look at him. “Hold up, did you just give me your hat there, Jack? Are we betrothed now?” You fluttered your eyelashes sarcastically at him.

"True." You smirked up at him. "But usually, when you're talkin', I'm waiting for you to be quiet."

He stretched out his hand to pull you up. “More of a loan, darlin’.” He had his usual cocksure expression on his face, but there was that softness there too. That one that sometimes seemed like it was just for you.

You grabbed his hand, heaved yourself up to standing, and winced in pain. “I don’t think I can weight-bear on it, Jack.” You said as you wobbled into his side.

He caught you, wrapping his arm around your waist and sliding two fingers through the belt loop of your drenched jeans.

He patted you on the waist affectionately. “Ah, hush now, enough of this grousin’.” He said, smiling. “Looks like I’m gonna have to carry you, I’m afraid.”

You felt foolish and self-conscious all at the same time, but his arm around you felt comforting, like it wasn’t the first time he’d held you.

“You think you can?” You pulled down the hem of your t-shirt a little further down over the curve of your belly.

Jack scooped you up with a grunt, hooking his arms underneath your knees.

“Little half-pint like you? No problem.” He said as he gave your thighs a reassuring squeeze “Need you to keep quiet and turn the complainin’ down, though?” He winked. “You're scarin’ the horses.”

He hurried towards the barn, his boots splashing through the increasingly deep puddles as you rested your head against his chest. You felt safe here. He was damp but warm, and his shirt smelt like straw.

Once inside, he gently placed you on top of a hay bale, the sharp stalks spiking your legs through your jeans just a little. He pushed the sleeves of his soaked grey flannel shirt up to his elbows, knelt down beside you, and set about delicately pulling your boots off your feet. The rain hammered against the worn-out tin roof above you, and drips of it were falling around you both, making the hay smell warm and sweet.

“Ooof.” He let out a long, slow sigh. “That’s gonna bruise up a treat, darlin’.”

He began to lightly massage your swollen ankle with his fingertips.

You put your hand on top of his, and he looked up at you, one eyebrow raised like a question.

You decided to be brave.

“Jack.” You said softly as you rubbed his thumb with yours and felt him sigh a little at your touch. “You’ve called me darlin’ three times now.”

He cleared his throat and moved to slump down onto the hay bale next to you. Your hand fell to your side, and he captured it inside both of his before the thoughts in your head got too loud.

“Well,” he paused and ran his palm over his jaw, “that’s right. I have.”

He brought your hand up to his face and kissed your knuckles lightly. “The way I see it, you can keep bein’ my buddy Calamity Jane. Or-.” He took a beat and swallowed. Your heart was now hammering in your chest. “Or you can let me kiss you, and you can be my darlin’. What d’you think about that?”

You shifted forwards to close the gap between you, tipped the brim of his hat upwards with two fingers, and let your lips hover over his for just a moment. A little jolt of electricity sparked through you when you saw him run the tip of his tongue over the cleft in his bottom lip in anticipation.

“I never really liked that nickname, anyhow.” You said in a breath.

A blast of thunder made you jump back with a squeal, and Jack pulled you back under his arm with a laugh. Your wet clothes had started to make you shiver a little, but he felt like a furnace. “Can you keep it down, please, darlin’?” He buried his face into the velvety skin of your neck and kissed you softly, once, twice, before he said with a growl. “Those horses are scared enough as it is without you screamin’ the barn down.”

As you pressed your lips to his, he glided his hands from your waist and slowly up your arms until one was cupping your face and the other was wrapped around your shoulders. Your tongue tasted apples and the cold water from the river, and he hummed softly as he dug his fingertips into the fleshy part of your bicep, a marked contrast to the gentleness of his kisses.

He hissed quietly as you untucked his shirt from his jeans so that you could slide your hands underneath his shirt and feel the warm skin on his back.

You poked him in the side with your elbow. “Jack Daniels! You kiss me, and now you’re teasin’ me?”

He flicked his hat off your head with his finger and titled your chin up with his thumb. “Hmm. You’re right.” He nudged your nose with his own and slanted his mouth against yours. “No more teasin’. We’ll let this storm pass, shall we?”

Taglist:

@nerdieforpedro @chujo-hime @5oh5 @katareyoudrilling @maried01 @survivingandenduring @pedrit0-pascalit0 @casa-boiardi @iloveenya @lwfics @rhoorl @msjarvis @heareball @yorksgirl @maggiemayhemnj @morallyinept @khindahra @inept-the-magnificent @angiewatson @auteurdelabre @trulybetty @lizzie-cakes @laughing-in-th3-purple-rain @julesonrecord @magpie-to-the-morning

A/N: Here's the song she was humming 🤠

#i read things #jack daniels #secretelephanttattoo #this fic gave me so much peace #and some giggles i loved it

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