Chapter 19 #2
“Thank you,” I whispered against his lips before he had time to pull away from the kiss.
He looked at me from the close distance, his brow scrunching minutely, before he nodded.
“Of course, Hawk.”
I extracted myself and went to check out the bathroom which had a tub with jets. The whole thing was clean enough to gleam—again, I’d stayed in some sketchy places while on the road before and these things mattered to me more than most.
“How’s it look?” Carter called out.
“Like I want a long bath tonight before you fuck the rest of my energy out of me.”
He laughed, the sound delighted. “Can do!”
Smiling, I glanced at the mirror. I looked happy. Relaxed. Like things were finally going my way.
After a walk around the pool and checking out the club lounge, we took a nap in the room, just cuddling and spending time together.
It might’ve evolved into mutual blowjobs and then almost being late for dinner, but who was counting?
The restaurant was an interesting kind of fusion place with I guess French cooking and Italian and whatnot. I wasn’t sure. It didn’t matter to me as long as the food was good.
I had salmon, which was the only fish I liked, with some fancy potatoes and veggies, and was very happy with that choice.
Carter had Corsican Ragout, while both Marielle and Elisa chose pasta dishes.
In the middle of dinner, I realized we were acting very coupley.
The ladies were tasting each other’s food, but so were Carter and I.
Looking from the outside, there wouldn’t have been any doubt that we were two queer couples, and something about that solidified everything to me in a way I hadn’t expected.
Later, when I got my bath and my slow fucking that turned into making love in the best way possible, I realized that I was falling in love with Carter.
Somehow, I wasn’t scared.
Marielle and Elisa were still in The Springs when Carter appeared at the training barn a few days later.
I was working with Mal and Ezio, the young draft cross gelding everyone joked was Mal’s horse because Crew had bought him for Mal. It was a long story, one I’d have to tell Carter if nobody beat me to it.
“Yeah, he seems good, but like you said, the back end needs work,” I was telling Mal as we watched the gelding trot.
I glanced over at the gate when I clocked Carter.
He lifted a hand, so I clapped Mal on the arm and nudged my head toward Carter.
“Hey,” he called out quietly to Carter, before concentrating back on Ezio.
I waited for Ezio to be the furthest away from the gate before crossing over to climb a rung so I could kiss Carter without lifting up to my toes.
“Hey, what’s up?” I asked, smiling against his lips.
“I was mucking the stalls at the stock barn and when I got done there, I realized I missed you so here I am.”
I looked at him and grinned. Sweet, sweet man. So of course I had to ruin it.
“So what you’re saying is that horse shit makes you think of me?”
Carter groaned and hung his head. “You’re an asshole, Mr. Harrington.”
“Takes one to know one, baby.” I smirked. Then I pecked his lips. “How about I take you for a little ride to apologize?”
He looked surprised. “You have time?”
“I want to take Snoopy out anyway because he’s leaving tomorrow, but I thought you might want to ride Humphrey for me?”
Carter’s jaw dropped, and then he swallowed hard. “You’d let me ride your horse?”
I chuckled. “He’s my best boy and he’s perfectly capable of carrying someone who needs more practice. You’ll do fine.”
“If you’re sure?” He frowned a little, but I figured it was more out of being a bit insecure than actual doubt.
“I’m sure. I promise.”
“Well, okay then.” He gave me a smile and followed me to grab the two horses so we could tack them.
Carter walked Humphrey and led him to the barn as if he’d always been doing it. Humphrey, for his part, plodded along because he trusted me to not put him in harm’s way.
Snoopy was perky and happy and definitely ready to go home tomorrow. There was always something you could work on with a horse, and I’d made a list of things for his owner to keep working on once they got to the new home and Snoopy was settled.
We saddled the horses and I led the way with Snoopy, while Humphrey continued plodding along. Carter was a bit stiff in the saddle until he realized that the gelding wasn’t going anywhere and was barely interested in the proceedings.
“You good?” I asked as I guided us toward the event barn.
He smiled. “Yeah, we’re good.” After maybe five minutes of silence, he asked, “Are you going to let me know where we’re going?”
“We’ll get there.” I smiled back.
Once we were on a stretch of road where I could easily see each way, I nudged Snoopy into a trot.
Humphrey perked up and Carter managed to remain on top of the situation and the horse, which I thought was nice progress.
“You’ve gotten better at riding,” I told him honestly.
He could’ve taken it as me talking down at him, but instead, he understood I was complimenting him and beamed.
“Thanks. I’ve tried hard to learn.”
“I can tell.”
Once we got to the event barn, I steered us to a barely there path past it and up the hill.
Both horses liked the challenge of the change in terrain, and Carter seemed to be having a good time.
“There’s this place near the cow pasture where everyone thinks is my favorite spot on the ranch,” I spoke when we got back on even ground. “That’s where I built my little hut when I wanted to get away from everyone when I was six.”
“But it’s not your favorite?” he asked astutely.
I smiled. “No, it’s not.”
I kept leading the way to my actual favorite place on the whole ranch. It was up the hill behind the event barn, past all the work Fern had done there to get her business running. It took us another fifteen minutes of riding to get there.
It was nothing special. There were blue spruces on a spot that slightly overlooked the creek in the distance.
I stopped Snoopy on an even spot and dismounted, then went to grab Humphrey’s reins with my other hand so Carter could get down, too.
There was no need to tie the horses, so I gave Carter the reins back and walked to the spot I wanted to show him with Snoopy trailing along behind me.
“I like the view, such as it is,” I said quietly, gesturing with my free hand.
Carter and Humphrey came to stand next to us. Carter didn’t say anything immediately. Instead, he inhaled the fresh, cool air and the scent of the pines.
“I can see that. You said you needed peace and quiet sometimes. This is both of those things. And the view is lovely.”
“If I turn my head and you’re looking at me, I’m gonna withhold blowjobs for a week,” I deadpanned.
Carter guffawed, then laughed for a moment as I tried not to do the same, failing miserably.
He shook his head and took my free hand. “I wasn’t, for the record. But I could’ve been.”
I blushed. This was why I’d joked.
Luckily Humphrey had excellent comedic timing—he got it from me—and started to rub his giant head against Carter’s shoulder, bumping him into me.
“Hey now,” I said firmly, and Humphrey stopped immediately.
“You really have a magic touch when it comes to the horses,” Carter stated, amused.
“Not just horses.” I waggled my eyebrows.
Grinning, he replied, “That, my love, needs some more empirical studies conducted by yours truly.”
We realized what he’d called me at the same time and chose to ignore it. Instead, we kissed until Snoopy stomped his foot to get going again.
“Study session at your place tomorrow night?” I asked when we started the ride back.
Carter laughed. “Sounds good to me.”