Chapter 19 #2
“Who told you that?” she asks around a fit of giggles.
My heart pounds in frustration because why would Waylon lie to me?
“A guy friend.”
This time her head falls back on her shoulders she’s cackling so hard. “A guy friend…who’s clearly in love with you.”
“No, he’s not!” I almost laugh at the idea of Waylon liking me that way.
“Why else would he try to jeopardize your date?”
“To be fair, he’s like six-two, so maybe he doesn’t know because he’s always taller than most girls.”
Marissa’s face twists in an expression that tells me she’s not buying it.
“What?” I ask.
“That man doesn’t want your date to go well.”
I’m not about to admit I’m a virgin and that he’s been teaching me about sex, so I shrug and drop it.
And fuck worrying about a man’s height. I’m getting the cute ankle boots for me.
When I finish my shift at work, I go home and change into riding clothes. I kiss my parents goodbye, give Moose some love and attention, and then drive to the ranch.
“Hey, sweet girl…” I rub my palm up Piper’s nose and give her some praise. “You ready to get outta here and stretch your legs?”
After I put on her tack, I lead us out to the training center. Noah’s helping me sign up for local events that’ll start up in a few months, and although I’m still new to the sport, I’m looking forward to this next season. It’ll be a nice change of pace and keep me busy.
“Hi,” I say when I see Waylon and Wilder bundled up in hats and jackets standing next to Noah, surprised they’re both here.
“Hey,” they reply in unison.
“Looks like you have an audience today, so we’ll start with a course run before we do her exercises,” Noah says, looking suspiciously at her brothers.
“He dragged me here to help with the rails.” Wilder points to Waylon. “But I don’t think I’ve seen you jump before, so you better show me your best.” He winks.
“I’ll try, just for you.” I smirk, securing on my helmet. “But I need to warm her up quickly.”
I hop on and run a few laps around the arena. Every time I pass by Waylon, he’s watching me intently while Wilder plays on his phone. Noah’s watching me too, but she’s looking at my posture and Piper’s trotting.
“You ready?” Noah asks.
“As long as no more loose goats come in and scare my horse…” I arch a brow at Wilder and his mouth drops open.
“Oh, come on. That was one time!”
Waylon shakes his head. “And you’re the reason she fell on her ass.”
“Blame that on Landen for not helpin’ me when I asked him for an extra hand. Those little fuckers are quick and feisty. Be happy only one got out.”
Noah snorts. “I made sure the back doors are closed. That way we won’t freeze our asses off either.”
“Good call,” Waylon says, glancing up at me, but then shifts his gaze back to Noah.
We haven’t exactly told anyone in his family that we’ve been talking or that he’s been coaching me on dating. I’m not sure how they’d react to that news, so I don’t blame him entirely for not wanting to make it obvious with his siblings around.
“Anyway…let’s show ’em whatcha got.” Noah grins, grabbing her clipboard and timer.
The rails are about three feet from the ground, but I’m hoping to start practicing closer to four feet and eventually two rails so I can enter more challenging competitions. Even if I don’t compete in national shows, I like pushing myself and making goals to prove I can do it.
Piper and I get into position and when Noah gives the signal, she takes off for the first jump. I stay focused on the obstacle and guide her with each jump. After the fifth, she’s flawlessly completed all of them and then I hear cheering on the sidelines, almost forgetting they were watching.
“Wow, y’all killed that one!” Noah claps. “You didn’t come to play ’round today.”
Wilder looks impressed, but Waylon looks proud and in awe.
Honestly, though, I was zoned in and wanted to show all of them that we still had it after a few rough weeks.
“Damn, girl. You got the moves.” Wilder holds out his hand for a high-five and I bring Piper closer to reach him.
“You did tell me to do my best.” I shrug bashfully. “Maybe you’re my lucky charm.”
Although I’m only teasing, Waylon’s shoulders tense the more Wilder beams at me.
“Guess I’ll haveta come to all of your practices and shows from now on.”
“Please, Lord, no.” Noah groans, and I laugh at her reaction.
“I take offense to that!” Wilder nudges her.
“Good, it was meant to be offensive.”
Waylon chuckles at Noah and Wilder’s antics as he walks away from them and comes to my other side.
He clasps his hand around my upper thigh and squeezes.
“Thanks for lettin’ us watch. We gotta get the horses ready for the next tour, but I’ll talk to you tonight?
” He lowers his voice so only I can hear him, even though I’m certain Wilder is trying to eavesdrop.
“Yeah, sounds good.” I smile, overly aware of his fingers digging into my riding pants and how close they are to the inside of my leg.
He nods once, then releases me, but my heart continues to pound.
“Wilder, let’s go,” he hollers, walking toward the exit, and then waits for his brother to catch up before they leave together.
“Well, now that I know you can put on a show, let’s do some flatwork and get her prepared to go to the next level,” Noah says.
“Sounds good!”
Flatwork improves her responsiveness to various gait transitions and then we’ll work on patterns and side movement.
Between that, jumping exercises, and conditioning, my lesson goes by quickly.
When we’re closer to the season starting, I’ll have extra sessions so we can work on show prep and go through everything the judges look for in a performance.
I’m still thinking about how Waylon touched me hours later after practice and wondering if Marissa is right. Would he give me bad dating advice on purpose because he thinks of me as more than a friend?
There’s just no way.
Waylon’s a fantasy, like crushing on a celebrity. There’s no point in even considering it could happen or getting your hopes up because it’s so farfetched.
But the more I try to talk to guys on the dating app, the less invested I get in wanting to date any of them. The only reason I agreed to one with Emery is because he didn’t say anything creepy, rude, or offensive.
God.
The bar is truly in hell if those are the only requirements.