CHAPTER 19
The day after Victor got back from California was Jade’s birthday, so Victor decided to take her out to the local steak joint for some celebration.
She wanted to know about his California trip.
In return, Jade complained about a recent bad date, and for a while they commiserated over the sorry state of dating in a place with so few options.
He and Jade also talked about their plans for the upcoming trip to Fort Worth, feeding schedules, Jade’s mother’s health, and the possibility of picking up a few mustangs to train for sale in the spring.
Victor wouldn’t consider any of his employees friends, but Jade came as close as one could.
When the bill came, Victor paid for everything.
Jade thanked him, hugged him, and left. Victor was about to follow her out but decided he should stop at the bathroom first. After doing his business, he stepped out into a somewhat secluded corner of the hallway and nearly collided with someone he remembered meeting back at the rodeo in April.
She was a hard person to forget, with her bleached blonde hair and cutting figure, which tonight she was highlighting with a tight black miniskirt, cowboy boots, and a band T-shirt with its sleeves cut off, exposing a slice of black lace underwear beneath.
“Hey!” she greeted with a smile, her heavily lined eyes widening. “Victor, right?”
Victor was shocked Daisy remembered him, as he didn’t consider himself that remarkable. “Yeah, that’s me. You’re Daisy.”
“Oh hey, you remember!” Her smile was very white and pretty. It was no wonder she’d had Johnny in such a vice. “I must have left an impression.”
“Don’t meet many Daisies.”
“And I don’t meet many Victors, least of all cute ones.” At this, she winked and then laughed. “Plus Johnny has had a lot of good things to say about ya.”
“Hmm?” Victor wasn’t sure if he’d heard right. “Johnny—he talks about me? To you?”
“Well, yeah. You’re basically his best friend at this point, right? You wanna say hi to him? He’s just thattaway.” She jabbed a finger back toward the restaurant.
“You’re—you’re here with him? I thought…” Victor trailed off, waiting for some more information but Daisy just blinked at him. “I thought you two were, you know, not together anymore.”
“Oh, we ain’t together. We’re just…” She trailed off in thought. “Well, I don’t know what we are exactly right now, but he’s treating me to a steak dinner so that means somethin’, don’tcha think?”
“I…” Victor didn’t know what to say or how to feel. He was so baffled by this interaction and the fact that Daisy and Johnny were spending time together after Johnny had emphasized so many times that they were done. “How long have you been hanging out?”
“Since November, I guess. He ain’t as much fun when he’s sober, but it’s nice to go places without havin’ to worry about draggin’ him home, if you know what I mean.
” She lowered her voice and leaned in slyly.
“Sex is better, too.” Then she laughed and flipped her hair back, ignoring Victor’s reaction.
“Oh! By the way, Johnny told me you guys are going to Fort Worth for the Stock Show, which is so perfect, because I’m goin’ too to run barrels.
Are you ridin’? I’d love to cheer for ya in the stands if ya are. ”
Victor swallowed a thick wad of saliva to wet his mouth. “I’m just going as a trainer.”
“Aw, well, I’m sure you’ll have fun anyway.
I go every year even if I’m not ridin’. If you don’t mind me gettin’ a little personal, Johnny’s told me you’re single.
” She stepped closer conspiratorially, lowering her voice.
“I got a newly single girlfriend who was gonna come with me for support. Maybe you two can plan to do somethin’ together. ”
There was literally nothing in the world Victor wanted to do less right now than pretend he was straight, least of all for one of Daisy’s friends.
He was much more interested in finding Johnny and strangling him, because he hadn’t said a single word about seeing Daisy again, and Victor could feel rage and betrayal building in his chest.
“I’ll be pretty busy,” Victor bit out hollowly. “If you don’t mind, I gotta get going. Tell Johnny I said hi.”
Daisy sighed. “Well, alright. Goodnight to ya.”
Victor pushed past Daisy and made a beeline straight for the exit. He’d made it out to his truck in the parking lot when he heard someone call his name. He considered ignoring it, but he stopped with one leg resting inside the truck and turned to the figure bathed in shadow approaching him.
“Vic,” Johnny repeated, more softly this time, pulling up within speaking distance but no closer. “What’re you doin’ here?”
“Eating dinner,” Victor replied flatly. “Pretty sure that’s what you do at a restaurant.”
“By yourself?”
“It was Jade’s birthday.”
“Oh.” Johnny glanced away, clearing his throat. “Listen, about Daisy—”
“Honestly, Johnny?” Victor interjected. “I don’t want to know.” He moved to pull himself up into the truck.
“It ain’t nothin’ serious,” Johnny argued quickly, taking a step forward. “Sobriety has been real hard for me, and I guess I been needin’ a distraction. I know she’s not—she hurt me before, o’ course but—”
Victor sucked in a sharp breath, resisting the urge to reach out, grab Johnny by the front of the shirt, and shake him until his keys and wallet fell out of his pockets.
The man was as stupid as he was infuriating.
“So you won’t consider a relationship with me but you’ll run back to a woman that cheated on you several times.
” Victor let out a dismissive scoff. “Whatever, Johnny. Have fun pretending you’re heterosexual. Hope it’s all you’ve ever dreamed.”
Victor hopped up into the driver’s seat and moved to close the door. Johnny threw out a hand to catch it. For a second Victor struggled to rein in his rage and hurt, and Johnny must have seen it in his eyes, because he had the decency to look apologetic.
“This ain’t easy for me,” Johnny said, voice hushed.
“You saw how I was livin’. I’m tryin’ to get my mind right, and Daisy’s been—this ain’t because I don’t—” He clenched his eyes shut a moment, like he was trying to pull himself together.
“You don’t gotta be jealous. About Daisy, I mean. It’s not serious.”
“That is more offensive to me than if it was,” Victor shot back. “Clearly commitment is not your thing.”
“Goddamn it, Vic. What do you want from me? You wanted to be friends. We’re friends. If I knew you were gonna be so jealous—”
“It’s not that you’re fucking around, it’s the fact you have such little self-respect. You had a choice of anyone and you chose her. If you don’t think she’ll hurt you again—”
“And what if she does? Not many women in this lil town who want much to do with me. I ain’t some handsome guy with his own business and his life together like you.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about it?” Victor asked, jaw set. “She said you’ve been messing around since November. You’ve hidden this from me for a month and a half.”
Johnny frowned. “Do I gotta tell you everythin’ goin’ on in my life? Besides, I figured this is how you’d act, and I didn’t wanna argue about it.”
Victor stared at him a second, his mind churning through all the things he wanted to say and do.
The realization that rose from the clutter was that there was no way this conversation would end in a way that would do their friendship any favors.
Victor was jealous, and it was clawing at every nerve that hurt the most. The man was saying all the wrong things with zero understanding of the pain he was causing.
Victor reached out, shoved Johnny back, and used the moment Johnny struggled to regain balance to slam his truck door shut.
“Vic!” Johnny said loud enough for Victor to hear him through the glass, but Victor didn’t want to hear anything else.
He gunned his engine, so Johnny stepped back, allowing Victor to pull out of the parking spot.
The last thing Victor saw was Johnny in his rearview mirror, arms in the air and shock written all over his face.
* * *
The four hour trip to Fort Worth was sedate.
Jade was the only one riding with him; his clients and Johnny were driving their own cars down.
They’d been up since four that morning loading horses and tack, so Jade fell asleep almost immediately once the drive started.
Victor put on some older country music and watched the countryside roll past, occasionally checking the camera in the trailer to ensure the horses were comfortable.
His Grindr app chirped and he glanced down at the screen, glad that Jade was asleep.
He’d given up on checking it regularly, but now he was closer to Fort Worth and Dallas, which meant more options.
Because the road was straight and pretty empty, he decided to take the risk of looking away from the road and check out who had messaged him.
For once, it wasn’t a headless shirtless man in his fifties.
Instead it was an extremely cute twinky looking guy named Sebastian with tight dark curls, olive skin, and pretty brown eyes lightened by whatever bright window he was sitting in front of.
Victor’s type tended to be a bit more rugged, but when he saw the trans part of his bio, it made him much more interested.
How long had it been since he’d been around another trans man?
Thinking about it made him realize just how occupied he’d been lately with blending in with cis people.
What would it be like to finally be himself around one of his own?
His throat clogged up at the thought. Even if this didn’t turn into a sex thing, they could still hang out, right?
Victor decided to pull over to get gas. He closed the truck door lightly so as not to disturb Jade, then started filling up as he opened the messaging portion of the app. He looked at Sebastian’s opening message.
Never met a trans cowboy before! Are you a real cowboy or do you just wear the hat? No shade either way; it’s sexy. This message was followed by several heart emojis.
I’m on my way to Fort Worth for the stock show with some horses, Victor typed out, grateful for once that the first message wasn’t a request for nudes or an immediate hook-up. Not sure what makes a true cowboy, but I do ride. I’m a horse trainer.
Sebastian’s reply was instant. !!!!That’s so hot!!!
Victor laughed. In his defense, he’d had about four hours of sleep.
Sebastian continued, I’m from NYC but came to Fort Worth for a boyfriend.
He’s now an ex-boyfriend but I’m still stuck here, trying to get back to the east coast. Doesn’t mean I can’t meet people in the meantime.
I’ve only been here two months, but I hear the Stock Show is a big event. Isn’t there a rodeo and a parade?
Yeah, Victor replied. We’re riding in the horse show part, but we’ll probably attend the rodeo.
Who’s we?
Some clients, a student, and my assistant trainer. I am single.
Good to know. ;)
The gas pump thunked as it finished filling. Victor put the hose back and walked to the trailer, where he was able to climb up onto the wheel well and look through a window in the trailer. The horses seemed settled and happy, so he made his way back to the truck, texting as he did so.
You interested in seeing the rodeo? We could make it a date.
I’m not local so I’m not looking for anything serious, but it’d be fun to hang out for a night or two.
Victor wasn’t typically so direct, but he really needed to be around someone who wasn’t Johnny for a bit, just to remember what it was like to have fun flirting.
I’d love to see the rodeo! Never been to a rodeo before.
Lemme see about buying tickets. It’ll be nice to have a real cowboy to go with.
;) Then, another message thirty seconds later.
I’m also not looking for anything serious, as I’m trying to get back to NYC, but I’d love to hang out. This app is brutal for us t-boys.
Try living in the middle of nowhere, Victor replied. Then it’s really on hard mode.
Guess it means I’ll have to treat you extra special. <3
Victor climbed back into the truck, and his closing of the door jolted Jade awake. She blinked a few times, straightening and rubbing her eyes.
“What’d I miss?”
“Whole lotta nothing,” Victor replied. “We’ll be there in forty-five minutes.”
“What are you smiling about?” she asked, eyebrows raised.
“Just thinking of a funny quote from a movie,” Victor said. “Now put your seatbelt on.”
* * *
The first few hours after arrival were a flurry of activity, between getting signed in, doing paperwork, wandering around the horse barn in search of their assigned stalls before walking back to the trailer to start bringing everything inside.
Thankfully all the horses were veterans at this by now, and no one put up a fuss, settling down immediately in the stalls once Victor and Jade put down some bedding and strung up hay nets.
Victor was removing Blitz’s tail bag and undoing his tail braid when he spotted Taylor looking at him through the bars of the stall.
“Hey there, cowgirl,” Victor greeted with a smile. “Get in here and groom your horse.”
Taylor didn’t need to be told twice. She jumped at the opportunity, digging through the grooming box for a brush before ducking into the stall to start brushing Blitz’s already spotless coat.
Victor had given him a bath before coming, though of course he’d done Victor the favor of shitting against the trailer divider and rubbing his buttcheek all through it, so now he had a manure stain on his hide that Victor had to deal with.
Johnny hung around the stall door, looking a bit sheepish.
They hadn’t spoken in the several days since their encounter in the parking lot.
Victor was still mad at him, but he also knew how to keep things professional, so he greeted Johnny with a nod and a “how was the drive”, to which Johnny responded with appropriate vagueness.
Thankfully Jade called his name, so he had to go to the next stall to attend to Jade’s horse, leaving Johnny standing in the hallway.
When he and Jade concluded the small cut on her horse’s left hock was nothing serious, Johnny had already vanished, and when Victor asked Taylor where he’d gone, she shrugged. Typical.