Chompin' at the Bit (Horse Play #2) (29 page)

He looked like he wanted to say something else, but she didn’t allow him to as she turned and walked back inside with our still sopping wet swimwear. It wasn’t long before she returned, and everyone was still looking between the two of us, likely wondering if we were only trying to convince ourselves that nothing happened. 

“All right,” she said, drawing everyone’s eyes to her. “We’re all adults here. Can we get this place cleaned up and go for a trail ride? Or would you all like to talk this out a little more?” Willow started to raise her hand, a devilish smirk beginning to spread. “It was a rhetorical question, Will.” 

Dropping her hand back to her side, she grumbled, clearly picking up on something in Madison’s voice that said the topic was to be dropped—immediately. Soon enough, everyone had gone back to his or her duties, and we had just finished bundling the last of the lights to store in the shed for future use. 

“Okay, let’s head out and find horses for everyone,” Madison suggested, opening the gate to the backyard. “I’ll see if Dad will watch Bones while we’re out. Until he’s trained to stay out from underfoot, I don’t want him coming. It’s too dangerous, and he could get trampled.” 

“I agree. I’m sure Wayne won’t mind,” I said, kissing her temple as we made our way down the narrow path that led to the gravel road between the houses and the barn.

Just as we stepped into the barn, Wayne was exiting his office and smiled upon seeing us. “Well good morning, kids,” he greeted. “How was the rest of your night?”

Kyle chuckled, earning a very stern look from both Madison and me before he cleared his throat and held himself back. 

“It was fun,” Madison told him. “We actually just finished cleaning up the yard and were going to reward ourselves with a little trail ride. Would you mind watching Bones for a bit?”

Wayne smiled, looking down at the puppy as he sniffed every nook and cranny in the barn, probably looking for some kind of trouble to get into. “I’d love to.” Wayne’s eyes suddenly drifted over us, and when I turned I saw Tom coming into the barn. “Oh, Tom’s here so we can head to lunch. You kids have fun and we’ll see you in a bit. C’mon, Bones.” Already recognizing his name, Bones lifted his head, perking his ears forward and running after Wayne as he crossed the barn. 

After a quick “hello” from Tom, Madison and I tried to figure out which horses everyone would be riding and grabbed several leads and halters. “Okay, Lilah, you’ll be on Starla again. Brandon, I’ll let you ride Bandit; Dad’s made some real progress with him since you rode him last. Will, I’ll put you on Miracle, and Kyle, I think Oliver would be a good fit for you based on how much experience you have. Jensen will be on Ransom, and I’ll ride Hails,” she instructed. 

Miracle and Oliver were two of the ranch’s newer additions from this past spring. From what I was told, Madison and Wayne had gone to an auction just outside of town and bought them to train as lesson horses since a few of their older ones would be retiring soon. In my first couple of weeks, Madison introduced me to each of the horses so I would know what to expect from each of them, and Miracle was troublesome. I was sure she didn’t mean to be; it was just in her nature. She was this feisty little gray Arabian mare who, at eleven years old, acted like a yearling again. I remembered Madison telling me that it had taken a solid month to get her to calm down enough to actually get a smooth ride out of her. From what I could tell, having never ridden her before, she was great for the most part now, but still had quite a bit of get-up-and-go left in her—a perfect match for Willow. 

Then there was Oliver; he was a solid horse. He was a nine-year-old Thoroughbred gelding who had actually been used as a racehorse until he blew his knee in a race last season. The vet checks that Madison and Wayne got upon buying him all said that he’d never race again. Not wanting to do anything to cause any horse harm intentionally, Madison told Wayne that Oliver would be strictly for Dressage, Western, and basic lessons. He would never race or jump while living at the ranch. 

After catching our mounts, we brought them to the barn and began getting them ready for our trail ride. Once Madison and I checked to ensure that everyone’s cinches were secure, we led the horses outside where we mounted up. 

The girls took the lead while the guys and I followed them. Kyle seemed to have a pretty decent handle on things; he needed a bit of guidance in the beginning on reining, but overall, I was impressed.

As we walked the trails, the guys and I talked about planning a camping trip after Madison and I returned from Spruce Meadows, which sounded like a lot of fun. I knew my sister might be hesitant at first. She wasn’t really an outdoorsy person—or she never
used
to be. It was quite possible that her love of the outdoors was being rekindled the more she hung out on the ranch. Maybe she’d be cool with it.

Brandon and Kyle loved the idea of a couples camping retreat. Thankfully, they didn’t complain for long when I told them we’d have to wait until the week after next due to Wayne’s fishing trip. Then they started asking if I knew of any good spots before they started talking about buying all sorts of camping gear.

We had been riding for almost an hour and a half before Madison suggested we head back. “I still have to head into town and pick up Jillian.”

“Yeah, Brandon and I should head back to the city tonight. We have to go back to work tomorrow,” Willow said. “I always hate leaving here.” 

“Well,” Madison said coyly. “There’s a very simple solution to that.” 

“And give up city livin’?” Willow quipped. “Nah. As much as I miss you and this place, I couldn’t leave Memphis.” 

Madison pouted. 

We continued back to the ranch with Brandon and Kyle still talking about this camping trip in a couple weeks. When Willow overheard part of the conversation, she squealed in excitement.

“We should definitely go camping before it gets too cold! Hell, even if it does, I guess that’s why they make those extra cozy, down-filled sleeping bags! Plus, you can buy them big enough for two people now.” Even with my back to her and the girls, I could imagine her winking at Madison. 

“I think that’s a great idea,” Madison concurred. “What do you say, Lilah? It would be a lot of fun.” 

There was a beat of silence as I assumed Lilah was trying to find a way out of it without knocking the idea entirely. “Well, I’m not really one for camping. I mean, I like toilets and showers, you know?” There was another moment of silence before she spoke again. “But, that was the old me. So, what the hell! Let’s camp.”

“Hey!” Kyle said excitedly. “We should check out that outdoor sporting goods store in town. Uh … Hall’s something-or-other, I think?” If I tensed upon hearing that name, I could only imagine how Madison reacted. Kyle noticed immediately. “What?” he asked. 

“That store is owned by Madi’s ex’s parents,” I explained, looking over my shoulder to see Madison scowling. “Maybe we could head into the city—” 

“No,” Madison interrupted. “It’s fine. It’s likely he’s not going to be there anyway. Not to mention, Dad’s known the Halls for years and has a standing account with them. They always give him the best deals on stuff. We should go there. Maybe sometime next week after we get back.” 

“You’re sure?” I didn’t exactly relish the idea of Madison running into that douche-nozzle again, but it comforted me to know that if she did, I would be with her to put him in his place—again. 

“Yeah,” she replied. “I’m sure. Plus, even if he is there, I doubt he’ll come anywhere near me with you around … not after what happened.”

We finally made it back to the barn and groomed the horses down before turning them out and going home. It was already almost four, and Madison had to have Jill at the barn for her six o’ clock lesson. 

Soon, everyone was gone, and Madison and I had a few minutes alone. I pulled her into my arms and kissed the tip of her nose. “How are you feeling?”

She sighed, wrapping her arms around my waist. “That depends on what you’re talking about?” I looked at her quizzically. “My head and stomach feel much better than they did this morning. However …” She took a deep breath. “I hate that I can’t remember what happened last night. I shouldn’t have let Kyle talk me into a second round of shots.”

I laughed. “Good luck there. He’s relentless.” I glanced at the clock behind her and groaned. “It’s getting late, you should go. I’ll see you back here for dinner?” 

Giving me one last kiss, she nodded. “I’ll see you soon.” 

I watched from the front porch as she backed out of the drive, and once she pulled out onto the highway, I stepped inside and closed the door. Now alone, the doubts about what may or may not have happened in the hot tub last night started to weigh on me. I still wanted to believe that neither one of us was careless enough to have sex without some kind of protection.

In our room, I searched for any kind of evidence that we’d been safe. The bed was still unmade, so I pulled the blankets up and fixed the pillows overtop of it, smoothing out any wrinkles in the duvet—because let’s face it, I had a touch of OCD when it came to shit like that. With the bed made, I pulled open the nightstand drawer that contained our condoms.

I thought about counting them, but then realized that would be ridiculous because I’d have to have known how many were in there before last night. There was no empty wrapper on either of the nightstands, nor was there one in the bathroom trash can. I was starting to hope beyond fucking hope that the sex dream
was
just a dream, because if it wasn’t, it was beginning to look like Madison and I would be playing a waiting game for the next couple of weeks, thanks to her recent strep diagnosis.

I had just stepped out of the bathroom, trying to come up with some way to apologize to Madison for being a total asshole and not being careful, when I saw a tiny glimmer of hope. Peeking out from beneath my side of the bed was the corner of a familiar foil package. I rushed over and dropped to my knees to retrieve it, rejoicing when I found it both open and empty. 

Breathing easier, I discarded the empty condom wrapper and went off in search of Wayne so I could relieve him of puppy-sitting duties and start dinner for when Madison got home. He was in the barn, just grabbing a few halters and leads to start bringing the horses in for the night. Knowing I had a bit of time before Madison returned, I decided to help him and Tom out. 

“Good evening,” he greeted. “How was your ride this afternoon?” 

“Pretty good,” I replied. “We actually planned to go camping in a couple of weeks. We won’t be far from the ranch if you still need us to come in for the morning chores.” 

Wayne laughed, clapping his hand down on my shoulder. “Don’t you worry about it. You and Madison work so hard around here that you deserve a weekend off every now and again.” 

“Yeah, but we got the weekend off for my sister’s wedding, and you’re giving us this weekend off for the trip up north. We don’t want you to work yourself into the ground,” I told him, feeling guilty about taking advantage of his generosity. 

“I’ve got Tom and Jeff to help out. Plus, Jeff said a couple of his school buddies were looking for an opportunity to make a bit of money and gain some work experience this winter,” Wayne explained as we walked outside to start catching the horses. “We’ll be fine. Go, have fun.” 

“As long as you’re sure.” One look from him told me to just accept his generosity, and I took two of the leads from him before we entered the paddock and caught the four horses Jill would need that night. 

On our way back to the barn, I realized that the initial reason I came to find Wayne seemed to be missing. “Hey, where’s Bones?” 

“Oh,” Wayne said with a laugh. “He was chasing a couple of the barn cats after lunch and passed out in my office while I was getting a head start on orders and invoicing for the month.” 

“Gotcha.” 

Knowing that Bones was tucked away, Wayne and I tethered the lesson horses before we brought the others in for the night. Wayne offered to gather the horses for the main barn if I was willing to start on the ones that occupied the new facility. Because there were only ten horses staying there so far, I was done before Wayne and decided to help with his last few before collecting Bones from the office. 

When I opened the office door, Bones yipped, his tail wagging happily as he bounded toward me and tried jumping up. I coaxed him down, correcting his behavior and patting him once he obeyed, then I said a quick goodnight to Wayne so I could get home and start on dinner.

After dicing the vegetables and tofu for a new stew recipe I wanted to try, I put them in the pot of vegetable stock on top of the stove and turned the burner down to let it simmer. I had just put the last dirty dish into the dishwasher when I heard the truck pull up outside. 

“Hey,” I greeted as Madison came up beside me, wrapping her arm around my waist and leaning her head against my chest. “How was the drive into town?” 

“Same old, same old,” she replied with a yawn. 

Stirring the stew in the pot before covering it, I pressed a light kiss onto the top of her head and inhaled lightly. “Tired?”

“Exhausted.” 

“Well, dinner should be ready soon. Why don’t you go and relax until then?” Nodding, Madison stepped away, rounding the corner for the living room while I stayed to set the table and finish up dinner. I even lit a few candles and placed one of Madison’s floral arrangements in the center of the table. 

As I made my way to the living room to retrieve Madison from the couch, I found her curled up under her throw blanket on the couch, watching an evening talk show through heavy eyelids. Her head drifted in my direction and she smiled. “Dinner ready?” 

Nodding, I crossed the room and took her hand, pulling her to her feet and then tugging her along to the kitchen. “You really didn’t have to do all this,” she said, eyeing the table’s set up as I pulled her chair out for her. 

“I know,” I told her, taking my seat next to her. “But I wanted to.” I grabbed her bowl from in front of her and started filling it. “How’s Jillian?”