Unknown #1: CONTAGIOUS? This can’t be happening.
Jake: Can you send a close-up pic?
The girl does, a better one that reveals what it is.
Wilder and I had it when we were teenagers.
Waylon: That’s poison ivy, sweetheart. Don’t scratch it.
Unknown #1: Don’t scratch?! I’m about to peel off my skin.
Jake: He’s right. You must’ve rubbed up against it within the last twelve to twenty-four hours.
Unknown #1: Shit…I went riding yesterday and got lost so I walked through some brush to get us back on the path.
With it getting colder, it’s less common to be exposed to the plant but not impossible.
Jake: That’ll do it.
Waylon: Apply cool compresses and get some itch-relief cream.
Unknown #1: Thanks.
I feel bad because I know how awful it can be.
Wilder had this grand idea that we should play hide-and-seek in the dark and then the following day, we were covered nearly from head to toe.
Wilder and I take the first group of riders on their tour, and he, of course, chats up the cute girls and even grabs one of their numbers before we get back.
“How you haven’t knocked up someone by now, I’ll never understand,” I taunt when we bring the horses back to the barn.
“Pfft. I’m not going bareback. Ain’t that stupid.”
I chuckle at the irony. “Stupid enough to sleep around.”
“I don’t sleep with all of ’em! Just because we hang out or party doesn’t mean they’re all gettin’ a piece of me. Sometimes we just make out or fool around.”
“You mean, you get whiskey dick.”
“Fuck off, I do not!” He shoves me against one of the stalls and makes me lose my balance.
I bark out a laugh at how offended he sounds. “Chill, dude.”
After the saddles have been removed and put away, we brush the horses and then put them into the pasture to graze. Since we’ll use different horses for the afternoon riders, they’re done for the day.
“Lunch?” Wilder asks.
“I’ll go later. Noah asked me to swing by, so I’m gonna head over to the stables,” I tell him.
“Okay, see ya.”
Wilder and I go our separate ways, and I meet up with Noah at the training center.
“Hey.” I grab her attention and walk up to her with one of the boarders.
“Sorry to bother you, but I’m short-staffed with Ruby off, Landen’s off with Dad to get feed, and a client who was supposed to come and exercise her horse is out sick today, so I need a little help catchin’ up.”
Noah’s good at what she does, but she often runs on fumes trying to do it all, so I don’t mind helping her out when I can.
