“Well, not the entire time. I thought about how much better this horse ride would be if there were muffins involved, too.”
As he stared back at me, I could see the war playing out on his face. His blue eyes darted away, as if he was looking for an escape, then flickered back to mine. His lips parted as if he were going to speak, then pressed hard back together.
Noah looked down at Duke’s mane one more time, but when he looked back up, I caught the hint of mischief twinkling in his eye. “Question for you.”
“This sounds serious.”
The look Noah gave me suggested all his questions were serious, and he wouldn’t be asking them if they weren’t. “On a scale of one to ten, how much do you hate this?”
“This?” I took a moment to consider what he meant by “this.” The horseback riding? The whole being-stuck-in-authentic-Colorado-adventures situation? The whole being-stuck-in-authentic-Colorado-adventures situation with him?
“I suppose it depends,” I answered, trying to keep my voice neutral.
Truth be told, despite our brutally honest conversation, followed by the traumatically awkward silence, and the fact that my butt felt like an overly enthusiastic meat mallet had tenderized it, I wasn’t hating the other parts. At least it had given me more time to spend with Noah.
Before we parted ways permanently.
“Why are you asking?”
“Because your answer will determine what happens next. Scale of one to ten.”
“What happens if I say one?” I asked.
“If you say one, and you really hate this, we turn around and go back. I drop you off at the resort where you get some sort of spa thingy and eat fancy snacks.”
“I do enjoy spa thingies,” I admitted. “And fancy snacks. Especially since I didn’t get any muffins today. But we still have Victoria’s video to shoot.”
“Fuck Victoria’s video,” said Noah. “Did you actually think I was going to do that shit for even one second?”
“No.” I puffed out my chest in my best tough-girl impression. “Did you actually think I was?”
“You were absolutely going to do Victoria’s video.”
Biscuit stumbled over a muddy pothole, and I yelped as I grabbed the pommel with both hands. “Fine. I probably was.”
Noah raised an eyebrow.
“I absolutely was.”
Noah pulled back on the reins, then turned Duke around, prepared to head back to the stable. “It’s fine. I don’t blame you. You were hired to do a job, and you’re committed to doing it. No shame in that.” Sinking his heels into Duke’s sides, he began heading back down the trail.
“Wait.” Biscuit started to turn around as well, but I pulled back on the reins to stop him from following. “What if I say ten?” I called after Noah.
Noah held Duke in place, turned back toward me. “Remember that spot at the end of Dawn Patrol? At the top of the trail, looking out over the mountains?”
“The place where we ate muffins,” I said.
Noah nodded. “I know a place even better than that.”
As miserable as that hike was, I couldn’t imagine a place more beautiful than the mountain overlook at sunrise at the end of it. The view had made all the torture and sufferingworth it.
“There’s this spot up near Thunder Basin,” said Noah. “Not on any of the maps.”
“A secret trail then.”
Noah pressed his finger to his lips. “Shhh.”
“Does this secret trail lead to muffins?” I asked.
