“You promise?”
He places a delicate kiss on my lips, pulling back all too quickly. “I promise, angel.”
My insides warm at the nickname he gave me on our first date. We’ve been dating for two months now, and I’ve known that I’m in love with him for one of those months.
I haven’t told him yet, though.
Part of me is afraid that if I say it, I’ll scare him away. The other part of me is worried that I’m confusing a crush with love.
I mean, I’ve never been in love before so I can’t be sure that’s what I’m feeling, but when he looks at me the way he isnow my heart races, butterflies take flight in my stomach, and I feel like I would do just about anything in the world to keep him looking at me that way forever.
Is it normal to feel this way at sixteen-years-old, or is this that puppy love my mom always told me about?
“You ready?” He asks, his voice slightly breathless and I blink up at him in a daze.
I run my tongue over my suddenly dry lips. “Ready for what?”
“To get on the horse,” he smirks.
Heat creeps into my cheeks. “Oh!” I squeak. “Yeah. Sorry.”
Killian laughs lightly and moves behind me again, placing his hands on my hips as he helps me up into the stirrups. I swing my leg over with very little grace and land in the saddle with anoomph.
The horse, whose name I learned is Ace, moves slightly and I panic, leaning forward and wrapping my arms around his neck.
A booming laugh comes from below me, “Dais, you need to let go of his neck.”
I shake my head. “Uh-uh. I think I’m good here, actually.”
I can’t see him, but I can hear his wheezing laugh as he circles the horse to enter my eyeline. “Do you trust me, angel?”
I nod, still not releasing my grip on Ace’s neck.
“Good. Let go and sit up.”
Taking a deep, shaky breath, I do as he says. Killian keeps hold of the reins, keeping the horse steady as I slowly move upright.
Once he’s happy with my position, he hands the reins to me, showing me how to hold them.
“I’m gonna walk a little now, okay?”
I give another shaky nod. “Okay.”
Ace jerks forward slightly before falling into a slow walk behind Killian. He takes us around the large paddock and after the second pass, I gain a little confidence, my body starting to relax.
A huge smile spreads across my face when Ace speeds up a little, causing the wind to whip against my hair.
I’m not sure how long we spend out there riding, but the sun is beginning to set behind the snow-capped mountains when we finally come to a stop back where we started. My face is frozen from the cool, late autumn air and my cheeks ache from smiling so much.
“That was amazing!” I all-but squeal as Killian helps me down.
“You enjoyed it, huh?” He asks, his eyes searching my face, a small smirk playing on his lips.
“I loved it,” I breathe, staring up into his dark eyes.
He sweeps the hair back off my forehead gently before leaning down and rubbing his nose against mine. “And I love you.”
***
