Eric chuckled. “I was afraid to jump.”
“Really?”
He nodded, looking a little sheepish. “My aunt jumped—like, she did showjumping, with thehugefucking jumps. And the first time someone asked me if I wanted to try it, I remembered her with her arm in a cast and a big bruise on her face after a horse dumped her in midair.” Grimacing, he shook his head. “No, thank you.”
I laughed and shrugged. “Okay, I can understand that. And like, falling hurts no matter what, but when the shithead tosses youintoa jump?” I shuddered. “Thathurts.”
“Speaking from experience?”
“Uh-huh. My mareneverrefused jumps, but then one day she did. I wasn’t expecting it, so I’m ready for her to take the jump, but the next thing I know—she stopped and I didn’t.”
“Ouch.” Eric made a face. “How bad did you get hurt?”
“I mean, I didn’t break anything, and I had a helmet on. But I landed just right to knock the wind out of me, sothatwas fun.”
“Oh. God. I hate that feeling.”
“Right? I’m just laying there on a pile of jump poles, can’t fucking breathe, and everything hurts. It was bullshit.”
Eric smirked. “And let me guess—your horse was staring down at you like, what are you doing down there, you weirdo?”
I burst out laughing. “Yes! Exactly! I’m fighting for my life, sure I’m gonna fucking die, and she’s all—what? Why are you on the ground?”
He was laughing, too. “That happened to me on a trail ride. My horse stumbled while I wasn’t paying attention, so I’m sitting there on the trail, and he’s staring at me like I’m the dumbass.”
“Well, in his defense, you did admit you weren’t paying attention.”
Eric rolled his eyes and I chuckled.
We continued through the barn, visiting with various horses and shooting the shit about our past experiences.
And all that did nothing to quell everything that’d had me furiously jerking off last night. Eric was hot, but he was also sweet and funny. We had horses in common; I could tell him the crazy stories about my riding days, and hegotthem in ways people who didn’t know horses never could. He had stories of his own, and I loved how his eyes sparkled when he talked about mischievous horses, or that soft smile when he mentioned meeting a newborn foal for the first time.
At one point, Eric crouched, and that was when I realized a grizzled old barn cat had come wandering out of a feed room. She eyed us, but eventually she made a cautious approach. Shelet Eric scratch behind her ears, and I managed to pet her before a horse sneezed nearby and she vanished again.
I loved that he was a cat person. So much so that Chili had all but forgotten I existed. The skittish barn cat came up to him? No surprise. And the horses seemed to like him, too. Back in high school, my boyfriend had come to the barn one day, and my horse had pinned her ears at him. When he’d tried to pet her, she’d pulled away and swished her tail, stomping her foot on the floor. She loved everyone, but she’dhatedhim. He’d come with me two more times after that, but then decided he was afraid of her and stayed away from the barn.
Turned out she was on to something, because he was a dickhead. The next guy? She’d adored him. Ditto with the girlfriend I had after him.
From then on, I’d sworn up and down I’d introduce any potential partner to my horse. More recently, my cats.
The cats had liked Selena well enough. Eric? They loved him. And so did every horse we met in this barn.
We reached the last stall, which turned out to be home to a mare named Annabelle and her baby, Frank, who was probably almost ready to be weaned. He was still small but could get his head partway over the door.
“Look at you,” Eric cooed as he petted the colt’s neck. “God, they’re so soft when they’re babies, aren’t they?”
I smiled and ran my fingers through Frank’s fluffy coat. “They really are.”
And do you have any idea how adorable it is to watch you melt over a horse? Especially a baby?
Oh my God, I am so fucked.
Closer to 10:30, we made our way back to the barn entrance where some other people had gathered. The previous ride had returned, and Leah and her barn hands were putting those horses away.
“All right,” Carole said to our group. “Let’s match everyone with horses. Where are my experienced riders?”
Eric and I exchanged looks but said nothing.
