Moving out never came up again.
Not long after that, he’d gone horse-shopping and found Sage. I’d leased Jack, and now we were here at this boarding stable several times a week. Jesse and Sage had just finished another season of competition, and they’d be joining me and Jack on the trails throughout the fall and winter. Weather permitting, of course—the covered arena would have to do when the snow came.
The arena gate creaked, and I looked as Jesse led Sage inside. After he’d shut the gate, he got on and started warming her up.
I, of course, stole glances. Even now, the novelty of watching him ride hadn’t worn off; he looked so damn natural in the saddle. Like there’d never been a period of years where he hadn’t ridden. When he was wearing jeans, a T-shirt, and a flannel shirt like he was now, he looked like he wasmadefor this. At a competition, when he was decked out in those skintight breeches, knee-high hunt boots, and jacket? Oh,fuck.
Sage, much like Jack, was well-trained but also opinionated. If they were on a jumping course, she’d focus hard, but when they were on the trails or just dicking off in the arena, she could be a bit brattier. Today, she was her more relaxed, easygoing self, as was Jack. Hopefully that meant our trail ride would be uneventful.
After cantering her a couple of laps clockwise, then counterclockwise, Jesse slowed Sage to a walk and patted her neck. To me, he said, “You ready?”
“When you are.”
God, his smile was never going to stop making me giddy, was it? I hoped not.
We rode out of the arena and on to our usual trail. Though fall was closing in fast, the days were still long enough that we could get in an evening ride without it getting dark while we were out. Might as well enjoy that while we could.
It was hard to believe this was all still a relatively new part of my life. The horses. The trail rides. The man riding beside me. It felt like Jesse, the cats, and the horses had been here all along.
Everything that had thrown us into each other’s lives seemed like another lifetime. Like someone else’s lifetime. Selena and I had finished extricating ourselves from each other a few months after our confrontation at Moosehead Lake. I hadn’t heard from her since, and none of our mutual friends mentioned her around me. Her parents still sent me a Christmas card every year. Last summer, Jesse and I had gone up to Moosehead Lake with her dad to help fix a few things at the cabin. We just didn’t talk about her.
These days, Jesse and I were firmly in our groove as a couple. The longer I was with him, the more I realized that maybe Selena and I hadn’t been the right fit even if she hadn’t cheated. She’d been my partner, but Jesse was my friend in ways she’d never been. He was a calm, constant presence in my life, which made me realize how much anxiety I’d had in my previous relationship. I hadn’t been walking on eggshells with her, but there was more conflict and more tension. Jesse gave me space to have my own hobbies, friends, and interests, just like I did for him. Whenever I was away from him, I didn’t feel like I needed to text him to reassure him or promise him I’d be home soon.Instead of limiting my contact with previous intimate partners, I went on double dates with them and Jesse.
I hadn’t even noticed those things about Selena until Jesse came along. I’d never liked how insecure she was about my exes, but I hadn’t realized how much it bothered me until I saw Jesse with those same exes. He’d become fast friends with both Bree and her husband. When he came into a room and saw me FaceTiming with her, he’d leaned over my shoulder, said hi to her and told her to pass his hello on to Andrew, and left us to it. Later, he’d helped my ex-boyfriend resolve some IT issues, and we’d gone out for beers a few times with that ex and his boyfriend. When one of Jesse’s college exes came to town, he’d invited him and his husband for dinner.
It wasn’t that I needed all of our exes involved in our lives, but it said something about how secure Jesse was with me and with us.
Jesse never asked me to push people out of my life or give up things I enjoyed. Sometimes we tried each other’s hobbies. Sometimes we didn’t. He had zero interest in some of the bands I followed, and I definitely wasn’t a gamer, so we did those separately. Moosehead Lake had tipped us off to how much of the same outdoor activities we enjoyed, so we spent time hiking, kayaking, and—of course—horseback riding.
I loved this. I loved how easy it was to be with him. I would never have wished my breakup with Selena—or his—on anyone but life had shaken out better than I could have ever imagined.
In fact, I realized as we continued down the trail, tomorrow would have been my two-year wedding anniversary.
If things had happened a little bit differently…
If Jesse hadn’t caught on to her cheating and hadn’t told me…
I’d be two years into my marriage to her.
Instead, I was on my horse, riding alongside the most amazing man I’d ever met, after two of the best years of my life.
Yeah. Things had worked out pretty damn well.
The trail we were on led to a small creek rippling through the woods. We stopped and loosened our reins so the horses could have some water, and we both chuckled as Jack predictably splashed Sage.
“You’re such an asshole,” Jesse laughed.
“He is, but I’m sure she won’t let it go unpunished.”
As if on cue, Sage put her head in the water, then swung it toward Jack, dousing us both.
I sputtered and rolled my eyes. “Really?”
Jesse smiled innocently. “He started it.”
“I’m still blaming you.”
“Me? What did I do?”
