His first foot made it, but when he pulled the second from the stirrup, Cy's muscles refused to work like he expected. The man staggered back - right into me. I caught him around the waist, thinking nothing of it until I felt all of his mass pressing into me. His ass was right there against my hips, and my dick decided it liked this man a lot.
Cy sucked in a breath and glanced back. "That was easier when I was a kid."
"Get your legs under you," I told him, but my voice had dropped just a bit too much.
His eyes met mine and a smile curled his lips. "That's a good look for you, cowboy." And then he stood back up.
Fuck, this guy was going to kill me. I missed the contact of his body as soon as it was gone, but this was not how 'just friends' acted. I longed to reach out and toy with the hair at the back of his neck, to feel his mouth on mine, or press our bodies closer. Something about Cy made it so easy to imagine what came next, and my mind was going there - quickly.
So I cleared my throat and gestured at the barn. "Yeah, we need to tack these two down. I'm supposed to talk with Cess about tomorrow."
"I can help if you tell me what to do," Cy promised.
I couldn't stop my mouth. The words just fell out. "Thought that went the other way around."
Before he could respond - and likely convince me to follow through with that - I grabbed Storm's reins and headed into the barn. Cy led Butch in behind me. Stripping off the bridles, we haltered the horses in front of their stalls, and then I began releasing the girths. First Storm's, but Cy was right there to take the saddle.
"Toss the pad on top, wet side up?" I asked, tipping my head to the saddle racks.
He flashed me a smile. "Let's add wet to the list of words you shouldn't use."
Dear God, this was only getting worse. Trying to ignore it, I headed for Butch, working the knot loose so his girth could relax. I'd just flipped the strap over the horse's back when Cy was back for that one too. He took the saddle, I grabbed a brush and made sure there were no rubs from the tack. Both horses were fine, though.
"Hey?" I asked Cy. "Grab that water hose outside and pull it over so we can rinse these boys off?"
"Can do," Cy agreed.
I led the horses into their pasture, just on the other side of the doors. Cy hauled the length of hose over, and then I talked him through washing the salt and sweat off our mounts. He was soaking it all up, actually learning instead of simply letting me handle it. Then Butch ducked his head.
The blast of water meant for the horse's neck hit me full in the chest and it was cold! I gasped. Cy laughed, and it was on. The geldings were close enough to being done, so I pulled off both halters and let them go run and roll. Tossing those at the corner, I closed the distance between me and Cy, then snatched the hose from his hands.
"Like wet, do ya?" And then I blasted him in the chest.
He roared out a laugh, trying to grab the hose from my hands, but I wasn't about to give up easily. Cy took it in the chest, the leg, a splash in the face, and then he wrenched the nozzle from my hands. Full blast, he hit me again. My shirt was soaked, and I could feel the icy water running down inside my pants. I tried to grapple with him, both of us struggling for the hose, but that only made it worse.
Water was spraying everywhere. We were both laughing, and I just couldn't stop. And then my damned boot slipped in the mud. I went down hard, landing right on the side of my hip. Cy couldn't help himself - he tossed the hose away and knelt to make sure I was ok. In truth, I was still laughing.
"Well, now that I got you on your back..." he teased.
I just grabbed a fistful of his shirt and pulled his face closer. Our mouths met, and all the cold of the water was immediately forgotten. He leaned in and I lifted up to meet him, our mouths clashing hard in the best way. Our tongues dueled, his beard tangled with mine, and I was breathing much too hard.
Then Cy leaned back. "Easy there, cowboy. We're supposed to be on our best behavior."
I just flopped back with a groan. "I suck at this."
"No, Luke. You're damned good at this." He patted my leg to get my attention, then offered a hand. "And you're gonna need to change out of those wet and muddy clothes."
I let the man pull me up, loving the strength of him, and then I just flopped back against the side of the barn. I needed to get the blood back in my brain. When Cy dropped onto the wall beside me with a loud thud, I couldn't help but look down. Yep, the ridge in his pants matched mine. For some reason that felt really damned nice.
"You sure Violet doesn't care about this?" I asked, my voice soft so it wouldn't carry.
Cy reached up to wipe water from his face and hair, slicking it all back. "I don't know her as well as Ash does. Believe it or not, I'm playing catch-up here too. I can tell you that she never had a boyfriend before she left Southwind. I know that her ideas of romance include seeing her friends happy. And yeah, for Violet, love and friendship are tied together. Sex isn't. She'll use a man without shame."
"Was she using me?" I asked.
"Yeah," Cy breathed. "She was toying with you, planning to make you fall and then let you go. I'm pretty sure she doesn't know that, though. It wasn't a conscious thing. All that woman knows is that 'Luke saved her,' and 'she wanted to impress him.' I have a feeling that all of this is her still putting her claim on you."
"How so?" I asked.
