I went outside to throw a stick around for Coal while Addison got Dahlia ready. I took a deep breath, breathing in the crisp fall air. The weather was perfect in November, chilly but not too cold just yet. I grabbed the stick from Coal’s mouth, and he sat at my feet dutifully waiting. I cranked my arm back and chucked it far out into one of the pastures. He took off at lightning speed after it. He managed to find another stick on his way back and trotted over to me with two large sticks hanging out of his mouth. I chuckled as I took them from him. We played fetched for several more minutes until I saw Addison make her way out of the barn with Dahlia.
Addison led Dahlia to the mounting block, hopped on, and then made her way into the outdoor sand arena. I walked over with Coal and leaned up against the fence to watch her. Addison walked around the ring for a moment, letting the mare stretch out before putting her into work. She asked her for the trot, and it was like the mare floated on air. Addison worked her through both large and small circles, getting the mare tobend around her leg nicely. She serpentined through the arena, mixing up the direction to keep Dahlia engaged.
After bringing her back to the rail, Addison brought her back down to a walk, and then leg yielded the mare off the rail and then back to the rail. She did lateral work at the walk until she was satisfied with her responsiveness before pushing her into the canter. As she did on the trot, Addison worked Dahlia in large circles at the canter. Eventually, she lifted her body into a two-point position where she hovered just slightly above the saddle, holding herself up by her inner thighs, and let the mare open up her stride. When Addison was happy with her canter work, she brought Dahlia back down to a trot and then to a walk. She let the reins out so the mare could stretch her neck down and gave her a big pat on the neck. After one lap around the ring, Addison walked Dahlia over to me at the rail.
“You guys look great together.” I smiled up at her. But that was an understatement. I couldn’t keep my eyes off the two of them. Addison rode with such precision, strength, and grace. It was special to watch. She and the mare had only been together a short time, but I could already see the trust and connection between them. Addison had a gift with horses, and I loved witnessing it.
She beamed down at me. “Thanks! She’s really something special.” She ran her hand up and down the mare’s neck. “I’ve got to cool her down. Was thinking of taking her on a little trail ride. Do you want to hop on Tex again and join me?”
“Sure, let me go grab him.” I jogged back to the barn. Riding horses was like riding a bike—it all came back to me prettyquickly. I knew where all of Tex’s tack was in the tack room, and I still remembered how to get a horse saddled and bridled up correctly after all these years of not riding.
I quickly got Tex ready and made my way out to the mounting block to hop on. As Addison was walking Dahlia around the ring, she spotted me, and she made her way over. Once we were side by side, we took off walking to the trail toward the hills with Coal trotting along beside us.
Walker’s property was definitely something. I was beginning to really enjoy going on these quiet rides with Addison, just us, the horses, Coal, and the expansive picturesque views.
As if she could read my mind, Addison looked over at me. “I really like riding out here with you,” she said shyly before quickly glancing down at Dahlia, unable to look me in the eye after her admission.
I smiled. “Yeah? Good, because I was just thinking the same thing.”
A relieved smile tugged at her lips as if she wasn’t sure I would share the same sentiment, but little did she know that all I wanted to do was be the one she smiled at and the one to make her smile. Every single day.
After I helped Addison finish up with the horses, I headed back home to see what Archer was up to. I felt bad abandoning him the last two days, but I couldn’t leave Addison alone with Cash last night, no way in hell. I walked in to find Archer set up onmy couch working on his laptop.
“Hey, Arch, sorry I’ve been MIA.” I walked over to the fridge to grab a water and then sat down on the other side of the couch. Coal curled up at my feet, absolutely spent after a day of running through the pastures at Walker’s.
“Nah, don’t worry about it. Harper told me what was going on. Addison was texting her updates.” He continued typing, not looking up from his computer. “I needed to catch up on some work anyway.” He finished what he was working on and then shut his laptop, turning his attention toward me. “So, how’s the horse? Everything okay now?”
“Yeah, he’s a lot better today.” I started to peel the label off the water bottle, thinking of how to approach the next topic. I cleared my throat, “So, uh, Addison and I slept together last night.” I looked up at Archer to see his reaction.
Archer nodded and chuckled. “I figured as much when you didn’t come home last night. You like that girl a lot. No denying it.”
I nodded, picking at the label again. “I do. I think it could be more than that though.”
Archer tilted his head and studied me. “Well, shit, big brother. You’re falling for her, aren’t you?”
I nodded. “Yeah. I think so.” I sighed heavily.
“So, what’s the problem? Why are you acting like this is a bad thing?” Archer chuckled.
I proceeded to tell him all about our cousin Noah being her ex-fiancé, what had happened between them, and the favor I had done for him. Archer just looked at me, completelyshocked, eyes wide, mouth hanging open. “What are the fucking odds? That’s crazy. I know he’s our cousin, but I never liked that little asshole. He always ran around like he could do whatever the fuck he wanted.”
“Agreed, but what the fuck do I do? I don’t know if Addison will look at me the same if I tell her, and if I don’t tell her, I feel like I’m hiding something from her. Then I’m no better than Noah.” I scrubbed my hand down my face and blew out a slow breath.
“Dude, you didn’t know who she was, and you didn’t find out what Noah was even up to until after you helped him. I mean, I’m surprised you agreed to do something like that for fuck-face Noah of all people, but how were you to know that it was Addison on the receiving end of his lies? Don’t tell her. There’s no point, nothing good will come of it, and it has nothing to do with what’s going on with you and her.”
Archer stood up to grab some chips out of my pantry. He opened a bag and popped a chip into his mouth.
“Plus, when was the last time we even saw the guy? I’m pretty sure it’s been at least ten years. Anytime he was in California, we always made a concerted effort not to be around. Our mothers don’t even keep in touch all that often anymore unless it has to do with the business,” he said around a mouthful. Noah’s family ran Frederick Developers. Our mother was just a shareholder. Our family was focused on VRA Media, my father’s company.
“Good point.”
“I mean, I’m not saying that you should lie to her. I’m saying that first, I think you need to talk to her about where you stand,since you’re the one who shut her down that night and told her that you didn’t do relationships. Then see where it goes. If things get serious, find a way to tell her about Noah. But not yet.”
I nodded, processing what Archer was saying. I wasn’t entirely on board. It still felt wrong, but I was too chickenshit to tell her the truth. Especially after last night. “So, you think I should tell her how I feel about her?”
“Uh, yeah, dumbass. If you want this girl and you’re really falling for her, you’ve got to tell her because after you shut her down the first time, there’s no way in hell she’s going to tell you first.” He chuckled.
“Yeah, yeah, I get it. I shut her down.” I rolled my eyes. My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I pulled it out to check who was texting me.
