Page 13 of All of Us

I followed his directions, my legs wobbly under me. He placed a hand on my hip while I remembered how to walk. “That was fun. I can see the appeal of horseback riding.”

“We’ll go out on a longer ride next time.” I was excited about that, and it wasn’t only because I looked forward to more time with Gentry.

We took Amber into the barn, and Dusty followed along without being told. Gentry showed me how to groom her, then we gave her an apple. I was pretty sure he didn’t need to hold my hand this time, but I liked that he did anyhow. He gave Dusty some snacks, including peppermints. We walked over to the horse trailer.

“Let’s head home,” he told Dusty. The animal walked into the trailer without further encouragement. I even knew this wasn’t typical for a horse, but it was cool. Clearly, those two had a bond.

“I’ll let you have tomorrow off. I wasn’t kidding, you will be sore.” He chuckled like he knew something I didn’t. He looked at his phone. “How about we ride on Wednesday. Then, on Friday, we will go on a sunset ride.”

“It’s a date.” I realized what I said.

“Alright, I am good with it being a date. I unfortunately need to head back to the Circle W. A problem from earlier hasn’t been resolved, and they asked me to come back after our lesson.” It made my stomach sink a little.

It didn’t seem like he was ditching me, so I decided to try again. “How about after we ride on Friday, you come over to my house? I’ll make you that promised dinner.” I hoped he would accept.

“I would very much like that, Joe, and look forward to it.”

I was excited and fascinated by this new person in my life. He was really nice, and I was certainly attracted to him. When I got home, I felt tired and a little sore. I took a long, hot shower and grabbed some dinner. It was a good evening to sit in bed and watch TV. My legs started to ache a little, so I took some Tylenol and left the bottle close.

I had product photos to take tomorrow, and another male model coming over to add to my open stock photos. Selling individual pictures of men naked or clothed had been a good way to make extra income, plus spending the afternoon looking at hot men was always a plus.

I grabbed my phone. There were several messages.

DUSTY

Make sure you sign that contract and get it back to me.

Block off your calendar for DRACO’s next tour date.

How was your riding lesson? Was the cowboy cute?

I looked at the contract and realized that they were paying exceptionally well for this job. I wanted to get into video editing for clients, and that money would help to purchase the equipment I needed. I marked the concert dates on my calendar, then sent the signed contract back to Dusty.

JOE

Contract signed. Dates are blocked off.

I met a horse with your name today. And yes, the cowboy is sexy. You’d be drooling

DUSTY

Did you flirt with him?

JOE

I guess. You know I am not very experienced in that type of thing.

Even though we weren’t dating, I didn’t want to discuss other men with Dusty. It felt weird since we were having sex. I might be a little more attached to Dusty than I should be, but as long as I keep it under control, there shouldn’t be a problem. I figured if I didn’t share specifics about other men with him, he wouldn’t share with me. It already bothered me to think about him with someone else—I didn’t want details.

I took a moment to really think about Gentry and the fact that we had a date in a few days. I wouldn’t mind getting to know him better. He was very different from Dusty, the man, not the horse: taller, thicker, and covered with muscles—he was country strong. Going out with him was something I was very much looking forward to.

DUSTY

You really don’t understand how hot you are. I bet he wanted you.

JOE

I don’t know. You might be biased.