Page 77 of Falling for Her

“Let’s get you guys on some horses,” Charlie suggests, clapping his hands. “You riding, Burke?”

“Maybe next time,” I say.

“Oh come on,” Finley says from not too far away, “get out of your comfort zone, Lincoln. I can teach you. Payback for you teaching me how to use the rice cooker.”

“Fine,” I say. “But just so you know, I rode a horse in high school once.”

“And he didn’t like you?”

“I just like my feet on the ground, is all.” I turn to Charlie, who is trying not to laugh at the exchange. “I guess I’m riding.”

“We’ll get you on a calm horse.” He slaps my shoulder. “I’ll run through the basics, and Finley can teach you the rest while I go with the boys.”

We all follow him to the barn. Charlie gets a horse ready for me, while Brady takes care of the boys. Charlie leads the animal, reins in his hands, until we are in the middle of the fenced area. Finley is at the side, trotting on her horse. Charlie explains how to get up into the saddle and some other things. I have one eye on Charlie and the other on Finley and her ass going up and down.

“Okay, just get on the horse,” Charlie finally snaps.

I stick one foot in the stirrup and hoist myself up onto the horse.

“He’s all yours,” Charlie tells Finley.

“So, did you get all that stuff that Charlie just taught you?” she asks me when she gets close enough.

“You know I didn’t.” I wasn’t listening to a word of it, and we all know it. “You’re fucking with me.”

“You’ll know when I’m fucking with you, Lincoln,” she assures me with a wink. “You ready to go for a little ride?”

“Not really, but here we are.” I hold on to the horn with both hands.

“The first thing you need to do is relax,” she says softly. “The horse can smell your fear, and it might make him uneasy.”

“Easy for you to say.” I try to relax, but the horse moves, and I tense up immediately.

“We’re just going to walk around the arena.” Her voice is calm as she leans over and holds one of my reins. “Nice and slow.” The horse starts to move, slowly taking one step at a time. “See?” she says as we make our way along the fence.

I look over and see Asa, Wyatt, Brady, and Charlie riding outside of the arena toward an open field and the woods beyond.

“Where are they going?”

“That’s the advanced class. You’re still in the beginning phase,” she jokes with me. “You need to trust that your horse isn’t going to hurt you. Your horse has to trust you aren’t going to lead him astray or do something that is going to hurt him.” The horse continues to move slowly, and I start to relax. “See? You can do it.” I meet her eyes, which dance with joy and affection. “Aren’t you happy that you can now cross this off your list of new things to try this year?”

“Sure.” She releases the reins, and my horse shifts. I return my attention to him, waiting for him to bolt and for me to go flying. She laughs. “Don’t startle my horse,” I hiss at her.

“I promise I won’t let anything happen to you or the horse.”

“Promises, promises,” I mumble.

We continue to ride side by side around the arena, even after the others return from their trail ride. By the end, I am happy that I did it.

She slides off her horse with ease, and I follow her lead clumsily as she instructs me on what to do. We lead the horses back toward the barn.

“Dad!” Asa shouts, his voice animated as he comes running to me. “Dad, Wyatt is sleeping here tonight, and he asked me if I could sleep here too.” He jumps up. “Can I?”

“I don’t know, buddy,” I say, glancing at Finley. “Let me talk to Charlie.”

An hour later, Finley and I are in the truck, waving bye to Asa and Wyatt as I pull out of the parking lot and head to the house.

“So let me have it,” she says. Oh, I’ll let you have it all right. My cock stirs in my pants, and all I can think about are her words, slow and steady. Images of her on her back in my bed and me doing her slow and steady fill my mind. I push them away fast. “You still think it’s dangerous.”