“Yep.” I nod.
“Yep, yep.” Fallon grins.
“Right, then get changed, you can’t be wearing that where we’re going.”
I glance down at my cut offs and tank. “Wait, where are we going?”
Lake grins. “Too late to change your mind. Get dressed.”
Aaron, or the mystery location. I’ll take my chances. I go and get dressed. Fallon does, too. Then we follow Lake to the barn where the other guys are all saddling up some horses for the morning.
“You two don’t want to do the meditation and massage this morning?” Rhett asks, tightening the saddle on a gorgeous black stallion. “We got a special lady in to do all this cool shit for you.”
Meditation and massage.
God dammit.
“Ah,” I say, kicking myself. “No, we want to give you a hand and see what the ranch is all about.”
Rhett’s brows go up. “Your call. Elias, get two extra horses ready.”
Elias nods and ties his beautiful chestnut horse to the stall before going and bringing out two more. One of them is short, round, and adorable, the other is a tall, lean gelding that looks like he’d rather sleep than do anything.
“This is Porky and Jock. Jock is lazy as hell, Porky is too but he has a bit more go about him. You two decide which one you want to ride,” Elias explains, tying them up so he can saddle them.
“I’m not riding the fat one,” Fallon says, crossing her arms.
“Rude,” I mutter, giving her a grin. “I’ll take him.”
Elias saddles the horses quickly, and then Rhett gives us a brief rundown on what we’re doing and where to go if we have any issues. Then, we get on. I have to use a mounting block to get on, because I’m way too short for this, but Fallon makes it look effortless, throwing her leg over the horse like she’s an old hand.
“No need to show off.” I grin at her.
“I forgot to mention I’ve ridden before.”
I glare at her. She grins at me.
Then we take off.
I’m not ready for the short, round horse beneath me to charge the way he does, and I find myself gripping his saddle with a squeal as he runs his little legs out like he’s a racehorse. I finally gather my seat and ignore the men laughing around me and pretend like I know what I’m doing for the rest of the ride.
We make it to a very large, very muddy paddock with about ten or so cows standing in the middle. They’re filthy and look less than impressed with their situation.
“These assholes thought it would be fun to escape their new paddock and got stuck in here. The mud is wet and it’s thick, and we have to move them out. It’s dirty work, are you sure you’re up for it?” Rhett asks us.
We both nod.
What I’d really like to do is shake my head because ... mud.
“All we need you to do is try and keep them away from the fences, they will jump if it gets too much for them and then our job will be a whole lot harder. The horses know what to do, so let them do it and go with them,” Lake explains to us, looking so damned fine on that horse I want to throw him down in the mud and have my way with him.
“Ready?” Elias calls.
We all nod.
My stomach twists with anticipation, and the moment Rhett makes his first move, all the other guys fall in right beside him and Lake is right, the horses just begin to move. They know exactly what is being asked of them. I don’t have to ask Porky to do a damned thing, I just guide him to the fence where we don’t want the cows going, and he automatically moves up and down every time one of them gets close.
It's actually really fun.
At least it is until three cows come rushing at us at the same time. Poor Porky finds himself unable to decide which direction to go and ends up charging right at one of the cows. I move quickly, trying to guide him in the right direction but the cow jumps to the side, and he jumps to the side while I go in the opposite direction. It’s like a slow motion action movie as I slide, very ungracefully, off the horse.
No big dramatic throw over his head.
Or a buck that has me flying through the air.
No, I just slide off like an overweight slug, landing in the mud with a loud squash.
I lie there, on my back, eyes wide, as the reality of the situation sinks in.
I’m lying in deep, squishy, disgusting mud. Just lying in it, the sky above me, wild laughter slowly trickling in.
I want to curl up and die.
I’m scared to move. Scared to even assess the situation I’m in.