An hour or two later,Horse was herding me toward the door. He’d hovered by my side most of the night. Much to my chagrin, I liked having him as my shadow, and maybe it was the beer, but I was starting to feel like Sean’s take on Horse’s feelings for me might be right. He held up my jacket for me to put my arms through. I didn’t feel ready for the night to be over.
I acquiesced to the jacket, but argued, “No, we should stay.”
“The place is closing, Sarah. It’s time to go, babe.” He smiled a megawatt smile at me that I didn’t know he had. Also, he called me babe. Did he have any drinks? I don’t think he even had a beer.
“Did you drink?” I asked.
“One, a while back.” He ushered me out the door.
“Where did Sean go?” I asked.
“The others left about an hour ago, but you were talking to that man from Lexington.”
“What man from Lexington?” Uh-oh. Maybe I was drunk. I was leaning against Horse’s side and he had his arm around me, but I wasn’t certain that he was showing me affection. There was some possibility that cuddling me into him was pure function so that I didn’t fall over. Either way, he was so tall and warm, I cuddled closer into the crux of his armpit, sort of resting my head on his shoulder. For a second, I thought I felt him tense, but then his hand curled around my hip and he hooked his thumb through my belt loop.
“They left me with you?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“That seems inconsiderate,” I said. There was a chill in the air and the cool breeze felt good on the skin of my cheeks.
He laughed. “Agreed.”
“Are we walking back to the hotel?” I asked. I wanted to just so I could stay close to him a little while longer.
“No, I called an Uber. I told him to meet us there.” He pointed to the corner where the street met the parking lot.
“Why are you taking care of me?” I asked.
He was quiet for a minute, and then, in a tone that was somewhere between surly and sweet, he said, “Because I want to.”
Butterflies erupted in my belly.