“Now, I’m gonna help you onto Mary, and you’re not going to fuss,” he said, reaching around and giving my ass a squeeze. “Good, nice, thick jeans. That’s just what you’ll need to keep it from hurting.”
“It’s going to hurt?” I mean, I’d seen the way some people had come off horses on the television, so I knew it could absolutely do something crazy to your thighs if you let it. And I’d had a lot of practice with these legs.
My mom arrived just as Lorenzo was showing me the reins. We were still inside the stable and tying to give me a little room to throw myself into a bale of hay if and when requiredto bail. But there was no bailing, there was only getting through this and getting my reward.
“I knew we should’ve had you on them when you were younger,” my mom said. “Face your fears early and all that.”
“Maybe you should,” I said as Lorenzo guided my foot to meet the stirrup.
“One foot up and a push,” he said.
Once I’d pushed there was no going back.
Up until the moment I mounted a horse, everything else felt like I’d been cosplaying as a cowboy. Now, I was the real deal, riding horses. Or at least, sitting on them uncomfortable as they stayed stationary.
“Ok, good,” I was told by Lorenzo.
My mom applauded. “She looks so happy.”
It had been a while, so much so I figured I’d be bucked right off her like one of those children’s play toys. “Ok, now what?” It actually wasn’t too scary being on the back of her. She couldn’t snap her big teeth at me and swallow my hand whole. In my mind, horses were land sharks with their powerful bodies.
Lorenzo led me, keeping my back straight and my body right as I took the reins and with the right gesturing and lightest of the tugs, I got Mary going forward, right out of the barn, right out into the open where she could gallop away with me.
“You’re a natural,” Lorenzo said, calming the thoughts from getting the better of me. “Just take it slow, forward, forward, and let’s try gesturing left. A little sway with your body and the rein, and she’ll follow.”
“Oh my god, I’m doing it!” I said, trying to contain my screams as internal as possible. “The world looks so small from up here.”
“You’re not that high up,” my mom chuckled. “Let me take a picture.” She backed up a bit, and Lorenzo scooted out ofher framing. “Oh no, you’ve got to be in it,” she told him. “If it wasn’t for you, we’d be in a huge mess with four horses.”
It was our first picture together, and I probably looked petrified, and a little silly in the tight helmet. Welp. That was one for the memory book, assuming I could actually dismount and survive to make said book.
“Ok, I think I’m done,” I said.
“Oh no,” Lorenzo said. “I’m sure we can get you to do a walk around the stable before you’re finished. You’ve barely had time to get used to that burn in your thighs.”
I let out a nervous laugh. “You know, there’s probably a cream for that,” I said, but it wasn’t the time for jokes. This was the time for me to finish up all the tricks Lorenzo wanted me performing so I could open up that big, wrapped gift.
20. LORENZO
He was doing it. I didn’t doubt him for a second, he just needed a little push to get going, and then once he was doing it, he still wanted to get off the horse, but he was actively listening to my orders and directing the horse.
His mom had taken hundreds of photos, claiming she didn’t know when the next time she would see her son do this, adding that she doubted he would ever get on the back of another horse again, ad while I had the same thoughts, I didn’t think she had anything to worry about. If I had any sway, andI had plenty of sway, I was going to make sure that he got back on this horse whether he liked it or not.
Once he was off the horse and his mom was gone, Jace threw his arms around me, and we shared a passionate kiss. He clung to me, squeezing his body around mine.
“I think I’m going to be walking funny for weeks,” he said with a groan.
“You’ll be fine. I’ll make sure to stretch you out real good tonight,” I said, reaching around and giving his ass a squeeze. “That’s a promise.”
“Do I get my gift now?” he asked. The only reason he was doing any of this.
“Not quite yet, you need to learn how to take all this stuff of Mary, and then we should get the other horses back in their stalls. Then, and only once the work is done, can we go back and open that gift.”
It wasn’t an obstacle exactly; it was just a couple of tasks that needed to be completed before we could settle for a while and play.
He unstrapped the hat from under his chin, pulling it off his head to remove an awful case of flat hair. I ruffled my fingersthrough it. “Come on then,” he said, kissing his forehead. “Let’s get to work.”
Jace was on a mission to get through it all as quickly as possible. And we did get through all the work in record time, which had Jace looking up at me, batting his eyes for those all-important compliments.
