Smiling

As Ashlee left the tack room, Travis got to his feet and threw Dylan a glare. "Really?"

Dylan looked up at him with little expression except for a crooked grin. "Oh. Sorry. Didn't mean to break up your date. Next time try the hayloft." He winked. "It's a little more private." 

Travis gritted his teeth. He started to say something, but instead of continuing an argument, he spun on his heel and stalked out. Looking around, he finally spotted Ashlee outside, already halfway across the yard. "Ashlee!" Jogging after her, he caught up and turned in front of her to walk backward. "Come on... help me wash the horses? Dylan was just being a jerk. I don't wanna cut our time short."


Hunter grinned as Ryan finally made it up behind him, and he made sure she was hanging on before starting forward. "It's a weird kind of ride behind the saddle, but once you get used to it, it's not bad. Especially since Bonzai has a soft rear end." He chuckled and steered towards the back pasture. Once there, he aimed around the outer edge. 

"Okay... this guy has a wicked trot. So I'm gonna bypass that and go straight into a lope. Basically I'm skipping a gear. And since it's not an engine," he teased, "it's okay. So... hang on tight." He patted her hands, making sure she still had her arms around him. "As long as you've got a hold on me, you've got no worries. But if you start to slip, holler at me and I'll stop. No worries." 

Not giving her too much time to think about it, Hunter gave Bonzai the signal to speed up. Readily obeying, the gelding jumped into a gentle, rocking lope. In reality, it wasn't that fast as Hunter held him back so he'd take shorter, slower strides. But it always felt faster when atop the horse. Just letting Bonzai take the long route around the pasture, Hunter made sure Ryan was still hanging on. She couldn't see his face, but he was smiling.


"I think I can," Levi mumbled sleepily. "I think I can." Moaning, he finally lifted his head again to squint at the computer screen. His eyes were killing him. His head hurt. But he had to finish this. He just had to. 

"Business card. Right. Got it. Last thing. I can do this." He took a deep breath and reached for the mouse again to keep working. Was he awake or asleep? He wasn't completely sure. 

Another hour. It was almost two-thirty in the morning now. "And... that's a wrap." Levi hit a key to save his work before leaning back in his chair and letting his head flop over the headrest as he closed his eyes. "I cannot believe I did this." He opened his eyes to see Karla, although from his angle, she appeared to be upside down. "You... deserve tomorrow off. With pay." 

Snapping upright and standing, he stretched and yawned. Sadly enough, he almost had a second wind. Which was good since he had to drive. "Come on. I'm taking you home. I'm not gonna let you walk at this time of night."