A Summer To Remember

Pluviophile

“Pluviophile: A person who loves the rain.”

After around an hour of jumping different courses that I made in my mind and jumped until it got too easy for both Smoke and me, I cooled him down and led him out of the arena, and let him walk the edges of the entire 5-acre field. I pulled out my phone and checked the time. It was 12:30. After making sure that Smoke was completely cooled down, I led him down the middle of the field when all of a sudden he halted, looked at the western arena, and started pawing his hoof to the ground.

“Smoke, don’t you dare,” I said knowing damn well what was about to happen. Smoke took off to the western arena and I pulled him into an emergency stop after a few seconds. He spun in tight circles as I refused to release the pressure until he came to a full halt. “I can do this all day bud. Just keep going and see where that gets you.” I said to Smoke.

Almost immediately after I said that he stopped spinning and I realesed the pressure on his reins. I led him to the road and after several minutes of walking and thinking, I let my torso hang onto Smoke’s neck, letting my arms hang in front of his chest. “I thought I figured you out dude,” I whispered as we approached the house.

“AHHH!! LEV STOP IT!!!” I heard Piper shriek from the driveway. “Well shit,” I said under my breath. “C’mon, bud. Let’s go through the trees.” I said and turned Smoke around and behind the tree line around the house so no one would see us. After a few minutes of trotting down the tree line, we got to the back left of the house.

I slowed Smoke to a halt and peeked around the corner checking to see if anyone was there. I sighed in relief; it was just my mom. I brought Smoke to a walk and chuckled. As I got closer, I realized she was taking a nap. ‘Heh. She probably fell asleep while tanning.’ I thought to myself as I passed her and got to the tree line on the other side of the house that wrapped around the rest of the property.

I saw a football fly about ten feet in front of Smoke and me. ‘Well, shit.’ I thought to myself then put my makeshift reins behind Smoke’s ears and gave his ribs a small squeeze. He started cantering, unsure if I wanted him to sprint or not. I heard a male voice shout “I got it!” And then footsteps ran closer and closer. I gave Smoke a gentle kick to his sides and he immediately took off, running as fast as his legs would take him.

We got to the side of the barn and Smoke took a sharp right, almost immediately stopping himself once we were behind the corner. “Good boy,” I whispered to him as I patted his neck and turned him around to see who it was. I Stopped Smoke enough so that I could see whoever was running to get the football, but they couldn’t see us.

It was Jentzen. He was smiling and laughing and looked like he was having a lot of fun. I admired his smile and the way his eyes shone in the sunlight, almost becoming an amber-like color, despite them being a deep brown when we were inside. I caught myself smiling at the sight, and immediately looked away, not wanting what happened the last time I thought a guy was cute to happen again.

After he had walked back through the trees I turned Smoke back around and once again started heading to the back of the barn. We reached the left back corner before I heard my name being called. “Y/n? When did you get back?” I turned and saw Piper looking at me with her head slightly tilted. “Just a minute ago. I went through the tree line because I saw you guys were playing with the football and didn't want to get in the way of the ball or accidentally spook Smoke.” I told her, hoping she would believe the lie I told her.

“Oh, okay. Well, when you are done putting him away do you want to come join me and the girls? We were just messing around with each other and playing games.” She offered, pointing her thumb over her shoulder as Emily and Elliana waved at me. I thought about it for a split second before I spoke. “Yeah, sure. That way we can catch up.” I told her and smiled. “Okay great! See you in a few minutes!” she said then practically skipped away.