Twenty-Nine // J.G.

seven.

Day 3.

"Goddamn, Sammy, is that you?" Nate cracked a joke about the stench of the cattle ranch we had just entered, pinching his nose shut before shoving Sam to the side.

"Shut the fuck up, it's probably your stank ass!" Sammy shot back, reciprocating the playful gesture. I couldn't help but laugh at my two best friends, shaking my head as they went back and forth with their roughhousing.

"Watch out before y'all step in some cow pies!" I warned, giggling at their interjections of realization. Meanwhile, Jack joined me at my side, wrapping an arm around my shoulders, which caused me to tense up.

"You know what, I'm making it my goal to make you not tense up whenever I touch you." He proclaimed, shaking me slightly. Ha, good luck with that. There was no way Jack could ever not have a physical effect on me because I'd falter with just a simple glance, and I doubted it would get any easier.

Rather than responding to his decree, a gasp passed my lips at the sight of horses, and I scurried my way past Sammy and Nate to get to the beauties.

"Hi, babies!" I cooed, looking to the tour guide for permission before petting one of them. Admittedly, I was the weird horse girl growing up, and although I have never ridden one before, my insignificant childhood dreams would be coming true today. "Thank you, Jack." I turned back to him as I almost forgot that he had arranged this for us.

"It's nothing," He shook his head as we walked into corral to get situated. "So you like to ride, huh?" A smirk lined his lips, and for what reason I couldn't figure out, but I blushed nonetheless because I felt stupid for not understanding his reference.

"I've actually never done it before.." I answered cautiously, not wanting to play into this so-called punchline.

"Then here's to another first." He answered to my relief. "Which one do you want, babe?" We both looked around, and my eyes settled on a beautiful white horse that seemed to be calling my name. I pointed at it, eagerly following after Jack as he lead me to it.

"She's so pretty!" I gawked, brushing my fingertips along her smooth coat. Snowflake, the inscription on her saddle read. Seeing that everyone else was beginning to mount their horse, I started the attempt myself, but I quickly realized the issue at hand: I was too short to reach anything. "Um," I hesitated, looking back at the boys, who were already up on their horses. Of course those damn giants could get on without any problems. It's fine, I told myself. I can do it without their help. Taking a deep breath, I slid my left foot into the stirrup and braced myself before trying to hop on. Needless to say, it was a rather pathetic fail. I tried again and almost made it, but before I could come back to the ground, I felt a pair of strong hands gripping onto my hips. I squealed, looking back to see none other than Jack.

"I got you, babe." He encouraged, nodding for me to try again. My face bloomed red both in part due to embarrassment and fluster, my hands shaky as I scrambled up onto the saddle. As much as I appreciated his help, I hated the vulnerable feeling he brought forth to me whenever he did the simplest things for my part. I had always been an independent person, and I wasn't going to let that change any time soon, especially for a boy.

The scenic tour soon began, and I quickly learned that riding a horse wasn't as easy as it seemed, nor was it very comfortable. My horse kept wanting to steer away from the trail, and even though I did everything that the tour guide advised us to do, she didn't seem to want to listen. Still, the beautiful scenery around us made the trip a little more bearable.

Just when I thought I was getting the hang of controlling my horse, though, things went horribly, horribly downhill. I don't know what happened or what triggered her, but all I recall is that one second I was gazing into the rain forest, and the next everything was zooming past us as Snowflake had taken off. I screamed bloody murder the whole time, clinging onto her reigns for dear life every time I began to slip from the saddle.