My Cowboy

Awkward

I'm finally beginning to unpack. Mostly because I needed a new outfit and I didn't have any unpacked. I really haven't gotten a chance to settle because I'm always putting myself out there and trying to make new friends.
Buzzzzz...buzzzzz...buzzzzz. OMG! It's Kota calling!

"Hey! Kota, I miss you!" I screamed at him.

"I'm here too!" Rani noted.

"Rani! It's so different here guys. I can't dress like I do there. Everyone here has an accent and they have farms and they all wear cowboy boots."

"Woah. Woah. Woah. Are there cute boys?" Rani asked hoping for a yes.

"Rani, there are totally cute boys. The hottest one lives next to me. I'd love to tell you and Kota all about him, but we're going for a ride on his horse later."

"Are you replacing me?" Kota asked.

One thing everyone should know is that Kota and I dated. We didn't date for long. We began dating around the time my mother left. I was crying in my room and he kissed me. We've always been best friends so when I left we decided to go back to being best friends. There's no awkwardness between us like one might think.

"Who knows? I might just date him, Kota."

Rani squealed behind me in excitement. She was just as enthusiastic as I. I continued unpacking as I spoke to them. Before I knew it, six o'clock rolled around.

"Guys I'd love to stay and chat, but it's already past 6. I was supposed to meet Ryder in the barn. I have to go!"

I hung up before they had a chance to speak. 6:18. What the fuck am I supposed to do? I look awful. What am I supposed to wear?  I decided on a fashion riding blazer and a pair of brown jeans to match. My cream tank top was lace and matched well with my navy blue blazer. My favorite brown boots topped off my outfit as I raced over to the barn. As I entered I checked the time. 6:32 and there's no sign of him. Great, I'm late and he left. I didn't know what to do so I wandered around the barn. I climbed the ladder to the hayloft. There was a ton of hay up there. I walked all around.

"Dad? Is that you?" I heard Ryder.

"Ryder! I'm so sorry I'm late!" I tried to explain why, but my words jumbled together and it sounded more like "myfriendsfrohomcallnilostrackoftimeimsorry."

Good luck reading that.

"Yeahhhh. I missed all of that." Ryder announced with that accent. "But it's okay. I ain't mad. Actually, I'm glad you're late. I wanna introduce you to Camille."

From where I was standing, I could barely see Ryder let alone this Camille chick. I moved to the left so the hay wouldn't obstruct my view. I don't see anyone... Then I saw it.

"She's so pretty!"

Camille was the calf that was born. Not a person. I sat next to him and accidentally touched his hand. I jerked my hand away and he just laughed.

"I think it's cute the way you do stuff like that." He declared.

"Like what?" I had no idea what he was talking about.

"When you touch me by accident and move away as quickly as possible. Or when I touch you and you get all nervous."

"That doesn't happen." I insisted that isn't true. Or is it?

At around 6:45, we went to the horse stalls. I assumed we'd be riding the horse together like yesterday, but I was wrong. I had no idea what to do. I was given a short tutorial and Ryder said if I needed help he'd be right there. I smiled as he hopped on his horse. I got to ride Buttercup. She's a light brown horse.  He rode Midnight, let me tell you Midnight is fierce. He has a gray mane and he's as black as midnight, makes sense.

Ryder led us on a trail in the woods of his land. I remembered every word on how to handle Buttercup.

"You're a natural rider. I'm seriously impressed, Jada."

I smiled at him. He dismounted his horse and helped me from mine. We tied them to a post out by this beautiful plain patch in the middle of the woods. In front of me stood the most amazing treehouse I'd ever seen. Well actually it was the first treehouse I had ever seen, but I've seen them on TV.

"I know a treehouse is a little childish, but I built it myself. 18-year-olds don't exactly like sitting out in a tree, but I love riding out here."

"Actually, I'm barely 16. My birthday was last month." I corrected him assuming he is 18.

"You're only 16?" He asked surprised.

"I skipped freshman year," I explained, assuming he wondered why I was a senior.

Yep. Conversation killer as always. Nobody can ever relate so saying nothing is better than saying anything at all right? Wrong. We walked up the treehouse steps and into a massive room. Holy shit! This place is better than my 14,000 dollar-a-month apartment. My mouth dropped in awe. He looked at me and smiled.

He didn't say a word to me, but he let his actions do the talking. He gave me the no-way-am-I-screwing-this-up look and he planted one right on my lips. I pulled away from him, not because I didn't want to kiss him, but because I wanted to tell him something.

"Ryder-"

"Shh." He cut me off and I kissed him before he could kiss me.

We both were a little carried away because about three minutes into making out, we were ripping clothes off. When I realized what was happening, I stopped him.

"I barely know you. We shouldn't be doing this." I said in a regretful tone.

"I agree. I'm glad you stopped me because I wouldn't have been able to do it myself." We sifted through our clothes on the floor and put them back on. I explored the tree house with him until I hit the bedroom. I froze for a minute semi-upset that I stopped it.

He knew my expression because he said, "It's for the best right now. Maybe one day I'll have you." He winked at me and pulled me into an embrace. He grabbed my ass and I kissed him.

There are two ways this can play out. 1) We could have an amazing romantic night and since it's Friday, we could stay here in the treehouse. We can talk all night and get to know each other. 2) We can go home and pretend this never happened. If you guessed 2 then congratulations! You're right!