The Boy From Oklahoma

Alana

Briefly edited. 

   "Oh my God!" I squeak as Travis pushes me up into the saddle. I hold onto it with a death grip and look down at him. 

   "Just relax," he coaxes, patting my thigh which is just about eye level to him. I take a deep breath and look ahead of me. I run my fingers over Parsnip's soft shoulder and smile slightly. 

   "See, it's not that bad," Travis says. 

   "You're right."

   "How 'bout you try walkin'? Are your feet in the stirrups?" he asks.

   "Not this one," I say, pointing to my right leg. He walks around to my right and pushes my boot-clad foot into the stirrup. 

   "All right," he says, coming back around to my other side. "I'll walk beside you, but I want you to try to do everythin' by yourself."

   "What? This is my first time on a horse!" 

   "It'll be okay. She's trained for beginners, so you won't hafta do much anyway," he says. 

   I sigh and then take a deep breath. He looks up at me and gives me a cute smile. "This is how you hold the reigns," he says, reaching up to show me. I replace his hands with mine, and look down at him. 

   "Good," he says. "Now sit up straight." I do as he says and let my eyes rest on Parsnip's mane. 

   "When you wanna go forward, you just say 'walk on' and give her a little squeeze with your legs." 

   I take another deep breath. "Walk on," I say as I gently put pressure on her sides. Parsnip only hesitates for a moment before beginning to walk forward. Out of the corner of my eye I can see Travis walking next to me. 

   "What if I want to turn?" I ask.

   "Just use the hand that's in the direction you want to turn and pull gently with that hand. Also, use the leg on the same side to squeeze."

   I use my left hand to gently pull and she turns her head to the left. When I use my left leg to apply pressure, the rest of her body follows and she cuts across the ring. 

   "You're doing really good," Travis tells me. I smirk as I think about how nobody at home would believe I'm riding a horse. 

   Parsnip comes to the other side of the ring, and I decide to turn her to the right. I use my right hand to pull her head to the right and use my right leg to turn her just like I did before, making sure to leave enough room for Travis to continue walking beside me. 

   "How about we try stoppin'," he says. "All you're gonna do is pull back with both hands and tell her 'whoa'." 

   "Okay," I respond, doing as he says. Parsnip makes a snorting noise at me and takes a couple more steps before coming to a complete stop. 

   "Good. Now ask her to walk again."

   I do the same thing as before to get her to walk and she complies. We make our way around the ring two more times before I realize that Travis isn't walking next to me anymore. I twist my head around to find him leaning back against the wall where we had come in. His right foot is resting flat against the wall and his arms are crossed. His ever-present cowboy hat is tipped down slightly. 

   "What're you doing?" I call.

   "Restin'," he responds. 

   "Being lazy," I tease as I turn Parsnip to walk toward him. I stop her about an arm's length away from him. 

   He lifts his head and smiles at me with a glimmer in his eye. "Want to see how it's really done?" he asks me as he pushes himself from the wall. He comes around to my left side. 

   "Do I?"

   "Jump down and I'll show ya," he responds, holding his arms out to me. I laugh and swing my right leg around to the same side of the saddle, resting my hands on the seat of the saddle. 

   "I'll catch you," he says, wiggling his fingers. I laugh again and push myself off the saddle. I feel a little jolt as I come into contact with Travis' body. He sets me down and gives me his cute, lopsided smile. He then puts his left foot into the stirrup and hops on Parsnip in one smooth motion and winks at me. He then gives Parsnip a soft kick. Her nose flares and her head raises as she trots off with him on her back. 

   I cross my hands over my chest and watch them. When he comes around again it's almost as if the whole scene is in slow motion. I gaze up at him and notice things that I hadn't before. His plaid shirt is rolled up on his forearms and untucked, flapping slightly as they move around the ring. I can see the muscles in his forearms flex as he tightens his grip on the reigns. I let my eyes travel upward to see an easy smile on his lips. His green eyes flick to me and he smiles more. Just under the rim of his cowboy hat I can see his blonde hair. I let my eyes travel the rest of the way down his body. His faded jeans hug his butt and thighs nicely as he sits in the saddle. 

   He coaxes Parsnip into a faster, smoother gait and I smile. Parsnip tosses her head and snorts as if she's enjoying every minute of it. 

***

   Over the next two weeks we continue with our riding lessons. He tells me I'm becoming quite the rider and we've even gone on trail rides. Let me tell you, there is nothing better than being on horseback, galloping through a wide open field and feeling the wind across your face and blow through your hair. I can't help but love it here, and I also feel like I'm becoming a completely different person. 

   We're just getting back from a trail ride now and we're both in the tack room untacking our horses. Ace finally got better, so I've been riding him instead of Parsnip. 

   As I've been working with Ace, he's become quite attached to Travis' mare Calico. They make a striking couple with her tri-color coat and his dappled grey coat. 

   "I think they enjoy our rides," Travis says to me. 

   "I don't think he likes the riding, I think he likes Calico," I say as I begin to brush down Ace. 

   "It's true he likes my girl, that much is obvious, but you can tell he likes the ridin' too. He likes feelin' the wind in his mane just like you like feelin' it in your hair."

   I blush and look away. "You know, I've figured it out," I say.

   "Figured what out?" he asks absently while brushing Calico.

   "How you're so good with horses."

   "Oh? How's that?" he asks, turning to look at me with a smile. 

   "You're a horse whisperer," I say seriously. He tips his head back and laughs, and I smile, admiring his features. 

   I finish taking all my tack off Ace and put it in the tack room. I'm just coming out of the tack room when Travis steps in front of me. I'm smiling when I look up at him, but his face is completely serious. 

   "What?" I ask, my smile fading.

   He grabs my waist and pulls me to him and plants his lips right smack onto mine. I'm not going to lie, I liked it a lot, but that still doesn't give him the right to grab me. 

   "What the hell!?" I tell as I push him away from me. 

   "I thought you wanted to?" he asks, looking at me completely confused. 

   I give him a dirty look and push past him to let Ace out. "Some people," I mutter to myself and Ace as I lead him outside to the pasture gate. He blows his nose at me in understanding.