That Blue-Eyed Boy

10. SUMMER'S END

POV:  BEAU

"I can't believe you're leaving tomorrow." I sigh as Stella and I are standing beside each other looking at the loaded stock trailer that is full of hers and Gemma's belongings. We just finished shoving her last box of bathroom crap into the back, and now John is closing the door, hoping it's going to shut. I spent the majority of the day yesterday cleaning the damn trailer out so it wouldn't smell like cow shit for Stella and Gem2, but alas, I think the smell will forever be embedded into the metal. They said they'd just Febreeze everything really well once they get settled, and I had no qualms about that.

"Me either." She finally replies after her dad has shut the gate and flipped the lock, meaning that everything they needed to get in the trailer fit, which is a downright miracle. I never thought all of Stella's boxes that have been lining the living room and hallway for the past two weeks would fit in the trailer, let alone with the rest of EM's stuff. "Hey, it's the last night I'll be home, we should do something special. Maybe pack a picnic and ride down to the lake?"

"A lake picnic sounds nice." I grin, wrapping my arm around her waist and hooking my thumb in one of her belt loops while I jerk her towards me so I can kiss her temple. I'm only going to be able to hold her so many more times before she leaves for college, and I'm going to take advantage of every opportunity I get.

"Good. Go saddle the horses and I'll get the picnic basket." She smiles, and leans up on her toes to eagerly press her lips to mine. I hold onto her for a minute before John clears his throat, and I reluctantly let her pull away and giggle at her dad.

"Sorry, padre." She grins before sauntering over and giving him a hug and they walk inside, leaving me to head to the barn.

Once inside, I chuckle as I grab Zeus's purple brow-band bridle and slip it over his head while he's in the stall. Normally, I'd pull them out into the aisle and do it right, but I'm in a hurry so I just want to get them saddled and ready to go. Surprisingly, Zeus doesn't fight me when I bring Stella's heavy-ass saddle into the stall and heave it up on the tall horse's back. I have no idea how she does that every day, because she's a lot smaller than I am, and I had trouble getting that thing up over his back. It takes me a solid five minutes to get Zeus to stop horsing around – pun intended – and let me cinch his girth up all the way. As soon as Zeus is saddled, I head into Apollo's stall to saddle him, making sure I steer clear of his nipping teeth. It takes me a solid ten minutes to get him to stop sidestepping me, and I debate crosstying him when he finally stops and lets me heave my saddle onto his back. When I turn around after cinching his girth up, I figure out why he stopped moving for me. Stella's holding an apple just out of his reach, and he's so focused on the apple he stopped paying attention to me.

"You looked like you were struggling." She smiles, stepping up to the stall and feeding Apollo the apple.

"He's the biggest pain in my ass ever." I grunt, leading the horse out of the stall while Stella goes and straps our picnic to her saddle before following me out of the barn.

"Yeah, speaking of which, are you ever going to make that appointment to get the stitches out?" She asks, taking a step closer to me and softly trailing her fingers over my shirt that's covering the 28 stitches. My skin prickles where her fingers nearly touched my skin, and I snake my arm around waist and tug her to me, trying to keep as little space between us as possible. It's been less than a month with this girl, but holy shit I'm in love with her. "What?"

"What what?" I ask, gazing down at her beautiful face.

"Did you just say what I think you said?" She giggles, and shows me her beautiful white teeth while her eyes crinkle with the smile.