Resilient

Chapter Thirteen

After two hours of training me and AJ walk Ponyboy back to the barn, and put him back in his stall. Cody walks into the barn and takes his hat off.

"Hi ladies," he says.

"Hey Cody," I say and smile.

"You look nice today Georgia," he says with a smile.

I look at my dirty clothes and laugh. "Thanks," I say and smile.

"Um this is a little forward, but I was wondering if you would want to go out with me sometime," he says.

I look at AJ in shock. She just smiled at me. "Girl you got guys coming at you left and right," she says with a laugh.

"I'm gonna be honest, I don't know," I tell him.

He laughs and gives me a reassuring smile. "That's quite alright. You have my number, just call me if anything changes," he says.

"I'll keep that in mind," I say and smile.

I walk over to Joey's car and give him a confused look. He looks up at me and I see his black eye. "What the hell?" I ask.

"We're fine now, but me and Stone got into a fight. He knew you would be mad, so he sent me to pick you up," he explains as we get in the car.

"What the hell were y'all fighting about?" I ask.

"Georgie, isn't it obvious?" He says.

"Look y'all ain't gonna be doing this. Who I decide to date is my choice, and we're all friends unless I say otherwise," I tell him.

"I know, but he knows I'm still in love with you, and I know he's in love with you too. Hell, you make it hard not to fall in love with you," he says.

"We all agreed that we would be friends and be okay with things," I say.

"I am okay being friends, and like I said we're good now. He's just protective of you, and it's totally understandable," Joey says.

We pull into the driveway and I get out of the car. "Stone Keller, what the fuck is wrong with you?" I snap as I walk into the guest bedroom.

He sighs and sits up on the bed. "I knew you would be mad," he says.

"I'm furious," I tell him. "I thought we agreed to all be cool with each other?"

"Everything's fine now Georgette, we just had a misunderstanding is all," he says.

"Y'all got into a fist fight over me," I deadpan.

"It wasn't my finest moment, I agree," he says.

I sigh. "The date is off," I say.

"What?" He asks.

"I'm not ruin anymore friendships. I'm just not, so no date Stone. I'm sorry," I say and walk away. It breaks my heart, but I can't ruin anymore friendships over dating someone.

I have Colt take me home and I get into my Prius and drive back to the ranch. I pull into the driveway and see Cody bailing some hay. I get out and stand by the open door. "Hey," I call to him.

He smiles and walks over to me. "AJ didn't say you'd be coming back by," he says.

"Impromptu," I say.

"What is it?" He asks with a laugh.

"Are you free tonight?" I ask.

He smiles. "I'll be free in the next five minutes," he says.

"Okay cool," I say with a smile. I will admit Cody is a very attractive guy, and the good thing is there's no history with us that could get in the way, or ruin any friendships.

He walks back over to me after putting the rest of the hay away, and smiles. "Follow me," he says.

I follow him to the barn and he grabs us some tack off the wall. "Saddle up Ponyboy and we'll go for a ride," he says.

I saddle up Ponyboy as Cody saddles up his horse Mickey. We climbed in and I follow Cody out of the barn.

"What made you change your mind?" He asks, as we ride side by side.

"Wanted to be around a guy who didn't have any drama," I say.

He smiles and nods his head. "The ex and the best friend who's in love with you," he says with a laugh.

"How'd you guess?" I ask.

"AJ tells me everything, especially since I told her I have a crush on you," he says.

"You do?" I ask.

"Ever since we were younger, but you never noticed me," he says with a smile.

"I'm sorry," I say.

"We're on a date now, so it's alright," he says with a smile.

"This a date?" I ask with a laugh.

"It sure is. I'm the guy for you Georgia Collins," he says.

"How so?" I ask.

"Well you said you want a guy with no drama, and here I am," he says.

"Okay, it's a date then," I say.

He smiles at me as we stop by this beautiful waterfall. "Wow I didn't even know this was back here," I say.

"A lot of people don't," he tells me as we get off our horses.

"It's beautiful," I say.

"We don't bring many people back here because we don't want it to get polluted," he tells me.

"Smart idea," I say with a chuckle.

"Are you serious about this?" He asks me.

"About what?" I ask.

"About dating someone that's not either of those two," he says.

"I think it's what's best," I say.

"Well okay then," he says with a smile. He sits down on the edge of the water and I sit next to him.

"I always thought you were beautiful ya know," he tells me.

I smile. "Thanks, I always thought you were pretty cute yourself," I say.

"With that being said, I think you should date Stone," he says.

I look at him confused. "What?"

"Georgia, I would love to date you, but you have unfinished feelings you need to address. I can tell from the way you two are around each other," he says. "He's one lucky guy."

"Cody," I say.

"It's no big deal," he says. "I'm happy be your drama free friend," he says.

I laugh. "Well thank you," I say. "Sorry this is the only date we'll have most likely," I say.

He shrugs his shoulders and leans over planting a small kiss on my lips. "You know where I live in case anything changes," he says to me with a smile.

"I'll keep that in mind," I say.

"We should get back now," he says.

We ride back to the barn and out the horses in their stalls. "I'll put everything away, you go take care of things," he says with a smile.

"Again, I'm sorry," I say.

"You're fine Georgia," he reassured me.

I give him a smile and walk out of the barn to my car. I sigh and get in. It's time to face my feelings once and for all. No matter how much trouble they cause.