Broken Trouble (Broken Storm Series Book 1)

Chapter 12

When we stepped out the door and onto the front porch, I sucked in a quick intake of breath at the sight before me.

Two horses stood patiently in front of the ranch house, their bridles and mains were decorated in flowers. One was Wyatt's horse, Brooks, who looked completely relaxed for a male horse wearing flowers. Maybe guy horses didn't care as much about those things as human guys. The other horse was a gorgeous color of blues, grays and black, with faint lines on it's legs that I had never seen before on a horse.

I walked up to Brooks, petting his nose affectionately while trying to figure out how I was going to get on without doing my monkey mount like I had last time. The sandals I was wearing had also shortened me by a couple inches, which would make things more difficult.

I didn't have much time to think it over or for Dylan to offer to help, because Wyatt immediately stepped forward, as if reading my mind, to help me get on. He grasped me around the waist and heaved me upward as if I was as light as a doll, placing me on the saddle with ease. His hand lingered on my knee and he nudged his hat up an inch so he could meet my eyes. Dylan was climbed on his horse, not paying attention to what we were doing. "When you go to get off, take your feet out of your stirrups, swing your leg over and just slide down."

I nodded, trying to memorize what he was saying so I would know how to do it when the time came. "Thank you."

Wyatt tipped his hat back down and walked off, leaning against the porch railing where everyone else stood and watched.

I looked over at Dylan, wondering what he had planned for the date. He met my eyes and smiled, his cheeks stayed a continual shade of red from his constant blushing.

We rode in silence, neither of us really knowing what to say. I wondered if he had ever been on a date before. Wouldn't he be more confident if he had? Unless the girl had been mean and put him down a lot, which would also explain his uncertainty.

"So where are we going?" I broke the silence, hoping that his response would help prepare me for whatever he had planned.

"It's not to far away, just over this hill a ways." He spoke, his voice soft.

Good, that meant I wouldn't have to ride for too long and risk embarrassing myself much, until the dismount that is. Brooks was being wonderful, calmly walking alongside Dylan's horse, being the calmest one out of us all.

"So you haven't introduced me," I said, watching as Dylan's face transformed with a mix of confusion before adding, "to your horse."

Dylan blushed again, as if realizing he hadn't and was embarrassed for it. "This is Lance."

"That's a cool name." I said, smiling at him.

"Yeah." He paused. "His coloring is Grullo."

"He's gorgeous. I can see why he's your horse."

Dylan blushed hard, ducking his head and smiling.

In a round about way, did I just call Dylan gorgeous? I stumbled to explain myself further. "I just mean, he seems very mousy." Great, now it sounds like I just called his horse a mouse. "I mean like he's very shy and timid, not like a little mouse." I trailed off, just wanting to bury my head in the sand like an ostrich.

I glanced over at Dylan, hoping that maybe he had been destructed by something else and hadn't noticed my embarrassing rambling. Instead, I saw him pull Lance to a stop as he dismounted.

Maybe he was so disgusted at how stupid I was acting that he was going to throw up in the bushes. Or get me to dismount so he could leave me stranded. I quickly came to my senses and knocked my worries aside. Dylan wasn't like that, he would have just continued riding along quietly, even if he got angry or disgusted.