Back in the Saddle

by Caitlin Ricci

  “Thanks,” Dion mumbled quietly.

  I looked over at him. He hadn’t really been that quiet around me before. Maybe it was that I’d come in to help him. Maybe that had actually bothered him. “Sorry. I guess I could have told you how to tie him instead.” Maybe I needed to learn how to step back and help by telling instead of just showing.

  But Dion smiled over at me. “It actually has nothing to do with the horse at all. Just watching you tie a knot, that was a little sexy. Made me think of you, and me, and some ropes...” He shrugged.

  He was crazy. I shook my head. But, the sudden need to kiss him welled up in me, and really there was no use in denying ourselves one quick kiss. One little kiss wouldn’t hurt anything, after all. So I leaned in close to him and gave him a gentle kiss.

  Only what was supposed to be a kiss turned into a whole lot more when he opened his mouth and let out the slightest moan that promised me so much more if only I would just give in to him.

  It would have been so easy, too. I rubbed against his thigh, my cock seeking him even as I fought back my desires.

  I got control of myself and pulled myself away a second after he put his hand on the front of my jeans. “We can’t.”

  Dion pouted and leaned back against the front of the stall. The stance pushed his hips out. He was showing me how hard he was for me.

  I made myself step back. I wasn’t about casual sex. I just wasn’t. Despite how tempting he was. Despite how good I knew we’d be together. We couldn’t be about sex. We could be about kissing and about riding horses and even about drinking lemonade on my porch. But we couldn’t be about sex.

  “Damn. You really do have a lot of self-control hidden somewhere,” Dion called to me as I went and got a gelding out of his stall and brought him into the aisle as well.

  I laughed, hoping I sounded happy and not like I was suffering being so close to him. “If I wanted you to stay the night, just to hang out and not have sex, would you?” I asked him. My feelings for him were mostly sexual, though I did enjoy his company. If he didn’t want to be around me when we weren’t having sex, then I’d know there was definitely no hope for us.

  “Can I pick the movies we watch?” he asked.

  I stepped around the gelding, hiding my smile. It was good to know I wasn’t just someone to screw for him. “Sure. Does that mean you’re staying?”

  “I’d need to call out for tomorrow, but with how much I’ve been coming in lately, and how much I’ve picked up all the extra slack around the nursing home, that shouldn’t be a problem. We could get some ice cream too. Assuming you eat ice cream?”

  “I love ice cream.” I laughed and got busy brushing out the gelding. Dion copied my movements, using the same brushes as me on the same parts of Luther.

  I was about to come help him get the saddle on when I heard thunder start up. It was in the distance, but still. Frowning, I looked outside just to be sure it wasn’t my imagination or something and nope, the skies were definitely getting darker.

  “No riding today, huh?” Dion asked me.

  I shook my head as I turned back to him. “Not with this storm coming. Maybe it’ll clear up soon.” I checked my weather app and we were supposed to get rain all evening. What had been a ten percent chance this morning had jumped up to being forty percent or more the rest of the day. I sighed.

  “We can go out another time.” He sounded disappointed too and part of me really hated disappointing him.

  I didn’t have an indoor arena, but I could get him a little more experience before the storm came in too heavily. “We could do some balance exercises if you wanted. They’d be quick, though.” Just as I said that more thunder came booming overhead. I sighed and looked at the ceiling, annoyed at the turn in the weather even though I had no real reason to be. It wasn’t like it was the weather’s decision to inconvenience me personally. I just really needed to save up and get that indoor arena built.

  “What if I stayed over? Could we go riding in the morning?”

  I looked back at Dion and wondered just where he was going with this. “You know we’re not—”

  “I’ll sleep on the couch. Look, I like you. I’m surprised how much I like being around you. The sex was fun, but maybe watching TV would be fun too. Maybe?” He shrugged.

  I nodded. I wanted that too. I gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. “Sure. That sounds good.”

  We put the horses away, gave them all some more food and checked their water, then walked back to my house as the rain started to come down.

  Chapter Eight

  Dion

  With my decision to stay over at Cameron’s house made, I needed to first text Lyssa to let her know not to worry when I didn’t come home tonight. I didn’t want her thinking I’d broken down on the side of the highway or something. But I also needed to let work know I wasn’t going to be there tomorrow. I hadn’t called out in a while. And I wasn’t sick, so it wasn’t like I had some legitimate reason for not going to my shift. I simply didn’t want to. I wanted to enjoy the day with Cameron instead of dealing with a busy shift in a perpetually understaffed nursing home.

  The text to Lyssa took only a few seconds. The call to work I knew would take longer, especially as I waited four whole rings for the nurse’s station to pick up.

  “Nurse’s station, Roger speaking.”

  Oh good. It wasn’t even a nurse that liked me. “Hey. It’s Dion. I won’t be in tomorrow.”

  “Will you have a doctor’s note?” He definitely didn’t sound pleased.

  I leaned back against Cameron’s kitchen island. He was in the fridge getting us lemonades. “No. I won’t. I’ll be in on my usual shift the day after tomorrow.”

  “Hmm. An unexcused absence will get you written up. You realize that, don’t you?”

  I knew the policy. He didn’t really need to remind me of it. “I’ve been working fifty to sixty hour weeks, sometimes more like seventy, for months now. I think one personal day, with more than fourteen hours of notice before my scheduled shift, is okay. But yes, I know the rules. If I get written up for this that’s totally fine.”

  I heard him writing in the background. That angry clicking of his pen. “As long as you know the consequences of your actions.”

  “I do. See you the day after tomorrow.” I was ready to be done with this call, probably just as much as he was ready to be done talking to me. We didn’t work well together. He never helped when I asked for it, and even if he was just sitting at the desk playing on his phone he never actually offered to help unless his supervisor was around to see.

  “We’ll see about that,” he said, right before hanging up on me.

  “What a dick,” I said as I put my phone away. I knew my job was fine. I wasn’t worried about that. I just hated that I had to work with him and people like him. But mostly him. Roger had always given me crap about everything.

  Cameron handed me a glass of lemonade. “You sure you don’t want to take me up on my offer? At least I wouldn’t give you attitude for wanting a day off.”

  “How much did you hear?” I asked.

  He shrugged and watched me as he took a sip of his drink. “Pretty much everything. You’re not standing that far from me and your phone isn’t exactly quiet.”

  I blushed. I hadn’t realized that my phone had been that loud. “Sorry.” I sighed and picked up the glass. The cold helped relax me. Talking to most of the people at work always gave me a bit of stress. “I just... I dunno. There’s parts of it that I really love. I absolutely adore my patients. I really do. They’re wonderful. I love helping them. But then there are people like Roger and the fact that it’s apparently a big deal to him that I want a day off, and it’s so understaffed, and I’m always so tired. Like I could literally go to sleep next to you right now and it’s not even dark out. I’m not supposed to be this tired all of the time. But I’d feel so bad for quitting. They really need me there. I’m one of the few people who actually comes
in on time and does my job like I’m supposed to.”

  “But would they replace you in a heartbeat?” Cameron asked me.

  There was the problem. I knew, in the end, that I was absolutely replaceable. And they’d pay the next person less than me since I’d been there long enough to get a few raises. I nodded.

  Cameron came over and wrapped his arm around me. “Look, I don’t know your situation. I barely know you. But I do see that you don’t look happy at all. I’m not promising you a ton of riches. I can’t be your sugar daddy. There will still be plenty of hard work here. But at least you might not be miserable. And you’d still have plenty of time off, so if you wanted to work part time or if you wanted to go volunteer or something, you definitely could. Just think about it.”

  I snorted. He didn’t even really know me. “What makes you think I’d even do a good job,?”

  “Because you’ve stuck out a job you’re not valued at, that you don’t really enjoy, and that you’ve gone way above and beyond at for a long time. I’m pretty sure you’ve got the work ethic to manage here.”

  I hated that he seemed to know me so well, and yet he really didn’t know me at all. “I’m messy,” I promised him. When I was tired I threw things around and just didn’t care.

  Cameron kissed my shoulder before he took my hand and brought me to the couch. “The beautiful thing about this is that you’d have your own room and if you want to be messy in there, go for it. Just pick up after yourself in the common areas. You don’t have to make a decision right now. Just hang out with me tonight.”

  I didn’t want to think, but I did like his offer. There were things to consider though, not the least of which was that I was still on a lease and I couldn’t, and wouldn’t just break that and walk away. Doing that to Lyssa would just be mean. “Hanging out does sound good.”

  He chose something for us to watch and I laid my head on his shoulder. He still hadn’t let go of my hand.

  Chapter Nine

  Cameron

  Dion had offered to take the couch, but that night I couldn’t just leave him there with an old pillow and a blanket I hoped would be warm enough. “Come share the bed?” I offered. He looked me over and I shrugged. I was tired. We’d watched movies for hours. I had no energy to do more than sleep. He didn’t look like he did either.

  “Yeah. I’d like that.”

  He followed me into the bedroom and I pulled off my socks and shirt but hesitated on my jeans. Dion didn’t worry about his clothes at all. While I was still wondering if it might be awkward to just be in my boxers, he’d already stripped down to his briefs and was under the blankets.

  Chuckling, I decided not to overthink it as much as I took off my jeans after all. We were just sleeping. No need to make it more awkward than it might have already been if we weren’t as tired as we were.

  We hadn’t even done much. That was the strange thing, and also the nice thing too, about being tired as I laid in bed next to him. Dion didn’t speak as he turned over and lay his head on my shoulder. He didn’t even wait for me to maybe move my arm or even get into a more comfortable position. He simply rolled toward me and was suddenly on top of me.

  And I didn’t mind. I found his hand under the covers and laced my fingers through his. He was asleep within minutes. For me it took a little longer, but not by much.

  I woke up sometime in the morning to bright sunshine in my face and the sounds of Dion trying to be quiet as he argued with someone. I only heard his voice though, so I figured no one else was here, not that it even mattered. No one would care that Dion had spent the night with me. I yawned and shuffled out of bed. It wasn’t early, but I wasn’t quick to get up no matter how long I’d slept really. I just wasn’t that functional right away. I never had been.

  I crept quietly out of the bedroom. I wasn’t trying to spy, I just didn’t want to interrupt his call. I started the coffee pot and headed back to the bedroom for a shower.

  By the time I was dressed and substantially more awake the coffee was ready and Dion was stretched out over my couch watching the news.

  “No rain today,” he said as I got my coffee ready.

  “We could go for a ride,” I said, figuring that was probably where he was going with his statement. I wanted to ask about the phone call, or rather, to make sure everything was okay with him since I had heard him arguing, but I didn’t want to intrude.

  He nodded and put his phone aside. He sat up, and looked at me squarely. I waited for whatever he wanted to say, silently sipping my coffee. He looked like it was important and, even though we’d only really just started to get to know each other, he was starting to be important to me. I wanted to hear what he had to say. “How serious were you about the job offer?”

  “Very. You could move in tomorrow and we’d start the same day if you wanted to take me up on it.” I generally tried not to make empty offers to people in general and the offer I’d made him was no different.

  His eyes got big though and he stared at me. Maybe it was rash to think that someone else would move in quickly in business as I tended to. “That’s a lot to process, but after this morning I’m seriously so tempted just to call my boss and say screw that job and come work for you. It’s stressful, though. And uncertain. I’ve got a guaranteed check with the nursing home. With you?” Dion shrugged.

  I pursed my lips. I could have held out for someone else to come along, but the reality was that I needed help now, and none of my family was willing to take on the extra work from my business on top of their own. We all had a lot going on. We all, generally, seemed to like it that way. But I wanted less time with the computer and more time with the horses. If he needed guaranteed money, I could probably do that for him. I did the math quickly in my head and knew I could make it work. The problem, for me at least, was that I was looking for a partner, not an employee. “I can give you an hourly guaranteed wage, but I was hoping you’d want to be my partner.”

  “In more ways than just in business,” he quietly added on.

  I nodded. It was true. There was no use in denying it. I wanted him in my life.

  Dion sighed and got up from the couch. “How about this...we go for a ride, I think about your offer, I talk it over with Lyssa to see how we’d figure out me cutting out of the lease, since there’s no way I could drive the hour here and back each day after my shift, and then you and I will talk. For real talking, where we sit down and figure it all out. I jump into sex, but not business. You apparently jump into business but you want to wait on sex. You’re messing with my mind here.”

  He smiled at me so I knew he was teasing me, at least a little. But he wasn’t far from the truth either. “Okay, deal.” It felt like we should have shook hands or something to seal our agreement. Instead, I kissed him, and for a little bit it was simply good to have Dion in my arms.

  Chapter Ten

  Dion

  How Cameron managed not to be sore after three hours on the back of a horse was beyond me. My ass was killing me and my thighs hurt from trying to hang on. I’d loved it, though. Sore, sweaty, and reeking of horses and hay, I was still smiling as I came back home late that night.

  What I hadn’t told Cameron, and what I was thankful that he hadn’t pressed about, was that I was on suspension. Apparently they couldn’t find anyone to cover all those shifts I’d just had to come in for, but the moment I have an unexcused absence, and a write up by default, and get an attitude about it to where I get a suspension, then they suddenly have people to cover my twelve hour shift.

  It was total crap, but really I wasn’t that surprised by it either.

  Lyssa came out of her room wearing lounge pants and a tank top that said Boss Babe on it. The shirt made me smile, as did the hug she gave me.

  “Tell me all about your night with Cameron,” she demanded.

  I should have gone to take a shower, or one of my very rare baths when I was feeling really indulgent. But I let her pull me onto the couch b
eside her. “First, I’m suspended from work for three days because I had an attitude after being written up for calling in today.”

  Lyssa rolled her eyes. “Those assholes. After all you’ve done for them?”

  “I know.” Sighing, I laid my head on her shoulder. “And Cameron is fine. I like him. He likes me. He wants me to come work for him, or with him, or something. He doesn’t love the social media stuff and the website building and the scheduling. He just wants to do the riding and training part.”

  “You should do it. Show your boss at the nursing home that you don’t need them or their stupid job that makes you tired and cranky.” She put her arm around my shoulders and gave me a squeeze.

  I really did love that idea. And I loved her for saying that. “There’s a lot to consider though. Like our lease here. I mean, if I went to work with him then I wouldn’t be living here anymore. And I’ve never lived and worked in the same place. What if we have a fight and he fires me and kicks me out and suddenly I’ve got nowhere to go? That’s a pretty big issue.”

  Lyssa went silent beside me and I closed my eyes. It was good to just rest for a little bit. I really was tired.

  When I woke up I was alone in the dark living room, with a heavy blanket wrapped around me. I heard Lyssa and Cindy talking in Lyssa’s room, though their voices were way too low for me to hear what they were actually saying. I shuffled into the bathroom, got a shower, then went to bed. I hadn’t even had the energy to get dressed again.

  I was asleep for maybe an hour when Lyssa came to my door.

  “Hey, are you up?” she asked me as she opened the door.

  I grumbled and turned on the light.

  “Okay, maybe you weren’t. So maybe later might be better for talking?”