To Quiet the Little Voice - 7. Damn that had to hurt.

“I never said this wasn’t going to hurt.” Julie shook her head slowly as she reached down and offered Bryson her hand.

“You never said he was going to hate me either!” he groused as he brushed yet more dirt off his bruised and battered backside.

“Go on with you, back in the saddle.”

***

Bryson was your typical 20 year old college student. Tall, average build, golden brown hair just below his ears, he was the basic boy next door. He was the only guy on his dorm floor that couldn’t ride and it bothered him. He didn’t like feeling he was the odd man out.

To fix it, he had called his sisters best friend.

Julie had been riding for literally as long as she could remember. The stable she rode at had a special program to start children in the saddle at 4 years old on the cutest tiniest ponies you have ever seen. Julie learned fast and had started to excel on the show jumping circuit by the time she was 12. Riding scholarships had paid for her schooling, and now she ran a very successful barn and riding school.

If Bry was being honest with himself, he would admit it wasn’t being the only guy who couldn’t ride that bothered him. What really bothered him was the handsome guy in the corner room spent every free minute on the college breeding farm. If Bry wanted to get to know him, he would have to suck it up and learn about horses.

And boy did Bry want to get to know him! Dominic was tall dark and handsome. He had wide shoulders and a narrow waist, and he frequently neglected to put his shirt back on after working the horses. Bry had feasted his eyes on the trim body and sexy treasure trail leading into the waistband of those jeans all fall. It had not taken long before Bry had caught onto his schedule and begun showering at the same times, hoping against hope Dominic would notice him. Maybe if it was a girl had caught his attention he wouldn’t be covered in mud now, but this was the first time he had ever lusted after another guy. To be quite honest he had no clue how to flirt with another male. He made sure he hung around where he would see the dark dreamboat and crossed his fingers Dom would make the first move. During a casual conversation in the dorm common room Bry had heard him say to a friend anyone not into horses probably stood about as much chance of getting along with him as a snowball had of surviving a week in hell.

So Bry had called his sister, who called Julie and the lessons began. Crash course was a pretty apt word for the method Julie was using. She had this green 4 year old gelding that while he rode nicely, most of the time, had these random fits of bucking. She had told Bry they could do the usual lesson or two a week but it would take several months before he would be the sort of rider he thought Dominic expected. He had pleaded with her to find a faster way. After several weeks of daily lessons to get the basics under his belt, he had progressed thru her more difficult horses. By the end of the first month he was doing so well, onto the 4 year old he went. If he could learn to sit the random bucking fits and polish his skills in between he’s be one heck of a rider in no time. If he managed to survive.

“Up you go!” Julie grinned as she gave him a leg up yet again. Sprite was having a rather spirited day and this had been the third time Bry had hit the dirt.

“Walk him out again, once around the school ring then we can pick up the trot.”

“Easy for you to say, you are not sitting on a bruised bum.”

“Do I need to remind you this was your idea? I had tried to talk you out of it. But you wanted to learn as fast as you could. Now stretch your heals down or you are going to wind up in the mud again.”

Bry did as he was instructed and felt the horse settle beneath him. If he didn’t see the animal behave the same way with Julie on his back he would have sworn the horse hated him.

“What makes him go banana’s bucking this way?” Bry felt the horse bunch under him again and stretched his legs down and clamped on instantly, waiting for the next bucking fit. But the horse settled again and flicked his ears back to listen to Bry.

“Good Bry! Now you are getting the hang of it! You felt him getting ready to throw his heals up and you corrected him nicely.”

“I did? I thought I was hanging on with my legs for dear life!”

“You did. That and pushing him forward so he can’t really buck is what I have been trying to tell you all morning. We don’t really know why he wigs out. Watching the two of you together I am beginning to think he believes people are trying to hurt him. If that’s the case, bucking is pretty much the only option he has to defend himself here. The more you two work together the more he seems to trust you and the less he bucks each day.”

“Jeez, I thought you were kidding when you said horses have two thoughts, ‘where is dinner coming from’ and ‘oh my god it’s gonna eat me!’ You were serious!”

The lesson continued, and while she taught him the ins and outs of communicating with a horse, they made small talk.

“Did I tell you I hired one of the guys from your dorm to help out in the barn? He’s in the equine management program but registered late and there were no openings left in the school barn. He’s going to work off boarding his horse with me.”

“Cool. A lot of those guys can barely afford to keep themselves let alone a horse. I’m one of the very lucky ones. Most of the guys grew up on the small farms around here and are in the eq management or land management classes hoping to be able to make a go out of farming using dad’s land as a start.”

“Yep. I hire one or two a year to help out, and I always check them out to make sure they are serious about horses and don’t really have the cash to do it any other way. The guys who can afford full board can help pay their way.”

Bry was focused on the horse as an ancient horse van pulled up. Julie waved and indicated they should go ahead and unload the horse while she finished up with Bry. He felt the horse gather himself again and stretched his legs down once more, but before the horse settled Bry found himself distracted. The huge chestnut being led out of the van had a gorgeous guy holding the lead. A gorgeous guy named Dominic. The next thing Bry knew he was lying in the same damn mud puddle. Dom and Julie both were kneeling over him.

“Damn man, that had to hurt!”