Once Upon A Rodeo

Twelve - [Cat Fight.]

She was still a little bit skittish, but she seemed to like me a great deal. I knew it would be next to no time until she was no longer shy or afraid. Grace followed Apollo around like he was Grace's mother, but my older horse didn't seem to mind one bit.

When I got back home, I cleaned up around the house and took Apollo for a long ride. I brought Grace with us, hooking a halter to her and tying it to Apollo's saddle. She didn't like being away from him.

After that, I washed and brushed down each horse and took a shower myself. I started getting ready for dinner, putting out the food supplies.

I thought it would be fun to make tacos with Rose and Mia. The doorbell rang at half past seven, and the two girls greeted me.

"Thanks for coming," I said, smiling at the pair of them.

"Thanks for having us."

The words didn't come from Rose, as I had expected, but from Mia. She smiled at me graciously. Maybe this would go better than I had expected it to. Her words even seemed genuine. They closed the door after them and I led them into the kitchen.

"So, I thought it would be fun to make tacos. I hope you guys don't mind."

"That sounds amazing," Rose said.

We got to cooking, and we were all having a pretty good time. Mia was being engaged and friendly, and I was just starting to think that maybe I had had it wrong about her.

"Oh, hold on. I've got to take this," Rose said after her phone had gone off. She walked out of the room.

Mia turned to me, her expression flattening.

"Just drop it, okay?"

Her voice was so rude and full of malice and it caught me off guard. Her eyes were narrowed, her expression so full of hate the full one sixty gave me whiplash. I blinked a couple of times, unsure how to respond.

"I'm sorry?" I asked, confused.

"I know you don't like me and I definitely don't like you. So just stop pretending, alright?"

I shook my head.

"I'm not pretending anything, Mia. I thought you didn't like me and there wasn't something to trust about you. I told that to Rose, and she asked me to give you a chance. I figured since she was good friends with you, that there had to be something good about you. So I told her I would. And I've been having a nice time with you two. I thought that you...I thought you liked me, too."

I had done what Rose asked me to do. I'd given Mia a chance and I really had been starting to like her. Genuinely like her.

I was surprised. And to be frank, I was hurt.

"Well, you thought wrong," She snapped.

I shook my head, more confused than anything.

"What is wrong here?" I asked.

"You sweep into town out of no where, and everybody instantly falls in love with you. You steal my friends, you charm every person you come across and you even get the guy I want. You know what? Fuck you. You're not that great. You're nothing, okay? Get over yourself."

I gaped at her, not able to believe the words coming out of her mouth? I wasn't confused any more. I wasn't hurt. I was pissed.

"What is your problem?" I asked, my voice raised.

"What is going on here?"

I looked back towards the kitchen door to notice that Rose had walked back in the door. I felt relieved at her appearance.