He leads me to a spot, where there's a hole in the roof that looks like it could fit Peyton. You can see the grass around the top and even a few flowers. Without a warning, Peyton lifts me up, making me scream. "Peyton! Put me down!" I say, struggling to get out of his grasp. "No, there's something else I want to show you. Get out of the cave so I can please." He says, carrying me over to the hole. "Okay, so I get out. What about you?" He just laughs. "I have my ways." He pushes me higher so that my head is above the cave. I put my hands on the soft Texas grass and push, with the help of Peyton, myself out of the hole.
I move out of the way so Peyton can get up too. His hands and halo of dark brown appears a few seconds later, then the rest of him follows. "How'd you get up?" I ask as he sits down by me. "I jumped and grabbed a hold of the sides. I do it all the time, Maylee." He says like it's no big deal.
I look around, and it appears that we're in someone's backyard. "Um, Peyton." I say, informing him of where we are. "I think we're trespassing....we're in someone's back yard." I say, pointing to the back of a house. Peyton just busts up laughing.
"I know you just moved here, but I didn't think you would be that slow. We're in MY backyard, not some creepy strangers." Then it hits me. "When you said you just kinda stumbled upon it...." "I literally stumbled upon it. I was about ten when I found it. I've been coming here ever since. It's my safe place that I go when I need time to myself. You're welcome to go in any time you'd like." He says sincerely.
We sit in silence for a moment, then I hear a horse in the background. Peyton hears it to and he asks, "Do you want to go horseback riding?" He stands up and holds out his hand to help me. I take it and say, "Sure!" We run to his barn and go in the stables. Each door has a name on it. There's Banjo, Buttercup, Elvis, Dolly, Daisy, and Chico.
Peyton walks over to Banjo, the chestnut brown horse with a white stripe on his nose. "Who's my good boy banjo? That's right, you are. You wanna go ridin boy? I thought you did!" He laughs. I laugh too...I've never seen anyone say that to a horse. "Maylee, why don't you go around and see which horse you want to ride." He says, grabbing a brush and begins to brush Banjo.
Doing what he says, I go around and pet each horse. Daisy catches my eye. She's beautiful. Perfectly white with black spots decorating her like sprinkles on a cupcake. When I pet her, she closes her eyes and pushes her nose in my hand like a dog would. I laugh. "Do you want to go for a ride?" I ask the horse. She understands what I ask, and nods her head.
"Wow, I've never seen Daisy do that before, not even with Carter...she's Carter's horse." Peyton says, coming up behind me and handing me a brush. I take it and start brushing Daisy while he grabs the blanket and saddle. "Really?" I ask, surprised that Daisy likes me immediately. "Yeah. Usually she doesn't like anyone. At least anyone she just barely met." He throws the blanket on Daisy and ties on the saddle.
"You ever been riding before?" He asks. "Yeah, but only once with my dad at a fair when I was 6." I say. He smiles. "Well I'll ride with you at first, to show you how to ride, but then I'll ride Banjo and you can follow me up to the place I want to show you." He says, putting some reins on the horse. When he's done, he takes Daisy out of the barn and motions for me to follow.
He stops and look at me. "You ready?" "Yes." I say. I take a hold of the saddle, and try to hoist myself up, but I slip and fall on my butt. "Oof!" I say, standing up again and brushing the dirt off my behind. Peyton laughs. "Let me help you." He picks me up by my waist and sets me on the horse, facing him. I turn so I'm straddling Daisy, and scoot backwards to make room for Peyton. A moment later, he joins me, and takes the reins. "Okay, I'll show you how to steer, stop and go, control speed, and to turn." "Okay." I say, listening to his sweet voice. He laughs.
"To get her going, kick her in the side. Not hard, but hard enough so she can know what to do. Try it." I do, and accidentally collide with his shin. "Ouch!" He says, rubbing his leg. "Sorry!" I say biting my lip. "It's fine," he says. "Just try to kick the horse and not me, okay?" I nod and try again. I succeed, and Daisy starts walking. With the sudden movement, it makes me slightly jumpy and I cling onto Peyton's midsection.
Her rhythm is smooth as she walks. I watch as he pulls left to get her to turn. She does so and we turn around in his yard. "Want to try going a little faster?" He asks, his voice by me ear. "Sure." I say, putting my trust in him. "Well then you'd better hold on tight, cow girl!" He says as he flicks the reins and Daisy picks up her pace to a gallop.
I giggle with the sudden movement as it sends butterflies to my stomach. It feels like I'm flying, the wind blowing through my golden locks. I cling on tighter to Peyton, closing the gap between us. I can feel his heart beat through his shirt. It's fast, and I'm sure it's from riding, but part of me wishes it was because I was holding onto him. I know that's the reason why mine is going a million miles an hour.
When we've made a circle around the yard, Peyton stops Daisy. He gets off carefully, and walks to go get Banjo. He slides on the horse easily, and soon joins me. "Follow me." He says. I obey him, and ride side by side him.
"So where are we going now?" I ask. "You'll see." Is all he says. A moment later, he adds, "It's really pretty there. I like to go there, and relax sometimes. It's so calm and peaceful." His eyes gaze off in the distance as he remembers the place.
We ride in silence, as I look around me. It's so green! The trees making a perfect canopy for us as we ride through. There's the sound of a river as we ride past it. The road is fading away and soon, it's just grass.
I never thought Texas would be this green and pretty. I'd pictured it all western, like in the old movies. Cowboys riding through the dirt on horses, the local sheriff going into a pub for a beer. A place of olden days, like the eighteen hundreds. Instead, it's a beautiful, green place where I met the most amazing guy on the whole planet!
Peyton. His eyes the same dark green as the grass, his tan skin and brown hair, giving of a tint of red with the sunlight, blowing slightly in the breeze. His eyes locked on mine and his perfect, soft, pink lips moving. Like he is talking to someone...Oh! He's talking to me!
"Maylee? Anyone in there?" He asks me, like I'm not there. Probably because I'm not. "Sorry, what?" I ask, sounding dazed...or like an idiot. Most likely both. "I said, we're here. Do you want to tie up the horses and walk the rest of the way on foot?" He says. "Um how far is it?" I ask. As much as I like walking, I'm not big on going long distances. "Only past this clearing. I promise." He says, stopping Banjo. "Okay." I say, as I stop Daisy. He hops off Banjo gracefully. Meanwhile, I'm not having the same luck. As I look down, it's quite a ways. My short legs will make me trip, and to be honest, looking like an idiot in front of Peyton is not on my to do list.
Peyton notices my trouble, and after tying up Banjo, he comes to help me. He looks up, smiling at me, chuckles and shakes his head. He steps foreword, and takes Daisy, leading her to a tree me still riding on top. I hold onto her long white mane while we go to join Banjo. Once she's all tied up, Peyton looks at me and says, "Your turn." I turn my body to face him, and smile. He takes me by by waist and lifts me off, spinning me around. I giggle, making him chuckle. He sets me down and says, "Last one there's a rotten egg!"
He takes off running towards the trees. "Hey! Not fair! Peyton!" I say running after him. He laughs. "Catch me if you can!" He calls back. I run faster, and burst through the trees into the clearing. Peyton turns around at the sound of me coming, and I smile. My smile doesn't last for long as I trip over a root from an oak tree, and fall on top of Peyton. Not expecting me, he looses his balance and we fall onto the ground. "Oof!" We say, hitting the ground. He laughs, making me laugh too.
Getting back up, I dust myself off. When I'm finished, I look up to see Peyton smiling at me. He takes my hand, and walks with me to a soft patch of grass and flowers. We sit down, and I look around. The first thing I notice is how many flowers there are here. The sunlight peaking through the mountains. Surrounded by trees, a lovely little clearing. Hidden away from the world. Absolutely gorgeous.
I wander around the clearing for a moment, looking around. The long grass comes up to the back of my knees, tickling my leg. Suddenly, my feet get lifted off the ground as Peyton charges for me, lifting me up and over his shoulder, like I were nothing more than a sack of potatoes. I scream a little, and kick slightly out of self-defense. Peyton keeps running and laughing. "Peyton!!" I squeal. "Put me down!" I say in between laughs. He stops suddenly, and spins me around in circles.
He slows, eventually coming to a complete stop. He tucks my hair behind my ear, stroking the side of my face, looking deep into my eyes. The sunlight glistens off the mountain tops, hitting his hair in striking ways, giving it's usual brown a vibrancy of a deep red...a dark auburn color. His green eyes, so full of love. But how? I've known him for two days.
He starts to lean in, and I find myself leaning in with him, but stop myself. How can I kiss him? Knowing it's everything I want right now. Knowing that this time might be different. But I can't kiss him. It will hurt too much. Like the last time. I push the harsh memories out of my mind. In the split second that I hesitated, I turn away trying my best not to hurt him. I want to I really do.... But I can't kiss him, after knowing him for only two days. Life doesn't work like that. You meet. You become friends. You kiss. You love. You feel. They don't feel the same way. They become distant. They leave. You get broken. Burned. Left half alive. I can't. I just can't go through that again. His world...it moves too fast; burns too brightly. I can't rush into this. Not again....but I want to.