"You have to keep your hands down! You look more like a cheerleader than a football player up there!"
I was sitting on the fence talking to Ray as he very awkwardly rode past on Bruce's horse Ringo.
For the last week I had been giving Ray a riding lesson every other day after our sports' practices. He was catching on faster than I thought he would although he still had a ways to go.
"You make it look too easy! Nobody ever wants to tell the truth about how bouncy it is!" He called out from the other side of the riding ring.
I almost doubled over laughing at how ridiculous he sounded trying to talk while he bounced around on Ringo's back.
Our friendship really started to take off after the first day I saw him at Seven Meadows. Now not only did we see each other Mondays and Thursdays for tutoring, but I also managed to see him every day that I was at work. Our tutoring sessions were going really well and Ray was making a lot of progress. But if I had to choose I would say I liked seeing him outside of school much better. When we were here we were able to talk and get to know each other more which usually meant we were laughing and having fun a lot more than we were in the library.
"Okay, I think I'm done for the day." He said as he walked Ringo to the center of the ring and prepared to dismount.
Once he had both feet on the ground some of his calm cool and collected confidence came back.
We walked to the barn together, laughing and talking the whole way, and then started to untack Ringo.
"Oh! Great! I'm glad I caught you guys." Bruce said as he and Theresa walked towards us. "We are about to head out to dinner. But I wanted to ask if you two could give Ringo a bath for me before you put him out in the field for the night?"
"Yeah no problem." We both said.
"You guys are awesome. Y'all can feed and lock everything up once you're done with Ringo and then you're good to go home Lou." He called over his shoulder as they made their exit
"Okay, thanks!" I said as Ray and I waved goodbye Bruce and Theresa.
"Let's give this guy a bath!" Ray said excitedly and I was surprised at how genuine he sounded.
"If you have other stuff to do you can go, I can handle everything by myself here."
"What could I possibly have to do that would be more fun than hanging out with you and Ringo here!?" He laughed.
"I don't know. It's Friday night. I just thought maybe you had plans with someone."
"Now that you mention it...I do have that hot date I should probably start getting ready for!"
A date? What? With who?
I tried really hard to not let myself look to curious or disappointed.
"Oh. Well I mean if you have to go then I can just finish up here. I figured you probably had plans you seem like a Friday night plans kind of guy. Plus it's your first month here you're probably hanging out with everyone trying to get to know them all. And it's totally fine if you wanna go I ca-"
"Do you always ramble like this?" Ray interrupted with a smile.
"Only when I'm nervous." I sighed and shook my head.
"So I make you nervous?" He said as his eyes lit up at the new bit of information I was offering.
"Wait what? I didn't mean to...I just meant...I'm not nervous it's just...ugh. Nevermind I give up."
Ray didn't say anything he just offered a sweet smile and continued to get Ringo ready for a bath.
We continued to care for Bruce's horse in mostly silence. Occasionally I would catch Ray looking at me which made me smile and blush every time without fail. I would have to break eye contact and look at the ground to try to regain some composure.
"What are you looking at? Is there something on my face?" I finally got up the courage to ask.
If I didn't know any better, I could have sworn that I had just managed to make Ray Vitolo blush by calling him out like that.
His shy smile and slightly reddened cheeks were quickly replaced by a devilish grin and a wicked gleam in his eye. Before I could ask what he was up to he quickly pointed the hose we were using at me at turned the sprayer on full blast.
"Ack! No! No fair!" I said trying to use my hands to shield my body from the cold water.
Ray threw his head back laughing like a little kid pranking people on the playground. He made an attempt to point the hose at me a second time but now I was prepared for it. I quickly moved out of the way of the water and ran around towards him to try to get the sprayer out of his hand.
In an attempt to wrestle the hose out of his hand I grabbed onto his fist that was closed around it. Ray quickly opened up his hand and laced his fingers with mine. Once our fingers were intertwined he held on much softer than before. We stood for a moment, no longer fighting for custody of the hose but now enjoying the unexpected contact our hands were making. Ray started to bend slightly and bring his face closer to mine.
"We should finish up with Ringo." I said quickly dropping his hand and turning away from him. "The horses will get antsy if they aren't fed soon."
Ray let out a slightly defeated sigh. "Alright," he said softly.
We finished up the chores for the next in silence. Neither of us mentioning the almost intimate encounter we shared. My mind was a mess trying to sort out what I was feeling.
Was he about to kiss me? Did I want him to kiss me? What would I have even done if he did? I have no idea how to kiss anybody considering over never done it before. Did I want Ray to be the first?
As I tried to search for answers to my own questions I hear Ray talking to me from across the barn.
"I'm all finished up on my side. Good to go?"
I looked around and realized I had finished feeding without even realizing it because my mind was elsewhere. I was thankful in that movement for a job I knew I was good at and could do almost mindlessly.
"Yeah, all set." I said.
I turned off the lights and walked through the sliding doors. Ray closed them behind me as I searched for my key to lock up with.
"I uh...I had a lot of fun today." Ray said with his hand buried in the hair on the back of his head. "Thank you for all of this again."
"You're welcome, it's really no big deal." I said trying to sound nonchalant.
"It is though. I really like hanging out with you. So it's a big deal to me." He said.
"I like hanging out with you too." I smiled.
"Do you think maybe we could hang out without the tutoring and the horses sometime?" He asked nervously.
Is he asking me out? Oh my goodness I think he is. Okay you can do this. Just play it cool.
"Yeah definitely! That would be really fun." I said excitedly.
Ray smiled wide and nodded. "Great. What about next Friday?"
"Sounds good to me!"
"Okay, cool. I've gotta head back home. I'll see you tomorrow though?"
"I'll see you tomorrow."
"Alright." He said with his hand back in his hair again. "Goodnight Louisa Griffin."
"Goodnight Ray."