"I didn't plan on waiting out here for this long. I do have things I need to get done also." His cockiness filled his face as his arms were folded across his chest as he pushed off the trailer door. For once, I was glad to spot John there already... waiting and pissed... but he was there.
My dad's text came as that damn teacher snatched my test away from me when I was just trying to ask him a question. That was my first mistake. To ask Sergei a question was something I tried desperately to avoid. For the past two weeks, I didn't want to talk to him at all, didn't want to look at him if I didn't have to, and didn't want to be alone with him if it were possible. Any small hint would give it away that I wasn't Jacki and I couldn't risk our switch to get out. So far, two weeks and no one noticed, though a few looks Sergei had given me last Friday, I was sure he figured me out.
"I need to do this. Tobey sleeping?" As I walked past the older farm hand, I bumped into him with my shoulder as I went to the side tack door of the trailer. With my dad being gone until after supper, I had the perfect chance to get this horse out and see how well he does around traffic and chaos. Risky, but he needed it and I needed to know where he stood for when I had to sell him.
"He was drooling over a few girls on the track team that came running by a half hour ago. I'm sure he's in there having a moment to himself over the sight." John smirked as he flipped the latch to the lock and opened the end door. The black gelding let out a loud scream as his hoof pawed out his warning.
"Having a moment, huh?" Ignoring the horse's anger, I stepped in nudging the smaller golden mare to the side. "What would he possibly need a moment for after watching some prissy girls jog past?"
The snort came out loud as the large black head pushed against me and I grunted under my breath grabbing ahold of the handle where his rope was tied. With anyone else, this horse shied away or got nasty with. Me? He loved to test the waters with me, but with this particular horse, I could get him to do some amazing footwork that I've never gotten another one to do before. If I could only get a little more time to tighten up his foot work, he would be perfect.
"You have no clue, do you?" Walking in, John unhooked the red rope from the Palomino's halter and walked her out quickly before he upset the other traveler. "I will spell it out for you seeing as you are a prude."
A shiver shot through my spine as I straightened up my shoulders and looked at him. Why would he need to spell that out for me? Tobey wasn't as old as John, nor as good looking, but he was more timid and shy. How could he not be? Tobey was only five-foot-seven and stocky. It wasn't like the girls were knocking down his door and it had to be his height which prevented that.
"Don't even give me that look Miss Twenty-Two-Year-Old-Virgin." Clicking his tongue, the dark haired taller man walked the golden horse around the parking lot allowing her stretch her legs to prepare for the ride back to the farm.
My breath caught in my throat as I looked at his deep set mocha eyes. Was he serious? Did he just say what I thought I heard him say? I wasn't that much of a prude. Horses were my thing. Not Jacki's, but I preferred the company of a horse over a man. Seeing how my sister went through the men, I would rather the less drama and complications, unwanted pregnancies, or STD's. It wasn't that I didn't want a man, I just had more priorities in my life and if I had the time, maybe I would. But I didn't. I didn't have any extra time between working and school.
Then there was that damn teacher. Mr. Smirnov, that professor with the sexy smile who I was beginning to really hate... If he just wasn't so damn gorgeous. But the way he was to me today, I didn't want to go back to the class and look at him again. Not after how he snatched that test from me when all I had was a question to ask him.
"I am not a virgin." Heat blistered my cheeks as I turned my back to him and curled my fingers around the hook that was on the rope holding that massive amount of black horse in the trailer. The moment I unclipped it, that animal was going to shoot out of that trailer and I would have to hang on for a while until I was able to get him to stop.
"You can't lie to me, Jay!" His taunting laugh filled the parking lot as the clopping of the hooves circled around the trailer to the left side where the tack door was. "You are a prude and don't deny it. You suck at lying and you suck at anything having to do with men. Now, with a horse, I would say you are one of the best trainers I've seen... besides myself of course. If you can take what you do with horses and do that with a man, you would pop that cherry and maybe have a real life for once."
The stinging in my eyes blurred my vision as I looked at the black eyes that were watching me, waiting for me to unleash the fury that would come as soon as he was free from the trailer.
"All I am saying is that if you were more like your sister, maybe you wouldn't be such a stuck up prude." He called through the window as the truck door slammed shut.
"Talking about Jay?" Tobey's mellow voice shot through the air intensifying the stinging in my eyes. Tobey was even in on the whole joke about how I was. Tobey; the kinder, softer one of the workers who didn't work so much with the horses on training. But he was damn good at knowing what needed to be done with the hay fields and the food for the animals. Having him there was a blessing when we needed to have someone take care of the stuff besides the training. And he was the one who wasn't a womanizer like John.
"How could you guess?" John's smirk reached through the trailer and slapped me hard. Maybe I was wrong with being the way I was. Jacki sure didn't have an issue with sleeping around. If I wanted anything more in my life than just playing with horses, I would have to let myself go and push my fear down into hiding.
"Come on. Lay off her. She's just scared. Besides, the other one has enough experience to cover Jay's half anyway." Tobey's chubby face peaked around the corner looking in at me. "Hey, I wouldn't mind if you wanted to snag a little time together."
The sinking of my heart nauseated me. Was that how they really saw me? Was I really that much of a prude, a bore, a child? If I was more like my Jacki, I wouldn't have a problem dating someone for a few weeks and jumping in bed with them. She did and nothing ever happened to her. Me, I didn't want to. There were too many diseases out there, too many people who took advantage of women, and guys who were just players. I never would be able to tell when a guy was just playing me and what if I ended up getting some sexually transmitted disease because he didn't want to be honest with me?
I watched what Jacki went through as she dated throughout high school. Some guys played her and she played some guys. There were times she had tears and times she laughed about what she did. And I saw the few times she could barely function because a guy broke her heart. Why would I want to go through all that? Why would I want to trust a guy who would do nothing but hurt me?
"Why try? You know she will never jump in bed with you... or anyone for that matter." John's taunting laugh hit me knocking me back into the black gelding.
If that was how they saw me, if they were just laughing at me, I would show them. I would be more like Jacki if that was what guys wanted, if that would make me what guys want. Being who I was wasn't getting me anywhere in my life. But I enjoyed playing with my horses. I enjoyed working with horses, finding out who they were, how they were, and what they wanted me to teach them. Some were harder than others to figure out, but eventually they told me. That was what training was all about. Listening to what they had to say. They were just easier to tend to than people. And horses didn't lie.
Unclipping the rope from the blue halter, I held on tight as the big black horse shot out dragging me behind. Pressing my heels into the ground, I pulled back eventually bringing the mass of bluish-black to a stop before he headed for the large field on the south side of school.
"I see you are getting him calmed down a little more. He's not ripping your arm off." He slipped the bridle on the mare and buckled it as Tobey locked up the trailer door. "Soon, you will have him coming out on your command."
"It's his one downfall. Other than that, he's doing way better than I thought he would." Lifting my chin, I walked him around the backside of the truck and trailer letting him stretch out his long, sleek legs. He was really turning out to be a damn good horse and I couldn't be more proud of what we accomplished together.
When he first came, the horse wouldn't let anyone near him. Once we were able to get him out of the trailer, his life was being spent in the training corral. John watching over him for the first week and decided he wasn't able to do anything and he was better off being sold back. While my dad was setting up the sale, I went out and sat at the corral for a day and a half, studying him, watching the way he moved, and there was something more there. The footwork he displayed even when he was fighting his demons in the small dirt circle was something I have only seen in the best trained horses. But I have only seen that footwork in dressage competitions on television.
"You get him under the right person and that horse can have some championships under him, make himself a name, and make your dad an even bigger name." John tightened the strap on his western style saddle and looked Tobey. "That one makes his name famous, he will be known for being trained by this farm and that means huge bonuses for us."
"I could use a bonus, like one Jay gives me when I look at her." The smirk slid across the younger man's oval shaped face and his gray eyes danced as they shot over me quickly.
"So, I am supposed to just jump on a man and have some fun?" Walking the horse to the tack door, I looked back at the two guys looking at me with smiles stretched over their faces.
"You jump on a horse and ride. Try a man for once. It's like the same thing, but you will get a lot more pleasure. I guarantee it." Clicking his tongue, John urged his mare to walk out into the grassy strip between the parking lot and the street. "Open up those legs, girl, and get something that will at least... put a smile on your face."
"I don't need a man to make me smile. Cobalt does that." Pulling the large black horse's head to me, I cupped his round cheek and pressed my lips to his forehead.
The groans from the two guys shot through me stabbing deep into my heart. I named him. I named the horse and that was something I tried not to do. It was something I used to before I found that naming them meant you got attached and this was a job, not a pet store as my dad reminded me every year.
"You didn't." John brought his mare over to the gelding and cursed under his breath. "You seriously didn't name him, did you?"
"He is different. He's... special." Running my hand down the thick, muscular neck, I let him fill into my heart as his velvet nose nuzzled my neck. I slipped his bridle on and buckled it under his jaw.
"Your dad isn't going to let you keep him. You do know that. You know how he is, Jay." John cleared his throat as he turned the mare back toward the trailer.
"He can't go to just anyone." Stepping around to the left side, I tightened the cinch strap and gathered the reins. Looking over the leather saddle, my heart jumped hard into my throat. I wasn't supposed to be on the school grounds with the horses and I was. And so was he, my teacher. He was still there and he was watching from the thin line of brushes that separated the teacher parking lot from the students.
"So, about this whole riding a man talk that I didn't get a chance to jump in on..." Tobey checked the latch on the trailer door again as I lifted myself up on the back of the large horse. His eyes shot over to me with the dusting of crimson filling his face. "Any chance you want me to help with that?"
"You are too late." Settling into the saddle, I turned Cobalt to the grass. Looking over my shoulder, I searched down the row of small trees and bushes until I found the black haired man tucked back watching. "I'm not as good as you thought."
The laughter erupted from both of the guys causing them to break into bantering over my lying. I was never good at lying, but then again, I never really had to lie about anything. As I let Cobalt stretch his legs by prancing around, my eyes connected with the blues that were shooting across the parking lot. Would Sergei tell on me? Would he rat me out for having the horses on school property?
My chest clenched hard squeezing my heart. I wasn't supposed to be there anyway. This was Jacki's class and she would be the one on campus at this time. If Sergei did tell on me, the school would be sure to figure out I was taking my sister's class. This wasn't going to be good at all. I would have to figure some way out of this.