Cowgirl Don't Cry

Two weeks had passed since Vincent had accompanied me to the stables to meet my horses. Two weeks of cute movie dates that had Vincent leaving my apartment at the wee hours of the mornings. He had even met me for lunch at my school, receiving look of desire from many a girl, both underclassman and my own classmates. It was crazy to me how popular he was. It surprised me time and time again, I didn’t think I would ever get used to the constant attention. But none the less, it had been amazing, and we had settled into our non-relationship pretty well. As far as I knew, Vincent was keeping true to his word and wasn’t seeing anyone else, and I knew that I didn’t have a spare second to spend on anyone else. But we had yet to speak about this arrangement – so for all I knew this was just his side job.

I was currently in a sad state of mind at the knowledge that training camp was starting for Vinny this weekend, which meant less and less time for me, as the season would be starting up shortly afterwards, and I was on my way to Ocala later that night for a long 4 days. Em, Tie and a few of the other horses at the stable had been loaded up sometime during the day and trailered to Ocala, whereas I would be on my way that night. It made me nervous sending my horses without me. It wasn’t something that I had ever let happen before. But with being in Medical School now, it was a little bit of a different ball game, and since I was already missing classes the next day, I couldn’t afford to miss that day as well.

I had finished a test just thirty minutes earlier and was rushing home, as I had yet to pack my suitcase for the show. Thankfully, my gear and show clothes were already packed away in my section of the trailer, so I didn’t have to worry about those. But I still had so much to think about with simple clothing for the rest of the show. Pictures were constantly being taken of upper division rider for the United States Eventing Association website, or numerous other magazines, that I could never afford to look sloppy. Also add in all of the extra stuff that was required, like the opening ceremonies, or the official trot in front of the vets to make sure your horse was sound, and I had quite a lot to pack in the next hour.

Maria was still back at school, presumably studying for the test that I had completed earlier that day, as she didn’t have it for another hour or so. Sadly, by the time that she would be back at our apartment, I would be on my way to Ocala. I had been kind of depending on her help with packing, because if there was one thing I hated, it was packing. I either packed way too much, or nowhere near enough. I never could find that happy medium where I brought just what I needed. My room looked like a hurricane had hit it. I had clothes covering my bed, draped over my chair, on my nightstand – and absolutely none in my suitcase. It was frustrating. I had a mental checklist going on for all of the different things I needed, but it’s as if it wasn’t helping me at all.

A soft knock on my apartment door caused me to sigh out of frustration and shut the door to my room softly. I was an absolute mess. My hair was pulled up in a messy ponytail, complete with a wide headband holding the loose tendrils back, no makeup and still in my scrubs from class. And who would it be behind the door? None other than the one person who I didn’t want to see me looking such a mess – Vincent.

I looked at him curiously as he stood outside the door, a bouquet of the prettiest white roses clutched in his left hand. He wore a hopeful smile on his face and I couldn’t help but grin softly at him running my hand over my hair self-consciously.

“I know you weren’t expecting me. But I don’t start training camp until Monday – I was thinking, maybe I could come with you to watch you in Ocala…” He trailed off, and his eyes averted to the floor as if he was afraid for me to say no to his cute request.

“Oh wow. I mean, of course you can! But I have to leave here in about –“ I glanced at my watch and groaned. “30 minutes!” I had to be in Ocala for the opening ceremonies that night, where I also had to be dressed to the nines.

“Well, I may have already brought a bag, in case you said yes.” Vincent’s free hand reached out and cupped my face, “settle down, mon cheri.” He laughed and stepped through the door, quickly filling a vase full of water for the flowers and turning back towards me. “Lets get you packed, eh?”

- - -

Thankfully, Vincent helped me pack – and with his superior packing skills, we were on the road in just under thirty minutes from the time he showed up. I was impressed that Vincent had thought to bring a suit and tie, because most non-horse people didn’t realize that there were events that required a little more style than jeans and a ratty t-shirt.

A small part of me was nervous for the weekend. Not so much for the riding part – that part came natural, but for the spending the weekend, sharing a hotel room, read – bed -, with Vincent. We had been seeing each other for a decent amount of time, and ever since my little freak out in the hot tub, our physical relationship had been at a standstill, but not for lack of attraction. It was like Vincent was giving me my space, and letting me decide when to move forward. The problem was, I hadn’t been with a guy physically since my fiancé. That was a hard thing to move on from. I had been with him for so long, it was almost as if I was scared to be with someone else – like I didn’t think I knew how.

Obviously this was all in my head, but how do you get over something like that? Most people say that it’ll come with time, but it really is very easy to keep people at arms distance when you were afraid of getting hurt. But I guess it was going to be there this weekend or not. I wasn’t about to confront something that deep when I had to compete all weekend – I needed to be focused on what I was doing when I was riding, not on Vincent.

Overall, the opening ceremonies were a success. Vincent looked handsome in a suit and tie, and I wore a knee length dark green dress that caused Vincent’s eyes to nearly pop out of his head. It seemed like Vincent got along with the girls at my stables, which was a positive, and the ceremonies didn’t take forever, which was a rarity and always made me happy.

It was slightly after ten pm when Vincent and I made our way up to the stalls from the ceremony. All of the horses seemed to be settled in for the night – some sprawled out on the floor of their stalls, and others simply standing with their head hanging and eyes shut.

Our section of the barn was immaculately swept, and all was silent. But as we turned the corner, I heard a soft nicker and saw the elegantly shaped head of Tie as he stuck it out over his stall door. I released Vincent’s hand and stepped up to my oldest horse. He was an old hand at competing, and I had never once found him awake on my late night visits during shows. He seemed nervous tonight though, and dread settled into my stomach.

“It’s not normal for him to be up like this.” I grabbed a leadline from where it hung on the outside of Tie’s stall door and slid open the heavy wooden door. “Tie, baby, what’s wrong?” I cooed softly and clipped the lead onto his head, pulling softly to bring him out of the stall.

“What could cause that?” Vincent moved out of the way as I led Tie out of the stall and walked him up and down the aisle a few times. Glancing over him, I was blown away that this man was standing here decked out in a suit and tie, looking absolutely stunning, at ten o’clock at night in a barn. He had to have some major flaw that I was missing.

“I mean, it could just be him being nervous, or anxious, or it could be that he’s hurt or sick.” Looking back at Tie, he looked perfectly healthy. He wasn’t showing any signs of colic or distress, and he was solid on all four feet – so maybe he really was just nervous. “But I think he must just be nervous or anxious – he doesn’t look hurt or sick to me.”

I led the large, black horse back into his stall, patting his neck softly, and shutting the door behind me. I watched as he turned his rump to the door and lowered his head with a sigh. Maybe he just needed to be tucked in for the night. “Or maybe he just needed to be tucked in.”

I felt Vincent’s presence behind me as he wrapped both arms around my shoulders, and rested his chin on my head. I snuggled back against him and smiled as I felt him yawn above me.

“Maybe so. I checked on Em, she’s fast asleep. But she’s lying down. That’s okay right?” I giggled at his concern; it was adorable that he was learning about my horses.

“Yep, it’s just a preference for each of them. Tie stands up when he sleeps except once he’s done. Em always lies down. Dray does a little of both.” I felt Vincent yawn again above me, and I tugged myself out of his arms. “Come on, let’s go.”

- - -

Our hotel room wasn’t too far away from the show grounds, maybe ten minutes, but by the time we were back, I was beyond exhausted. I apparently wasn’t as tired as Vincent though, because by the time I pulled into the parking lot of the hotel, I had to reach over and wake the Frenchman up.

He was absolutely adorable when he woke up; obviously embarrassed that he had dozed off on the short ride back to the hotel. He smirked apologetically at me, but wrapped a warm arm around me as we made our way back to the room.

It didn’t take too long for me to be ready to go to bed, dressed in a pair of skimpy shorts and a comfortable t-shirt. My clothing wasn’t sexy by any means, but I saw Vincent raise his eyebrows appreciatively, and a blush definitely dusted across my cheekbones. He was already buried beneath the covers, and he pulled the covers down on my side of the bed. Could this seriously get any more awkward?

“Friends is on. Do you want me to leave it on or turn it off?” Friends was a show that we had been watching a lot together. We had spent a few nights where Vincent had rented a season and we had just curled up for hours on end. It was one of our mutual favorites.

“You can leave it on.” I slipped between the sheets and snuggled up against him as he wrapped his arms around me. The nervousness that I had felt earlier at the idea of spending the night with him was gone. There was something about this man that was different from other men. I felt no pressure, no expectations – it was a great feeling.

Vincent lifted my face to his; pressing his lips against mine gently. It wasn’t frenzied or needy in the least – it was nice. It was only a matter of seconds before Vincent swiped his tongue against my lower lip, begging for entrance to my mouth – to which I gave him quickly.

Kissing Vincent was amazing. To say he was a good kisser was an understatement. It made me think of what other things he could do with that mouth. Just that thought made me smile against his mouth and I felt him pull away and laugh softly.

“What are you smiling about?” As I opened my eyes I was greeted with his soft chocolate eyes sparkling at me. He kissed the tip of my nose and grinned.

“Nothing. I’m just happy.” I couldn’t look him in the eye as I said that. It wasn’t that I was lying, it was that I felt vulnerable when I said this. I still wasn’t completely over the whole he’s a famous professional hockey player, and I’m just a girl, just Sydney Maestro. He could up and leave at any second for one of the hundreds of girls that throw themselves at him on a daily basis – but here I was, slowly falling for the sexy, sweet man that I was coming to know. And looking him in the eye when I told him that I was happy was too much, it would show him how vulnerable I was becoming, and that wasn’t something I was ready to bare to him. But with his next words, I realized maybe he was ready.

“Are you seeing anyone else?” I felt him pull away from me slightly and peer down at where I had been hiding against his chest. His voice wasn’t the normal strong, sure tone. It was as if he was unsure, and almost insecure with what he was asking. With that tone, and that question I was able to make direct eye contact with the lanky Frenchman.

“No, I’m not. Are you?” Now it was my turn to feel insecure. What if he was seeing someone else? What if this was all a big joke to him.

“No, and I don’t want to. Do you want to?” I almost laughed out loud in relief. This was getting a little out of hand now. We were both being ridiculous. I leaned forward and placed my lips against his again.

“No. I don’t want to. If I did I wouldn’t be here with you now.”

“So we’re not seeing anyone else, just each other.” He repeated what we had just discussed, and I repressed the urge to giggle. It’s like he was relieved. I know I was. It wasn’t an official ‘boyfriend/girlfriend’ title, but I was okay with that. It was too soon for that pressure. But it wasn’t too soon to lay down some ground rules. And I had always felt that things between two people could never become real if one or both parties were involved in ‘extra-curricular activities’.

“Sounds good to me.” And with that Vincent reached over and turned Friends off, before wrapping his arms around me and pulling me against his bare chest.

“Good night mon cheri.”