Love Like Crazy

The next day was a big wake-up call for Ty, literally. He had been woken up around five am, though his body kept insisting it had to have been earlier than three. One of the other guys who worked around the farm, Bobby, had been the one to show him around the ranch a bit more, showing him what his morning chores would be. And that was how he found himself mucking horse stalls at eight in the morning. Ty couldn't imagine something more awful smelling than horse shit.

With every trip out to the manure pile, he cursed his father a little bit more. Why couldn't the bastard just give up and stop pretending to care, then he could be off screwing whoever he wanted and not stuck in some God forsaken shit hole. But right around the fourth trip to the pile, he was reminded that things weren't completely dismal on the ranch, and that reminder came in the form of Roxy Malone.

Summer. It was Roxy's favorite time of year. She loved the feel of the sun on her skin and the wind in her hair as she and her horse tore across the fields at a breakneck pace. Which was exactly what she was heading out to do that day. She had just gotten back from a cheer practice. Yes they still had those occasionally over the summer, and the captain of the squad was required to go, of course. But now she was home and could do whatever she wanted to for the rest of the day.

She quickly slipped out of her workout clothes and into some jeans and a tank top. She jammed her feet into her boots and pulled her hair up into a quick ponytail as she made her way out to the barn. She was greeted with a knicker or two the instant she crossed the threshold. She had more than one horse to choose from, and she loved them all, but none were as special as her buckskin, Rodney. “Hey there big guy,” she crooned to him, slipping into his stall. “Ready to get out of here?”

It was obvious to Ty that she hadn't even noticed him when she had strolled by. And he wasn't exactly inclined to alert her to his presence and ruin his great view of her pert little behind. He took a minute or so to reward himself with a break before getting back to work, he assumed the sooner he got his shit done, the sooner he could go take a nap in his air conditioned quarters.

Roxy made her way down the aisle to the tack room to get the brushes. She practically jumped out of her skin when she nearly ran into Ty as she came out of the room. "Oh geez, you just scared the crap out of me! How long have you been in here?" She asked him, putting a hand on her chest to still her beating heart. It's fast beat had everything to do with the fact that she had just been startled and nothing to do with the very attractive red blooded boy in front of her.

Ty shrugged, setting the wheelbarrow he was pushing back on his legs as he stopped for a moment to talk to Roxy. "Long enough to be almost done with my work for the day." Roxy cocked an eyebrow a little skeptically at him. “Ya mind, you're in my way.” He said as he looked to the blonde waiting for her to move.

Roxy really was a nice girl, had a lot of friends, got along with just about anybody, but when someone got shitty with her, well, she didn’t exactly take it lying down. That’s why she crossed her hands over her chest and stuck her hip out in an I’m-not-moving-an-inch stance when he somewhat rudely asked her to get out of the way. She was a bit spoiled in the sense that no one ever talked to her that way, except for Connor. “Ya mind. You’re in my barn.” She retorted, albeit a bit childishly.

“Move.” Ty sighed, seeing she wasn't going to move. “I mean, unless you want shit all over you. Then you can stay there and enjoy the nice shower of stink.” He told her seriously as he pick up the wheel barrow. He was a bit irritated that she wasn't moving but he was glad that she wasn't the kind of girl to pretend to be dumb and stupid around a guy. He looked to her waiting for her to get out of his way.

She snorted a bit at the guy’s ‘threat’, “Do you even know how much horse crap I’ve had on me over the years? That’s not even a remotely scary threat.” Nonetheless, she moved out of the guy’s way. “You got into trouble for something, right?”

Ty was glad when she moved out of his way, picking the wheelbarrow up and heading down the aisle. "I have a habit of hurting annoying blonde girls who won't leave me alone." He called over his shoulder as he walked out of the door and out to the pile.

She chuckled a bit at his comeback, “Guess you’ll have an earful of forgiveness to ask God for tomorrow then, eh?” She shouted out at him as she headed into Rodney's stall. She led him out of his stall and hitched him up in the crossties before going about the business of getting him tacked up, nimbly avoiding his teeth as he tried to nip her when she tightened the saddle. “Oh stop that, you silly mule,” she scolded him, giving him a light tap on the nose.

He looked to her as she talked to the horse while he finished with the stall before moving on to the next one. He wondered what it would be like to be able to do whatever he wanted and not be in trouble for it. Shrugging it all off he worked on the stall before he pulled his shirt off, using it to wipe his face before he went back to work his shirt on the stall door.

She finished up what she was doing and started heading out of the barn, the horse following behind her like a puppy. She paused at the stall the guy was working on, noticing that he no longer had a shirt on. “But seriously, church, tomorrow. You have to go. Dad probably forgot to tell you, cause he always forgets to tell the new guys.” She tried really hard to keep her eyes from wandering down his body, but she was truly fighting a losing battle. “He’ll get ticked if you don’t go, and lots of yelling will ensue, and trust me, it’s not a pretty sight.”

He heard her and turned to look at her. “I dont do church, sorry.” He said as he turned back to the ground and went back to working on the stall.

“You clearly think this is an optional thing.” She shrugged, “But whatever, guess you aren’t going to last more than a day.”

“Enjoy the view?” He asked her smirking as he felt her eyes on him. He moved back to cleaning before he carried the wheelbarrow out whistling as he did. Ty planned to cause tons of problems while he was there. It was who he was and he wouldn't change.

She felt the back of her neck get a little hot at what he next said, but she let her eyes take one long, slow trip up and down his body again, “Eh, I’ve seen better.” But he sure as hell was a close second, not that Roxy was going to let him know that. She could tell he was one of those guys who didn’t need any help in growing their ego.

He felt her eyes on him again and smirked. “You keep saying that. But don't worry. Once I have you under me, you'll be changing your mind.” Ty told her, a smirk on his face. He finished up and brushed straw off his body as he put the tools away.

Roxy felt the back of her neck grow hot when he talked about her being under him. She had to admit, the idea was intriguing, but it was never going to happen. “Yeah, cause that’s totally going to happen.” She scoffed at him. “You know, if you hurried up I was going to offer to let you tack up one of the others, ” She gestured around the barn at the other horses in there, “and I’d show you where the good swimming hole is, but guess I don’t really need to do that if you’re just going to get fired.”

“You keep thinking I'm going to get fired. I would love to see your face come tomorrow.” He said as he moved towards her his hands on his hips. “How about you still let me come and we will have tons of fun.” He said watching her licking his lips. “Unless you're too scared.”

He advanced towards her until he was right up close and it took everything in her not to take a step back. She was uncomfortable with him being that close, but she was stubborn as a mule and wasn’t going to back down. She stood there a moment, debating about what to do, and in the end his little challenge won out. “Fine, you can take Buster.” She motioned to a bay a few stalls down. “Do you know how to tack up or do I have to teach you?”

Ty smirked, glad she gave in. “I know how to do it. ” He told her, heading down to the stall he talked calmly and softly to the horse before he tacked it up and headed towards her. “Lead the way.”