Continuing Saga of Andy and His Boys
James happily handed off the bartender to the uniforms. He wanted to get away from that bar as fast as possible. He also wanted to take as many showers as he could stand to get the brunette's scent off of him
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“Why did you never tell me,” Andrej asked.
“Not sure,” Zayne admitted. “I didn’t even realize you rode until recently. And even after seeing you on the back of that horse, it still didn’t compute.”
“It was the only transportation we could afford,” he said. “Letting them graze in the grassy areas around the village was much cheaper than gasoline.” Never mind the fact that a peasant never would have been able to have a car under the communist government they’d lived under. He left that part unsaid, westerners never could understand what that was like, not being able to go out and buy whatever you desired at any moment.
“Speaking of which, you aren’t gonna go barefoot this time, are you?”
Andrej frowned and tried to concentrate on the road ahead of him. He was wearing what Zayne called his weekend shoes - a pair of comfortable old loafers. They weren’t the ideal riding shoes, but they would likely suffice. “I will have to see, Zayne.”
Andrej could see him nodding in the mirror. “Thanks. It was a little weird to see you of all people riding a horse barefoot.”
He didn’t mention the fact that he’d also been riding bareback, something else he preferred. “I could not have controlled her properly in those shoes.”
“I’ll have to take your word for it,” James laughed. “I’ve never done this before. What kind of horses does this guy have? Anything interesting?”
“He has your usual breeds, the kind that most people can’t tell apart. They’re all well cared for and gorgeous.” He got quiet for a minute before his eyes lit up. “Oh, Zek, I meant to tell you. He has an Irish Cobb.”
“Really?” He met Zayne’s eyes in the mirror.
Zayne nodded. “He does. She’s a big, gentle nut.”
“Okay,” James said, slowly. “Why are you telling him this?”
“They are the kind of horse my people used to pull their vardos in Ireland and later, England. It is a strong, stocky breed of horse that is very even-tempered.”
“Sounds like the kind of horse I need,” James snorted.
“What you need, narco, is a My Little Pony,” Zayne cackled. “Sorry,” he said, sobering up. “I’ve been wanting to make that joke since you said yes to this.”
James flipped him off. Andrej sighed and got on the freeway, heading towards the stables.
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"He's like a little kid, isn't?" James observed with a wry grin.
"Yes," Andy replied with a sigh. "Yes, he is."
"Come on," James said holding out his hand. "Let's go catch up with him before he disappears and gets into trouble."
Andy smiled, shook his head and caught hold of James' hand.
(Maybe you need to withhold his paycheck, so understands the concept of no time card equals no paycheck.)
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“Easier said than done,” James muttered. “Besides, you’ve been riding since you were what? Ten?”
Andrej scrunched up his face. He’d been riding since he was big enough to walk, but he knew that his childhood was very different than even Zayne’s, and Zayne had admittedly grown up in a pretty rural area. “I do not remember,” he lied. “But yes, I was young. You are not too old to learn, however.”
“Let’s hope not,” James laughed as they caught up to Zayne.
“Already let Zac know we’ve got a newbie amongst us,” Zayne said, grinning. “He’s getting our horses now.”
James looked at the tall, muscular animals and rubbed his hand over his face. “I am not sure if I can do this, guys.”
“It’ll be fun,” Zayne said, squeezing James’ shoulder. “Once you find your seat, you’ll wonder how you’ve never done this before.”
“Zayne is right, you will be fine,” Andrej said, smiling at the sight of the waiting animals. “We will be right here with you, too, so you have no need to worry.”
“Okay,” James said, huffing out a breath. “Let’s get this over with then.”
(My boss won’t let me. He thinks it’ll open him up to a lawsuit. I think he just can’t be bothered to make his employees do what they’re required to do.)
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"Right," James sighed ignoring the temptation to tease Zayne about his choice of words. "What's its name?"
"Her name is Tiny," Zayne answered with a chuckle. "She's a Belgian draft horse."
"Tiny, huh?" James remarked with a chuckle.
"Yeah," Zayne said. "She's a sweetheart. Now, are you going to need help getting on?"
"I think I can manage," James answered as put one foot in the stirup and pulled himself up.
(Sounds like he got his manager training at Wally World. Sorry you have to put up with that kind of crap. I think we need voodoo dolls to poke pins into.)
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“Shit,” James muttered as the horse took a few steps backwards. “Make her stop.”
“Give a gentle backward pull on the reins, Jay,” Andrej instructed.
“And breathe, gingerbread,” Zayne offered. “You look like you’re about to pass out and fall right the hell off.”
“Shut up,” James laughed. “Can’t you see I’m freaking out here.”
“The horse knows that, too,” Zac said, giving Tiny’s nose an affectionate rub. “But she’s the least obnoxious of all these animals, so you can trust her.”
She turned her head around and stared at him with one, big eye.
“Don’t look at me like that,” he muttered. “This wasn’t my idea.”
Zac laughed. “She’ll follow the others so give her a little rein and she won’t let you get lost.”
“Thanks,” James said, although getting lost wasn’t his biggest concern at the moment. He leaned forward and patted Tiny’s neck, praying she took some kind of pity on him. She turned towards him again and nudged his arm with her nose.
“See, Jay, she likes you already,” Andrej said, smiling.
“That horse likes everyone,” Zayne laughed. “But okay, we’ll let him have this.”
(Luckily, my foremen are on top of things, so I usually don’t have to chase too many people down. But this boss is the oldest of the three brothers and thinks he should be catered to. He’s also a Taurus so…)
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Zayne led them down one of the beginner trails since he had promised to take it easy on James.
"How you doing, narco?" Zayne turned around and asked.
"Alright so far," James answered. Tiny's gentle rocking motion wasn't as bad as he thought it would be.
(Older men are impossible and so are Taruses, but I'm Aries so I don't have much room to talk...lol)
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“Good,” Zayne said, turning back to face the path ahead of them. “Told you that you’d like this.”
“Yeah, even a broken clock is right twice a day, cowboy,” James retorted.
Andrej laughed. “Be nice or I will spook your rides,” he warned.
“I can handle a frightened horse,” Zayne said, glancing over his shoulder at Andrej. “I used to ride bulls you know.”
“I do,” Andrej said. “Although I will never understand why.”
“It’s a rodeo thing,” James said, giving the horse another friendly pat of encouragement. “I don’t get it either. The barrel jumping, the calf roping… all that makes sense until you get to the bull riding.”
“Doesn’t have to make sense to be fun,” Zayne quipped. “Or to be right.”
Andrej was about to reply when Zayne’s words hit him. It doesn’t have to make sense for it to be right, he thought, turning the words over in his head. Was that what his problem was? Had he been trying too hard to make sense of this - whatever was happening between the three of him? Maybe it was time to let things be senseless for a bit.
“If you say so, Reyes,” James said, looking like he finally felt at home with Tiny.
“In this case, I do,” he shot back.
(Ugh, Taurus can be the worst - I’m married to one. But we’ll leave the other signs out of it for now. Hahaha.)
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He turned his head when heard Andy softly sigh. "What?" he quietly asked.
(If they are going to get together, do we have Hillary gently break up with Zayne?)
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“It is pretty relaxing,” he admitted. “And it’s a nice day today, the sun’s not trying to sear the skin off my body anyway.”
“You need a tan,” Zayne hollered back.
“Physically impossible,” James replied. “I’m either the color of fresh milk or tomato sauce. Take your pick.”
Zayne didn’t reply but they could see his shoulders shaking with amusement.
“He’s a real jerk sometimes,” James said, fondly.
“He has his moments,” Andrej agreed.
(Hah - she should point out he’s not spending enough time with her because he’s always with Andrej and James.)
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"Yeah," James softly agreed. "But I'm not letting him know that just yet."
"Why?"
"So he doesn't get a swelled head," James replied.
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Andrej nodded. “That is a good point,” he said, smiling.
“We should do this more often,” James suggested. “At least when it’s nice out. July would kill me.”
“Zayne, too,” Andrej said. “Despite his upbringing in Texas, he does not care for the heat.”
“And you?” James smiled at Andrej as they rode for a moment in the quiet. “I can’t imagine you were any more used to this crap than I was.”
“I was not,” he admitted. “I was used to very wet, humid summers and this was a shock. It was a nice shock, however, as I have found I enjoy the dry heat.”
“He needs his head checked,” Zayne said, looking back at them. “I tell him this shit every summer.”
“Sorry, Andy, but I have to agree with the cowboy on this one. There is nothing enjoyable about the heat in this place.”
Andrej shrugged and kicked his horse into a bit of a faster pace. “To each their own, no?”
“Sure,” James said, loving that Andrej didn’t shy away from disagreeing with him.
“Nah,” Zayne laughed. “He’s still a freak of nature.”
(Which is exactly what my husband calls me when I’m driving around in July with the windows down.)
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"That depends on the situation, gingerbread," Zayne replied. "Why do you ask?"
"We just got back on Andy's good side, and here you go poking at him," James answered. "Keep it up and you're going to have to buy him more than ice cream and cinnamon rolls."
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“How can you be sure,” James asked, worried that their hard work was about to go out the window.
“Because it’s a running joke between us,” Zayne explained. “I tell him he’s a freak of nature for loving the heat and he tells me I’m a just a freak.”
James laughed. “You two really surprise me sometimes.”
“Not as much as the two of you surprise me,” Andrej said.
“We’re just trying to stay out of trouble,” James said.
Zayne nodded his agreement. “Ditto what the narco said.”
“Think before you speak,” Andrej said, “and you should be okay.”
“Such simple advice,” James said.
“Yeah,” Zayne added. “No wonder we never thought of it before now.”
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"I don't like you, jerk," Zayne tossed back with a pout.
"And here I thought I was a fairly likeable guy," James countered causing Zayne to stick his tongue out at him.
"I'm dealing with children," Andy murmured with a bemused chuckle.
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“This is true,” Andrej sighed. But the feelings he had for Zayne weren’t brotherly at all. James either, for that matter. The thing that bugged him about their banter, however, was that it stirred something in him that made Andrej wonder just how playful his riding partners could be.
And that was wrong for so many reasons.
James was fair game. They were attempting a relationship after all and, eventually, sex would be something between them. Zayne, however, was off limits. He was both straight - mostly, because at the moment Andrej was beginning to have doubts - and in a happy relationship. Again, mostly, because Zayne and Hilary did have their moments. Very loud, angry moments, often in the most public place they could find.
But that wasn’t his problem, not really.
“I think we lost him again,” James said, looking over his shoulder to make sure Andrej was still following.
“I am still with you,” he said, ashamed at being caught thinking about things better left buried. “And I do enjoy taking care of you both but sometimes,” he said, shoulders slumping, “it would be nice if you could care for yourself.”
“Ouch,” Zayne grunted. “But accurate. Noted and filed away, baby.”
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"Yeah, what?"
"Cooking lessons for horseback riding lessons," James replied.
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