I settle onto Major a bit more, holding the reins loosely. “Ha ha, very funny.”
Lily lets out one of her loud laughs, head thrown back and all. I swear if I didn’t know that I love her already, I know I do now. She’s perfect.
“You ready?” she asks, moving Boone to stand next to me.
“You said we would take it easy,” I remind her, uselessly.
“Mhm.” She smirks. “Onetwothree go!”
She takes off with Boone and I laugh, squeezing Major with my thighs so he runs. She did not take it easy, just like I knew she wouldn’t. But when she wins the unfair race, she looks so happy, and even though she’s a sneaky little liar, it’s worth it to see her look like this.
“I win,” she announces proudly.
“You also cheated,” I reply playfully.
“Are you complaining?”
“Never.”
I’m outside her house, her car in the driveway that isn’t the same one from when we were together, yet here I am in the same truck. I don’t see the white sedan from the other day outside, and I’m glad because I think if I had to see him without Lily around, I wouldn’t be on my best behavior.
Ethan bounds out the front door, saving me from walking up and knocking. I get out of my truck to greet him.
“Hey bud.” I raise my hand for him to give me a high five. He jumps to slap his hand against mine. I shake mine out from the force.
“I didn’t want you to knock and wake Lily up. She said if anyone wakes her up, we will ‘feel the wrath of a woman scorned.’ Whatever that means.”
I laugh because I can hear her saying those exact words and not even thinking twice about what exactly she’s saying.
“Come on, I’ve been dying to ride the horsesall day,”he complains dramatically.
“No one else could take you riding?” I question while we walk around to the other side of the house where the barn is.
“No, my parents are both working, and Lily is sleeping because she said, ‘night shift is the work of the devil.’”
I choke on my laughter because for some reason having Ethan repeat what his sister says makes it a lot funnier. They’re similar, but also so different. The way their brains work seems to be an inherited gene.
“And Aaron?” I grimace saying his name.
Ethan scoffs. “You think he knows how to ride a horse? I don’t think he’s ever seen one in person until coming here.”
I nod and can’t help myself. “Do you like him?”
“Hellno.”
“Language,” I scold.
“Hey, I could’ve said the F word.” He shrugs.
“What about your parents? What do they think of him?”
“Eh. My dad doesn’t say much to him. My mom does the thing where she acts nice to everyone, but I can’t tell if it’s real or not.”
That’s not a yes, and I take it as a good sign. As much as I want to get more information from the kid about my ex’s new boyfriend, I know his sole focus is getting on a horse, and I need to push all my bull shit out of my mind to make sure he’s happy.
It’s not his fault other kids are assholes that bully him because they don’t know how cool he is. I just hope that when he goes back to school this fall, he’ll return with more confidence and hopefully more friends.
But no matter what, he has one with me. Regardless of my history with Lily, and my current feelings toward her, I’ll always be Ethan’s friend. Because the kid is cool as shit.