A/N: Here you go the next chapter! It's a tad bit shorter than my other ones… but I think it had some good stuff in it. Hope you think so too! :D

Disclaimer: I don't own glee…. Sadly…. This is for entertainment only, no profit is being made.


Chapter 8

Okay so maybe I hadn't completely thought Operation Sweet Lady Kisses all the way through. The more time I spent with Karofsky during school the more he thought he had a free access to the rambunctious twins on my chest. I found myself fending him off than anything else. I had set in place this secret mission to make Brittany jealous last week and it seemed to be working. At least from what I could tell.

I had to admit seeing Brittany glaring at Karofsky when he would put his arm around my shoulder or waist had my heart skipping a few beats. Her fists would ball up tightly seeing him kiss my neck lightly or whisper dirty things into my ear. I tried not to gag at some of his comments. I'd never sleep with him; I hardly wanted him kissing me. I was just using him. That was all.

Rachel slipped up next to us while we stood around Brittany and Quinn's lockers waiting for our next class. "Hey Berry." Karofsky muttered acknowledging her presence at our circle. I was actually semi proud of him. He was behaving himself around Rachel along with keeping the other jocks away from her. There was just a few times I had to hit him upside the head or elbow the gut for some stupid comments that slipped through the filter.

"Umm… Hi…" She raised an eyebrow at him before looking at me. "I have Glee practice right after school today. Think you could find another ride home?"

"Yeah totally. Don't worry about me." I smiled before looking at Brittany. "Can I ride with you?"

"I can give you a ride," Karofsky said from over my shoulder.

I looked back at him. "Thanks, but I have to do chores the minute I get home. No time to hang out sorry."

He pouted slightly. "I don't mind waiting. Really."

"You can ride with me." Brittany suddenly interrupted with a slight glare in Karofsky's direction.

"Thanks Britt-Britt." I smiled sweetly at her.

Karofsky's chin landed on my shoulder. "Why won't you ever let me come over?"

"Cuz I'z got shit to do after school and no time to play. Sorry." I smirked and tapped his cheek playfully.

"Fine." He huffed and pulled back away from me grumpy. You know what I didn't care. It wasn't like he was my boyfriend I would hardly call him a friend for that matter. Just a boy toy to get my girl Britt jealous. Brittany suddenly reached out and grabbed my pinky pulling me away from him heading towards our Spanish class that we had together. I just smiled brightly as we walked down the hall.

Spanish class had been a complete and utter bore. Brittany had poked me a few times in the arm with her pencil when I started drifting off. I was fluent in Spanish… I didn't need to take it as an elective. I would have dropped the class in a heartbeat if Brittany hadn't been in the class with me.

With school finally out for the day; I walked with Brittany out to her truck hauling myself up into the passenger seat. I pulled my sunglasses down over my eyes and watched her from behind the dark lenses as she started driving towards the barn. "After your lesson wanna help me hack some of the horses again? Rach isn't going to be around so I'm going to have to do hers as well." It was part of the deal with her. I'd work her horses when she had Glee practice and she wouldn't bug me on joining their little show choir club. I think I got the better end of the deal. Plus I hated singing in public unless I had a few drinks in me.

She glanced at me briefly smiling. "Would love to!"

"Great." My smile matched hers. She pulled up to the house so I could get ready and I jumped out grinning at her. "I'll see you in a bit. Have a good lesson."

Her smile faltered slightly for only a second, "will do!" Brittany beamed at me.

She drove off and I hurried inside to get changed. I still had about an hour or two of homework to do and now twice the horses to work before I could get to it. Thank goodness Brittany said she'd help or I'd be down in the barn for three hours working horses. Not that I minded it was one of the best parts of my day. But I usually could get all my horses done in two hours or less and still have plenty of time to do homework, eat, and just relax before bed.

I grabbed a powerbar and a bottle of vitaminwater before heading down to start my normal after school routine. I usually only had four horses to ride but today I had eight. Hopefully Brittany finished her lesson soon. I had two of Auntie A's horses; Boston and Ares and two horses that were in for training. That's where Katniss came in she was always first on my list. Yes Katniss… the thirteen year old girl who owned the small gray Welsh Cob had an odd obsession with the Hunger Game books. Not that I blamed her, the books were badass… but I wasn't sure if I'd be naming my horse after a character. But that was just me. She was a feisty little thing that was currently in for hunter jumper training. I easily found out why Rachel passed her off to me so easily; the pony was stubborn. I just barely fit on her. She was just tall enough to not make me look like an absolute giant.

After her it was Espressos turn. Yes he was named after the drink. But it fit him perfectly. He was a tall lanky chocolate brown Thoroughbred right off the track. And boy was he fast. I liked riding him when I was in a running mood. Not so much when I wanted a nice easy ride. He was sweet; a little high strung at times and had this odd habit of playing with his bit with his tongue when he was bored. But he was a very talented horse; even won a few races when he was a three year old. Now his new owners wanted to turn him into an Eventer. It would be perfect for him.

After a nice cantering work out with Espresso I started my way back towards the barn. Even on a loose to the buckle rein he just about trotted in place playing with his bit once again out of pure boredom. I scratched his withers slightly which always seemed to calmed him down and he finally slowed to a walk. I kept up the scratching rhythm all the way up to the barn. My eyes suddenly narrowed as I passed the parking lot. Brittany's truck was gone.

I jumped off Espresso once I reached the back door and loosened his girth before walking in. My eyes landed on Quinn walking down the hallway towards me with her tack in hand. "Q! Where'd Britt go? She was going to help me with some of the horses." I didn't sound angry I was actually more worried than anything. Brittany never cancelled horsie type plans with me. Or if she had to leave early she would have told me.

Quinn frowned at me setting her tack down by her stall. "She went home."

"Why?" I pulled Espresso up near the stall and started rubbing under his chin to keep him standing still while I talked.

She huffed and looked at me. "She didn't have that great of a lesson today. Pip kept refusing fences. She was really upset and left right after."

I frowned. That wasn't like Pip he loved to jump I had never ever once seen him refuse. Knock down or knick a pole yes, but never once did he refuse a jump. "Well that's not like him."

"He's been doing it for the past week or so. Brittany's been getting really discouraged about it." Quinn continued to explain.

How did Brittany not mention any of this to me? She loved talking to me about Pip and her lessons and not once did she mention he was being bad. "Why didn't she tell me…?"

Quinn just shrugged. "I only found out because I was out warming up for my lesson and saw him doing it on the stadium course. So I asked her about it after."

I just frowned. "Have a good lesson." That's all I could say before walking away to take care of Espresso.

I finished with him quickly and pulled out my phone. Hey Q told me about ur lesson. U ok? I checked my phone after taking care of my things. Still no reply. She always texted me back; I mean within seconds almost. Well unless she was in the shower. I told her it wasn't good for the phone to bring it in with her to get clean since she always claimed it was dusty from being at the barn. I grabbed Ares's tack and made my way to his stall. I always saved Boston for last. He was the easiest and the most comfortable out of the four I had to ride and often if I got lazy I'd just jump on him bareback.

My phone finally vibrated in my vest pocket and I stopped with Ares saddle half on pulling it out.

BrittYa I'm fine… Just really didn't want 2 be there anymore. Sorry I didn't tell you…

It's cool… wanna come over lata? Bring ur homework & we'll get r cuddle on? It was my favorite time of the day. After my chores were done Brittany often came up to the house and we did homework in my room. More like I sat on my bed and Britt laid her head in my lap reading. We usually never said a word while we studied and I often found myself playing with a strand of her hair while I did my work. She was the best homework partner.

BrittNot tonight… Not really in the mood. I'll see u tomorrow school

I just stared down at the text. Not in the mood? She loved our 'cuddle-time' as she liked to secretly call it. I finally texted her back after staring at my phone for a good minute or so. Ok… cya 2morrow…

I shoved the phone back into my pocket and pulled Ares saddle off. I was suddenly not in much of a riding mood. And I now have six more horses to ride. I opted to at least work the two horses that were in for training that Rachel rode knowing if it got too late Auntie A would rather me not have time for her horses than her clients.

After another hour and a half out in the barn I managed to get three out of the six done; then shuffled into the house just in time for dinner. "There you are." Auntie A smiled brightly at me. "I was about to send out a search party."

"Was just finishing up in the barn. I couldn't get to Ares, Boston, or Elfie… Britt was going to help me work them all but she had to go home right after her lesson." I explained taking off my boots; I didn't want her to think I was slacking.

"It's ok sweetie. Rachel texted me saying she had to stay for Glee right after school. I'm surprised you got through the ones you did." She pulled the pork chops out from oven and my stomach growled smelling them. I was absolutely starving.

I went over to the sink and washed my hands before grabbing the dishes for the table. It was just a habit now. Rachel and I always helped set the table after we got done out in the barn for the evening. We had it timed; 6:30 on the dot we had to be back up to the house for dinner. "You know Santana…" She started, I looked over my shoulder at her. "I'm really proud of you." I couldn't help but smile. "You've been doing a great job with the horses and even though you've only been back to school for a few weeks your grades are excellent. And you've helped Rachel out so much. I never thought in a million years she and Quinn Fabray would be hanging out together. They always seemed to hate each other."

"Thanks Auntie A." I smiled at her before going to set the table.

Auntie A looked at me with a smile. "You know maybe this weekend you could help me with Rogue."

My eyes widened slightly. "Really?!" I tried not to get excited but I was.

"Of course. Her training is coming along really nicely. It's going to be show season soon and I'm going to be so busy. Could really use the help on keeping her in training mode." She set the pork chops down at the table.

My face was hurting my smile was so big. "I would love too." I loved that horse.

"Great." She called everyone to dinner and we all had a nice meal. Even if Rach was blabbering on about songs she sang or wanted to sing in Glee club. Josh and I exchanged eye-rolls every so often and tried not to giggle at each other when we both ended up doing it at the exact same time.

I finally sat up in my room on my bed working on my homework. More like staring at my open book thinking about anything but homework. A part of me had desperately wanted to ask Auntie A about Brittany's ride then the other part kept reminding me it wasn't my place to ask. Brittany would have told me if she had wanted me to know any of the details. It made me sad to think she wouldn't want to tell me. I really thought we were becoming close friends… maybe I was wrong.

It was too late to call her now and possibly talk about this. Tomorrow was school and it was almost eleven. Brittany was always in bed by ten and not a second later. I just really needed to talk. Closing up my books I pulled my phone out and scrolled my contacts.

It rang a few times before he quickly answered. "Go for Puck."

"Good god… still answering with that?" I laughed slightly.

"San! How goes it babe?"

I just huffed. "It's all good."

There was a slight pause on the other end. "What's wrong?"

It still amazed me that he knew me so well. "Nothin'…"

"Come on talk to the Puckster."

I stayed silent for a moment. "I think I like someone." I said softly playing with the sting on my sweats.

"Define like… Are we talking about I'd like to fuck you or I'd like to date you, kind?"

I rolled my eyes. "How eloquently put…"

"Well which one is it?"

"Date…" I finally said.

"That's awesome! Who's the lucky guy? I'm gonna have to meet him make sure he not a douchebag you know."

"Girl. It's a girl." I said softly. Yes Puck knew I liked to swing both ways but I never admitted I actually liked a girl enough to maybe possible date her.

There was a pause. "Holy shit that's hot."

My eyes snapped open wide and I shot up into a sitting position. "Oh my god you're getting a boner just thinking about this are you?!"

"I'm a dude… I can't help it!" He started laughing.

"God I'm hanging up!" I was trying not to laugh.

"Wait, wait…sorry… Ok, tell me out this little crush of yours." Puck finally got serious.

I rolled my eyes. "She amazing…" I sighed. "She's everything I'm not. She's nice, caring, smart, and beautiful. Brittany see's the world differently… and every time we hang out she shows me just how good this miserable world can be."

"Wow… you really must like her. I've never heard you talk about someone like this."

"Yeah she's special."

"And have you asked her out?"

"No… I don't even know if she really likes me like that. I'd rather keep her as a friend then risk losing her." Wow, I couldn't believe I had actually admitted that out loud. It had been something I had secretly been thinking for a few weeks now. "I might have something in the works to see if she likes me…"

"What did you do…?" I swear I could hear his eyebrows narrow at me.

"I may be using a guy at school to see if she gets jealous."

"Well that's an asshole move."

I smirked. "I learned it from you."

He laughed deeply. "Touché." His laughter slowly died down. "So you want my advice?"

"No. But I have a feeling you are going to tell me anyways."

"If you think it's working… then maybe you should just kick that guy to the curb and admit to this Brittany chick that you want her sweet lady parts."

My eyes rolled. "Eww… I really have no idea why I called you…. Or why we're friends."

"Oh you love me." He chuckled again.

"Ya ya…" I sighed; I had some thinking to do. "I should go. Got class in the morning."

"Whoa hold up! Who are you? And what the hell did you do with my sexy Latina?"

I was the one who now chuckled. "It's a new Santana. You haven't met her yet. She's pretty baller."

"I bet she is. Night San."

"Night Puck. Thanks for the advice."

"Anytime."

I hung up and rolled off my bed putting my books on my desk before slowly crawling under the covers. I just laid there after turning off my light. Maybe Puck was right. Maybe I should just tell Britt how I felt about her… I didn't even know how I really felt. I just really didn't want to lose her as a friend. But I'm pretty sure she didn't like the attention Karofsky was giving me. I needed to make sure before I did anything stupid. It was time to turn things up a bit.


A/N: Hope you guys liked this! Took me a little longer to get thought threw. I had this scene for a later chapter stuck in my head that I needed to get typed so I had to pause and get that down before I lost it :D Hope you don't mind ;) Reviews are most welcomed!

~Quest
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