Sam worked hard at strengthening her legs, but it seemed like no matter what she did, she was never going to walk again. Attempting to relieve the depression that was threatening to overwhelm her, Sam decided one weekend to start riding again. She enlisted the help of Jake. At first she argued with Jake, saying she wanted to ride Ace. Jake refused, stating that Ace was too mischievous for her right now, and she could get hurt. Jake refused to give in and finally Sam relented to riding Popcorn, who had come such a long way that he could be trusted with even the smallest of children.

Jake saddled the horse and led him out into the round corral. Sam had to take her braces off as they were too stiff to align to the horses body as her legs would normally do. After she had taken them off Jake led Popcorn over to where she stood with her arm holding onto the fence rail for balance. At first she was embarrassed by the fact that she couldn't get on to the horse without help. But Jake took no notice as he grabbed her leg and gave her a leg up into the saddle.

Sam had expected it to be much more difficult than that. Suddenly she was in the saddle. She was riding again! She took a big breath and felt her whole body relax. This is what had been missing in her life these last 2 months.

"Now take it nice and slow," Jake cautioned her. "Your legs are still not strong enough to be able to ride at anything faster than a walk."

Sam just laughed and leaned forward to hug Popcorn. Gathering the reins, she signaled Popcorn to move out onto the rail. She tried turning him different ways, cutting across the pen, and shifting directions. She found she was fine using the reins, but if she tried to signal the horse using her legs, he couldn't understand the signal. She spent the last few minutes trying to turn Popcorn with her legs alone, but they just were not strong enough.

Jake, sensing Sams frustration, called an end to the ride. Sam had only been riding for a half hour and didn't feel like stopping. Lifting the reins she signaled Popcorn to turn away from Jake. Responding, the horse turned quickly, too quickly. Sam felt herself slipping and tried to grab on to the saddle horn. It was too late. She slid out of the saddle and could see the ground rushing up at her, when a pair of strong hands grabbed her and set her upright. Jake held her up so that she was sandwiched between himself and the horse. Unable to stand on her own, Sam was grateful for the two bodies to lean against.

Embarrassed, Sam looked up at Jake.

"Sorry. Guess it's gonna take a while before I can sit in a saddle on my own." Jake didn't say anything and Sam caught her breath as she stared up at him. His eyes narrowed and and his body tensed a split second before he lowered his head and kissed her.

This time Sam knew what to expect and she tilted her head up to meet his. She felt tingles go down her spine as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Jake leaned in closer and moved his mouth over hers in a way that caused her to open her mouth slightly. Jake took advantage of the tiny movement by running his tongue over the inside of her bottom lip. At the feel of Jakes tongue inside her mouth, Sam went still. She hesitated, analyzing this new feeling. It felt like nothing she had ever felt before. She felt warm, feverish and she leaned against Jake, unsure how to react to these new emotions. She suddenly realized that she never wanted this to stop. Hesitantly, she reached her own tongue out to circle around his. A shiver went through Jakes body and he tightened his arms around her.

A slamming door broke them apart. Jake raised his head and looked around to make sure no one saw them. He stared at Sam for a long second and Sam felt her face grow hot from his scrutiny. Without saying a word, he turned and lead Popcorn back to the barn.

Still unable to move or speak, Sam watched him go. On autopilot, she sat down on the ground and started putting on her braces. She still wasn't sure what to say or do. Should she go into the barn and talk to Jake? Should she pretend the kiss hadn't even happened? She didn't like this feeling of insecurity. She focused on the anger that she felt beginning to grow when she thought about how Jake was acting. "What's wrong with him?" she huffed angrily. She may be new at this boy girl stuff, but she knew that guys were not supposed to kiss a girl then ignore her for the rest of the week. Someone needs to set him straight, she thought to herself. He needs a lesson on how to treat a girl. She knew there was no point in going into the barn and yelling at him. He would just ignore her and irritate her even more. No, she thought, what he needs is to make a choice. Either he acknowledges that I'm his girlfriend, or we just go back to being friends. She hoped he would make the first choice. As unfamiliar as these new experiences were, she enjoyed them. And if he decided to go back to being friends…well, she didn't know if she could. She couldn't help but think of what it felt like to be kissing him every time she looked at him.

She was dragged out of her thoughts by the sound of a horse coming over the bridge. She walked out of the round pen to see Jen riding Silly. Perfect, she thought. I'll tell everything to Jen and between the two of us we should be able to come up with a plan.

Jake watched from the shadow of the barn. Jen had dismounted and was talking to Sam under the shade of a tree. Great, thought Jake. Sam's probably telling Jen everything. That was what girls did wasn't it? He sighed and tried to figure out what he was going to do. After the night of the storm, he had promised himself that he wouldn't do anything like that again. But she had looked so sweet, the way she smiled up at him like that, that he couldn't help but kiss her. And once he started, well, there was no telling when he would have stopped if it hadn't been for that door slamming. For these last couple of week he couldn't get Sam out of his mind. The way she felt, the way she tasted...With an angry growl he turned away from the barn door. He had to figure out some way to get her out of his head. It would be one thing if she felt the same way, but he didn't think she did. Both times when he had kissed her she had not said a word. She just stared at him as if she was wondering what he was doing. Sure, she had kissed him back, but she was inexperienced and probably just did not know how to respond. He didn't want to see Sam hurt. The best thing, he figured, was to make sure it didn't happen again.

"So?" Sam had just told Jen the whole story from the beginning of that stormy night.

"So…I'm guessing you somehow want my help to talk to Jake?"

"That's all you have to say? Did you not hear the part about Jake kissing me? Twice! Jake. The guy I grew up with, that I have known all my life, kissed me! And you don't even look surprised?"

Jen gave Sam a knowing smile behind her glasses.

"I knew it would happen, I just didn't know when. You might have been clueless, but practically everybody has known for a long time that you two were meant for each other. It just took you guys a little longer to figure it out."

Sam was dumbfounded. She didn't know what to say. She opened her mouth to speak, then shut it again when no words came out.

Jen laughed and took pity on her.

"So, you need some way to get Jake to admit that he likes you and wants to take your relationship to the next level. Jake and I may not get along, but I do know him. He's shy, and unless you tell him that you like him too, he'll never make a move. Or better yet! Show him how you feel. Pay him back! Show him what he will miss if he decides that you guys should just stay friends."

"Wait a minute" Sam tried to wrap her head around what Jen was saying. "You think I should just walk up to Jake and kiss him?"

"Well, I wouldn't advise doing it while all the ranch is watching, but yeah. And tell him he has a choice to make, either he's willing to move on to the next level, or he can be stuck just being your friend for the rest of his life."

"I can't do that!"

"You can if you ever want to be more than friends with Jake. It's up to you." With that, Jen hopped back on Silly and rode towards her home, leaving Sam mulling in her thoughts.

The next day Wyatt, Dallas, Ross, and Pepper were out riding the range. Gram, Bryanna and Cody took a trip to town. It was just Sam and Jake at the ranch. It's not or never, Sam thought nervously. Trying to get up the courage, she walked across the ranch yard to the barn. She saw Jake walk into the tack room, and she took a big breath before following him in. Jake turned to smile at her and Sam walked up to him. Before she could lose her nerve, she stood on tiptoe and touched her lips to his.

Jake immediately went still. He raised his hands and put them on her shoulders, about to move her away. Sensing this, Sam used all of her new found knowledge to entice him to kiss her back. She wrapped her arms around his neck and ran her teeth along his lower lip. She felt Jake tense. Then, with a muffled growl he dragged her up tight against him and his mouth came down on hers. This was nothing like their previous kisses. Jake kissed her as if he couldn't get enough. He pushed her against the wall and leaned his body against her. Surrounded by the solid wall on one side, and Jakes hard body on another, Sam felt shivers running up and down her body. She felt electrified, as if she was being shocked by a thousand tiny batteries. She heard a moan, and was surprised to find that it came from her. This was more intense than anything she had ever felt before and she felt as though she could never get enough.

Jake broke away and leaned his forehead against hers. He was breathing hard, they both were. As they caught their breath Sam wondered what she was supposed to say to him. As it turned out she didn't have to say anything at all.

"I've been wondering whether you actually like me or if you were just playing along so you wouldn't hurt my feelings." He gave her a tiny smile. "I guess you just answered my question."

"I do like you, and I want us to be more than friends. But if you're just going to ignore me when anyone's around, then we might as well forget about it." Sam looked up at Jake who had backed up a few steps and was watching her uncomfortably.

"Look Sam, I would like to see where this goes, but I'm not good at all that touchy feely stuff. If you're expecting me to walk around holding hands all the time, then we might as well just quit now. I'm not that type and I never will be."

Sam groaned and resisted the urge to hit him.

"Jake! That's not what I expect. I just don't want you treating me like I have the plague. In case you haven't noticed, you've been ignoring me since yesterday. I want to see where this goes too, but I still want to be friends like we've been all along. Do you think we can manage it?"

Jake gave her a slow smile.

"Of course. We're still friends. We always will be. No matter what happens, I'll always be here for you Sam."

Sam grinned up at him and stood on tiptoes to kiss him. Surrounded by Jakes strong arms, Sam didn't think that life could get any better.