Let's just call things the way they are and say I'm a one trick pony. Mina + Kunzy 4 evah! And a new verse to tempt you with, ladies and gents, I present the first (and probably last) installment of Jockey!verse.

Still into You

Cause after all this time.
I'm still into you
I should be over all the butterflies
But i'm into you (I'm in to you)
And baby even on our worst nights
I'm into you (I'm into you)
Let em wonder how we got this far
Cause I don't really need to wonder at all
Yeah after all this time
I'm still into you.

Paramore – Still Into You

The early mornings didn't get to him. In fact, he liked them – loved the quiet and the still and being awake before the rest of the world could get its ugly claws into him. In the pre-dawn air, all was perfect. Without crowds there to cheer them on, a horse could still run a magic race – post times they never would on a crowded track. These were the times he liked best.

Thoughts of her stole into his head during these moments. Seated in the owner's box, always in a fashionable hat, laughing, but the smile never quite reaching her eyes. She was a fantastic actress – had everyone convinced but him.

She had been working the track, a pretty young thing still trying to figure out her life. Plucked from obscurity, fate had intervened in the form of Adonis Asturias, of the great Asturias fortune. The polo playboy had wandered by the stables one day and seen Valentine bathing Alluring Ace, a feisty gelding. The rest was history. Wooed and swept off her feet, Matthew hadn't stood a chance. The image of her staring at him burned into his head. When Adonis escorted her out of the stables, Valentine turned to look back. Maybe she'd looked to see if he would make a scene, but he remained silent. She was meant for a better life – one he would never be able to afford. The one night they'd shared wasn't enough for him to take a stand against the man whose money paid his salary – the funds that fed the horses and employed his assistants.

Strangely, with her departure, his luck on the track increased. Matthew threw himself into his work, spending nearly every waking moment on training his precious horses. Adonis and his girlfriend usually stayed away, but today all eyes were on Love Me Venus, a pretty filly with odds to place, potentially even to win. Matthew couldn't explain his feeling, but as soon as the gangly thoroughbred with a rare palomino coloring had arrived at the stables, he knew she would be destined for great things.

And win she did. By five lengths – she had practically pranced across the finish line, handily winning a nice purse and securing Matthew justification for work for at least the next six months. The trainer had stayed at the edge of winner's circle, fussing with equipment as Adonis and Valentine had their picture taken with the horse and jockey – a great garland of roses about Venus's gleaming neck.

Adonis, with any excuse for a party, had chosen a nearby hotel and the revelry had started early in the evening. As the winning trainer, Matthew had been invited. For the most part, he tended to avoid these situations. Being this close to her was difficult. With no excuses not to attend, he drank champagne and focused on the meaningless conversations he entered into, carefully evading the young woman in the green dress.

Ready to leave, his phone buzzed with a new text message and looking at it, he didn't recognize the number.

Come to Room 702.

He considered his options, but with 3 glasses of champagne and a highly frustrated libido, he was curious who had sent the message. Could it be the redhead he had flirted with earlier in the night? The socialite with amethyst eyes?

Taking the lift up a few floors, he found the room, and knocked.

A familiar pair of blue eyes met him on the other side of the door.

Backing out further into the hallway, he said, "No."

"You haven't even heard what I have to say."

"I…" 'Don't trust myself around you,' was how he wanted to finish the sentence, that and 'you have a boyfriend.'

"You what? You're afraid?"

"No." Yes.

"I just want to give you something…for Venus."

"Fine." He remembered her silly fascination with the horses. In her short time working for him, she had come up with impossible illogical backstories for each of the horses in the stable. He sighed and walked through the door, making sure to stay as far away from possible from her. She hadn't changed from the gorgeous emerald dress she had worn to the track earlier in the day. The bright color was a nearly perfect match for the lawns surrounding the racing oval. She had removed the outlandish hat – a modern structure of red ribbon and he saw it lay on the nightstand, a work of art in its own right. Crossing his arms, he asked gruffly, "What is it?"

Passing an impeccably wrapped bag across, she said, "It's silly, but I thought you might like a suitable frame for her winners circle picture."

It was just like her – something thoughtful, a present he couldn't turn away. "How did you know she was going to win?"

"You were coaching her."

"That all?" He had to get out of this room. She was too close. Being alone with her was special kind of torture. You can't have her. She will never be yours. The pessimistic thoughts raced through his head.

Valentine sat gracefully on the settee – and he realized the opulence of the suite. It was easily the size of his entire apartment. Seeing his way out, he said, "Well, thanks for this, I'll just leave now."

"Do you have to?"

"Isn't A—Mr. Asturias going to be back soon?" Matthew could never and would never force himself to say the name 'Adonis' aloud.

"I don't know."

"Do you want me to stay?" Please say no. Please say yes.

"I want you to do whatever you think is best."

This was not the answer he was looking for. Slumping down in a chair opposite her, there were so many things he wanted to ask. Was she happy? Did Adonis make her content? Did she know that Venus was her horse? Did she regret leaving with Adonis that day?

"I'm uncomfortable," she said, then swept her hair aside and perched on the small couch. "Can you help get me started? I've had this on long enough."

He looked at his callused hands and wondered how they would feel on the glossy silk. Clenching his fists and keeping them at his side, he asked, "What's your game?"

"I assure you there is no game, Matthew."

"Then why did you text me? Bored?"

"You know it's more than that."

"Do I?"

Her blonde hair falling back over the dress, she stood up and said, "Why do you think I didn't come to the track to see Venus train? It killed me to stay away."

"Then why did you?"

"Don't you think he would guess?"

"What do you mean?"

"If he saw us together…he would know…"

"That we can't live without each other?" Matthew quietly filled in the blank.

Tears glistening, she said, "You understand. If he saw – then he would take everything you've worked for away. I couldn't risk it."

Deeply torn by her sadness, he moved to her side and wiping his rough fingers across her face, brushed the tears away. "You didn't need to stay with him for me."

"If I wasn't with him, there's only one place I would be."

"With me."

"With you."

"What do we do now?"

"Sell Venus."

"I can't. She…means too much to me."

"Technically, she's mine to decide what to do with. We both know he put my name on her papers. The commission from her sale would allow you to set up your own barn. To get away from here. Her reputation would get you a pick of jobs."

Matthew considered his options. He's thought of them before, but finally said, "He'll never go for it."

"We can both work at him."

"Will it be enough?"

"I don't remember you being such a pessimist. I remember someone quite different."

"Maybe I've changed. V, to risk everything..."

"It will be worth it."

There is only one thing he loves more than horses and racing and she's sitting right in front of him. Cupping her face in his hand, he kissed her softly, sweetly. Pulling away, he said, "I'll wait."

AN: Please allow me some artistic license as I've done none little research on the world of horse racing.