Disclaimer: I don't own Phantom Stallion or the Bold dialog.

Warning- an impolite synonymy for butt is used once. That sentence is italicized and underlined so it can be skipped, if it really bothers you.

Sam smirked at me as I walked in. "Yeah laugh at me" I grumbled as I walked past her. "You're gonna eat your heart out when you hear grandfather's idea"

"I will? What is it?" She questions, following me like a lost puppy when I don't immediately answer. "Tell me" She demands tugging on my sleeve. I saw my mom eyeing us and was starting to feel uncomfortable crowded into the small kitchen with the females.

I refuse to say women, because even though she fourteen and I might have a crush on her, Sam is still just a girl. So I mumble "Later" and head for the door. I didn't make it.

Ryan Slocum was blocking my way. He stood in the door way, holding a tray of shrimp. He looked past me, at Sam. I felt myself tense as his eyes darted up and down her body, and he smiled slowly. That smile turned into a smirk as he looked at me. I can't stand him; he's worse than Rachel, thinking everyone should fawn over him. He thinks he can have whatever he want just because he is rich. He was looking at Sam, like she was something he could buy. Like he could just snap his fingers and she'd come running. Just the thought of Sam with him made me furious. I could feel my body preparing to fight, my shoulders squaring and my arms drifting an inch or so from my sides.

In attempt to diffuse the situation, I quietly said "Scuse me". Ryan flinched slightly, more like a twitch, but didn't move. We stared at each other; I was just waiting for him to swing. I know Ryan was used to having things handed to him, and if he wanted to fight that's just what he'd get, his ass handed to him.

Suddenly Grace moved between us, she took the tray from Ryan. "Well thank you, Ryan. I can't imagine where these came from."

"Honestly, I do not know," Ryan replied, his British accent making him sound a little slow.

"Jake, please find a place for these in the refrigerator. Grace shoved the tray at me. I hesitated for a second, but took the tray and turned towards the fridge. As soon as my back was turned, Ryan left the kitchen. I made room for the tray, and then quickly left the kitchen.

I paused for a moment on the porch, I considered going after Ryan, but I didn't want him to know how much he bothered me. I still needed to talk to Sam, but I didn't want people to think I was waiting for her. If my brothers saw me I'd never hear the end of it. They were all standing around the bonfire. I figured that was as good as place as any to wait, I took a step in that direction. When Miss Allen stopped me and handed me a bright pink flier. It was for some sort of horse race, with a hundred dollar entrance fee. Guess, I wasn't doing that. I started towards the bonfire again, when, Grandpa called my name.

He was standing by the barn looking at the horses in the ten acre pasture, with a sigh I headed over there. I stood next to him and waited for him to speak. The silence was starting to bother me, I almost starting shifting my weight from impatience. The only thing that stopped me was I didn't want to look like Sam. I half smiled at the role reversal; normally I'm the one comfortable in silence, with Sam fidgeting.

I always found it highly amusing to make Sam wait; the more she fidgeted the longer I made her wait. People always tell me I'm a lot like Grandpa, so I bet he's doing the same thing to me. I took a deep breath to help me relax. I stopped glancing at him and instead focused on the horses. I watched them amble around, occasionally reaching down to crop a mouthful of grass. As the familiarity of the scene sunk in, I felt the tension from the confrontation with Ryan dwindle.

As soon as the all the tension eased from my body, Grandpa turned to me smiled and walked away. I assumed I was supposed to follow him; I lengthen my stride and caught up to him in few steps. We had only walked a few steps side by side when Jen crashed into me. "Watch where you're -" She began, cutting off when she noticed my grandpa. "Sorry! Nice to see you again, Mr. Ely. I'm sorry," With that she pointed at Ryan and then ran off.

"Samantha Forster, I haven't seen you since you were seven years old" Grandpa said. It was then that I noticed her; she must have been walking with Jen. I could help, but wish it was her that had crashed into me. It would have given me an innocent reason to have her body pressed against mine if only for a moment.

Since I was watching her so closely, I saw her jump a little when Grandpa closed both his hands around hers. The first thought that popped into my head was; great, he's going to scare her off before I get a chance to convince her to join the family. Needless to say the thought freaked me out a little, just this morning I was trying to decide if I liked her, now I was thinking about marrying her! This can't be normal. I am a teenage guy; marriage should be the last thing on my mind. I was only half listening when Grandpa continued, "You have your mother's heart for animals, I'm told, and I can see you have her eyes"

Sam was really focused on him; I decided to use the opportunity to study her halfheartedly thinking that if I really looked at her I'd see that it was just my hormones. That she was still just the little neighbor girl, my tag-along, my best friend. The longer, I stared at her the less I believed it.

"And Jake has yours, Mr. Ely" I jumped a little when she said my name. Sam's eyes flicked over to me; I tried to pass the movement as me just shifting my weight. I looked at the crowd around the bonfire, and hoped she hadn't caught me staring. She didn't or was just really good at ignoring me, because her gaze quickly reverted back to Grandpa's as he said,

"Call me Mac."

"Thanks" She said being polite and giving him her undivided attention. I know Grandpa has a presence about him that makes him hard to ignore. I know that because he's an adult and speaking to her that she should be paying attention to him. I know he's more than four times her age, and there is zero chance they could like, like each other. Logical I knew there was no reason to be jealous, but that didn't stop the green eyed monster.

That's when I accepted my feels for Sam weren't just a crush or even hormones. My over protectiveness wasn't brotherly regard, nor was it guilt from the accident (at least not entirely). My desire to keep other guys away from her wasn't only to protect her, but to keep her for myself. I wasn't concerned with her well-being more than anyone else's simply because she was my best friend. I liked Sam, I really liked her. I think I might love her, but it's too soon to admit that even to myself. We haven't even gone on a date; I haven't even told her I like her yet.