"You comin', Brat?" Jake drawled, shooting Sam the sideways look from under the brim of his hat that he knew drove her nuts. She tossed the thick auburn braid she had just finished plaiting over one shoulder, plopped her own hat on her head, and stood up from the blanket spread on the dirt with a long-suffering sigh.
"I don't know why I hang out with you," she tossed back at him airily, then the familiar grin overtook her sun-freckled face and she stuck her tongue out at Jake. He rolled his eyes, but Jake felt a sort of warm pressure in his chest. "Let's go," he said, rubbing a hand absently over his heart .
Jake had packed what remained of their simple meal in Witch's saddlebag, and he swung up onto her back, settling back comfortably to prepare for the rest of their ride.
He held out a hand to Sam and her up behind him on the black mare.
"Remind me why we're riding double again?" Sam grumbled behind him as she shifted to find a comfortable position. With her safely behind him, Jake allowed a crooked smile to tilt his lips.
"Because, Brat, you insisted on us heading out even though you drove to my house today instead of riding."
"Oh yeah."
Sam hooked one arm around his waist comfortably, enjoying the feel of the soft, sun-warmed flannel of his shirt as Jake clicked his tongue at Witch. She'd never tell him so, but she loved riding with Jake-loved feeling the mix of absolute control and absolute freedom that Jake emanated when he rode. She knew she was a good rider, but also knew she'd never be as natural as Jake.
Jake could feel Sam's breath on his neck behind him and her heartbeat against his back, and the heat and pressure in his chest eased a little. When she suddenly whooped loudly in his ear, Jake started and Sam bashed her chin on his shoulder.
"Ow. Oh, God. I bit my tongue," she moaned.
"Well if you hadn't tried to give me heart failure, maybe that wouldn't have happened, Brat," Jake muttered, trying to calm the adrenaline pumping through his veins.
"But Jake, look! There she is!" Sam pointed off to the left.
The sun-browned skin around Jake's eyes creased as he squinted into the light just able to make out a black smudge off in the distance.
"Sure 'nough," he muttered. "Shoulda known your radar is never wrong." Jake nudged Witch into a canter once more.
Before Jake could say anything, Sam's arm was gone from his waist and he felt her slip off Witch's side, and some of the pressure in his chest increased again.
"Sam. Samantha. What foolbrained idea do you have now?" he said in a low voice, knuckling his sternum. "You said you just wanted to find her. So help me if you get too close to that horse I will drape you across this saddle and carry you home like a sack of grain..."
Sam rolled her eyes at Jake, who was reining Witch in tight, anxious circles, and began slowly stepping toward the beautiful black mare who was about 100 feet away. "Hey, pretty girl. Hey now, hey now.. how's that cut of yours doing, huh? Can I take a look at it?" Sam breathed gentle, nonsensical words at the cautious horse, completely engrossed in her task of getting close enough to see the wound.
The mare tossed her head in warning and danced anxiously around, snorting. Sam slowed, still murmuring then started forward again. The mare reared, and Sam flinched back slightly, holding still for a moment.
Jake felt his stomach drop, and knew his jaw was going to be sore tomorrow from clenching his teeth. Jake cursed inwardly. Why do I do this to myself. He really did not want to watch Sam walking directly up to a nervous, injured, wild mare, but he also couldn't look away.
Soon enough, the mare had had enough of her examination and had taken off, kicking up a cloud of dust in her hooves. Sam turned and started back to Jake, a satisfied smile on her face. "Good news, looks like it's going to heal up just fine."
Jake was sitting on Witch, white faced and jaw set. Sam cocked an eyebrow. "That's good news, Jake."
Jake bit his tongue, the burning in his chest starting to feel uncomfortable.
Sam rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, letting out a breath. "Okay, go ahead. Say what's on your mind."
"Are you crazy?" The words burst out of Jake before he could lock his jaw shut again. Witch started dancing again, so Jake turned her in another circle to give himself a moment.
Sam looked at him evenly, the beginnings of temper flaring in her green eyes. "No. I distinctly remember telling you I wanted to come out today to find her."
"Find her. Look at her. From a distance," Jake snapped back, feeling the color beginning to rise in his cheekbones again. He rubbed a hand in annoyance over the hot pressure under his sternum.
Sam laughed. "Jake, how many years have you known me? I know this herd, I just wanted to make sure she was going to be okay."
Jake swung a leg over and jumped from Witch's back, striding forward to loom over Sam. His palms itched to do something, but he didn't know what. He barely resisted shaking his pointer finger under her nose like an angry parent. "That doesn't mean you can just walk right up to an injured, wild horse! I should never have let you-"
"Let me, Jake Ely?" Now Sam's eyes were snapping with temper, her hands in fists on her hips. "Since when is it your job to "let" me do anything?"
"Since every time you do somethin' stupid like this it feels like my heart is either going to fall down to my toes or explode, and I don't know why!" Jake threw up his hands in frustration.
Sam looked at him hard through narrowed green eyes. "That's not my fault."
"You think I want this? You think I asked for this compulsion to follow you around and see how many years you can scare off my life, Samantha?" The pressure in his chest increased even more until it felt like a blazing fire within his ribs. "Brat, I don't..."
Jake snapped his mouth shut, stopping the uncharacteristic flow of words with a clenched jaw.
Sam looked at Jake-poor terrified, bewildered, frustrated Jake-and felt a warmth spread beneath her collarbone. He stood there, looking at her with heaving chest and confused eyes, and she acted on a split-second instinct.
"Samantha, I-"
Suddenly, Jake was knocked back a half step and Sam shut him up by pressing her mouth to his. Frozen in shock for a moment, Jake felt his heart leap again and the burning pressure under his ribs exploded into a supernova of warmth. Before Sam could pull away Jake slipped a hand around the back of her neck and kissed her back-thoroughly.
Several seconds later, they finally parted. The two best friends stared at each other for a moment, both somewhat in shock. Finally, Sam cleared her throat. "Wow. That was unexpected."
Jake nodded, not trusting himself to speak yet over the heat burning in his chest. His hands itched again with that need to touch, and without even really meaning to, Jake sank a hand into her auburn braid and gathered her up against him again, pulling her lips to his. He felt Sam grin against his mouth and grab handfuls of the back of his flannel as they kissed again.
Jake rested his forehead against hers, breathing hard. "Sam," he said, finally finding his voice, "I'm not.. I mean, I don't like.. I'm not into that mushy stuff. But..." he searched her green eyes with his as she looked up at him. "This is... good."
Sam grinned that familiar, blazing grin up at him and nodded. "Yeah. It's good."
They finally managed to get back on Witch, who was unimpressed with the time they spent standing out in the middle of nowhere. This time, Sam looped both of her strong arms around his hips as she settled in behind him. As they raced toward home, Sam let out an earsplitting cowboy whoop and Jake felt a huge grin break over his face.