Tracy always wanted to go riding with Antonio but not like this. The ride is slow and there is zero romance. She swallows the lump in her throat. Antonio hears her deep sigh a few seconds later.
"I'm really sorry for not telling you about Joshua my golden knight. I am sure that you want to find some other girl to be your fiancée." Tracy says.
Antonio pulls back on Catfish's reigns. Catfish stop right in the middle of the path. Antonio gets off and helps her down as well. Tracy looks down at her feet. He cups her cheeks with his hands. She continued to look down at the ground.
"Tracy, please look at me." He begs.
Tracy is so ashamed by what she did and couldn't find the strength to look up. He leans in closer and kisses her on the forehead. He backs away a tear escape from Tracy's right eye. He uses his index and middle fingers to wipe it away.
"Honey, there's no one else in the world I'd rather be with than you. Tracy, you're sweet, caring, talented, funny, and friendly. Please take back the ring." Antonio says.
Antonio gets down on one knee. He takes the ring box out of his pocket. Tracy watches as he opens it. She looks up and see a look in his eyes that she never seen before. The look says that I forgive you and I'm not mad at you.
"Oh Antonio, are you proposing to me again?" Tracy jokes.
"No, my little angelfish, I know that I have told you this many times. I love you more than life itself and I'll always be there for you." Antonio says.
Tracy cracks a smile and extends her left hand out towards him. Antonio takes the ring out. He sides it back onto her finger. Catfish backs up just as Antonio is getting back to his feet. He tosses his head so that the reigns would wrap around Antonio's ankles. Then he walks forward slowly with pulls Antonio at the same speed in towards Tracy. She realized what the horse wanted to happen as they are close enough to kiss. Catfish tosses his head again to untangle the reigns.
"I think Catfish wants us to kiss and make up," Tracy says.
"I would hate to disappoint him after he went to all the trouble getting us this close to each other," Antonio says.
Catfish lets out a loud whinny. The couple translated it to mean stop talking and kiss already. Antonio leans in and kisses Tracy softly on her lips. He feels her slowly glide her tongue along his top lip. It causes him to let out a quiet moan. He decided to know kick this up a notch. He opens his mouth. A few seconds later the tip of his tongue connects with hers. A spark goes off inside their heads and the two tongues start to compete against the other. They run their fingers through the other's hair. Catfish whinnies loudly again like he was that goofy friend who is watching two people making out and is surprised by what he is seeing.
A few minutes later they stop and walk back over to the Catfish. They fixed their hair on the way. Antonio wipes Tracy's lip gloss off his mouth and the other places on his face and neck that she kissed. They get back onto Catfish. Antonio taps his sides and he starts to walk again.
"Now that we got that out of our systems honey what kind of person is this Joshua guy anyway?" Antonio asks.
"Let's just say that Joshua is as sweet as three of you put together," Tracy answers.
"Ay carmabra that would explain why you haven't found the strength to tell him the truth," Antonio says.
"I know my golden knight. I keep telling myself to tell him the next time I see him. Then I picture it in my head what is about to happen. I tell him the truth and break his heart. He walks away devastated and the chance of us just being friends is gone." Tracy says.
"Tracy, are you sure that being friends with his is a good idea? I mean this guy has been flirting with you for two and half months. He can't even tell that all of his actions have been making you feel incredibly uncomfortable. Not to mention that it has been causing you to stress even more than is normal for a first-time college student." He says.
Tracy knew that he just made a really good point. She and Joshua being friends could never work. He asks her why she kept this a secret for so long. Tracy says that she never meant for it to go on for this long. She emailed Ashley for her advice.
"What did she say?" He asks.
"She never replied to my email. I have a bad feeling about this." Tracy says.
Antonio asks her why. She says that Ashley never takes this long to reply to her email. Antonio says that maybe Ashley didn't know what to say.
"Ashley would never do something like that. We have been friends since we were two. Ashley knows how much her opinion means to me." Tracy snaps.
"Calm down my little angelfish. I think I just lost my sense of hearing in my right ear." Antonio says.
He takes his right hand of Catfish's reigns. Then he rubs his right ear with his hand. Tracy apologizes for her outburst. He slowly puts his hand back on the reigns. She promised to keep her mouth shut the rest of the way the house. Antonio chuckled at her last statement.
"My little angel fish, don't take this the wrong way, but we both know that you won't last five minutes," Antonio says.
"I hate to say this, but you're wrong my golden knight. Remember I used to be a super shy kid growing up. I never said a word when another kid would ask me my name. I always played by myself. Well, before I became friends with Ashley anyway." She says.
Antonio says he knows that. He tells her that he still can't believe that a girl as friendly as her was such a wallflower. Tracy wants to say that was the second sweetest thing he has ever said to her. She remembered her vow of silence. Antonio feels her soft lips touch the skin on his cheek as she softly kisses it. As she backs away a smile comes to his face.
They get back to the house ten minutes later. Antonio helps Tracy off of Catfish. He tells her that he'll meet her at the paddock when he is finished untacking his horse. Tracy nods and leaves the barn. Tracy sees to the paddock is only a few feet away from the barn. She walks over to it and stands up on the fence. She sees the other horses that Marquis owns. There is a chestnut Antenauer, buckskin Azteca, a bay chestnut Balearic, and a black Aegidenberger. The Balearic finished grazing and walks to the left. Tracy sees Snowflake and watches as she gallops up. She stops a few inches before the fence. She gives her owner a hug.
"Hey Snowflake, it's good to see you too." Tracy says.
She pets her neck. She stops a few minutes later. Marquis, Antonio, and Catfish walk up. She turns around to face them.
"Hey my golden knight, I didn't know that you had a brother." Tracy says.
"No my little angel fish, this is my dad Marquis." Antonio says.
"Well I see the family resemblance. It's nice to meet you." Tracy says.
"José told me that his niece is funny. The pleasure is mine." Marquis says.
He extends his right hand out. Tracy shakes his hand. Afterwards she asks "Why is Snowflake here."
"Your uncle Darrel had to rebuild the barn after it caught on fire last week. Don't worry none of other horses got hurt." Marquis answers.
"That's good to hear. I hope that Snowflake didn't cause you any trouble. She doesn't do too well with strangers." Tracy says.
"Snowflake, she was a little trouble at first. After I put her in the paddock a few times with Catfish she calmed down." Marquis says.
Antonio walks Catfish over to the gate to the paddock. He takes the reins off of his horse. Then opens the gate and Catfish walks inside. Antonio closes the gate and walks over to Tracy and his dad. He stands next to Tracy. They watch Snowflake walk over to Catfish. They stand next to each other, rub each other. A few seconds later they follow each other around the paddock. Tracy and the Garcia men see them keep other horses away them.
"Tracy, what's wrong with them?" Antonio asks.
"Nothing my golden knight, Catfish and Snowflake like each other that's all," Tracy answers.
"I would say they more than like each other." Marquis says.
Antonio asks his dad what he meant by that. He tells Antonio to keep watching. Antonio sees the horses touch their noses together. They back away and lean gently into each other. Tracy sets her head on Antonio's shoulder. Antonio glances down at Tracy she has a big smile on her face.
"Why are you so happy angel?" Antonio asks.
"Because our horses fell in love with each other just like us. It's kinda cute isn't it?" Tracy answers.
Antonio says he guesses that it kinda cute. Tracy quickly lifts her head off his shoulder. The sharp sudden movement causes a sharp shooting pain to flow through her right arm. She winces in pain.
"Easy angel, I think that you should have a doctor take at look at your arm." Antonio says.
"Antonio. I don't need to see a doctor. I'm fine." Tracy argues.
Marquis agrees with his son. He sees a bit of fear in Tracy's eyes when Antonio mention going to the doctor. He walks over to her and places his hand on Tracy's good shoulder. Tracy looks up at him.
"You're afraid of the doctor aren't you?" Marquis asks.
"I'm not afraid of the doctor. It's the office that freaks me out. The last few times I went to the doctor I had to have surgery. I'd much rather not find out what's wrong with my arm." Tracy answers.
Marquis reminds her that the only reason why any surgery is done is if it's the only way for the injury to heal properly. Antonio tells her she won't know how bad her injury is if she doesn't let the doctor have a look at her.
"Ok I'll go. Antonio you'll come too won't you?" Tracy asks.
"Of course I will." Antonio answers.
They leave the paddock and head to the car. Tracy wishes that she was better at winning the battle of I don't need to see a doctor. Antonio and Tracy get into the back of Garcia mobile. Marquis starts the car. He back it out of the drive way and the head to urgent care.