Horse Poop & Stable Talks

It was early morning.

The air was brisk as the wind gently blew around them, hitting Maka's bare skin as she stood with the other girls. Sunlight peeked over the horizon as its rays reached into the sky and it rose to wake the rest of the world. A rooster's croaking call could be heard from where she stood. It was early in the morning, but late enough for the ranch to be active as well. Marie importantly stood in front of the cameraman as she waved a sheet of paper around. It must have been their itinerary for filming that day because they all listened to her attentively.

Soul was beside them with his back turned, one foot propped up on the wooden fence as he cooed a black horse that was on the other side. Maka watched as his hand slowly brushed down the bridge of its nose while his other cradled the jaw to hold it steady.

His touch was soft and caring as he handled the beast; its eyes squinting in pleasure the longer Soul stroked it. Her gaze went from his hand to Soul's mouth. She noted the small movement as he talked to the creature in hushed tones. A comfortable aura surrounded Soul and the horse that suggested a bond had built between them over time. It felt like as if she were intruding on an intimate setting as she walked closer to them, her shoes squishing the grass beneath her.

When she was close enough to touch the fence, the horse's eyes snapped open, hinting that she had ruined the moment. The creature started to whinny and struggle out of Soul's grasp. He jumped out of the way as the horse spastically moved about and attempted to calm it in a soothing, mellow voice.

"Sshh, calm down, boy," he said. "Sshh, it's okay. You're okay."

Her fingers flexed by her side as she stepped back. The horse finally calmed down, snorting heavily as it walked back over to Soul. It nuzzled his hand with its snout as its nostrils flared with each breath it took, and it fell back into its initial state as Soul's fingers scratched the side of its face.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have come over here. Just wanted to see your horse. Didn't mean to scare it or anything. I'll go back, though."

Maka turned to go back to where the other girls were meant to be, but didn't get too far as Soul stopped her.

"Nah, it's fine. He gets spooked easily, is all." Soul reached his right hand out toward her. "Come here."

She reluctantly placed her hand in his and he pulled her back over, tucking her between him and the fence. He grabbed her wrist with the other and extended her hand out toward the horse. Carefully he brushed the tips of her fingers along the horse's muzzle. The horse jerked back at her touch, causing Soul to hold her still, before it nudged her hand with its snout to allow her to touch it. Short hairs sticking around its nostrils tickled beneath her fingernails each time Soul moved her hand back up to the bridge of its nose. Maka smiled and giggled as she pet the beast before her - growing braver as her other hand cradled the side of its face in a fashion similar to how Soul was before.

"There," Soul whispered behind her, "that's all he needed."

It quickly became clear of how close Soul was standing to her. She felt his body heat press against her back and the slow motion of his chest with each breath the bull rider took. Little sparks of electricity surged along her spine as she swallowed the lump in her throat. The feeling was both comforting and weird; she hadn't known him long enough to have this kind of effect being close to him. Rather than dwelling on it for too long, though, she excused it as her body's way of reacting to someone of the opposite sex after so long.

That made sense.

"And what would that be?" she asked, her voice equally as quiet and thankfully not thick like she had feared.

"To know he can trust you." He removed his hand from hers and stepped to the side as she continued to pet the horse. She inwardly sighed at not having him close to her anymore. "Spitfire don't do well with strangers."

Nodding, she chose to ignore the change in his diction. "So he takes after his owner?"

From her peripheral, she saw him roll his eyes at her. "Ha… funny."

Moving her hand to scratch underneath the horse's jaw, Spitfire lifted his nose upward a bit to give her more access. He closed his eyes like had done for Soul a few minutes earlier; the small action made her smile. "But he's much sweeter than you."

Soul snorted. "That's because you only just met him."

"Oh, so he does take after his owner after all?"

"I thought you forgave me for being a douche."

"I did, but that doesn't mean I can't keep reminding you."

"The idea of forgiving someone is that you don't bring up the reason you forgave them."

Maka licked her lips and dropped her hand away from Spitfire who wasted no time in nudging her hand in a fashion similar to a dog begging for more scratches. She mindlessly did as the horse wished as her and Soul stood there in silence. Originally she hadn't come over to ridicule Soul and remind him of his behavior from the first night. It was more with the intention of seeing the horse because she had never seen one up close before unless it was in her picture books when she was a child.

"He's really pretty," she commented. Soul hummed beside her. "What kinda horse is he?"

"A quarter horse. Same kind that played Black Beauty in the movie."

"I take it he isn't a racing horse, though." She smiled when he stared at her, eyes wide in surprise. "You know that phase girls in elementary go through? Where they're either horse fanatics or into wolves? I was the horse fanatic."

"I see. So you know a little bit 'bout horses?"

"I always insisted Mama bought me the folders with the pretty horse pictures on front for school so I could read the blurbs about horses on the inside."

"Cute," he half-smiled. "But, yea, Spitfire's more of a cowing horse. That's what Blake, our horse wrangler on the property and another rancher, calls him anyways."

"What's a cowing horse?"

"It's Blake's way of sayin' he's a cuttin' horse. Basically Spitfire knows how to control cows."

"And I take that that's a good thing?"

"Comes in handy when we have to brand the cows, and if I ever wanna do cow roping at the rodeo, I already got a horse for that. Just gotta train him."

"Oh," she baby talked toward Spitfire, "so you really are better than your owner."

"He's not better than me," Soul defended.

"But he does all the work."

"I do some stuff."

"Like what? Sit on him while he does all the work?" she smiled. Soul opened his mouth to say something, but closed it and huffed, hunching over the fence in defeat. Maka giggled and scratched underneath Spitfire's chin. "That's what I thought."

He seemed to pout harder as he rested his foot on the fence once again, and mumbled, "I'm also needed like the horse."

"Are you really really acting like a baby? I thought you were twenty-eight, not four," Maka teased.

"I'm not acting like a baby. Just saying the cowboy's just as important as the horse."

"No one said you weren't important as well. I was teasing you, Soul." She lightly nudged him with her shoulder. "I'm sure you're a tremendous help with Spitfire and cowing."

She caught the slight twitch of his lips as he fought back a smile, but he didn't comment anymore on the matter. Maka went back to petting the side of Spitfire's face. His sleek black coat shined in the sunlight as the sun hovered higher in the sky. The horse was absolutely gorgeous, and she knew right away that its owners had taken well care of it with how healthy he looked. Maybe she didn't know a lot about horses and ranching, but she did know when she came across a happy and loved animal.

"You've really put a lot of time and care into him," she quietly commented. Her hand paused above Spitfire's jaw as she looked over at Soul and smiled. "He seems really happy being out here."

Carmine eyes shifted from the grass to meet her own. "Thanks."

Her mouth opened to comment more on the matter, but her attention was drawn toward Marie and the crew. The cameramen prepared their equipment for the day as they tested things out to make sure everything was working accordingly. Marie counted the heads of the bachelorettes to make sure everyone was there - which, by the looks of it, seemed everyone was. All the girls were dressed in their best attire as they were ready for the camera while Maka had thrown her hair into a ponytail and thrown on whatever was at the top of her suitcase.

"I'm gonna stick out like a sore thumb," she said, chewing on her bottom lip.

"You'll be fine."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. You're in proper dress for what y'all are doing today, anyway."

Of course he knew what they were doing. Surely Marie had spoken with Soul and his family about what were proper challenges to do on the ranch considering they lived on one, and their normal challenges weren't going to cut it. They weren't at the normal mansion that the show took place at, so they had change how things were done.

"You know what we're doing? Can you tell me?"

Soul appeared to want to tell her, but must have changed his mind half-way. "I think Marie'll get mad if I do."

"Not even a little hint?"

His brows furrowed together as he contemplated it before smirking. "Has to do something with Spitfire."

She curiously stared at the horse. What were they going to be doing that called for Spitfire to play a part in it? They were on a ranch. Maybe it had something to do with trying to control the horse, and if that was it, she already had it in the bag. He was a manageable horse who was complete putty in her hand as she scratched the side of his face.

"Maka! We're getting ready to start!" Marie called out, her voice a mixture of authority and motherly.

Dropping her hand from the horse, she smiled apologetically as he snorted and whinnied in protest. "Sorry. I gotta go."

To Soul, she said, "I'll see you later?"

"Yea. Later."

Making a mental note on the changes his diction had taken in their short conversation, Maka headed over toward the girls to join them.

Maka turned on the camera in the temporary confessional that the crew had set up in the barn.

"Met Blake. He's fun. Talks about horse droppings a lot, but I guess that should have been my first clue of what's happening today," she said. "Apparently our challenge is to clean out horse stalls. That should be fun. Considering Meredith and Nicole are on my team, and we all know how much they like to get down and dirty."

There was a slight bite in her words as she spoke that she tried to control, but it was hard when her teammates weren't team players. She was grateful that they had participated in the soccer match. At least they had been helpful then. However, it didn't feel fair that they were lazing around this week and refusing to help out in any shape or form. It wasn't very sportsmanship of them.

"I don't think we'll be getting much help from those two given their reaction when Blake announced what we were doing. That's on them, though. If they want to miss a chance of going on a date with Soul, they can do so."

They had stared at Blake as if he had insulted their good name or something. Then they proceeded to voice their opinions on the matter for everyone to hear which Blake had stood his own against very well. Soul's annoyance with their attitude had been more obvious though - to Maka, at least. She had noticed the glare he had given them and the slight movement of his head as he shook it in disappointment.

"I already had my date with Soul last week, and the other girls need to have their chance as well. This is a competition, after all. It wouldn't be so much fun if one set of girls hogged the bachelor's attention and prevented others from getting some of the limelight as well." She smiled at the blinking red light. "Especially with it being so early in the game. I want everyone to have an equal chance at love."

She leaned forward and clicked the camera off.

Maka carefully rolled the horse droppings on the ground with the hay that littered the cement floor before scooping it up and dumping it in the wheelbarrow in the walkway. The smell was rancid, but not overbearing as it wafted into her nostrils from the motion. It was more like day old sour grapes. According to Blake, the main reason behind that wasn't because of the feces, but rather the horse piss that was mixed in with it. Horses weren't carnivores which kept their personal business from smelling putrid in comparison to humans.

So overall, cleaning out horse stalls wasn't that horrible an experience as she anticipated.

The stalls themselves, though, were different from what she expected.

There had been a TV show when she was growing up called The Saddle Club which was where she gained most of her knowledge of what stables looked like, and the Evans' differed greatly. She had expected them to be more enclosed with metal bars on the doors. These stalls were more open with low mahogany walls that came up to the horses neckline and gave them more room to stretch out their limbs. They were nice, even if they weren't what she had in mind; they fit in with the Evans' ranch perfectly.

Her eyes drifted upward as Soul walked by, a camera following him, before she turned back to what she was doing.

He presses his shoulder against the archway, crossed his arms, and spoke to her. "How ya holding up?"

"Alright," she replied, rolling another round of horse poop into the hay. "Could do with more help, but beggars can't be choosers."

"Lemme guess, Nicole and Meredith ditched you and Jenna?"

"Are you surprised?"

"Not even the slightest."

She scooped the finished rolled up horse droppings into her shovel and carried them out to the hallway where the wheelbarrow was. Soul stepped out of her way as the cameramen who had been filming them both followed in time with their feet. There were no mic guys today; the crew had placed hidden ones on them before they started filming. Even after being on the show for three weeks, though, it was still uneasy being filmed almost all the time. Maka wished there were more moments when it was only the two of them like that morning.

How did they expect anyone to fall for someone when they were constantly being watched?

Setting the bottom of the shovel against the ground, she sighed. "It's okay, though. That they're basically sabotaging our chances of getting another date with you."

He stuffed his hands in his front pockets, scuffed the bottom of his boot on the cement, and glanced up at her beneath the brim of his hat. When he spoke, his voice sounded distant and strained as if he were trying to conceal something, but she wasn't sure what. Or for what reason he had to do so.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because we already had a date with you," she shrugged. "And if it's meant to be a fair competition then you should have a chance to know the other girls as well, right?"

His hat hid his face from her as he stared at his shoes, but it bounced up and down like he had nodded. "Guess you're right." Carmine eyes shyly glanced at her as he looked back up. "And how else will the other girls fall in love with my good looks?"

Maka opened her mouth to comment, but opted to roll her eyes instead. She walked back into the stall with her shovel as she said, "Don't flatter yourself. You aren't that charming."

"That's just what you think," he scoffed.

"Oh? And may I ask who's been telling you lies?"

"I've been told by past girlfriends."

"I want names," she said as she rolled another round of the horse droppings. "And signed contracts saying that you didn't bribe them because I doubt they said that with a good conscious."

"You wound me, Albarn."

With his forearm pressed against the archway, he crossed one foot in front of the other and stood in what was considered a cool manner. If it weren't for the obvious stiffness in his posture as he did so and the awkward grimace on his face, Maka probably would have believed it too. She snorted under her breath as she finished the last section of her chores before taking it over to the wheelbarrow. Afterward, she poked him in the middle causing him to hunch over in reaction.

"Nice try, but I can see past your cool act," she said with a smile.

"It was worth a try," he said, rubbing the spot she had poked.

"This coming from the guy who pretended to be an asshole the first night when he's not." She heard him heavily breathe out at the reminder as she turned her back to him. Over her shoulder, she added, "I only remind you so you don't do it again."

"Pretty sure I learned my lesson," he said a little aggravated.

She smiled apologetically as she looked back at him. He was staring off to the side, a small pout on his face, and she felt only a little bad at being an ass to him as well. Sometimes she needed to learn when she had taken a joke too far, and it felt like Soul felt bad for how he had acted her first night there. Reaching out in the small space between them, she flicked the brim of his hat so that his gaze met hers.

"I'm sorry. I promise I'll stop bringing it up if you promise you won't act that way again."

A ghost of a smile graced his face as he said, "Promise."

"Good."

Green eyes turned to the wheelbarrow behind her. Brown and gold littered the inside like a show of her handiwork for the last hour or so. Her arms were sore, there was an ache in her back that was more proof of how much she had done, but she knew it wasn't enough. There were still two more stalls that needed to be cleaned out and not enough time to do so.

"Well, my part of the competition is done. Doesn't really matter, though."

"'Course it does." She looked at him confused and asked for more explanation through her eyes. "Bake'll be glad you helped out with his chores, and he won't curse your name while he mucks out the other two stalls."

"When you put it that way, guess it is worth something."

"Trust me, it is."

"I'll take your word for it."

They stared at each other in silence for a while - an unawkward silence that Maka hadn't realized was so until afterward. It felt natural to be like that with him even under their current circumstances with being on a TV show. Maybe it was too soon (she did only know him for three weeks) but she considered Soul a friend. She was curious to know more about him - to figure out what exactly went through his head as he went through the show.

How did someone like him end up on The Bachelor anyway?

One of the cameramen coughed, drawing her and Soul out of the trance. She wiped nonexistent sweat from her palms on her shorts while he adjusted his hat. While their silence may not have been awkward, the aftermath of realizing that they had been staring at each other for however long definitely was. Sighing under her breath, she glanced at the wheelbarrow and back at him.

"Guess I'll go dump this out now."

"Yea," he said a little winded as if he had run a marathon. "Better go check on the others myself. See you 'round?"

"Mhm. Have fun on your date with the other girls."

He half-smiled at her comment. "I'll try."

With that, they both went their separate ways. As Maka wheeled the result of her cleaning down the hallway, her mind went over their conversation and how easy it had been to talk to him. It was funny how smoothly things went when he wasn't being someone else.

Maka sat down in the confessional back at the guest house and clicked the camera on.

"To no one's surprise, we lost," she said. "And of course Meredith and Nicole showed up ten minutes before the competition was over and picked up shovels as if they were ready to work. Then had the audacity to pout and whine when the other team was announced the winner. I don't know what those two were thinking was going to happen."

She sighed and shook her head.

"But it's okay. What I said the last time still stands. The others deserve to go on a date with Soul as much as we do. He already met with us. He needs to meet with the others as well for this to be a fair competition. But how is he expected to fall for even one of us if he's meeting seven other girls as well? I never understood that concept of the show." Her gaze drifted to the side of the room as she realized she was using the confessional as a diary; something she hadn't expected from herself.

"I did get a chance to talk to Soul today, though. That was really nice," she commented. "He's actually a nice guy once you get passed the whole asshole, bigotry thing he tried to pull my first night here."

Licking her lips, she paused. She contemplated saying the next thought that crossed her mind or if it was too personal to share with what would eventually be all of America. Who knew what the editors for the show were going to cut and paste from her time in front of this camera. The last thing she needed was for something she said to be taken out of context or to be used to set the viewers up that maybe she was changing her mind about the show.

Clicking the camera off, she decided to keep it to herself.

Maka knew the girls who hadn't gone on the date were going to spend most of their time gossiping about it with those who had. She wasn't much in the mood to find out about all the juicy details, either, so while they all flocked towards the living area, she made her escape through the front door.

With a small backpack she had stowed away in her suitcase, she crossed the open field of the ranch where there were luckily no cameras waiting for her. She had packed a water bottle, some carrots, and her favorite, worn book inside the bag as she went to seek some alone time since coming onto the show. The air was fresh and clean; the ranch peaceful. Both were things she had taken for granted before arriving on the show, and she finally had a chance to relish in them both.

Even though she enjoyed getting to know the girls, it was also draining to be around them 24/7. Their electronics had been collected after the first rose ceremony which prevented them from having any contact from the outside world. It also meant they only had each other to communicate with. While she didn't mind girl talk - she was used to it with Liz and Tsubaki - it was also nice to have some time for herself, curled up with a novel she had read far too many times to count. A luxury she missed the most since coming onto the show because every time she attempted to do so, someone always came into the room to start a conversation.

She reached the stable that they had been working at the previous day.

Once there, she checked around to make sure no one was around to see her before slipping in through the large doors and closing them behind her. Rays of sunlight poured in through the barred windows behind the stalls giving it a homely, open feel. The air smelled different in comparison to the day before; it was fresh and clean with a slight hint of wood chippings. There was no hint of the horse piss that had remained in her nostrils for three hours after the challenge had ended. She felt her body relax as she glanced around the people-free area, grateful to be alone even for a short while.

Smiling to herself, she walked down the hallway as she passed by horse stall after horse stall and read the worn gold plates that she barely registered. A few of the stalls were empty while others were occupied with horses that didn't bother to pay her any attention. One or two did whinny and snort in reaction to her being there, but other than that it was like she was a ghost. When she passed by Spitfire's stall, he poked his head out and sniffed her. She briefly stopped to scratch the side of his face before heading to the empty stall next to him.

It was completely barren. Yellow straw didn't litter the ground nor was there any horse equipment hanging from the wall. The nameplate had also been removed, leaving only the outline of where it once was in its wake.

Dropping her backpack on the floor, she settled down on the cement and stretched her legs out in front of her to get comfortable. The light from outside danced around her as she pulled out the book along with her snack and drink. She was ready to have an hour or two with a peace of mind and the chance to unwind from being on the show for so long. There was no doubt in her mind that if Liz were there she'd chide her for choosing to read a novel rather than working her magic to woo the cute bachelor. Her friend also would have rolled her eyes upon seeing the book she had brought along with her.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen: a classic.

Her small studio apartment was filled with numerous copies of the novel from aging them out so often. Though, she had excused as creating a small collection of the book since the only ones she bought were editions that held sentimental messages on the front from the previous owners. It had more to do with nostalgia than anything. The very first copy she had of the book was before her mama and papa divorced. The one that her papa had bought special for her tenth birthday because she had grown tired of her other books.

The novel was a way for her to escape from reality and drown herself in the world of Darcy and Elizabeth and being jealous of their lives. A part of her wanted to live the extravagant lifestyle they had - to have her story written out for her rather than living each day wondering what was going to happen next. Their story had helped her get through the fighting and arguing that had come before her parents divorce when she was eleven. Now it served as a way for her to escape constantly being in front of a camera.

About thirty minutes of her being immersed in the book, the back door of the barn opened and closed without her hearing it. The hard footsteps that thudded against the cement floor went unnoticed by her as well as the whinny of the horse behind her and the deep coo that followed. It wasn't until Spitfire's stall door creaked open that she finally realized there was another human soul in the barn.

She snapped the book closed - not bothering to mark her place - and stumbled to her feet as she whipped around to see Soul standing with Spitfire.

"What are you doing here?!" she blurted at the sight of him.

He had his back toward her so he didn't see her pop up. At the sound of her voice he jumped and yelped causing the horse to mimic its owner. Spitfire threw his head back and neighed as his hooves beat against the ground. Wild red eyes whipped around to stare at her.

"What do you mean what am I doing here? This is my barn," Soul spat out, panic etched in his voice.

Maka was embarrassed and felt stupid that that had been the first thing out of her mouth.

"A better question," he continued, "is what are you doing here? Thought you'd be with the others… Doing whatever you girls do after dates."

"I needed a break from everything so came out here to read." She raised the novel to show him her proof. "It's tiring being filmed 24/7 when you're not used to it, you know. I just needed a short breather."

Scratching behind his ear, he nodded. "Yea, I do actually. Why do ya think I'm out here?"

"The barn's your escape place?"

"It's one of the only places they aren't allowed to film." He paused for a moment. "And I kinda prefer it out here."

"I noticed that yesterday," she commented. "The cameramen seemed to be out of place when they came in here."

"They're outta place all over," he scoffed

A thought crossed her mind in response to his comment. She folded her arms, rested them on the wall dividing the two stalls, and got closer to Soul who moved back as if to get away before reverting back his original position. Spitfire nudged Soul's arm with his snout who didn't budge. When it was clear his owner wasn't going to give him attention, the horse snorted and pressed his head against Soul's back.

It was kind of adorable to see Spitfire act that way - like a big baby. Maka smiled before she spoke again.

"You're not a really big fan of being on The Bachelor, are you?"

He snorted. "What was your first clue, Sherlock?"

"Soul," she chided. She attempted to speak with her eyes as she stared at him, trying to convey that he was being an ass again.

A small sigh of defeat left his lips, but it didn't discount the slight twitch of his mouth as he stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Yea. I'm not a fan of 'em being here."

"So why are you still doing the show? We're three weeks in, can't you quit or something? Kick them off you land? I heard a rumor that you can shoot someone who's on your property in Texas so why not do that?"

"See you've done your research, but killin' someone is still illegal here."

"I didn't mean actually kill them. Just shoot a few rounds to scare them off."

Laughing, he shook his head and dropped his gaze to the ground. Sanguine eyes twinkled in delight as she looked back up at her. "I like where you're going, but Ma don't believe in havin' guns 'round here."

"Then why did you agree to do the show? You're obviously not in it to find a trophy wife like previous bachelors," she said matter-factly.

It was no mystery to her - and probably everyone else - that Soul didn't have his heart in the show and he had no intention of finding true love. He was going through the motions to appease some higher force that she wasn't aware of. It was obvious in the way he acted in front of the cameras and the way he spoke differently depending on who was around. Though it wasn't the same as the Soul who was an asshole, it was still the same act he was playing. There were just other ways he was performing them.

Soul scratched along his lower jaw line. Uncertainty was etched behind his gaze as he stared at her.

After a few seconds, he shook his head and said, "You're wrong. That's the exact reason I did this. To find a girl to be my trophy wife."

Her lips puckered out in disappointment. She knew he was lying; it was obvious in his body language. In the way he hunched his shoulders, the cocky grin he gave her, and the slight falter in his voice, it was all there. The cameras weren't even around to constitute the change in his demeanor.

"Well," she sighed, stretching her arms as she pushed herself away from the wall, "I know you're lying, but I'll let it slide. This time. But only because I feel you'll tell me when you want to."

He chuckled as he raised his brows and shook his head once. "Alright, if you say so."

A small moment of silence fell between them in which they stared at each other, identical smiles on both their lips. Spitfire sneezing behind Soul drew her attention to him and caused her to miss the way Soul's eyes turned soft as he stared at her. He broke the silence between them, and when she turned back, the softness had vanished. In its place was the guarded look that was there every time they spoke.

"So what're you reading?" he asked, nodding to the book in her hand.

She glanced at it and hugged it to her chest as she rested her elbows on the wood wall. "Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. It's one of my favorites."

"'fraid I didn't read that one in high school, sorry."

"Lemme guess, Sparknotes?"

His lips pulled up into a wide grin. "Course."

"Should of guessed," she smiled. "You don't really seem like the reading type."

"I read," he said. "I won't admit it if you tell anyone one, but I do read."

"Which one: comics or picture books?"

"Neither, for your information."

"Then what do you read?"

"Stephen King," he shrugged. Her eyes squinted in disbelief as her brows knitted together causing him to tack on, "I like the creepy factoid of 'em."

"It's not the right meaning of the word, but I get what you mean," she said. Spitfire clomped around behind Soul as if he were having a fit before settling down and snorting. "Didn't expect you to like those kind of books. I mean you don't seem the type to-"

"Read?" he cut in.

"No. The type to like those kind of books."

"Guess I'm full of surprises?"

"More like you're not what I thought a cowboy would be like," she corrected.

"What? You thought I was a dumbass?"

"No, that's actually correct," she grinned.

Soul scoffed at her answer and mumbled something about apologizing for his earlier antics to the wood beneath him. She lightly touched his chin to draw his attention back to her.

"I'll admit I thought you were gonna be the stereotypical Texan that's shown on TV. You know, the idiots who have holey smiles, are racist, sexist, and uneducated. But you're none of those." She licked her lips, inhaled, and exhaled deeply. "You're still a dumbass for treating me like shit the first night, though."

"Thought you were gonna let that go."

"I am, don't worry. But it's kinda hard not to remind you that your antics were pretty dumb."

The edge of his mouth twitched in a grin. "I was an ass to you so I'll let it pass, but only until I prove that I'm not actually like that."

"You haven't exactly done anything that proves you aren't," she pointed.

"Point taken."

"Remember you weren't only an ass to me, but the others as well."

"Yeah. The others, too."

His voice was flat that made it sound like he didn't care to add them under the umbrella of people he was a dick to, but Maka brushed it off. He probably hadn't reached that level of empathy for them yet. Which did make sense considering he spent more time talking to her than them. At least as far as she was aware of. She hadn't asked the other bachelorettes how well their dates with him had gone earlier that day. How much he had opened up to the others was still a mystery to her; for all she knew he had treated them the same way he did her.

"You need to show us more of the guy I met when I first came here - the guy outside the limo. He seemed like a nice guy," she said.

A hint of softness crossed sanguine eyes as his tongue peeked out between his lips. "Think I can do that."

Out of nowhere, Spitfire sniffed Soul's butt causing the bull rider to yelp and jump forward in surprise before turning around to swat the horse away.

"I didn't bring any food, you big cow!" Soul scolded.

"Is he hungry?" Maka asked out of curiosity.

"No, he's not." Soul glared at his horse, eyes softening as he looked back at her. "He's had plenty to eat, and has shit it out already too."

"Then he's still hungry."

"Trust me, he isn't. He just likes to eat."

"Does he eat carrots?" Maka asked as she bent down to where her backpack was by her feet, completely ignoring Soul. "I have some with me because I thought I'd get hungry out here, but he can have them."

She popped back up with the bag of carrots, smiling. Spitfire wasted no time as he trotted up to her - pushing Soul out the way in the process - and sniffed the bag causing the plastic to enter his dark nostrils. He snorted and neighed. His ears wiggled back and forth in delight, pulling his lips back to show off a full set of sparkly choppers that he used to bite at the bag. Maka giggled while Soul rolled his eyes and slouched against the wall with a small huff.

"You can't eat plastic, silly," she said.

Maka retracted the bag away from him and opened it. Spitfire snorted again when she took a carrot out, stepped forward, and rested his head on top of the wall. She made her hand into a faux plate as she offered the vegetable to him so that he didn't nibble on her fingers accidentally. He practically inhaled the snack, his lips lightly tickling her as he took the carrot, and he nudged her hand for more when he was done.

"Don't spoil him," Soul commented.

"Can't spoil someone who already is," she said as she gave Spitfire another treat. "He's a big sweetie."

A ghost of a smile graced Soul's mouth as he said, "You're lucky the others don't eat like him or else you'd have a barn full of crying horses on your hands."

Tossing a quick grin his way, she continued to feed Spitfire. She felt Soul's gaze on her as she did so; a chin ran up her spine and the eerie feeling she got when someone was watching her crawled along her skin. Maka pushed it to the back of her mind and focused on the dwindling carrots in the bag, but it was harder than she expected. Her mind had already become more aware of her body movements causing her actions to feel mechanical and calculated rather than natural.

When all the carrots were gone, she rubbed the horse slobber off her hand against her jean shorts.

"Welp, that's it," she said to the horse. "You ate them all, and now I don't have anything to eat myself."

Spitfire appeared not to care as he stretched his neck out and sniffed Maka all over.

"'ey, she said no more." Soul pressed his hands on the horse's neck and pushed him away from her. "Stop being greedy."

The horse whinnied and shook his head, black hair whipping around him as he did so. He nudged Soul with his snout a few times causing the rancher to take a step back, but he held his position against the powerful animal.

"Stop being a big baby," he chided. "You got oats in your feedin' bin, eat that."

Snorting and breathing out heavily, Spitfire's black eyes stared at his owner before he turned around and walked over to the bin. He didn't eat, though. Instead he stuck his head inside like a spoiled child who had to drive the Mercedes instead of the Lexus. Soul face palmed at the horse's antics while Maka giggled.

"Sorry 'bout that. He's kinda a drama king at times," he told her.

"I think it's kind of cute."

"You wouldn't if you had to deal with it every day." Resting his arms on the wall between them, Soul sighed. "Sorry 'bout ruinin' your reading time."

"Don't be," she said, lightly shaking her head causing the tip of her ponytail to brush against her neck. "It was a nice little distraction. Had the chance to get to know you and Spitfire over there. Two big babies living on the ranch."

He grinned. "Got to find out you're a book nerd."

She felt herself smile despite the slightly rude accusation, no matter how true it was. "And don't worry, I won't tell anyone about this place. It'll be our secret."

"Thanks." A light shade of pink dusted his cheeks as he tipped his head down.

They stood in silence for a few moments before Soul excused himself and left the barn, leaving Maka alone once again. Spitfire left his bin when his owner was gone, and walked back over to her to sniff her again which prompted her to tell him again that there was no more food. The horse rested his head on the wall and looked at her with sad, puppy eyes. It only made her laugh and shake her head, though.

Settling back on the cement floor, she started to read again until the light outside turned a dusty orange.

At the third rose ceremony, Maka stood on the left side of the platform in the dining room practically hidden behind the taller girls. She moved a little to the side so that the cameras and Soul were in her viewpoint. They weren't going to get the chance to make her the laughing stalk on the show because of her height disadvantage. Even in her heels she was the shortest one there. It almost made her curse their supermodel-esque body types. Almost. The reason for her shortness had more to do with her parents than them after all.

Soul grabbed the first rose, held it in front of his chest, slyly turned his bored eyes on her, and they stared at each other for a few seconds. Maka wondered if he was going to say her name first or not in the brief moment. Given his streak from before, she sensed that he wasn't going to, but there was a glimmer of hope that told her otherwise. Maybe she had finally deemed herself worthy to be his first choice when it came to the roses.

But as the edge of his mouth tugged up in a smirk, she knew she was wrong.

Not like she wanted him to, anyways.

Though, it would have been flattering if he did.

"Blair," he said, in the most dull and unentertained voice ever.

The woman bounced down from the top and across the small room to close the distance between her and the bachelor, pausing in front of him and waiting.

"Blair, will you accept this rose as a token of my love?" he asked, his tone unwavering.

"Of course," Blair said with plenty of excitement in her voice.

She took the rose and walked off to the side, smiling at Maka and giving her a small thumbs up as she did so. Maka returned it, genuinely happy that her friend was still in the game.

He continued to say name after name in the same dull voice he had used in the beginning, and continuously looked to Maka before saying a name that wasn't her own. The exact same tactic he used in the previous ceremonies. By the time it was her and another girl standing in front of him, she was tired of the game he was playing with the roses. Her lips pursed out as she chewed the inside of cheek and glared at him. She hoped to convey her annoyance, but it didn't appear to work as he half-smirked before speaking again. It only annoy her more.

"The last rose. It's been a pleasure to get to know both of you, and it pains me to say goodbye to one of you, but I must to keep the show going."

It was the same monotone voice he had been using during the last thirty minutes as if he were reading from a script with a hint of sarcasm underneath. Despite herself, she smiled.

"The woman I wanna give this rose to is," a small pause, "Maka."

Warmth circulated around her name as it escaped from his lips that seeped into her skin. She stepped forward and crossed the threshold over to him, taking the rose he offered her. The sides of their fingers touched as they rested on top of her causing a small nonexistent tingle shot down the length of her hand and up her arm.

"Maka," he warmly said, "will you accept this rose as a token of my love?"

"Yes." When he released the flower, she allowed her hand to drop to her side, muttering, "idiot," under her breath as she did for only him to hear.

He chuckled at her as she walked to where the other girls were.