Wrong Section (Cody.)

[Jalen August]

Jalen's dark eyes lit up without her wanting them too. Weren't you supposed to play it cool when things went the way you could only dream of them going? But then she decided to live in the moment, and instead of bottling up her excitement, the blonde extended her hands towards Cody on the other side of the table and gripped them softly. "A picnic sounds like your specialty," she said with a grin, obviously free on Saturday night.

"What are you busy with the rest of the week?" She asked curiously, unless he had just said that to sound important. Mom's out of town for the rest of the week, wasn't that why he was getting her the pants to begin with? Jalen sighed, shaking her empty drink. "So, can I walk you to your car or truck?" She asked with a happy smile, one that was unforced and reached into her eyes. Was she happy because she got to see Cody again? Absolutely, but looking at him right at this very moment was making her giddy inside. It hadn't even crossed her mind that he was a bit older than her.

They didn't have stallions like these at Hammel.

Getting up, Jalen walked through the tables to throw our her empty plate and cup. Now that she was seeing the boy again, leaving him now wasn't such a problem. "Can I give you my number? We can sort out the details later?" She asked him once Cody had approached the same garbage can. The blonde couldn't help but glance up at him again, taking in his amazingly-blue blue eyes. She was such a sucker. He probably could've asked her to go horse back riding with her and she would've said yes. Good thing he wasn't a mind reader...

[Cody Branson]

After his offer had been made, he looked into her face and saw that her eyes blazed, brightly enough that he couldn’t look away. She was beautiful when she smiled like that, like someone had given her such joy that it made her glow from the inside out. She leaned forward to grab his hands, and his took hers warmly, his calloused fingers wrapping around her soft ones, his rough palms against her smooth. It felt nice to have such contrasts.

“A picnic it is, then,” he replied back, smiling. Knowing she was nervous of the horses, there were only two options he could really do; either have her ride with him on Tank, his work riding horse, or hook up the wagon he had stored on one corner of the property and haul everything that way. The latter sounded better, since he could put everything in the wagon, and Tank wouldn’t mind playing carriage horse for a pretty lady. “I have some clients who want me to train some of their horses for them, and some of the mares are pregnant, so the vet is coming out to check them,” he replied to her question.

She stood and he followed, throwing his trash away after she did. “Yeah, you can walk me to my truck,” he answered with a grin, his bag in one hand, his other hand grabbing her arm and looping it through his again. What could he say, he liked the feel of her against him. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a medium-sized smartphone and presented it to her. “Here, just put in your number, and I’ll call you when I have free time.” Meaning: Here, just put in your number, and I’ll call you after I get into my truck, so you have me in your phone.

[Jalen August]

"Sounds like loads of fun," she added, having no idea how one would go about training others horses - maybe it was like sending kids to daycare? Maybe it was fun. Jalen really had no idea, but it sounded like an adventure - something she was always up for.

A happy smile was planted on her face as Cody laced her arm through his once more. There was something amazingly attractive about a man who wasn't afraid to be assertive. Of course, there were lines were assertive turned into abusive, but the man just didn't seem like the type. Taking his phone, Jalen tapped in her number, and when prompted to put in a new picture or one he already had, she turned it around and snapped a picture of herself, with Cody grinning in the background.

Giving the boy his phone back, she carried on through the mall, taking in the moment so it would forever be engrained in her mind. Stepping into the parking lot, Cody naturally guided the both of them to his vehicle, and Jalen sighed. Why was it hard to say goodbye to him? "I'm looking forward to your call," she said, the sunshine bouncing off the both of them. It really did make him look like an angel... Lingering for a moment, Jalen unlatched herself from Cody and approached her smaller, economic, automatic car. She would be glowing all the way back to dorm.

[Cody Branson]

He chuckled after she took the photo of them and put it into his phone, alongside her number. Finally, this was the fun he had been seeking. He pocketed his phone as they walked out into the parking lot, his free hand digging into the bag to grab his sunglasses in his jacket. Slipping them on his face, he led Jalen to his piece of crap truck, the patriotic-painted faded Ford that needed some work.

It would be fixed before their date, he swore to himself.

“I’m looking forward to our date,” he replied before she walked away, letting him look at her from behind his shades. Her hair shone with the sunlight, her hips swinging in a way that told him that she was confident and sexy and she knew it. He whistled slowly and got back into his truck, revving the engine before he drove off towards his ranch.

Fin.