Lean on Me
Copyright© 2025 by Danny January
Chapter 4
Romance Sex Story: Chapter 4 - The continuing chronicles of Jack Pierce. Autumn of 1982. The chronicles, in order are: 1. Feasting with a Silver Spoon 2. Summertime and the Livin' is Easy 3. Something Fishy Going On 4. Centerfield 5. Tourist Season 6. Lean on Me They are progressive and not meant to be stand-alone stories.
Caution: This Romance Sex Story contains strong sexual content, including mt/ft Consensual Heterosexual Fiction
“Let’s take my truck,” Kim said when I pulled into her driveway the next morning. “I’m not sure why. We might want to go out to the property or pull a trailer. I don’t know why, but I think we should.” We took her truck.
Mrs. Denton was waiting for us. “I thought you two could use a hand.” She told us what horses our friends would be riding and that when our guests arrived, she’d help work with them. I suggested we teach Vince how to tack his horse, then work one-on-one with the other three, then do our own.
“You sound like you’ve done this before,” Kim said with that dazzling white, deep-dimple smile that always melted me.
Kim and I helped fill food buckets for other horses and loaded them onto the back of the golf cart. Our six horses had already been fed. Our friends pulled into the driveway, and we hurried to finish. Mrs. Denton started laughing. Then Kim started laughing. I turned to see what was so funny.
Mel was wearing her giant pink foam cowboy hat she’d purchased at the Moncks Corner rodeo. She had her thumbs in her pockets and was walking toward us with giant, bow-legged steps.
“Howdy, howdy, howdy,” Mrs. Denton said to her when she got close enough. “I see by your outfit that you are a cowgirl.”
“Damn straight,” she answered with what she thought was a cowgirl accent.
“Before you go near one of my horses, please put that back in your car. I don’t want you spooking them. Also, I don’t want to see that thing anymore.” We all agreed and laughed at that. Mel gave up her cowgirl ways and ran it back to the car.
“You explain it, Aquaman,” Kim said. “I’ve had enough practice, and you know what you’re doing. Go for it.” She smiled.
When Mel got back, I gave them the plan for the day. “Hey, guys. I’m really excited about this because I never thought I’d have anything to do with horses, and now it’s one of my favorite things. This is Mrs. Denton. We’re on her ranch and she’s going to help us get started.” Everybody said, “Hey,” and she returned it.
“We’re going to start by grooming our horses, then tacking them. That’s putting on a saddle, and bridle, and such. Kim’s going to demonstrate with her horse, Diva, then I’m going to work with Vince on his horse while the rest of you watch, then Kim, Mrs. Denton, and I will work with the rest of you to do the same.
“Once our horses are all ready to go, Kim will give a few instructions while I demonstrate in the arena. You’ll each have a chance to do the same, and, if we think you’re safe, we’ll go for a trail ride. Kim will be on her horse, Diva. Bobby, you’ll be on Ghost, Vince on Scout, Mel on Ladybug, and Lani on Rocket.”
“Rocket? I don’t think I like the sound of that,” she said.
“No, Honey. Jack is kidding,” Mrs. Denton said. “You’ll be on Tornado.” Lani didn’t seem to like that any better. “How about we put you on Cupcake?” That had been the plan all along.
“That sounds perfect.”
Mel raised her hand like a little kid. “What if Ladybug bucks me off?” she asked.
“Well, then, Honey, try not to land in horseshit,” Mrs. Denton said in her most helpful voice.
“Mel, Ladybug isn’t going to buck you off. I’m riding the most temperamental of our horses, and Jack is riding the most spirited. He’s ridden Scout and Ghost and did just fine with them. In fact, he learned on Ghost. Ladybug and Cupcake are both as sweet as their names.”
We went into the barn, and I walked down to where Diva was tied off, then brought her back to the center of the aisle so Kim could teach about the different types of brushes and the hoof pick, then show them how. She put a saddle pad and then the saddle on Diva, but waited on the bridle.
While she finished up, I got Ghost and walked him back for Vince. They caught on pretty quickly, and we were ready to move to the next step. For a lot of people, putting the bridle on is a bit scary. You have to hold the bit at their mouth. When it was Lani’s turn, Cupcake decided to nibble on her fingers.
“He’s eating me,” she laughed. It was a nervous laugh. Cupcake might have had a sweet name, but she was still big, and her teeth were probably intimidating.
“Do we need to sign some sort of waiver before we ride?” Bobby asked.
“Oh, Honey, South Carolina law says if you fall off one of my horses and die, it’s your own damn fault. You probably won’t. I hate the paperwork.” Lani had been listening to this, and her eyes were pretty big.
“She’s teasing, Lani,” Kim said.
Maveric waited patiently. When they were all about ready to go, I hurried to catch up. I’d become pretty fast by then, and Maveric knew he had an audience. He was a perfect gentleman. We walked our horses to the outdoor arena. Kim explained what I was going to do, I did it, and she made comments. At the end of our little demonstration, Maveric and I took a couple of jumps and trotted over to the group.
“I don’t think so,” Bobby said. It was the first thing he’d said all morning.
Kim had me lead them around the arena first at a walk, then a trot. We stopped our horses, then backed up a couple of feet. Kim would lead, and I would trail. She explained a couple of hand signals. Mrs. Denton walked out to the arena just before we started.
“Kimmie, I forgot to tell you that you can feel free to use the trails on the Herndon property. Just don’t get too close to the house with this big group, or their dogs will go crazy.” Kim gave her a thumbs up, and we were good to go. I had no idea how big the Herndon property was or what that meant for our day, but Kim seemed happy.
Kim led the way with Vince and Lani right behind her, then Bobby and Mel. I was happy to follow. Kim led us to the north trail, one that we rarely used. I guessed that was toward the Herndon property. The undiscovered country, I thought. Wait. That’s not right. The undiscovered country was death, at least according to Hamlet. The Herndon property was poetic enough.
I decided to get my head in the game and watch the people in front of me to make sure they weren’t going to fall off or hit their heads on a branch or something. We were walking so slowly that if you hit your head on a branch, you probably deserved it. When the trail got really wide, I rode up next to Bobby.
“Happy trails to you, until we meet again. Happy trails to you, keep smiling until then,” he sang softly.
“Mel, aren’t you going to join in?” I asked.
“I don’t know that one. He says it’s a Roy Rogers song. I know this one; A horse is a horse, of course, of course, and no one can talk to a horse, of course. That is, of course, unless the horse
is the famous Mister Ed!”
“Why am I not surprised?”
“Welcome to my world,” Bobby said, sort of smiling. The trail got narrower, and I dropped back, singing the Mr. Ed song.
We were enjoying a nice, leisurely walk through the woods, but Maveric and I were both getting antsy. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, and it didn’t look like anyone was going to get lost or fall off. I saw a path to the right that I knew connected back to the one we were on. I turned Maveric, and we picked up a trot to cut them off at the pass. Cut them off at the pass? Sometimes, I crack me up. Cut them off at the pass.
“I was wondering when you would get tired of walking,” Kim said, holding up a fist, motioning for everyone to stop. “I’ve ridden this before. There’s a retention basin ahead, and we’ll turn back to the right. The water level should be low enough for us to pick up a trot for about a mile. Maveric’s dying to run, isn’t he?”
“I guess I know where the expression chafing at the bit comes from, and that’s what he’s doing.”
“Okay, there’s a little loop to the left up here. It’s not long enough to canter, but you could take that to gain some distance. When you come out to the basin, you could pick up a canter if you wanted.” That’s what I wanted.
Ten minutes later, Maveric and I popped out of the woods, with a very pretty lake directly in front of us. I could see an anhinga fishing, a couple of blue-winged teals, enjoying the day, and an American Egret wading through shallow water. We turned right onto a wide path that circled the lake. Our little group was far ahead.
“You ready, Maveric? Let’s go get them,” I said, and with only a gentle nudge, we were off. Maveric had a smooth gait, and his canter was fast. I loved the speed, but was sorry that we would catch them so quickly. I judged we had plenty of room to pass them on the left, nearer the lake. They were moving along at about eight or nine miles an hour, but Maveric and I were probably close to twenty. We passed them in a flash.
We got to a fork in the path, with one side continuing around the lake and the other going back toward the Denton’s ranch. I let Maveric walk down the shallow embankment to get a drink while we waited for the others to catch up.
“You can do the same if you want,” Kim said to the others when they caught up.
They each turned to the left and started down. The embankment had a really shallow slope, but when you’re eight feet up in the air, on the back of a big old horse that you aren’t used to, it can seem like you’re going to fall forward into the lake.
“This is kind of freaky,” Lani said.
“She won’t dump you, if that’s what you’re worried about. Swing your feet forward and lean back in the saddle a little. It will feel more comfortable,” Kim told them. We watched them experiment with their posture.
“Mel is going to fall in,” Bobby said quietly. He had ridden Ghost next to me.
“Why do you say that?” I asked, looking to see that her posture was pretty good.
“Top heavy,” he answered without the slightest hint of a smile. If that was the deciding factor, she’d get soaked. Against all odds, Mel managed to finish, then turned to walk up the embankment without getting wet.
“Touch and go, there, for a minute, Bobby. Touch and go.”
“How fast was that, Aquaman? It looked like you were really moving,” Vince said as he backed away from the lake.
“Canter. Probably eighteen to twenty. His speedometer is broken and he knows it.”
“Part of me wants to try that,” he said.
“And the rational part of you is engaged to me. Don’t even think about it,” Lani said. Vince laughed.
“If you want to try a canter, you can do that when we get back. You can try it in the arena,” Kim said.
“Is it easier in the arena?”
“Not really. The ground is softer, though,” Kim said with such a straight face that Bobby smiled. Vince wasn’t sure if she was serious or not.
“It’s tough for EMS to get an ambulance all the way back here, Cowboy,” I added, and just like that, Vince decided to forgo trying a canter until we got back to the arena.
Kim led everyone on another short trot, then we walked them back to the stables, giving our horses plenty of time to cool down. The trail got narrow enough for us to switch to single file, and when it got wide again, we were grouped differently.
“Is it that dangerous?” Lani asked. “You two were only half kidding, right?”
“I probably had a hundred hours in the saddle before Kim let me canter. If you fall off in the arena, at least it’s flat and the dirt is a little softer.”
“Kim’s been riding for a long time, but you haven’t, right?”
“Not quite two years, I guess. Kim’s a good teacher, though. I started on Ghost but have ridden Scout, too. We’ve ridden on trails, and on the beach, both in Puerto Rico and down at Edisto Beach, and I’ve ridden bareback, which is a lot different, so I guess I’ve got some pretty good experience in a short amount of time.”
“You know Vince. He likes this and now he’s ready to enter a horse race or something.”
“He’s a bit tall for a jockey,” I said.
“Thank God for small miracles. You and Kim are so good together. Good friends, too.”
“Thanks, Lani. I hope we get to spend a lot of time together, especially when we end up in Atlanta.”
“So do I. Vince is special. He has a lot of acquaintances. He doesn’t have a lot of friends. He counts you in that small group, and so do I. Both you and Kim.”
“Thanks, Lani. I feel the same way. I met a guy recently who is probably ten years older than me. We hit it off pretty well. He told me to make sure to hang onto good friends I make in high school.”
“That was Fallon’s husband, wasn’t it? Kim told me.”
“Yes. Do you two talk much?” Please say, ‘yes,’ I thought.
“Yes. We’ve talked at least once a week and sometimes more since we all went to Atlanta together.”
“Glad to hear it,” I said as we eased up to the stables. Here I was, concerned that Kim wasn’t talking to Lani, and they were talking more often than Vince and I were.
“When you finish a ride, you want to make certain your horses are taken care of properly,” Kim said. She leaned forward and put her hand on Diva’s chest. “She’s not too hot. Feel yours.” Everyone tried to lean forward to feel their horse. You had to hug your horse’s neck to do it properly.
“I think they’re good. We didn’t ride too far or too fast. Jack will probably hose off Maveric since he rode him a little faster. We reverse the process before we turn them out to pasture.” She stepped off Diva and kept talking while everyone watched from their horse. “I like to loosen her girth first. Then, replace the bridle with her halter. When you put the saddle pad back, lay it upside down so it can air out.”
“When I brush Diva, I like to keep my non brushing hand on her as a point of contact. She seems to like that. So does Ghost. Scout doesn’t seem to care as long as that girth is loosened. Check their hooves carefully. We’ve been out on the trail, and they might have picked something up. I don’t know when any of these horses, other than Diva and Maveric, will be ridden again, and we don’t want them walking around with a rock stuck on the bottom of a hoof. Once we’re done, we’ll walk them all out to pasture.”
Maveric was as hot as I’d expected. After taking off his saddle, swapping a bridle for a halter, and checking his hooves, I walked him to the wash rack. I hosed him off thoroughly and watched him check me out. If he could talk, I was sure he would have told me that he was going to roll in the mud. Of course. There are a couple of schools of thought on cooling off your horse. Some people insist you should cool them off with water, then squeegee as much off as you can. Other people think you should leave them wet. Maveric had a run-in in his pasture, and if he wanted to get out of the sun, he could. I left him wet.
“Good ride?” Mrs. Denton asked, walking up to the group. “I’ll take Cupcake and Scout. The rest are going up front.”
Mel told her just what kind of a great ride she’d had. Everyone was pretty happy with their morning, and Mrs. Denton was pleased to hear it. I saw Kim grab the rubber chicken and stuff it in her back pocket.
“Scout will be available for a partial lease in October if any of you are interested. I’m not certain, but Cupcake might be available as well. You’d need to take lessons, at least at the beginning.” I could see the wheels spinning on a couple of our friends.
The six of us walked our horses out to the front pasture together. Bobby surprised me by asking some questions, including a couple I couldn’t answer. Kim described a few different breeds and what their strengths were. Most of the horses were quarter horses or paints, but there was a Friesian, quarter horse mix, a Tennessee Walking Horse, and what Kim thought might be a Morgan.
Vince asked, “Maveric is a mustang, right? What are they known for?”
“Some people call them wild horses, and that’s okay, but technically, they’re feral since they descended from horses the conquistadors brought. I think most people would say they’re known for being hardy, athletic, and sure-footed.”
“Like me,” I said.
“And humble,” Kim added and everyone laughed.
“Like me.” They all laughed again. It was good to be with friends.
We got to the pasture and Kim led Diva in. When all the horses were inside, Kim took out the rubber chicken and said, “Watch this.” No one knew what to expect. She gave the chicken to a waiting Ladybug. Wacka-wacka-wacky squawked the chicken as Ladybug bobbed her head up and down. Maveric came running back, with Diva and Ghost leisurely walking back.
No one knew what to think of it until Mel started laughing. Ladybug loved the chicken and the fact that she could make it cluck. Maveric tried to take it from her, and Ladybug took off running with Maveric and the others in hot pursuit. Bobby was laughing so hard there were tears in his eyes. I had never seen Bobby laugh that hard before. Neither had anyone else, and that made it even funnier. Ladybug ran past us, still clucking away.
“Jack, help me get Ladybug next time they come around. They will do this all afternoon if we let them.”
“Why not let them?” Vince asked. “They’re having a great time.”
“Novelty,” Kim answered. “They’d get bored with it pretty soon. If they only see it once in a while, it’s still fun.” Ladybug saw that Kim was trying to catch her and side-stepped, keeping just out of reach.
Ladybug dropped it, and there was a scramble. Maveric grabbed it and took off. I took a couple of steps into the field so that Maveric would notice me. I didn’t whistle until he slowed down and looked my way again. I whistled. He was torn. He stood there looking at me, then bobbed his head, clucking the chicken, then looked at me again. He did that three times, and then I whistled again. He came trotting over and surrendered the chicken. I praised him profusely, rubbing his neck and giving him a carrot. When he turned to trot away, he did it with his head held high.
“What a character,” Vince said. All I could do was smile. He was a character.
The girls were going to spend the afternoon shopping together, and us guys didn’t have a plan. We decided that Vince and Bobby would go home, change, then meet at my house. We would go somewhere together for lunch. We might work out, or hit the heavy bag, or play pool. We didn’t know.
Kim and I were the last to leave. A mile down the road, Kim pulled over and said, “Do me.”
“Do you? Back at your house?”
“No. Here. Now. I need it. Do me,” she said, grabbing my hand and pulling it to her.
“A little wound up?” I asked, turning in my seat to slide my right hand into place.
“Since you went riding by at a fast canter.”
She was hot and she was more than ready, and less than a minute later, she released a lot of energy. When I looked up, I saw that she had been staring at me the whole time. “Wow.”
She shivered. “No kidding. Thank you. We can go now,” she said, putting the truck in gear.
Holy mackerel.
“I will pay you back. I needed that.”
“I guess so. Wow.” She looked at me and batted her eyes.
“Now, I can go shopping. Whew!”
She dropped me off at my house, assuring me that I had satisfaction guaranteed, but it was on layaway. All I could do was laugh. I wanted to ask someone if that was normal, but what difference did it make? It was rare, it was Kim, and she was happy. Good enough for me.
I didn’t know if Vince and Bobby would want to lift or what. What do college guys do on their day off? I changed into shorts, grabbed a stack of gym towels and enough Gatorade to restock the little fridge, and went out to my gym. I grabbed the spray bottle and wiped everything down. I noted that I needed a new chart. I was working on eighteen- to twenty-five-year-old standards now that I had topped out the under eighteen. I also noted that Rachel McLish looked just as good as the day Mom put that poster up. She was very inspirational.
Vince and Bobby pulled up in Vince’s Volvo. “Did you know that the ‘A’ in Volvo stands for aerodynamic?” Bobby asked. Vince had told me that same joke when I rode with him. Perhaps he had a limited number of jokes.
“No. What does the ‘V’ stand for?” I returned.
“I don’t know.”
“Volvo, you bonehead,” I said, and both Vince and I laughed. Bobby was waiting for the punchline. “How’s college life?” I asked, tossing them each a Gatorade as we sat in camp chairs in the gym.
“When you skipped from freshman year to junior year, was it a big deal?” Bobby asked.
“Not as much as I thought it might be. A little tougher but not bad.”
“It’s probably like that only less so, but they have got a lot of nice girls,” he said.
“Definitely a lot of nice girls, at least at Coastal,” Vince added.
“Sounds like a song by ZZ Top,” I said, remembering my run at Myrtle Beach. They both started providing their imitation of Billy Gibbons, singing La Grange. Bobby was actually pretty good.
“How do you deal with that?” I asked.
“They’re everywhere,” Vince said.
“Kim and I were in Myrtle Beach. I swam a couple of miles, then walked back. There were so many good-looking girls in bikinis that I started jogging. Have mercy. La Grange followed me all the way back. What’s a guy supposed to do?”
“You can look but you can’t touch,” Vince said.
“I like to see what’s on the menu, but I don’t order anything,” Bobby added.
“That’s it?”
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