Chapter 13 : Slow Ride

A phone woke Neil and he grabbed the receiver without thinking.

"Yes?" he grumbled.

"Your wake up call, Sir. The car will be around to pick you up in half an hour."

"Huh?" Neil responded, but he heard a click and a dial tone. "Crap..." he muttered, sitting and staring around. He was alone in a large hotel large bedroom. The large bed was rumpled on both sides, so he assumed that Deb had slept beside him, although it could have been anyone, he supposed. Neil stood and stretched, trying to locate a clock and failing. He walked naked across the room and grabbed one of the robes on the bathroom door, then hunted for clothing.

A knock disturbed his fruitless hunt and a bellhop entered with a rolling cart covered with trays. "Breakfast... and some packages, sir". The man said.

Neil thanked him, then panicked when he realized that he had nothing to tip the guy with. The man solved the issue by leaving smartly and Neil started to investigate the cart. There was a note under the first tray, from Deb.

"Neil, thank you for an adventurous evening. Nathanial and I are leaving early to take our other guest back. I think we'll play some games with her and see if she's good for anything. Nathanial was truly happy you had a good time, I mentioned our deal and he was pleased. We look forward to seeing you again. A car will be around to take you back to the school. Please remember to use discretion."

Neil grunted and set the note aside. The second tray contained a variety of breakfast fruits and a bowl of eggs. Neil started to destroy the contents rapidly as he explored the rest of the cart. Underneath were his original camp clothes, washed and folded. Beside them was a box with his new suit in it, also cleaned. Neil dressed quickly in his camp clothes, setting the suit aside and wondering when he'd ever need it.

The final tray contained a business card, Nathanial's, with several numbers scrawled on the back. Neil put it in his wallet, discarding the card Nathanial had given him the day before.

On the ride home, Neil tried to put the entire evening into perspective, and to some extent in chronological order. He'd had a lot to drink and it wasn't helping him remember. One thing he did remember was Deb's strip show and he felt a stirring in his groin... an area he suddenly remembered was as naked as a baby's bottom.

Neil arrived in time for stable duty, but just barely. Mitchell the stable master waved him off and told him to move some of the bags of feed to the far side of the loft so the Sunday hay delivery would have more room. He spent a sweaty hour in the upper part of the stable shoving fifty pound bags of horse feed around. It was made worse by the lack of air and the fact that his audience arrived. Leah sat comfortably on a bale of hay and watched him intently, munching contentedly on a bag of granola.

When Neil was nearly finished Leah made an approving sound and climbed down the ladder. Neil followed a few minutes later, but she was gone. Mitchell however, wasn't.

"Now, I'm not a genius, but I think that girl has a bit of a fancy for you" he drawled.

Neil signed and nodded.

"You'll not be making trouble in my stable, now."

Neil looked up.

"I don't need more trouble with Mom."

Neil nodded. "No trouble"

"Good. See you tomorrow"

Neil hurried to the showers, trying to get his day in order. There would be a big show that afternoon, although most of the parents wouldn't attend. The final show in a week would signal the second wave of parents. Neil wasn't required to show up for the judging, but he liked to know how his students did. Walking out of the showers, he had a pretty firm fix on his day.

Mae ended all that. "Neil, I'm breaking up with you." she said solemnly.

Neil jumped and turned around. "You're what?"

"Breaking up with you"

"But we're... we're not going out."

"I know. But we've been acting like it. Not for the last few days, but before... you know"

Neil decided to continue towards his room. "Mae, I don't understand your logic, but if you want to break up with me, I guess you can"

Mae trotted to catch up and followed him to his room. When Neil went inside, she followed. When he dropped his towel and started to get dressed, she blushed and turned around.

"You have to understand, Neil, I'm trying to stay faithful to Steve!"

"You've done a bang up job so far." Neil half joked.

Mae grunted and started to turn, but stopped when she saw Neil was still nude. "I know... I know! But I'm changing that."

"How so?"

"I'm ending our relationship!"

"We don't have one. We both managed to screw that up pretty good."

Mae sighed "And no more sex!"

"We haven't had sex in... what... days? a week?"

"That's not the point. I'm saying there'll be no more."

Neil shrugged and toyed with his riding shorts. "OK. No more sex."

Mae turned and paused, taking a good look at him. "HOLY FUCK! What did you do to your dick?!?"

Neil jerked and looked down. "Oh! Well... uh..."

Mae dropped down and gaped. "You shaved it!"

"Well... " Neil was about to say that HE hadn't shaved it, but he didn't think that would go over well. He noticed Mae at eye level with his penis and had a moment of inspiration. "You like?" he asked, wiggling it.

Mae jumped and stood up. "It doesn't matter. We're done."

Neil shrugged, walking over to the bed and sitting on the edge. He intentionally sat so his bare crotch would be very visible. "Well, if you say so. I'm sorry I caused you all this trouble, Mae." Neil said, watching Mae's focus on his slowly growing erection.

"That's... ok... we both..." she stammered. "Does it... itch?"

Neil giggled. "No, but it probably will tomorrow or Monday."

Mae moved a tiny step closer.

"Did you want to feel? Its very soft" Neil offered. He considered using her submissive streak against her but decided against it. He'd been a real ass before, now wasn't the time.

Mae blinked and shook her head, turning back to the side. "You're trying to distract me!"

"Oh, yeah I had my dick shaved in anticipation of this very moment" Neil joked, leaning back on the bed.

Mae grunted and stormed out, letting his door slam behind her.

Neil chuckled and got dressed.

Neil found a comfortable seat in the grandstands by squeezing Harriet and Ruth apart. He took a moment to exclaim at Ruth's new hair color. She'd dyed her short spiked blond hair pink, although she called it "red".

"Red?"

"It's... probably not supposed to go on over the bleach blond"

"Mmm. Its very... shocking"

Ruth glowered at him.

"It'll look good pressed against my belly button" Neil joked.

Harriet laughed and Ruth fought a grin and failed. "You're a pervo" Harriet informed him.

"Probably. Where's Dave?"

The two girls exchanged looks and laughed. "We left him in bed."

"He wimped out after two hours"

"TWO hours?" Neil asked.

Ruth laughed. "One hour at eight last night, one at four this morning."

"He has... issues."

"Performance issues"

"Gets distracted easily"

Neil laughed, waving at them to stop. "OK, I get it. Two lovely ladies all over him and he loses it."

Harriet chuckled and squeezed his leg. "Joining us tonight?"

"You're the relief pitcher!" Ruth quipped.

Neil started to answer but the first rider came onto the field. Neil spotted Gail in her western outfit and helmet and leaned forward to see how she did.

Lunch was a sprawling buffet in the commons that Neil skipped through and escaped from as quickly as possible. He worked his way over towards the lake and sat on the docks with his veggie fajita or whatever it was. He found it less than filling, but another trip through the throngs of campers and counselors didn't appeal to him. A shadow fell across him and he looked up to see Leah passing by. She sat comfortably a few feet away, leaning against a post.

"So. Are you dating the pink haired counselor or the brunette one?" she asked bitterly.

Neil stopped. Lying would give him an out, but it would hurt Leah. When he didn't answer, she started to get up with tears in her eyes. "Neither." he said firmly.

Leah stopped and looked over. "What? You're lying..."

"No. Although I guess if I did lie I could get you out of my hair" he said in despair.

Leah sat down again, facing the water. "So why not lie?"

"I don't want to hurt you..."

She sat in thought for a minute, dipping her toes into the lake. "That's going well. So... who are they?"

"The pink haired one is Ruth. The other is Harriet. They're counselors."

"Duh. I know they're counselors. Who are they to you?"

"That's... complicated."

"Complicated? Just answer the... question"

"They're friends... plus."

"Plus. Plus sex."

"Plus sex." Neil admitted. "I had a girlfriend earlier in the summer but that's... over."

Leah gave him an odd look. "How do you... have friends plus SEX?"

Neil had a smartass answer, but dropped it. "Leah... You know that you and I can't happen. What difference does it make what my relationship with Ruth and Harriet is?"

Leah's face fell. "Because... I don't know. I just don't get how you can... be with them if you don't..."

"We enjoy each other's company. A lot."

"I'll bet" she said dryly. Neil laughed and Leah joined him after a moment of pouting. "So why can't we be friends PLUS" she asked suddenly.

Neil jumped. His penis was digging a hole into his thigh, trying to fight its way free of his shorts and lunge across the dock at Leah. "Leah!?"

"I'm kidding you prick" she growled, but there was a tone underneath that Neil tried to ignore.

"I think you just like the challenge" Neil chided softly.

Leah looked up sadly. "I'm a sucker for a lost cause" she groaned.

"That's me. Lost cause Neil"

Leah sat silently for a few minutes, the stood and started toward the playground.

"See you tomorrow morning" Neil said just loud enough for her to hear. Leah turned and gave him a pouty look.

Neil skipped the afternoon shows. There would be dressage and some beginner western, but none of his students would be competing. Instead he headed up to the cabins to wake Dave up. He opened Dave's door and gasped, the air reeked of sex and sweat.

"Jesus dude. Crack the fucking window"

Dave mumbled something from the blankets that might have included "Fuck off" but it was hard to tell.

"Come on dude, you're missing lunch"

"Fuck lunch"

"And the shows"

"Fuck the shows"

"And your ass"

"Fuck my ass"

"Noooo thanks" Neil said. "Come on, shorty, the girls are all chipper and bright-eyed"

"They took turns sleeping"

"Really"

"While the other sucked me."

"Awesome"

"No. Not awesome. I came three times last night"

"Triple awesome"

"No. No. No... you abandoned me to the she wenches"

"Aw"

"Sperm vampires"

Neil fell over laughing and Dave joined him. "How long you been working on that line?"

"Thought of it last night, just remembered"

"That's righteous fucking funny"

"Thanks. Now go away."

"Nope. The girls are..."

"The girls are out of their collective skulls if they think I'm doing jack shit tonight. I'm raw. Sore and raw"

"I'm shaved!"

"And they... what?!?"

"Long story, but a lady wanted me au Naturale."

"Jesus... thanks for that fucking wondrous fucking mental image you sick sheepfucker"

"She was very tender"

"Aw, Jesus, now I need a shower"

"Actually you do. It stinks in here"

"Fuck you, traitor"

Neil laughed and opened the window, turning on the vent fan. "Smells like a cathouse in here"

"It has been. For days"

"You'll look back on this one day, wishing..."

"Wishing I still had a dick because Ruth and Harriet sucked it off"

"Yowza."

"Seriously. S.O.R.E. Not fucking anything tonight."

"OK, OK, but they're going to be..."

"They're going to go after you and your naked pants-snake."

"Oh yeah! More for me."

"Good luck, my son. I'll say a memorial for your dick"

"Make it a LOOOOONG one... because..."

"I've seen it, thanks."

"You LOOKED? Who's the..."

"I hope they break you."

Neil found Ruth and Harriet again at the arena and let them down easy about Dave.

"That's OK, we'll use you"

"Use you and toss you aside."

"Like an old shoe"

"Or a broken vibrator"

Neil suffered their comments as best he could, paying attention to the riders on the course. When he saw Leah suiting up in the side stall he excused himself and worked his way down.

"Hey, good luck" he told her.

Leah turned and grinned. "Thanks!"

"Remember your... fanny. Keep it up"

"Just so you can watch?"

"For the judges, they like firm lady tail as much as I do"

Leah blushed and nodded. When she turned, Neil patted her ass and carefully ducked out the side door.

She rode well, better than she had at practice. Neil cheered and kept an eye on the judging table, noting what she needed to work on by how they scribbled. Their scores were fair, but not very high.

Neil watched a few more riders, then decided to head off to see if there were any leftovers. The common mess was blockaded by one of the cooks, though who gave him a level stare that suggested he bother someone else. Instead, Neil headed back to his cabin for some much needed rest.

When he opened the door, however, he was in for a drastic shock. Leah was sitting on his bed. Neil slammed the door closed and jumped in front of the window.

"SHIT, Leah, you can't be in here!"

"Why?"

"Its... What do you mean 'why??'"

Leah smiled. "I know why. Nobody saw me, dumbass."

"Then... why are you here?!"

"You patted my butt again. I'm getting tired of this one-way relationship you think you're in"

Neil tried to focus, but Leah stood and her presence in his room set off so many warning bells and lustful imagery that he was stupefied. She inched closer and her presence mingled with her sweat and whatever soap or perfume she was wearing. Neil tried to step back, but he was rooted. "Leah... you can't be here..."