Misty couldn't remember a time that she had ever smiled so big in her life. Actually, there was a time...several times, actually. Like every time Clay would grin at her, or lean in to drop a kiss on her lips, really anytime that she was around Clay she found herself smiling. But second to being with Clay, there was nothing that made her smile more than working with Casper. Or, in this case, seeing someone else work with Casper. 

        "He's really come a long way, Misty." Jace said to Misty when he turned around from lunging the gray grulla in the round pen. 

         It had been about a week since Misty and Jace had talked things out, becoming close friends again. Obviously, nothing is resolved overnight, but to say the least, they were getting there, just taking it one day at a time. Misty's ribs were feeling better these past few days than they had felt for quite a while. Every day for the past week or so, Jace had taken the time to work with Casper for Misty because Clay had been overworking himself as usual. He seemed to be really worried about Misty doing hard labor, although she was finally feeling up to working again, but still Clay had been working twice as hard to cover, not only his chores, but Misty's as well.

        Recently, Misty had hardly seen Clay, and when she had, he seemed sort of distant, and it was beginning to worry her. They went on a date last week, and it was a great time for them, and they had really grown closer during that date, or at least Misty had thought so, but with how Clay was acting, she was worried he didn't feel the same way. Thinking back, since Misty and Clay had made it official, almost a month ago, Clay hadn't kissed Misty once. Sure, he had kissed Misty's cheek, or forehead, but they haven't shared a lip kiss since they began dating officially. If she was being honest, Misty kind of liked that; it was nice to just enjoy being with him and actually talking, rather than just kissing him, but in a way, she missed it. 

       Taking a deep breath, Misty focused back on the work being done below where she sat on the top rail of the round pen. "He is doin' really well. I never thought he would be this receptive to being worked. I'm extremely surprised he took to you so easy since you're still new to him." Misty watched as Jace slowed Casper to a walk before asking him to turn in before Jace sent him out again, changing directions. "Last week, Clay was able to get a saddle on him. Not cinched up, but Casper still allowed it, and a pad, on his back, so we are makin' progress, that's for sure." Misty smiled as she watched her horse trotting around the round pen. "It's takin' him a while; usually we can get the horses at least green broke in a week or two, but stubborn Casp here is takin' a little more time. But then again, he is a bit older than the other horses that we get in, so it only makes sense that he's requiring more time to be worked with." 

        Jace let the lunge line down by his side, waiting until Casper slowed and turned into him before walking over to Misty with a smile on his face. "You want to run him around some?" He asked, handing the line up to Misty. 

        "Is that even a question?!" Misty said excitedly, climbing down from the rail, grabbing the lunge line from Jace. 

        Walking out to the center of the round pen, Misty clucked to Casper, sending him out against the rail in the same direction that Jace had him running. "He's doin' so good!" Misty said, excitedly. Clay was busy out on the range, but he would be coming in soon, so Misty knew her time with Casper was limited. Earlier, Clay had deliberately asked Misty to hold off working with Casper until he got there, since he was being a protective boyfriend, not trusting anyone else to "look out for" Misty. Knowing that Clay trusted Jace, she wasn't too worried about working with Casper.

        "Let's try him the other way. That's his sour side, so he needs to work on it." Jace said from Misty's spot on top of the round pen fence. 

         Gathering the line, Misty slowed Casper, walking towards his shoulder, asking him to switch directions. After a little hesitation, Casper finally listened to Misty, running to the left around the pen. Just as Misty was about to ask Jace if she should try some sacking out, Misty heard voices behind her, and a horse skidding to a stop, some dirt and gravel spitting up and hitting the round pen. 

        Looking over her shoulder, Misty saw Clay jumping off his horse like a calf roper and running into the round pen, shouting at Misty to give him the lunge line. "Misty, give me the dang line!" Clay demanded angrily, now standing right in front of Misty. He reached out to snatch the line from Misty's hands, but she pulled them back, refusing to give it up. 

        "What the heck is your problem?! You need to stop. This is my horse, and I'm allowed to work with him if I want to!" Misty shouted back at Clay, surprised at the anger in her own voice. Clay and her had never fought, or even raised their voices at each other before. From the corner of her eye, Misty could see Casper beginning to get antsy at the sudden loud noises. She gave the line a soft flick, distracting Casper from his fit. 

        "I've told you numerous times that I don't want you workin' with him, especially by yourself, Misty! Why can't you just listen to me for once?!" Clay shouted, making the group of cowboys that he rode up with look over at the couple to see what was causing the ruckus.

        Before Misty could shout back at Clay, Jace hopped down from his spot on the fence, taking the lunge line from Misty's shaking hands. Placing himself in between the furious couple, Jace turned to Clay. "Listen, man, I gave Misty the lunge line. Casper has come a long way and he has been behavin' really well today, so I felt it was safe for her to run him around a little bit. Don't be mad at her, be mad at me." 

       Clay tore his eyes from Misty to look at Jace. "I think you need to back off, man. This is between Misty and I. You just stay out of it." His voice came out in a low growl.

        "Clay, you're the one who needs to back off. Misty is a grown woman, and she doesn't need you tellin' her what she can and can't do." Jace shoved a finger into Clay's chest. 

        "You little-" Clay started with a shake of his head. He took a step closer to Jace, but before he could even raise his hand in a fist, Misty stepped in, grabbing Clay's tightly clenched hand.

        "Okay, that's enough! Clay, come with me." She demanded, practically dragging her boyfriend out of the round pen. 

       As they walked to the barn, Misty and Clay both ignored the stares from the ranch hands. Neither of them said a single word until they were fully in the barn, and out of ear shot of any passerbys. 

       "What is going on, Clay? You've been on edge for days." Misty asked him in a quiet voice once they were in the barn. She was more concerned than mad though her voice came out stern.

       Clay took a deep breath and ran a hand over his face. "Nothing, Misty, can we please talk about it later? I really don't have time for an argument right now. I just..." Clay grunted in frustration, throwing his hands up, he said with gritted teeth, "Just forget it. I'll see you later." He huffed out of the barn, leaving Misty standing in the aisle utterly confused. 

       Turning, Misty watched Clay stomp out of the barn and slide his foot into his stirrup, barely on Rusty's back before he spurred him into a lope, riding away from the mess that had just ensued.

        Walking out of the barn, Misty walked back to the round pen where Jace had just let Casper back out into the field. "Why did you let him go? I was fixin' to work with him some more." Misty said to Jace, her eyes still on Clay as he rode away.

         "Misty, I think we've worked with him enough today." Jace walked out of the round pen, latching the gate behind him. 

         "Are you sayin' that just because of Clay's outburst? He's just being overly protective, just ignore him." Misty waved a hand in front of her face, telling Jace to let it go.

        "I'm sorry for goin' off on him, Misty. I just didn't like how he was treating you." There was the protective friend side of Jace that Misty hadn't seen in quite a while. 

        "No need to apologize. He needed to hear it, but Jace, please don't start thinkin' that how Clay acted today is how he always acts. He's not usually like that." Misty walked beside Jace to the barn, but stopped so she could look at him. "I know that you want the best for me, and I appreciate that, but frankly, Jace, it's not your job to always make sure that I'm happy. If you do, then you're goin' to be the one who ends up getting hurt, not me. I'm gonna have bad days, Clay's gonna have bad days, and you are going to have not so great days either. I appreciate you caring, but seriously, I'm old enough to fend for myself." Misty added a smile so Jace knew she wasn't mad.

       Jace didn't say anything in response. Instead he gave Misty a curt nod, then disappeared back into the barn. 

        Misty hadn't seen Clay since their incident this morning. She was really starting to worry about him. Something was bothering him, and it was more that just the strange fact that he didn't like her working with her own horse. Sure, she understood that Casper had trampled Misty, breaking two of her ribs, but to her, that wasn't a huge deal because it was just the nature of the job. 

       After all of her work was done for the day, Misty grabbed her phone out of her pocket, pulling up Clay's contact. "Babe, can we please talk?" Misty texted, staring at the screen as she waited for a response. 

        "Be there in ten." Clay texted back almost immediately. 

       Taking a deep breath, Misty attempted to find something to do as she waited for Clay. Knowing just standing in the barn would only make her more nervous, Misty went to the house, taking a seat on the porch swing as she waited for Clay to get there from his loft. 

       Exactly ten minutes later, Clay's truck pulled up in front of the McAdams' ranch house. Standing up off the porch swing, Misty walked down the steps to greet Clay who had just gotten out of his truck. 

      Awkwardly, Misty and Clay both reached out to each other in a hug. Misty wrapped her arms around his middle, missing being close to him. "I missed you tonight at supper." Misty said into Clay's pearl snap.  

       Taking a deep breath, Clay pulled back. "I know. I'm sorry. I ate at my apartment cause the guys and I got done late." 

       "That's alright. Thank you for meeting me out here." Misty faked a smile, trying to get Clay to look at her. Stuffing her hands into her jeans pockets, Misty asked, "Clay, I'm just goin' to cut to the chase. What's botherin' you?" She knew that they weren't fighting, but she still didn't want to push it.

       "It's nothing. It's just stupid." Clay said quietly, waving a hand in front of his face. 

       "Clay, you agreed to talk, so let's talk." Misty said in a stubborn voice, taking a small step towards him. 

       "As I have told you, Mist, I really don't like you workin' with Casper by yourself." Clay repeated the line for the numerous line. Based on the tone of his voice, he was annoyed that he had had to continually repeat the same line. 

       "I understand that, but why not? In the two years that you have worked here you have never had a problem with me working with horses before. This is my life; we both work on a horse rescue ranch, so workin' with wild horses is just what I do. It's my life." Misty replied, remaining calm; the last thing that she wanted right now was to fight with Clay. Looking to the house, Misty was going to offer for them to sit on the porch swing, but Clay responding to Misty's comment made her turn back to him. 

        "Mist, I'll be honest. It scared me to come out of the barn and see you laying on the ground in the round pen, not moving after Casper charged you." Finally, Clay looked at Misty. 

       "Clay, do you feel guilty for what happened?" She was able to ask what she had been wondering for quite a while. 

        Taking a deep breath, Clay leaned back against his truck, sticking his hands in his pockets. "Yes." He replied simply. "Casper had only been worked with a handful of times before, so I should have known better than to leave you alone in the round pen while I ran into the barn. It should have been vice versa. I should have taken his lead, and let you run into the barn, but I didn't, and you got badly injured. Mist, you could have been paralyzed, or worse. My mind automatically jumped to conclusions when I saw you layin' there." 

       Misty walked forward so she was just a couple inches from Clay. Reaching up, she caressed his cheek. "Clay, please do not blame yourself for the accident. It was just that: an accident. Besides, it was honestly my fault. It was earlier that day that Jace had kissed me, and I was so out of it, trying to think of a way to tell you what had happened, that I wasn't in the mindset to pay attention to Casper's signs that he was getting agitated." 

       "I know, Mist. I just really feel terrible about it, though I know I shouldn't. I just can't help but feel like every time I'm around you, you end up gettin' hurt. First the round up, then this. It's almost like I'm the reason for your pain." Standing off his truck, Clay wrapped his arms around Misty's waist. "Please know that I would give anything to go back and be the one who got hurt, not you. I don't ever want to see you hurt, ever again." He said, pulling Misty tight against him.

        "I know, thank you, honey. I really appreciate your lookin' after me. And you do, you take such great care of me." Misty smiled into his shirt. Lifting her head, Misty saw Jace walking out from the house, towards the couple. Pulling back, Misty inadvertently cleared her throat.

       "What's wrong?" Clay asked in a concerned voice, his arm still around Misty's waist.

       Before Misty could reply, Jace came walking up beside them. "Hey, Jace." Misty greeted him.

       "Misty. Clay." Jace nodded, but didn't move from his spot beside the couple and Clay's truck.

     "So, what are you doin' over here?" Misty asked awkwardly, giving in to Clay's hold on her waist.

      "I just came over here to get something from the barn...What are y'all doin' here?" Jace asked, looking between Clay and Misty. The work day had long been over with; this was the time of day when most of the hands went home and vegged for a little bit before hitting the hay to do it all again tomorrow.

       "I...we...we're just...um-" Misty struggled to find the words for some reason.

       "We were just about to do night check on the horses." Clay answered for her. Misty looked up at him to thank him silently, but she saw him looking at Jace with his jaw clenched tightly. 

        Jace nodded, but looked like he didn't believe a word that Clay said. Shaking his head slightly, Jace turned and walked towards the barn.

       Once Jace was out of sight and earshot, Clay turned to Misty. "What was that about?" Clay asked in an angry whisper. He dropped his arm from Misty's waist.

       "What was what about?" Misty asked, furrowing her brow.

       "That thing with Jace. But it's not just with Jace. It's with everybody." Clay had a look on his face that Misty had never seen. His voice was laced with growing frustration, something else that Misty had only ever seen for the first time today.

       "Clay, I'm sorry. I don't know what 'thing' you're talking about." Misty asked, confused, her voice back to normal decibel level. 

         "You refusing to tell anyone that we are together is what I'm talking about. Only your dad and mom know that we are official. Every time someone comes near us, you always pull away. You seem like you're constantly looking over your shoulder whenever I take you out on a date. The only time you let me kiss your cheek or hug you or anything is when we are alone. I just..." Clay took a deep breath as if to calm himself. Lowering his voice, Clay asked, "Are you ashamed of me? I thought that this was what you wanted. I thought you were ready to make it official, but now I'm starting to feel like we rushed into it, or if you wanted to be official just to make Jace jealous."

        "What, Clay? No. No, that's not it at all." Misty replied, finally realizing that maybe this is what Clay had been keeping from her, the thing that has been making him upset recently. 

        "Then what is it, Misty? Because I'm tryna understand." Misty was completely taken aback by how Clay was acting. He wasn't yelling at her...his voice was more confused. Either way, Misty really did not want to have her first fight with Clay right here, right now. Before Misty could tell him that, Clay asked, with a sad voice, "Do you have feelings for someone else? For Jace?"

         "No! Absolutely not! Why-" Misty was cut off by Jace walking out of the barn and right past them. Clay and Misty didn't say a single word to each other as Jace walked to his truck, not looking at Clay or Misty. Once he was in his truck, Misty turned back around to Clay. "Clay, are we really doing this? Are we seriously going to have our first fight right now?" Misty asked, her eyes concerned.

         "No, no baby. We don't have to. As long as you just answer my question."      

         "No, Clay. I do not have feelings for Jace. I thought that we have already gotten past that?"

         Clay grabbed both of Misty's hands. A small smile crept onto his face. "I know you don't, darlin'. I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry. But, I was talkin' about the other question. Why are you so against tellin folks that we're an item?"

         Misty couldn't lie and Clay deserved to know. Plus, she didn't want to fight with him. "Honestly, I don't know. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that I have never been in a relationship before, so I don't know how to act. Remember, I'm still new to all of this."

        "You promise that's all?" Clay asked, giving Misty's hands a squeeze.

         "I promise. And just to prove it to you, I think we should go on a date tonight. Out in the public. I'll let you hold my hand and everything." Misty smiled a mischievous smile at clay.

         "Ooh. That sounds like fun." Clay smiled right back, stepping closer to Misty. "And we'll start tellin' folks that we are official?"

         Misty nodded. "We will start tellin' people." 

        "Startin' with Jace?" Clay asked, reaching up to tuck a piece of hair behind Misty's ear.

        Misty opened her mouth to protest, but when Clay caressed her cheek, rubbing a thumb softly over her cheek, she caved, "Starting with Jace." That smile returned on Clay's face as he pulled Misty into a hug. "So we're good?" Misty asked. Clay replied by pulling back and kissing Misty's forehead. It was a sweet kiss and it definitely made up for their little tiff, almost fight, deal. "Well, that answers that." Misty blushed, smiling madly into Clay's shirt.