Nepenthe | Sapnap |

Lightning Thief

"Kate."

I snapped Kage's reins to push her into a trot as I kept giving Clay the silent treatment. He's been trying to talk to me since he confirmed my small crush... no, I can't even say crush, I know almost nothing about Nick. My small... attraction? Even that seems off. I just think he's attractive and he's capable of keeping himself alive when things get rough.

"Kate. Really? Come on."

He clicked his tongue to get Spirit to go into a trot as well so he could be shoulder to shoulder with me. I kept my eyes straight ahead, waiting to see the last outpost on the trail before heading back to Jackson. After all this shit, I really need a nap, or to whack Clay upside the head. Maybe both.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Clay's attention flicking back and forth between looking forward, steering Spirit out of the way of any obstacles and to keep an eye on me and my reactions.

"Dude, seriously."

A blink, that's all a gave him. I took a breath as I moved my body to get Kage to take a couple steps away from him and Spirit to create some distance.

I'm not upset with Clay, just annoyed and frustrated. He keeps pushing the conversation, not letting it drop.

"You don't have to ask him out on a date, but just to hang out without me or Alex or Morgan around."

Just drop it, Clay. It's not going to happen. We barely know each other. Asking to hang out alone is pretty much letting it know that I feel... something for him. And I'm not just going to show up at his and Clay's house uninvited. No, just no.

"He's scared, too. He likes to spend time with you as well-"

"How do you know that?" I pulled on Kage's reins to get her to make an abrupt stop. She whined as she dug her hooves into the snow that had to be at least three inches deep now. "How do you know he likes to spend time with me?"

"Ahh," Clay breathed out as he had Spirit stop as well. The two horses faced each other as we paused in the middle of the trail. "She speaks."

"Don't, Clay," I shook my head. I wasn't going to play along to any of his games at the moment. "Answer the question."

He chewed on his bottom lip as if he was thinking of the best way to answer me. It was like Spirit could feel the tension as he stomped his legs and shook out his mane that was practically the same color as the puff of smoke he let out of his nose. "Because he told me."

"Nick told you that he liked to spend time with me?" I just raised an eyebrow at him. "Don't lie to me. I might not know him that well, but Nick doesn't admit shit."

"Fine, okay." Clay ran a hand through his hair that was already a mess from being blown through the wind while riding. "I can just tell."

"Yeah, no." I said, not accepting the answer, as I pulled back on Kage's reins to get her to turn and start back again on the trail. That outpost can't be too far now. This patrol needs to end already.

"Hey! Hey, okay, wait!" Clay called out as he directed Spirit to run to catch up and basically drifted to have him stand sideways to block me from proceeding any further without having to have Kage walk straight through and over the two. And I like Spirit too much to do that.

"Clay, get out of my way."

"No, just listen." I didn't listen as I tried to go around them, but Clay just made Spirit take a few steps forward. Kage and Spirit were pretty much face to face right now. Her nose was inches from the side of his face. "You don't see it because you're oblivious as fuck and not paying attention, but to someone on the outside... He's..." Clay looked down at the ground for a moment like he was trying to say something but not give too much away.