Pas(sade) de Cheval

Halt. Salute.

Ryan was staring out of the window of the trailer at the trees blurring by. He knew these roads well, and estimated they were only a few minutes away from their destination. Spencer was driving, as was their usual routine. Spencer enjoyed driving, but that wasn't the only reason. Ryan would drive cars if the need arose, but large vehicles like the massive trailer their barn owned gave him an inexplicable sense of anxiety. Spencer claimed he felt powerful behind the wheel, since he could "just run over all the puny cars if they got in my way", accompanied by an evil laugh. Ryan felt like it was too much power, and couldn't bear it for longer than the two minutes it took to maneuver from the farm house to the barn on his own property. Whenever they went for long trips, the driving was all up to Spencer. 

Ryan was snapped out of his mindless staring at trees by a hand shaking his shoulder. He pulled out one headphone and turned to see one of his slaves, rather, working students, patiently waiting to tell him something. Zack was a hard worker, and had been working for him for two summers, so he knew how to take care of all the horses, but Ryan had never really gotten along with the guy. 

"Hey, sorry, what's up?" Ryan asked as Zack just kind of stood there in the aisle, rocking slightly with the bumps in the road. 

"Nothing serious, Bay's just going a little stir crazy and I was wondering if we should stop and take them out." 

"Naw, we're only..." 

"Ten minutes." Spencer supplied. 

"... away. They'll be fine." Ryan finished. "You can give him a salt lick if you think it will help."

Zack nodded and made his way back through the trailer to the horse compartments, holding the walls to keep from falling over. Ryan could just catch a glimpse of the two horses and their other employee Shane, before Zack closed the door behind him. 

Ryan went to put his headphone back in, but Spencer started talking before he'd managed to do it. "You look nervous."

Ryan sighed and started putting his phone away, knowing this conversation couldn't be avoided any longer. "No, I don't."

Spencer smirked without taking his eyes off the road. "Okay, you don't, but I can still tell that you are." 

Ryan hummed noncommittally. He found it really annoying that Spencer could read him that well.

"There's nothing wrong with being nervous." Spencer continued his supposed-to-be-inspirational speech.

"I know that. This is a big deal." Ryan answered shortly, really not wanting to encourage any more dialog than was strictly necessary. 

"So you saw the last minute entry?" Spencer asked tentatively. 

Ryan's jaw clenched of its own volition, and he had to wait until he'd composed himself to respond. "Yes. It doesn't change anything though." His voice sounded weak even to his own ears. 

"Yeah, sure he doesn't." Spencer replied, his voice dripping in sarcasm. 

Ryan studied Spencer's calm face out of the corner of his eye and tried his best not to snap at him. He failed. "He doesn't. Change. Anything." Ryan ground out, each word becoming its own sentence. "I don't give a flying fuck how great his horse is; he still can't beat me. Betty and I are the best we've ever been, and I am not nervous." His voice had raised to an average speaking volume, which for him was as good as screaming. 

Spencer's reaction was unsatisfactory, since he didn't look shocked or immediately start apologizing. Instead he nodded his head in the direction of the windshield and calmly stated, "We're here."

Ryan turned his body back around in the seat to see the Bromont Farms sign. He didn't realize until then that he'd almost stood up during his heated rant to Spencer. He took a few deep breaths and tried to calm down.