Catching feelings. A story about you & Austin North.

"Love nibble, my ass!"

Back at the ranch:
Before I'd even stopped the truck good, Austin was out the door. "Wow!" He exclaimed. "I mean...wow...this is crazy. This is like an actual ranch!" He said while looking around at the landscape in wonder. "Welcome to second chance ranch!" I said motioning while turning a circle. "We started this place 3 years ago. All 6 of our horses are rescues. They were in kill pens headed to slaughter & we bailed them out & gave them a home...gave them a second chance" I explained. "That is amazing. I want to do something like that. I always thought that when I got to be more well known, I'd use my voice to make a change, do some good in the world. I hope I can still do that." He said quietly. I showed him around giving him the grand tour. We finally made it to the gate to the pasture. Most of the horses were in the back pasture but our goofy 3 year old colt was up by the gate drinking out of the water trough. He has the funniest personality & just loves people. He thinks he is just a big dog. I went to open the gate suddenly feeling Austin's hand grabbing mine, stopping me from opening the gate. "We're going in there right now?" He asked, letting a hint of fear show on his face. I gently grabbed his hand & looked in his eyes. "I won't let anything happen to you, everything will be fine." I reassured him. I led him into the pasture quickly closing the gate. I turned around & saw the colt, Castiel, or Cas as we call him, coming up to investigate the new human. "Hey boy" I said while petting his nose. "Cas, meet Austin. Austin, meet Cas" I said giggling. He slowly reached up & ran his hand down Cas's neck. "I touched him!" He said smiling excitedly, clearly proud of himself. I walked around Cas brushing loose hair off of him as I went. As I made my way around, I heard Austin yelp. "He bit my forehead!" He shrieked. I was doubled over laughing. "He didn't bite you, you doofus. It was a love nibble. He's just a baby!" I said still laughing. "Love nibble, my ass." Austin muttered, rubbing the small red spot on his forehead. But he kept stroking the horse's mane. I took my phone out & snapped a quick picture of them. "Can you send that to me?" Austin asked. "Of course! Cmon let's get you to your cabin before Cas decides he's still hungry" I said teasing him. He quickly followed me out of the gate. Later that night, I was scrolling through Instagram & saw Austin had posted the picture of him & Cas. The caption read "Meet my new best friend Cas. He lives at second chance ranch & likes to give love nibbles!" I laughed out loud. This is going to be a wild ride.