After the Fall

go?”
    “Yeah.”
    He didn’t move. “Are you sure you’re up to this? It doesn’t have to be today.”
    “Trust me.” I leaned heavily on my crutch. “I need to. I’m getting cabin fever like you wouldn’t believe, and I need to see my horse.”
    “Fair enough.”
    I locked my apartment door behind us, hobbled two steps down the hall, stopped, and peered down the stairs. “Shit,” I groaned.
    “What?”
    “I think going down might be a little more complicated than coming up.”
    “Can you make it?” Ryan eyed the stairs, then me. “Especially with only one crutch?”
    “Yeah. I’ll be fine. I think up until now I’d kind of blocked out the fact that there are stairs between here and the ground.”
    He grimaced. “Do you need some help?”
    “No,” I said quickly. “I’ve got it. I’ll just . . . I have to figure it out. I’m going to have to get up and down these stairs in a cast for the next few months. Might as well learn sooner than later.”
    “Nathan.” He eyed me. “You can start pushing yourself after you’ve healed a little. Come on. Let me help.”
    I gritted my teeth. “Fine.”
    Ryan took my crutch in one hand and put the other arm around my waist. I put my right arm around his shoulders, careful not to smack him in the face with my cast, and held the railing with my other hand.
    Together, we took that first awkward step down. I distracted myself from my own helplessness by remembering who I was leaning on. Sort of like how a buddy of mine had said his appendix operation wasn’t as bad as it could have been because he had a hot nurse, this was a lot easier to stomach knowing I had my arm around this particular set of shoulders. He felt like someone who spent a fair amount of time at the gym—he was naturally broad shouldered, but I had no doubt these muscles got some use.
    “Jesus Christ,” Ryan muttered as we neared the bottom. “I could’ve sworn there weren’t so many steps on the way up.”
    I snorted. “Tell me about it.”
    On the ground floor, he handed the crutch back and carefully released me, not letting go until I was completely balanced. “You okay?”
    “Yep.” I adjusted the crutch under my arm. “I hope it won’t be too much of an imposition to ask you to help me back up later tonight.” God. Just asking made me cringe.
    “Not at all.” He held open the front door and stood aside. Once I was outside, he pulled out his keys and gestured across the parking lot. “Stay here. I’ll bring the truck over.”
    “Thanks.”
    He returned a moment later in a small, beat-up pickup truck, and while the engine idled, he came around to help me get in on the passenger side.
    As we pulled out of the parking lot, I spent a moment taking in all the familiar scenery. After being cooped up in my apartment for five days, it was like seeing everything—the gross drive-in across the street, the rows of office buildings along one side, and the condos slowly encroaching on the affordable apartments—for the first time. From the mountains in the distance to the dilapidated Honda that would probably always be broken down by the dumpster, all of it was a welcome, refreshing sight.
    Ryan merged onto the interstate, and we headed for the foothills.
    “So you said you’ve ridden before, right?” I asked.
    He nodded. “Just, you know, goofing around.”
    “What is it you want to learn?”
    “I don’t know, to be honest. Maybe learn some of the finer points. Mostly, I want to get back in the saddle and remember what it’s like to ride.”
    “I know what you mean. Fair warning, Tsarina’s still a little green herself. She’s broke, and she’s incredibly willing, but she’s still young, and she doesn’t know a whole lot yet. If you think I’m going too slow with you, keep in mind I’m going slow for her benefit too.”
    Ryan nodded. “Duly noted. How old is she, anyway?”
    “Not quite five. I mean, it’s not like she hasn’t had any training, and she’s pretty solid under saddle, but . . .”
    “But she’s young,” he said. “I follow, don’t worry.” He glanced at me. “So how long have you been riding?”
    “Since kindergarten. A girl in my class had a pony at her birthday party, and all it took was one little walk around the yard on him, and I was hooked.”
    “Ever had one of your own?”
    I nodded. “I did 4-H when I was a kid. A friend leased us this Appaloosa gelding. God, he was the most cantankerous little shit I’ve ever ridden,