Love Means No Boundaries - Andrew Grey

footsteps on the gravel and saw Arie walking their way, his face as hard as granite. “Are you determined to get him hurt?” Joey was ready to fire back at him but turned and helped Robbie off Twilight instead. This wasn’t his battle; it was Robbie’s.
     
“He shouldn’t be on a horse, and definitely not alone. He can’t see, for Christ’s sake!”
     
As Arie began yelling, Joey looked at Robbie, wondering what the hell was going on. Arie stormed toward them. “What were you thinking? He could have fallen off and gotten hurt or worse!” Joey saw a change in Arie’s expression, a new emotion joining the fear.
     
His face softened slightly even if his voice didn’t. “What’s next, roping steers?” Joey stepped back and caught a glimpse of Robbie’s face. The man was beautiful standing passively, letting Arie go on and on, but Joey could see the set of his mouth, his firm jaw.
     
“Are you done?” were the only words Robbie said, calmly and evenly. From the look on Robbie’s face, Joey wasn’t sure he’d want to be Arie right now. So he took Twilight’s reins and steadied her as he waited for the fireworks.
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Love Means … NO Boundaries
ROBBIE didn’t know what to think. He could still feel the horse beneath him and hear Arie’s voice yelling at Joey. He felt Joey’s hand brush his leg and place his foot in the stirrup. He took that as his cue to dismount, which he did with relative ease.
    Up until now the day had been damn near perfect, helping in the kitchen and spending hours in the sun and air on horseback with Joey. Hell, he’d even gotten the courage to slide his hands beneath Joey’s shirt. A few times he’s slid his fingertips around his nipples and felt them pebble beneath his touch. Yes, Joey definitely made him horny. But now Arie had arrived and had jumped to all sorts of conclusions.
    “Are you done?” He tried to keep his voice as level as he could, but he wanted to throttle Arie for yelling at Joey. He couldn’t tell if Joey was angry because he hadn’t said a thing. Finally, Arie started to wind down. “What in God’s green earth has gotten into you?” That seemed to bring Arie’s tirade to an end. “You’re not my mother, for God’s sake. You’re my friend, or I thought you were.” Robbie heard a sharp intake of breath.
    “I am your friend.” He sounded hurt.
“Then act like it.”
“I am.”
“No you’re not. You’re acting like an extension of my mother!” He hoped that would get Arie’s attention. “I can’t believe you called her and told her I got hurt, like some sort of spy.” He heard what he thought was nervous shuffling. “You have to decide whose friend you are, mine or my mother’s.”
    “I’m your friend. I’ve always been your friend.” The plaintive tone told Robbie that Arie might be getting the idea.
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Andrew Grey
“Then act like it. In the last few days I’ve done things I never thought I could. I realize that’s because everyone’s been sheltering me: you, my mama, my papa, everyone. Today I got to ride a horse.
    Tomorrow I’ll be able to ride a tractor or take a ride on a motorcycle, whatever. The thing is, if you’re my friend, you’ll help me, not shelter me. Yes, I’m blind but that doesn’t mean I should sit in a chair for the rest of my life because it’s safe!” Everything around him seemed to cease. The horse stopped her snorting. The kittens became quiet, even the wind seemed to hold its breath. Then he heard the clop of hooves and the crunch of feet behind him, growing softer.
    “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have called your mom.”
“No, you shouldn’t have.” Robbie wasn’t ready to let him completely off the hook yet.
“And I shouldn’t have yelled.”
“That’s true.” Robbie folded his arms across his chest.
    “Dang it, I was just worried about you.” Robbie felt the last of his anger and indignation fall away. “If I need help, I’ll ask, but I need to do things for myself, and I need to see what I can do. And just for the record, I wasn’t alone, I was with Joey.” Silence. Robbie waited. He knew he had more patience than Arie.
    “I’ll try.”
“Okay.” Robbie smiled, and he felt Arie give him a hug.
“Is everything okay?” Joey asked as he approached, Robbie hearing his footsteps on the gravel.
“I think so.” Robbie replied as Arie released his hug.
“Would you like to stay for lunch?” He felt Joey stand next to him, an arm snaking around his waist. Robbie smiled