Vronsky didn’t answer, because he didn’t want to speak out against Anna, though he was in complete agreement with Murf’s assessment of the situation. Every time he tried to bring up Alexander with Anna, she bristled and refused to discuss it. These days he barely got to see her, though they were texting all day every day, so he wasn’t going to waste the precious minutes he had with her talking about her busted-up bf. The fact that he was getting on a horse so he could spend some alone time with her showed the lengths he was willing to go.

Riding a horse was much scarier than riding a bicycle, because you were so high up. Bunny Hop was a six-year-old gelding but had been around long enough to recognize an inexperienced rider. Vronsky pulled out his most soothing voice, the one he used to use to sweet-talk girls back to his house, but Bunny Hop was having none of it. He couldn’t get her to go faster than a leisurely stroll, so by the time he arrived at the apple tree where they had arranged to meet, Anna had fed Mark Antony two apples and eaten one herself. As soon as he arrived, he slid off Bunny Hop before she came to a full stop, took Anna’s face in his hands, and planted a kiss on her. “You taste like apple,” he murmured.

She laughed and pushed him away, handing him an apple that he took gratefully and bit into with a crunch. “That’s not for you,” Anna said, pointing to his horse. “It’s for her.” She took the apple out of his hands and gave it to Bunny Hop. The horse chomped it delightedly, then nuzzled her giant snout against Anna’s cheek.

Anna and Vronsky had exactly twenty-three minutes together under the apple tree, and when they sat up after minute twenty-two, they were both breathless and hornier than a herd of antelopes. Anna had never been kissed the way Vronsky kissed her, and she had never wanted to kiss someone so badly herself. She knew she had said she’d visit Alexander later, but when she stood up, brushing the dirt off her backside, she had changed her mind. Maybe it was time to stop putting everyone’s needs in front of her own.

“I want to see you tonight, but we can’t have you and that motorcycle roaring through the neighborhood. Can Murf drive you somewhere?” she asked. “Or could you borrow his truck?”

“What do you have in mind?” Vronsky asked, not daring to get his hopes up too soon.

“My mom went back to the city and I have the house to myself tonight, so maybe you can come by later when it’s dark?”