“Shut up,” I muttered at the voices. Though I had to admit Devil had a very good point about the view.
I was about to take the long way around the parking lot toward where I saw Janette standing with her clipboard, but just then, Brady turned and faced me.
Crap. No avoiding him now.
His hair was messy, probably from a combination of the cool breeze and his own hands, making me want to fix it with my fingers. Or maybe make it worse.
He was wearing sunglasses but a smile turned his lips up for a split second before he seemed to realize he needed to school his expression.
“Good morning,” he said when I got close. His voice had that strained tone he used with me in public, the one I hadn’t heard since before Christmas.
“Uh, hi,” I said. “What are you doing here?”
His right eyebrow went up over his sunglasses.
“Sorry.” I shook my head. “I didn’t mean...”
“It’s okay, Brooklyn,” he said. “I understand you didn’t expect to see me here. I’m helping out today. Janette has a lot on her plate with the competition being at her center. It’s a lot of work to get the horses ready, so...”
“That’s nice of you,” I said.
He shrugged. “I’m returning to coaching Monday anyway so this is a good way to ease back in and see where everyone’s at in their training.”
Including me, of course. My heart lurched. “Oh,” fell out of my mouth.
His fingers raked through his hair. “Sorry, I guess I should have told you...”
“It’s okay, Brady,” I said, reminding myself I needed to start thinking of him as Coach Fleming again. “I should go check in with Janette, though.”
“Sure,” he said.
I turned and started to walk away from him.
“Hey, Brooklyn?”
I looked at him over my shoulder. “Yeah?”
“Good luck today.”
“Thanks.” I was so going to need it.
~ ♥ ~
It became obvious very quickly that most of the equestrian team had no clue what to do when it came to getting horses calmed and ready to travel, so I stood back with the rest of the girls while Brady, Janette and Jerry worked their magic to get the horses loaded.
Of course, Jerry and Janette were capable, but my eyes were stuck on Brady the whole time.
“God he’s hot,” Vanessa, one of my teammates, said beside me. “Look at those arms.”
On one hand, I hated that all the girls were ogling him, but on the other, liked that in their company, I could ogle him publicly. Well, sort of publicly; I wasn’t about to let Janette or Jerry see me doing it. Or worse...
There was a loud throat-clearing. “Girls,” The dean said from right beside us. As we were all standing there ogling her son. Of course, I was probably the only one who knew the connection.
“Good morning, Dean Haywood,” we all said in unison like we’d rehearsed it. She was wearing a Rosewood golf shirt over a pair of slacks and her hair was pulled back. She looked...nice. Like a well put-together aunt. I’d never thought of her as a woman outside of the school, but here outside of her office, dressed casually, she looked different. Plus, I now knew she had a boyfriend which sort of changed the way I looked at her, too.
“Are you coming with us?” Vanessa asked.
The dean nodded. “Yes. I enjoy watching equestrian sports and of course I need to root for my Rosewood girls,” she said with a genuine smile.
One of the girls groaned behind me, so I coughed to try to cover it up. I was no happier about the dean coming to watch us considering how horrible I was. But it couldn’t be helped, so after another twenty minutes of watching the horses get wrangled into the trailers, I joined the rest of the girls and the dean on the bus.
At first, I took the very last seat but when I realized Brady had joined Janette in the cab of her truck right behind the bus, I moved forward so I couldn’t see him. No point torturing myself.
Jinx
When I’d thought about bailing out of the competition and using the excuse of puking my guts out, it was just one of those innocent thoughts that popped into my head. The kind that I knew I’d never follow through on. But as we pulled up to Janette’s center, there was a huge ruckus at the front of the bus and then Vanessa bolted out the front door and proceeded to puke her guts out right beside the bus wheel. It sounded like she was barfing up some organs with how violently she was heaving.
Poor thing. Though I suddenly felt like a psychic. Or a jinx.
Either way, we’d just lost our one entrant in the show jumping competition, the rest of the team being dressage. The dean was not going to be impressed.
As I made my way down the bus stairs and did a wide circle around Vanessa, I heard two truck doors slam and then Janette came jogging up. “What’s happening?” she asked, looking from Vanessa over to the dean.
“I don’t know,” the dean said, looking concerned. “We pulled up and she yelled to open the door and then...” she gestured toward Vanessa just in time for her to hurl again. I turned away, not wanting to join in and if I continued to watch, I was definitely going to join in.
“It’s just nerves,” Vanessa said. “I’m okay.”
I had my doubts. Obviously the dean did, too. “I don’t think so,” she said, her voice drowned out by more vomiting.
Needing to get away from that because my mouth was already watering in pukey sympathy, I ducked back around and made my way to the trailer behind Janette’s truck. Ignoring the drama that was happening beside the bus, Brady already had the back gate open and was inside.
I didn’t want to spook any of the horses so I stayed back and waited as he backed the first one out: Poppy.
“Can I help?” I asked.
He glanced over at me and nodded. “Yeah, just grab her—she gets really jittery in the trailer, so I wanted to get her out right away. If you take her, I’ll go figure out where our allotted stalls are.”
I took the lead from him, careful not to touch him directly. “Okay, Poppy,” I said soothingly. “You’re good. Let’s go over here to the fence out of the way of all this craziness.” I walked the horse away from the chaos and kept talking to her calmly as I watched Jerry pull up with the other trailer in tow. He jumped out of his truck to talk to Brady. Then Janette was back and she started directing and pointing. The rest of the girls (save Vanessa, who seemed to have disappeared somewhere with the dean) joined me at the fence and we waited for further direction.
As we stood there, more trucks and trailers started pulling up and then the chaos really began.
~ ♥ ~
My stomach was in knots and I worried that whatever Vanessa had might be catching (even if it was just nerves) as I stood on the stool and braided Charlie’s mane, giving myself something to do to keep busy with before the competition started.
“Brooklyn?”
I got down off the stepstool and stuck my head out over the top of the stall door to see Janette coming down the aisle of the barn. “In here,” I said, waving my arm.
She stood outside the stall and crossed her arms. Her lips were pursed in an expression I knew to mean she was about to say something I wasn’t going to like.
Probably something like, “Remember how I said you didn’t suck? I lied—you’re out of the competition.”
“What?” I asked, my throat suddenly tight.
She exhaled. “Well, Vanessa’s out of the Derby.”
Obviously. I nodded.
“We need a jumper.”
It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out where she was going next with this.
“No,” I said automatically.
“You have jumped before.”
“Yes, but...”
She cut me off. “Your seat is very good. I wonder if dressage is just not your sport. When was the last time you did any jumping?”
“It’s been a while.”
She glanced up at the clock on the wall. “Bring Charlie. Come with me.”
“Where?”
“Into the arena. The jumping doesn’t start for another hour; let’s go.”
“Janette...I...”
“Can I be honest with you?”
I’d rather if you didn’t, I thought, but only said, “Okay.”
“The dean doesn’t like Rosewood not having any entrants in a competition. All the other girls are contenders for a ribbon in dressage. You...”
“...are definitely not a contender,” I finished for her.
She looked sorry when she nodded. I gave her points for that at least. “Not exactly. So what’s the harm?”
Other than falling off the horse and killing myself? I sighed, knowing that probably wouldn’t happen. She was right that I was good at sitting on a horse properly. And I had enjoyed jumping before; I’d just always thought dressage was so fancy and showed that reserved strength. “I guess none. I can’t be much worse at jumping than I am at dressage, can I?”
She didn’t respond to that, which I guess was a polite way of answering. “Like I said, you have a great seat. And I know Charlie’s a good jumper.”
She stared at me for a long moment before I nodded. “Okay. I suppose it can’t hurt.”
Janette smiled. “Great. Let’s get him saddled up and give you a quick round.”
I grabbed Charlie’s halter and attached a lead. “Won’t anyone care that you’re switching riders right before?”
She shrugged. “It’s not the Olympics; they’re not that strict. As long as you’re from the same school, we can fill in your name really quickly. Come on.”
~ ♥ ~
I managed to get two full rounds of the course in before Janette pulled me back saying it was almost time for the competition to start. I was disappointed because I felt like I could have gone around that course all freaking day. The jumps were pretty low (I’d jumped higher when I’d been in private lessons back before we left the States years ago) and I’d only knocked down two of them. Not bad considering I hadn’t done a show course in ages. But while I felt like a superstar and Charlie seemed to be enjoying himself, he needed a rest so he’d be in top form when it really mattered.
I was suddenly very anxious to get on with the competition because for the first time since I’d started at Rosewood, I actually felt pretty good about my equestrian skills. Of course, I hadn’t seen any of the other competitors yet, but maybe I could be a contender in show jumping
Still mounted, I walked him around the outside of the ring to cool him off a bit. Some spectators started to trickle into the arena, heading up to take spots on the bleachers.
If my heart hadn’t already been thumping hard from my initial nerves over jumping and the exercise, it would have been now as I realized I was going to be watched. That dulled my enthusiasm about competing a little, although I was a bit more okay with it now that I’d be jumping; having people watch me be a disaster at dressage would have been way more humiliating.
“You’ll need to take him out,” Janette said, coming up to me and breaking my train of thought. “You’re on fourth. Go line up with the other riders outside. Bonita—she’s my stable manager—is out there and will be sending everyone in when it’s time.” She pointed to a door on the far side of the arena.
I nodded and walked Charlie out, ducking my head as we left and got out into the crisp air. Charlie snorted, probably appreciating the coolness after the slightly musty smell in the arena. I gave him a pat and he bobbed his head. “You’re doing great today,” I said, smiling as his ears swiveled at my voice.
I saw a woman with a clipboard surrounded by horses and their mounted riders. Wait. Not just female riders; there were a few guys scattered among the girls wearing the colors of countless other schools. Of course, Brooklyn, this isn’t just a female only competition. Duh. Though that fact made me a bit more nervous.
I forced myself not to think too hard on it and refocused on the woman among the riders. I figured she had to be Bonita, so I walked Charlie over toward her.
She was calling out names, taking attendance. When she got to Vanessa’s name, I corrected her, telling her I was filling in and that Janette had okayed it. Bonita just nodded and scribbled something on her paper, which I guess meant I was good to go. While she continued down her list, I looked around, pretending I wasn’t looking for Brady.
I wasn’t sure if I wanted him to see me jumping or not. On one hand, he might be impressed with how much better I was at jumping than I was at dressage. On the other, knowing he was out there was going to make me nervous. More nervous. Plus, there was that whole thing about how stupid I felt for staying in dressage for so long when jumping was clearly more my sport.
Because obviously the reason I stuck with dressage was because of the coach. And when he went off because of his injury, I kept on so it wouldn’t be obvious that I’d only stayed on because of the coach. Vanessa was on our dressage team but preferred jumping and had been taking private lessons with Janette since Brady’s injury had brought her to campus.
Janette. Not Brady. Hmm. As much as I was looking forward to seeing Brady on an almost daily basis, I knew that doing so was sort of the path to madness and probably wasn’t going to do much for my skill at dressage. Maybe I should...
“Hi. Haven’t seen you around before,” a voice on my right said, interrupting my thoughts.
I turned and even though I was mounted on Charlie, I had to tilt my head to look up into the eyes of the boy mounted next to me. He wore a blazer embroidered with the Westwood crest, although I was sure I’d never met him before. He was good-looking with enough stubble to look deliberate and not just like he’d forgotten to shave in a day or two. His eyes were blue like crystals, reminding me a bit of Dave’s, but this guy had dark blue rings around the edges that made him look even more stunning. Curls of dirty blond hair poked out from under his helmet and I wondered what he’d look like without the black safety bowl on his head.
I realized I was kind of staring at him but before I could even formulate something to say, he blew out a breath and shook his head. “Sorry, that sounded like a cheesy pickup line, didn’t it?”
I smiled. “A little. Was it one?”
That made him smirk, like he wasn’t expecting me to flirt with him. Which was funny, because I hadn’t expected me to flirt with him. Maybe it was the nerves making me blurt things out before thinking. Or maybe I was just a better flirt these days.
“It wasn’t intended as one,” he said. “But if you liked it and it worked, let’s go with it. I’m Brick.”
Brick? That was one of the names I’d actually considered for the horrible novel I’d been writing back in London. The name I’d considered and rejected because no one was actually named Brick. I snorted. “Of course you are. Because who else would deliver a cheesy pickup line than a ‘Brick’.” The fact that he looked like he belonged on the cover of a romance novel made it even funnier.
He barked out a laugh. “Actually, you’ll have to blame my parents for that because my name really is Brick. But before you ask, I don’t have any siblings named Stone or Concrete or any other building material. Though I do have a cousin named Mason so there might be something of a theme there.”
I felt my face heat up but before I could gurgle out an apology, he leaned over and stuck his hand out toward me. “Brick Coolidge,” he said with a big enough smile that it was obvious he wasn’t offended by my putting my foot in my mouth.
“Brooklyn Prescott,” I said, letting go of the reins to slip my fingers into his, unable to ignore the warmth as his big hand enveloped mine.
“Good to meet you, Brooklyn” he said, squeezing my hand and drawing my name out in a way that felt really familiar. “But I did mean it when I said I hadn’t seen you around before and I’m at all these things.”
I let go of his hand, feeling the loss of his warmth immediately. “Maybe you just didn’t notice me,” I said, emboldened by his sexy smile.
“I definitely would have noticed you,” he said,
his eyelids half-closed as he tilted his head back and gave me a smoldering look. I couldn’t tell if he was joking at flirting or if he was just naturally sexy, but my thumping heart and sweaty palms didn’t care either way.
My riding jacket suddenly felt way too warm, matching my heated cheeks. “Well in that case,” I said. “I’ll admit this is my first Derby. I just started at Rosewood this year.”
He cocked his head and frowned, losing the sexy look. “I haven’t seen you at any of the dances.”
I didn’t remember seeing him at any of the dances, either, although between Brady, Jared and my friends, I hadn’t really done a lot of mingling outside my circle. “I didn’t go to the last one.”
“My loss,” he said.
“All right, everyone,” Bonita said loudly, breaking this little thing that was going on between me and Brick (seriously? I couldn’t even think of his name without wanting to shake my head at his parents). “We’re getting ready to start. I’ll need you in order starting with Brick here,” she pointed down at the ground in front of her.
“Good luck,” I said to him as he gave me a quick waggle of his eyebrows.
“And to you. I’ll see you at the party after.”
Just as he turned his horse to take his spot at the front of the line of show jumpers (I counted seventeen which meant even dead last, I’d only be seventeenth, which was slightly better than the two dozen or so in dressage), the hairs at the back of my neck prickled and I turned. There was Brady, staring at me. He’d probably seen the whole exchange between Brick and I. Then I realized he probably even knew Brick if they both went to the same school and were into horses. Holy awkward.
I wanted to say something, but what, I had no idea and he was too far away anyway. Not that I ever got the chance; just then he turned and walked away from me and the arena.
“Brooklyn?”
Oops. I was holding up the line to the competition. That’s what I needed to be focusing on, not my stupid (nonexistent) love life.
“Sorry,” I said, pulling Charlie over to the line of competitors and forcing myself to concentrate on mentally going through the course.
Hitting the Target Page 6
