The ball was in Hunter’s court.
Except for the horses staring at me with wide, brown eyes, there was no one around. I made my way toward the massive barn, where I could hear an occasional shout or grumbling voice drifting through the wide-open door. Nerves pricked my stomach once again and all that calmness flew away like a mist on the breeze.
It wasn’t too late to back out.
To run away and avoid facing Hunter forever.
Shaking my head, I took another deep, cleansing breath. Running away wasn’t an option. I was tougher than that. So what if I’d initiated that kiss? So what if Hunter had run away after kissing me back and leaving me utterly confused? If I was going to put everything back together, I was going to have to build some armor for my heart. No time to back out. With that in mind, I marched up to the barn and peered inside.
Several long rows of horse stalls took up the majority of the barn. Hay and wood chips flew in the air as a bunch of boys—the trouble-makers, as Hunter had called them—shoveled out the stalls. These were the Oakies, as the rest of Rock Valley knew them. Fosters kids, juvenile delinquents, and kids who’d been sent here by their own families to turn them around. Kids at school liked to gossip about them, but mostly, they kept to themselves. I recognized a couple of them. Graham, of course, was looking surly as ever as he shoveled some manure into a wheelbarrow. Rhett, from the pie contest, was there, too. Along with a few others I remembered from Hunter’s party.
“What can we do for you, darling?” a low, haggard voice asked, making me jump.
I’d missed the man standing next to the door like a grumpy guard dog. He looked like he was in his late fifties, with dark and weathered skin, a stained flannel shirt, and massive hands that held tight to the end of a shovel. I gulped, feeling the weight of his questioning gaze.
“I’m looking for Hunter,” I said in a small voice.
His frown deepened and he nodded, gesturing toward the next hallway of stalls. “You’ll find him down at the end, with Carolina.”
I pressed my lips into a grateful smile, wondering who this Carolina could be. Was she another girl trying to flirt with Hunter? He seemed to have plenty of those around these days.
Not that it mattered.
Hunter and I were going back to being friends. One hundred percent. He could flirt with all the girls in the world. It didn’t matter to me.
It really didn’t.
Armor around the heart already working? Definitely.
As I turned the corner to the next hallway of stalls, my eyes fell on a beautiful white horse with gray specks on her coat. She stood in the middle of the aisle; a rope attached to either side of her halter keeping her in place. I walked slowly up to her as she tossed her head and snorted. There was a name plate on the side of a nearby open stall. It read: Carolina.
“You’re Carolina?” Okay, it seemed that I didn’t have anything to worry about. Carolina was a horse. A big, beautiful horse. I sighed in relief and held out my hand for the horse to sniff. “Nice to meet you. I’m Charlotte.”
She made a clicking sound with her mouth and pressed her velvety smooth nose into my hand. I giggled, feeling the tickling sensation of her short whiskers against my palm. She let me trail my hand up her forehead and then scratch under her jaw. Her sweet, brown eyes blinked slowly as I finger-combed through her gray mane, and she snorted again.
“I’m glad to see you two have met.”
I looked up to see Hunter standing in the doorway of a nearby stall, holding a wooden brush in his hands as he smiled softly at me. Despite the heat in the barn, he looked calm and collected in jeans, teal blue flannel, and a white baseball cap. Like he’d just stepped from the pages of a teen magazine. The sight of him staring at me like that was a kick to the gut. My lungs deflated and the room began to spin a little.
Just friends. Just friends. Just friends.
“Hi.” Why did my greeting sound so squeaky? This was not the definition of cool.
He tilted his head slightly to one side and pressed his lips together for a moment. “Hi.”
That questioning look was back. The one he’d given me last night in the storeroom. It flickered in his eyes like a candle in a hurricane.
But I was in no state to be able to answer his questions. Not now, with the very sight of him rattling me to the core. I tore my gaze away, staring hard at the horse.
“Is she yours?”
He moved toward me and stopped to pat Carolina on the nose. Our shoulders brushed, sending a thrill through me.
“Gramps bought her for me at an auction. She comes from a good bloodline of competitors, but because of her age, she was no good to her previous owners. Grandpa saved her from being put down.”
I ran my fingertips along her neck. “That’s good. She seems really sweet.”
“She is. She’s the sweetest.”
My eyes flicked up to his face. Deep lines had formed in his forehead as he stared down at Carolina nudging his hand. Okay, it seemed that we were going for the ignore what happened between us plan. I was good with that. I could work with that.
The relief I felt was huge.
“Do I get to ride her?” I asked, smiling at him.
He met my eyes and nodded. “Let’s take her to the corral. I want to start with bareback to make sure you’ve got a good seat on you. Then, we’ll do a Western saddle.”
Half of that was gibberish to me, but at least Hunter knew what he was doing. He unhooked Carolina’s halter and led her to the open door at the end of the hall. I followed, taking in more sights of the Sweet Oak Ranch. It really was gorgeous. How anyone could come to live here and not turn their life around was beyond me. The place inspired goodness. My heart swelled just taking in the rolling green hills.
Hunter led us into a corral and shut the gate after me. He positioned Carolina close to the fence and motioned at me.
“Go ahead and get on up using the fence.”
“Wait—what? Now?” My mouth went dry just looking at the height of Carolina’s back. “Don’t I need a little instruction first?”
He harrumphed and held the reins tight in his hand. “Char, you and I both know you learn best by doing. So get on. Don’t worry, I won’t let you fall.”
I froze for a moment, wondering if those last few words had a double meaning behind them. I couldn’t be sure. But as I climbed the lowest rung of the fence and Hunter put his hands on my hips to help lift me up, the dizzying feeling was back.
It wouldn’t help to be dizzy on the back of a horse. So as soon as my rear end settled on Carolina’s back, I took a few deep and cleansing breaths. It felt odd, sitting up here, with nothing to hold onto. My knees awkwardly bumped against her sides. I fluttered my hands, unsure whether I could hold onto the bottom of her mane. I didn’t want to hurt her.
“Hunter, am I doing this right?” I asked, turning toward him.
But Hunter was already stepping up the fence and settling onto the horse behind me. My whole body froze as I felt him press up against me. I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t move. My heart raced as if I’d been given VIP passes to a BTS concert. And when his arms wrapped around me to place the reins in my hands, I nearly had a stroke.
“Here, hold them like this.” He gently maneuvered my fingers in a certain way to hold the reins. His breath was warm on my neck. I shivered, despite the heat.
Crud. This was not what I’d had in mind for this tutoring session. There was no way I would be able to concentrate on the lesson when my entire body was feeling hot for teacher.
Just friends.
“We’re going to do a few slow and easy rounds,” he said. I could feel him nudge Carolina into a walk with the heels of his boots. I bit my lip, trying my best to keep my thoughts on the horse. “Then, I’ll hop off and see how you handle it yourself.”
Slow sounded good. Kind of like the slow and easy way he’d kissed me last night.
Shoot. That was not where my mind was supposed to go.
Despite t
he inability to concentrate with Hunter so close, I somehow managed to stay up on the horse for those couple rounds. And when he finally hopped off, I even stayed on as I pressed Carolina into an easy trot. We quickly progressed to the Western saddle, which seemed like a breeze after riding bareback for an hour. And by the end of the session, I was riding like a pro around the ring with my hair flowing behind me in the breeze.
“You’re a natural,” Hunter said, coming over to grab Carolina’s reins as I pulled her to a stop. He smiled up at me, his eyes lighting up. “You’re gonna do great on Friday. You can ride Carolina for the show. She knows how to follow a lead. Two figure eights on the arena and then you’re done.”
I nodded, feeling a bit more confident. Tomorrow, the contestants had to judge an event. Then, on Friday was the rodeo and crowning. I could do this. After nailing the catwalk this morning, I felt hopeful for the first time in a long time.
“Come on,” Hunter said, pulling Carolina into a walk in the direction of the barn. “Let’s go brush her down. She deserves it, after that workout.”
I sat on the saddle, holding onto the horn, as Hunter walked ahead. He’d been unusually quiet this whole time, even though he was still an awesome teacher. Without his instruction, there was no way I would’ve stayed in that saddle. But his quietness bothered me. If we were going to pretend that last night had never happened, he couldn’t act like that. He had to be the old Hunter. The one who joked, and smiled, and tugged on my hair when I wasn’t paying enough attention to him.
Not this reserved, brooding cowboy who stared at his feet in silence the whole way back to the barn.
The Oakie boys must’ve finished cleaning out the barn, because it was silent when we got there, except for a few whinnies from the horses down the aisle. Hunter stopped Carolina in the same place as before and hooked the ropes to her reins to keep her in place. He turned to me, his frown deepening as he patted the horn.
“Always dismount on the left side,” he said, paying more attention to the saddle than to me. “Hold on to the horn. Swing your right leg back, and slide off.”
I nodded, following his directions. That sounded easy enough. As I slid down, I felt his hands on my waist, guiding me gently to the ground. That sweet way he touched me was enough to make me melt into a pool at his feet. The moment his hands left my waist, I turned slowly toward him. Hunter still stood awfully close. Too close. He was studying me with his hazel eyes, sparks of indecision returning to the pupils as he worked his jaw.
“Charlotte...about yesterday.”
Oh, no. I thought the plan had just been to avoid. I wasn’t ready for a confrontation. I’d already gotten used to the idea of pretending nothing had happened.
“Yeah?” I flashed him a tight-lipped smile.
“I just...” He turned his head to stare hard at the stall, his brow lowering over his solemn eyes. “I think we should talk about what happened, don’t you?”
I nodded, even as my mouth went dry. “Okay, sure.”
His eyebrows rose when he glanced up at me. “Charlotte, you know you’re my best friend. I would hate to ruin that.” He took a deep breath, indecision shining in his eyes until he licked his lips and blew it out. “And...that’s why we can’t let whatever happened between us last night happen again.”
My knees wobbled slightly. It felt like I’d been stabbed with a thin blade between my ribs. But why? This was what I’d wanted, right? For him to say it was wrong. That it never should’ve happened. That we needed to preserve our friendship. So, why did it hurt so much?
I felt so pathetic for jumping him like I did last night. What he must’ve thought of me...
“Y-y-yeah, you’re totally right.” I gestured with my hands, and gave him a helpless smile. Panic had taken over my brain. I couldn’t be sure what was going to come out of my mouth next. “You know, that kiss was just for practice, anyway.”
It seemed that the only thing I could do was save my own pride. After all, I didn’t have much of it left these days. I had to save every last drop of it that I could.
His brow arched. “Practice?”
I shrugged and patted Carolina on the neck. Lying to Hunter felt as good as swallowing a prickly pear cactus, but I couldn’t stop now. “Yeah, totally. Lexi keeps going on and on about finding me a cowboy and I just realized the other day that I’m so out of practice. And well, you know, I figured my best friend would be a good person to help me. You know...practice makes perfect.”
Disbelief shown in his eyes. It only lasted for a second, but it was definitely there. He blinked and then it was gone, replaced by frustration.
“You wanted practice kissing?” He leaned his arm against Carolina and huffed.
“Yeah.” My voice was getting weaker. “I mean, we have those rules and everything...”
His eyes narrowed slightly. “Never fall for each other.”
I exhaled in relief. He got it. Maybe now, I wouldn’t look so pathetic in his eyes.
“Exactly. So I figured, safe space.” These were the rules that would keep us friends forever. We couldn’t cross them again. Not even for a moment of weakness in a darkened storage closet. “It was...nice. And now, I feel better prepared.”
“Right.” He adjusted the bill of his baseball cap and patted Carolina on the back. She whinnied back to him, tossing her gray mane. “Well, next time, give me a little warning before you decide to practice anything on me.”
“Sure.”
“I’m glad we agree on this...issue.” He swallowed hard and nodded. “That it can never happen again. That we will always be friends.”
“It’ll never happen again,” I repeated, even as the memory of Hunter leaning closer to press his lips against mine sent a shiver down my spine.
I laughed nervously as he handed me a brush and went to take Carolina’s saddle off. As far as I was concerned, there would be no more practice of any kind. No more shiver-inducing grins. No more tingling touches. And no more kissing Hunter.
He was right. We were safe as friends. And I’d gone through enough trauma this last year that I didn’t need to risk losing my best friend, too. That would be the thing that would ruin me. Judging from today, Hunter obviously didn’t have any feelings for me. At least, nothing that went past the friend zone. So, I had to figure out a way to get over any residual feelings I still held for him. Fast.
And I was pretty sure I had a plan to do just that.
Chapter Fifteen
These melons were going to be the death of me.
And squash. Squash and melons. Who knew there were so many kinds in this world? I sure didn’t. Not until I was forced to try every last one. Now, I understood a bit of the boys’ pain during the pie contest. Judging food was not as fun as it looked. I was stuffed to the brim and there was no end in sight.
Ms. Gentry had us sitting at a long table set up on a platform at the edge of the arena. All the rodeo queen contestants and then a couple professional judges were present. We were probably more for show, but that didn’t make a difference to Ms. Gentry. If you’d ask her, what we were doing was as important as brain surgery.
A red checkered tablecloth lay over the top of the table, with a stack of miniature paper plates for each of us. Ms. Gentry oversaw the 4H kids cutting up their fruits and veggies, bringing them to us to be scored on a sheet of paper. A small crowd had gathered in the stands, waiting for each score to be called aloud.
I held in a sigh, as yet another watermelon made the rounds. It was decent, but my bulging stomach was ready to call it quits. Still, I kept my spine straight and my elbows off the table, ready for Ms. Gentry’s eagle eye to spot every indiscretion. Sarah sat two spots over, looking a little droopy this morning. She’d smeared her lipstick a bit and her cheeks weren’t as contoured as usual. Her tired expression as she took a bite of the watermelon was almost pathetic.
It didn’t matter to me. What mattered was that my target was currently in sight and after the judging event, I was going to nab him.
Graham stood with a few of the Sweet Oak boys near the edge of the bleachers. They were being a little too loud, laughing and shoving each other occasionally. I studied Graham, feeling more and more determined by the minute that I was going to march up to him after this was over and ask him out.
Lexi had wanted me to get a cowboy for motivation to win this competition. Now, I needed a cowboy to help me forget any misplaced feelings I had for my best friend.
A friend who obviously thought kissing me had been a mistake.
Graham would do the trick.
“Another watermelon, coming through.” Geminia passed me a plate and I nearly rolled my eyes in disgust.
It was a good thing I caught myself. Ms. Gentry had me pinned with her eagle eyes. We made eye contact and she gave me the tiniest nod, which made me think she was actually impressed with my behavior.
Maybe this crown would be mine, after all.
“Last one, ladies,” Ms. Gentry called, and I swear, all the girls slumped with relief. I felt their pain. “Finish your samples and score sheets. I will tally the results of your contest today and send out the current standings. Tomorrow morning, we meet to practice our ride into the arena. And in the evening, you will have your last Junior Rodeo Queen event. Make sure to maintain your decorum. No slipping, now that the end is in sight. Remember—forty percent of your score will be determined by your performance.”
As if we could forget. Ms. Gentry had only been lecturing us every spare second about how much depended on that last ride. I gulped down my bite of watermelon, scored my sheet, and passed it along to the end as quickly as I could. Hopping up from the table, I made a bee-line for Graham and his friends. They didn’t notice me approach. It wasn’t until I tapped Graham on the shoulder and he turned to see who it was did they finally stop their joking around.
“Hey, Graham.” I lifted my chin, determined not to chicken out at the last minute. This plan was crucial to getting my life back to normal this year. I wouldn’t let my nerves get in the way. “You said we could hang out sometime. Want to go to a movie tonight?”
Dare You to Resist the Bull Rider (Rock Valley High Book 4) Page 12
