‘I was not…!’
‘Say cheese!’ Aidan called out, ignoring her protest.
‘Cheese!’ I said loudly, turning to face her.I expected to be met with a glare but instead her mouth tilted up into a half smile.
Well, won’t you look at that.
Not only was Halle taking a photo with me, willingly, she was almost cracking a smile.
Turned out miracleswerepossible.
* * *
‘I did it!’ Halle said, a giant grin splitting her face.I got off my horse and watched her excitedly wriggle around on the saddle.‘Not only did I do the whole ride without falling off, this time I also made the horse stop all by myself too.’
‘You sure did!’ I said.‘I’m proud of you.’
Her eyes widened.
‘You are?’
‘Yeah.That can’t have been easy.You could’ve just sat it out and hidden inside the bus, but you didn’t.You faced your fears.That took guts.’
Halle blinked a few times before swallowing hard.
Seemed like she wasn’t used to compliments.
‘Thanks,’ she said sheepishly, before swinging her leg back over the horse to dismount.Halle paused midway.‘I forgot to say thank you to you too, Champ.’ She patted her horse on its side.
My chest immediately tightened.Depending on how the horse had been trained, patting it like that could be seen as a signal for it to move or follow a specific command.
Less than a second later, just as I feared, Champ did a quick turn, causing Halle to lose her footing.
‘No!’ I called out as the movement sent Halle crashing towards the ground…
16
HALLE
‘Shit!’ I let out a desperate ear-splitting scream as I tumbled from the horse in what felt like slow motion.
That’d teach me to brag about how well I’d done riding a horse.
I’d jinxed it and now I was fucked.
I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing myself for the worst.
But just as I thought I was about to crash to the ground and meet my maker, strong arms gripped my body.
My eyes flew open and I saw Jake towering above me, fear etched into his features.
He’d caught me.
Jake told me he’d keep me safe and he’d kept his promise.
As he lifted me into his arms I melted against him.
He’d saved me.Like a real-life hero.
