prologue
. . .
Wren
He whistledas his back rested against the tall tree in the field, the one where we’d met every day since summer break had started. “Coming in hot, Horse Girl!”
I applied the slightest bit of pressure to the reins, and my thoroughbred, Wrax, slowed before coming to a stop in front of Axel.
He was wearing his signature cowboy hat, white tee, faded jeans, and worn boots.
“Hey,” I said, slightly breathless from my ride as I threw my stashed halter on Wrax and tied him to the tree beside his horse, Honey.
“It’s hot as hell out here. Why aren’t you wearing a hat?” he asked.
“Because I ran him hard before I came to meet you, and let’s just say I was moving too fast to keep a hat on my head.” I smirked before dropping to sit beside him.
He tossed me an apple, and I took a bite.
Axel Chadwick was my best friend, my favorite person on the planet, and my riding partner. He was two years older than me, and we’d been riding together since I was five years old.
My parents had gotten me a horse a little over a year ago for my fourteenth birthday, so I’d combined our names when I came up with his.
Wren and Axel.
Wrax.
“You ready for this weekend?” he asked after taking a bite of his apple. Axel was going to be a senior this year in high school, while I’d be starting my sophomore year.
“I’m ready.” I’d entered into my first eventing competition. I’d been training and competing in dressage and show jumping for the last few years, but now I was ready to add in the cross-country portion as well.
“Leave it to you to find a way to take out all the dudes.” He chuckled as he set his hat beside him on the ground. His overgrown wavy light brown hair fell over his forehead. A dusting of freckles covered his nose and cheeks, his golden skin kissed by the sun from hours of working on the ranch this summer.
“I’m hardly ‘taking out all the dudes.’” I rolled my eyes, even though we both knew that was exactly what I intended to do.
Eventing was a sport where men and women competed against one another. It was also an Olympic sport, one that my grandfather had competed in many years before. My father had big dreams of me being the next Waterstone to make the team someday.
“They’re going to shit their pants when you roll up, trust me.” He reached for his water bottle and took a sip. “Horse Girl is going to leave them in her dust.”
He’d given me the nickname when we’d first started riding together, and I supposed it had just stuck.
“We’ll see how it goes.” I shrugged. “How was your date last night?”
He groaned. “It was a shitshow.”
“What happened?”
“We went out to the bonfire, and let’s just say Gina started taking shots the minute we got there, and I ended up with vomit all over me and my truck.”
I shook my head and laughed.
“Shocking. Are you telling me that you didn’t have riveting conversation with Gina Carmella?”
Gina was also going to be a senior this coming year. Personally, I thought the girl was stuck up, and I wasn’t a fan. But Axel had crushed on her for a while. I knew it had more to do with the big boobs and the short skirts, because she wasn’t nice by nature. She’d always been rude to me.
“I don’t need to have riveting conversation with her. I’ve got you for that.” He bumped his shoulder against mine. “Is Jake coming to your competition?”
“I hope not. I’m not dating him. It’s not like that.” Jake Sanders worked on the ranch where I trained, and he’d asked me to go have ice cream a few times. He was nice enough, but I didn’t have time for boys.
