“Why’d he do it?”
“Because I didn’t win the last few competitions. I’ve been in a slump ever since the world championship. And then we took a bad fall at the last competition, and my father doesn’t think Wrax is going to take me to the Olympics. Didn’t you read the damn article like everyone else in this town did?” she asked, her words wobbly.
I stalked toward her. “I read it. I don’t understand it. I figured you would know what the fuck was really going on.”
She placed her hands on her hips. “He sold Wrax without telling me he was doing so. A few men showed up and just took him away. And trust me, I tried to fight them off, but I was outnumbered.”
She was blinking again, fighting back all that emotion.
What the fuck was going on?
“Jesus, Wren. You fought a bunch of men you didn’t know?” I shook my head with disbelief. “What did Coach Sharky say?”
She blew out a breath. “He knew about it. It was a double betrayal. They decided this together. He thinks Wrax should be done, and apparently they didn’t think I’d ride another horse unless they forced my hand.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“Can you buy him back?”
“I’ve been dependent on my trust fund ever since I graduated college and decided to train full-time.” She shrugged. “My father is the trustee. He handles all large purchases. Obviously, I have another account with money that I’ve won over the years. But it’s certainly not enough to buy my horse back. And no sponsor is going to buy back a senior horse. But Collin is trying to find him for me, and I’ll figure out how to get him back once I know where he is.” Collin was her older brother and a dude I despised.
“Jesus, Wren. What does your mom say?”
“Well, my mother has filed for divorce, so she’s kind of got her own stuff going on at the moment.”
“How are you living at the house with him after what he’s done?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.
“Where do you think I should have gone, huh? I came home to find out what the hell was going on. And I’m not looking for pity. I’m the rich girl who gets to chase her dreams, right? It’s my best shot at finding out where Wrax is—plus, I can’t compete without a horse, so no sense staying at the training facility. And if you want the truth, my life is an actual shitshow at the moment. Does that make you happy, Axel?” I tracked her movements as her hand moved to circle her opposite wrist, tracing the tattoo that matched mine.
In a heartbeat.
We’d sure fucked that up.
But I recognized the movement, because she’d always trace over it when she was nervous.
“Does that make me happy? Fuck, Wren. Of course not. I might not understand why you left me, and I might be pissed off—but I sure as shit don’t want to see you hurt.”
Her mouth fell open as if I’d just said something unimaginable. “If you don’t know why I left, then you must think I’m stupid.”
I knew I’d offended her back then, but it certainly didn’t warrant blocking me and not speaking to me for all this time. We’d had a million disagreements over the years, but we’d never let them go on long.
So this was clearly different, and I wasn’t the one who’d shut the other one out, so I didn’t have a fucking clue.
And I was pissed off that she wouldn’t have taken the time to just talk to me about it.
“Negative to both,” I said dryly, just as the sound of gravel crunching beneath tires had us both turning to see Coby pulling up.
“Well, I didn’t come here to dig up the past. I’m just trying to figure out what the hell I’m going to do with my life now, and that’s plenty at the moment.” She turned on her heels and walked away.
“I’m not the bad guy here, Wren,” I hissed as I stormed past her.
She hurried past me, because the woman was competitive to her core, and she was not going to let me enter the building first.
“I guess that’s up to interpretation,” she said as she pulled the door open and stepped inside, just as I crashed into her in my attempt to beat her there.
“I liked it better when you weren’t speaking to me,” I grumped.
“Good. I prefer it that way, too.”
