“Ohmigod, that was so fun! This boy has hopsandspeed.” She leaned against Bucky and rubbed his neck. “Ithink I’m in love.”
Wyatt shook his head, chuckling. “I told you to watch the turns.”
“And miss out on that action? Never!”
“Yeah, well now you see why we don’t rent him out,” Wyatt said. “Most riders aren’t nearly as crazy as you.”
“Don’t listen to him, Bucky,” Dylan said, pulling the horse’s nose down so she could kiss his forehead. “You’re perfect.”
I shook my head. Only Dylan would thinka horse who hopped like a rabbit before bolting was perfect. And somehow, we had to race him like that?
“Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked. “You didn’t hit your head, did you?”
“Yeah. Seriously. He’s going to be perfect for what we need.”
“I’m trusting you on this, because I don’t even know how it works.”
Wyatt’s expression changed, and I stiffened. “What do you mean you don’t know how itworks?” he asked.
“Well,” I said carefully, “I have never been to a roundup or rodeo or whatever, and I’ve never ridden western, so this buddy pick-up thing is kind of alien to me. I tend to ride straight, not make tight turns around a barrel or jump onto a horse while it’s moving.”
“You’ll ride, I’ll jump,” Dylan said.
“Wait, you’re tellin’ me she’s never done this before?” Wyatt said, lookingat Dylan and talking about me like I wasn’t even there. “Has she even run the barrels?”
“Hello?” I asked, waving. “Me? Are you talking about me?”
“She rides English,” Dylan said. “They don’t have barrels. They jump. She knows what she’s doing, though. She’ll be fine.”
“You two do realize I’m right here, right?” I asked.
“On Bucky? Dyl, you saw what he does. Are you tryin’ to get her killed?I’m shuttin’ this down,” Wyatt said.
“Shutting what down?” I asked. “I swear I’m going to kick both of you in the shins if you don’t stop talking about me like I’m not here.”
His gaze finally found me. “Sorry, Addie, but I can’t in good conscience let you ride in a dangerous competition when you don’t know what you’re doing. You could get hurt.”
I frowned in Dylan’s direction and she crossedher arms and glared at Wyatt. What the hell was up with all these men who felt the need to protect me? It was starting to piss me off.
“You don’t really have a say in it,” I snapped.
“My horse, my decision,” he said.
I took a deep breath. “You’re right. I apologize. I think we should go, Dylan.” I turned Firebrand back toward the house and saw a low fence separating the hill from the pasture.It was a similar height to what I used as a beginning rider when I was about five, and I knew that even if Firebrand had never jumped before, he’d be able to do it. Wyatt needed to see what I could do, but I also wasn’t stupid enough to make a western horse jump something he wouldn’t naturally do in the wild or out in the field...either or both of us could get hurt. This little fence would be nosweat for him. I dug my heels in.
Wyatt bellowed a few curses behind me.
This amazing, gorgeous, fabulous animal cleared the fence with quite a bit to spare and I heard Dylan’s excited hoot behind me. I grinned and pulled Firebrand to a walk, cooling him down as we waited for Dylan to mount. Then she and Wyatt caught up to us.
“What the hell was that?” Wyatt snapped. “You could have beenhurt. You could have harmed my horse.”
Okay, I really hadn’t expected the rage he exhibited, but I was determined to plead my case. “I would never do anything to harm a horse, Wyatt. Ever. That fence we jumped was just above ground poles, so I knew Firebrand would have no problem clearing it. He’s probably jumped things higher out in the pasture to get to better grass.”
Wyatt scowled.
“Am Iwrong?” I challenged.
“She knows what she’s doing Wy,” Dylan piped in. “She’s trained several of her own horses over the years.”
