Cheyenne shrugged. “She seems fine to me.”
I frowned, but Cheyenne knew the horse more than I did at this point. She came out religiously every mid-morning and early evening to work with her. Saddling her, desensitizing her to sounds, materials, environments.
Maybe I was just being overprotective. I felt like I had good reason to, though. Another week gone and her bump was becoming more pronounced. I’d never been more attracted to her. But seeing how far along she was and knowing that what she was doing had the potential for disastrous consequences scared the hell out of me.
I bit my tongue.She’s gonna do what she wants to do.
She led the filly outside, disappearing through the barn doors. I heard the hinges creak open on the round pen before creaking closed once more.
I continued brushing Blue Zeus down, telling myself I wouldn’t go out and hover. This was her deal, her horse. I wanted—no, needed to respect that. But each moment I spent inside with the blue roan colt sent my heart rate pumping faster and faster. By the time I put him in his stall, hung his halter, and walked out of the barn, I was pretty sure I might have a damn heart attack.
The dying sun cast the round pen in a sea of burning orange light, bright enough that I still had to shield my eyes even with my sunglasses on. The filly loped around the arena, snorting and breathing heavily. Her tail was erect, ears in a position I still wasn’t entirely too happy with, but I didn’t say anything as I took a seat on one of the mounting blocks and watched them.
the filly settled into her warm up, and some of the worry knotted tight in my chest loosened a bit. Maybe I was just being paranoid. I noticed Cash rolling up the road in the old piece of shit ranch truck he demanded we bring from his parents’ house. As much as I hated the thing, it had come in handy on numerous occasions—if you could get the thing running.
He seemed to notice us as well, angling the truck over toward the barn.
“Hey! Think you can help me with this damn thing. It’s makin’ some weird ass noises,” he called, leaning damn near half way out of the truck. As he lumbered to a stop, a loud popping noise erupted from it, echoing off the barn and making the plague of Grackles resting in the trees fly away.
The filly’s squeal drew my attention. She galloped around the pen, tossing her head, pinning her ears. Terror clenched me like a vice as she tore straight at Cheyenne. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Cheyenne dodged the horse, climbing up the pipe-stall with swift speed, but it was too close of a call for my taste.
“Get the hell out of the arena!” I bellowed, my heart a panicked staccato reverberating through my ears, my veins, my bones.
I felt the heat of her glare from where I stood. “Excuse me?”
“Get out,” I repeated, my tone unyielding.
To my surprise, she did. “What the fuck is the issue?” she spat, coming to stand before me with a hand on her hip, a defiant look shining in her turquoise gaze.
I couldn’t let her get hurt. I’d never forgive myself if something happened to her. “You ain’t workin’ that filly anymore,” I replied, hoping she wouldn’t question the decision.
But that wasn’t the girl I was dating. She was wild and reckless, fury and flame. She was gasoline and the lighter. “Like fuckin’ hell I’m not.”
“Cheyenne, you damn near got trampled just now.” I whirled a hand toward the round pen where the horse still trotted around, snorting and swishing her tail.
She rolled her eyes. “I was fine. It was Cash’s stupid truck. If you’re gonna be mad at anyone, be mad at him.”
I wasn’t mad at either of them, but at the whole situation. At the lack of control I felt over the events that had just unfolded. With a sigh, I said, “I don’t want you workin’ with that horse.” It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Cheyenne, but the filly was a completely different story.
Her lips drew into a scowl, her brows furrowing together. “Why? She’s been fine up until just now.”
I shook my head. So, she hadn’t noticed the horse’s tension earlier. It told me all I needed to know. “The minute you grabbed that horse's halter, she started actin’ funny. Why’d you think I mentioned somethin’ in the barn?”
“Okay, so I missed that. I would hardly say that justifies takin’ my damn horse away.”
“It does when it’s my horse and your actions put you andthatbaby in danger.”
Her gaze on me narrowed, her eyes blue infernos that held the heat of a thousand suns. Well, shit. If I wanted to piss her off, I’d definitely accomplished that.
“Hey, now y’all. Let’s not fight.” Cash came between us, his voice holding a mocking calmness to it. I knew what he was trying to do, what he so often did with great success, but I wasn’t in the mood for his antics.
“Cash, not now.”
His hazel gaze widened a moment, a look of shock settling around him. With a nod, he walked back to the truck and sat himself in the driver’s seat. Thank fuck, I’d expected more of a fight.
“That’s bullshit,” she snarled at me. “I’ve been workin’ my ass off makin’ progress with this horse and you want me to just stop workin’ her?”
