“You take anything for the headache?”
A nod.
“If it keeps up, maybe you should go to the doctor’s,” I offered. She’d been sick quite a bit this past week. Between the headaches and the queasiness, something wasn’t right.
Another kiss to my lips. “You worry too much, it’s not good for you. It causes frown lines.”
I rolled my eyes, flicking her nose gently. She scrunched it up and batted away my hand, but it served as the distraction I think she intended.
“One more good luck kiss?” she asked.
I was helpless but to oblige her.
Ihadn’t dated manygirls who rode. I hadn’t dated very many girls in general, to be honest. Not when I was so hooked on Ashleigh. Ashleigh never cared for riding. She could if she needed to and was comfortable enough around horses, but she never had a passion for it.
Funny, since horses were how we’d met.
Her mom was the therapist Aunt Violet and Bad hired to come help me talk. Her mom ran a mobile equine therapy program,and brought Ashleigh with her to almost every single one of our sessions.
And while Ashleigh could ride a horse—make it go, spin it around, stop it—she couldn’t ride like Cheyenne.
And boy, did she sure ride. Country Road was small and fast. Faster than a streak of lightning. She tore across the starting line and shot for the right barrel, her and Cheyenne moving so quick it was almost like they were soaring through the air. The way they moved, it was effortless as she rounded the barrel and headed for the next.
The clock ticked away. The seconds feeling like minutes. With each passing moment, my excitement grew.
“Come on, come on, come on,” I murmured beside Cash and the rest of our group, who all cheered and hollered for Cheyenne. She rounded the final barrel, but took it too sharp. Country Road knocked into it, making it wobble before righting itself. But that little bump was all it took for the two of them to lose their stride.
They crossed the finish line with a 14.169. Not bad at all. But not the 13.9 she needed to win. Reserve Champion was still great, though.
I stood, waiting for her against the pipe-stall as she cooled down Country Road in the warmup arena. Nothing on her face showed even a flicker of anger, but I could see it in the tension in her body. In the way her hands and legs flexed and clenched.
“You okay?” I asked.
“I took that fuckin’ barrel too sharp.”
I nodded. “Yeah. But it is what it is. Second is still pretty good.”
She came to a stop on the other side of the pipe-stall. “It’s still not first, though.”
“But it ain’t last,” I replied with a shrug.
She rolled her eyes but a small, closed-lipped smile quivered to life on her face. “True.”
I nodded, gesturing for her move toward the gate. She met me there and dismounted before the two of us walked Country Road back toward the trailer. “You can’t win ‘em all, Chey.”
She sighed and leaned into me, any of the remaining fight leaving her, so I wrapped an arm around her waist as we walked, enjoying the feel of her warmth at my side. The trailer came into view when she froze in place, a groan escaping her. “Oh god, I feel…”
I glanced over at her, finding her all but swaying on her feet. Her face was white as a ghost, a sheen of sweat coating her brow.
“...I feel dizzy.” Even her voice sounded off. Weak.
I steadied her. Worry shot through me. “You okay? What’s goin’ on?”
She shook her head as if to clear it. “I…I don’t know. I’m probably just overheated. This weather ain’t helpin’.”
I nodded. She wasn’t wrong. Even with it almost being dusk, it was still nearly a hundred out, then add the humidity to it. “Come on, let’s get you some water.”
I let her lean on me as we walked the rest of the way to the trailer before forcing her to sit in one of the lawn chairs. I stole the reins from her and tied up Country Road, leaving her tacked up for themoment as I grabbed a water out of the cooler, and thrust it into Cheyenne’s hands. “Here, have some of this.”
