Page 39 of Verdict

Walker interrupted. "Nope, I wasn't planning on riding today. You can totally take them." He grinned. "You should take Cohen to my spot—best view of my property."

Such a dick.

Cohen glared at Walker.

"Cohen's not used to being around horses; he's never ridden," I said, trying again to help Cohen out.

My mom smiled at Cohen. "What better way to get used to them than to ride them? You can't come all the way out here and not ride."

Cohen shoved his hands into his pockets and took a deep breath. No one ever said no to Laurel James. "All right. I'll give it a try."

I tilted my head in surprise. "Really?"

He nodded. "I trust you won't let me fall," he said quietly.

Something warm settled in my chest as he said it. A slow smile tugged at my lips. "Never."

Chapter 11

Cohen

Walker was a dick.

It wasn’t lost on me that he always found ways to pay me back for sleeping with his sister. Getting me on a horse was most definitely one of those ways.

It wasn’t that I was scared of horses—I just… respected them. And their space.

Walker took my left knee in his hand and hoisted me up onto his horse, Tex. I ended up slamming my chest against the saddle, barely getting my right leg swung over the giant-ass horse. The dipshit was laughing behind me. I glanced over my shoulder and glared at him. "You're finding this entirely too funny, asshole."

He patted his horse's neck and shrugged as I got settled into the saddle. "I just like seeing you not be good at something."

"Don't get used to it, dick."

"Will you two shut up already? Walk, we need to actually show Cohen what to do, not just mock him, you jackass," Ava snapped.

I flashed her an appreciative grin.

Walker rolled his eyes. "Fine. All right, here take the reins like this." He showed me how to position the reins in my hand. "And hold onto the saddle horn for support if you need it." He stepped back and looked up at me. "Don’t worry about Tex. I put you on him because he’ll put up with your bullshit."

Ava groaned. "What Walk means to say is Tex understands voice command and doesn't need you to apply pressure for him to go forward or pull on the reins to stop. All you need to do is sit still. When you want him to walk, say walk. When you want him to slow down, say whoa, and when you want him to stop, say halt."

"Walk. Whoa. Halt. Got it." I nodded.

We made our way toward the trail on Walker’s property that wound through the hills and overlooked a river. Tex followed alongside Ava on Ranger, and after about ten minutes into the ride, I finally started to relax.

Okay, maybe just slightly.

The rhythmic sound of hooves against the earth, swishing tails, and birdsong settled me more than I expected. It felt a lot like the first time I’d held Ellie—unnerving at first, then strangely grounding.

Except for the moments Tex perked his head or took a misstep. Then I found myself gripping the reins a little tighter than necessary.

Ava, on the other hand, was a natural on horseback. I'd never seen her ride or jump, but even just watching her walk, you could see her subtle confidence—perfect balance, completely at ease. She was breathtaking. Her long dark waves were pulled up into a ponytail, little pieces breaking free in the breeze. Her face was sun-kissed, leaving the faintest of freckles dusting her nose. Her navy-blue eyes were shining. I wished I could take a picture of her the way she was right now. Beautiful and carefree.

"Ok. Favorite color?" Sensing my nervousness, Ava started a game of twenty-one questions to distract me.

"Blue," I answered easily.

"Favorite food?"