“That’s a given. But first I want to try something.”
She wanted to tell him to go to hell, but after a long moment, she slapped the reins into his palm. He draped them back over Fire’s neck while moving to the opposite side to lower the right stirrup. Grudgingly, she lowered the one on her side, too.
When he joined her on the left side, she wordlessly bent to offer her interlocked hands and boosted him up into the saddle. His western boots and jeans looked completely out of place with her English saddle, but his form was flawless as he nudged Fire into a trot, and then a canter. He made a circuit of the arena, to get a feel for the horse beneath him, she assumed, then took him over a couple of the jumps Fire had completed for her with ease.
Next, he pointed him toward the vertical Fire had refused three times in a row, and Raine’s entire body went rigid. Her breath shortened as her pulse beat faster.
Fire sailed right over without a second of hesitation.
A flash of relief was replaced by fury. She clenched her fists at her sides as Reyes rode up and dismounted. Because she totally expected a smug smile, his solemn expression left her confused.
“And what do you think that proved?” she accused. “That you’re better than me?”
“No. That you’re the one who’s afraid, not your horse.”
Her stomach lurched as if she’d just done a loop-de-loop on a roller coaster immediately after lunch. She wanted to grab the reins from his hand and run, but she forced herself to face him squarely. “I am not afraid.”
“There’s no shame in it, Raine. That was a tough wreck by anyone’s standards.”
“How would you know?”
“I saw the tape.”
Of course he had. Seemed he’d seen all kinds of tape lately. Her gut clenched at the thought of him watching her fail.
“It’s going to take some working through,” he added. “Especially if you haven’t even admitted it to yourself yet.”
“There’s nothing to admit,” she bit out. “We’re fine.”
“Come on now. You don’t believe that any more than I do.”
The surprising gentleness in his tone made her eyes sting, and she snatched the reins to lead Fire back to the barn.
“I didn’t say we were done,” Reyes said behind her.
She ignored him and kept walking while reaching up to yank at the strap of her helmet. After pulling it off, she transferred it to her left hand with the reins so she could swat away the stray strands of hair tickling her cheeks.
“Hey.”
All the gentle was gone from his voice. And the command that had taken its place pissed her off enough to yell over her shoulder, “I say we’re done. In fact, I’m done with all of this.” She reached back to wave her arm in a huge circle to indicate him and the entire arena behind her as she continued toward the barn. “I’m calling my dad, and I’m going home.”
“Wow. You gave it what? Two hours?”
“That’s all it took to see you don’t have a clue what you’re doing.”
“So, you’re not only afraid of the jumps, you’re afraid of me, too.”
His voice came from right behind her, and she flinched before whirling around. “I’m not afraid of you. I just can’t stand you.”
Liar.
He crossed his arms. “Whatever you gotta tell yourself.”
She practically growled as she leaned forward. “I don’t like you. Sorry if it hurts your fragile little ego, but you were a jerk last summer, and you’ve been a jerk since I got here last night. The truth is, it’s taking everything I have not to smack you right now.”
His eyebrows shot up as he gave a short laugh of disbelief. “Really?”
“Yes, really.”