Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 128313 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 642(@200wpm)___ 513(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128313 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 642(@200wpm)___ 513(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
As we descended the podium, the organizer was chatting to Atticus. I suddenly felt someone move to my side. Jake McGowen. “What?” I asked, walking faster in heading back to the stalls.
“You got in bed with the devil, huh?” he said in a shitty tone.
I turned on him. “Shut up, Jake. Don’t be a sore loser.”
“That’s not it,” he said, and I stopped dead.
“Go on, then. What is it?”
Jake checked around him. “Just know that your man has a lot of enemies.”
My heart skipped a beat. “I don’t have a man,” I argued, hating how I had to deny us. But this conversation was exactly why.
“Okay, Hallie. Whatever you say. But no one believes that Jasper would just let any random rider compete on Lord Henry.” I kept my mouth firmly closed to that. Jake sighed in annoyance. “Fine, keep your secrets, but be warned that people talk, and the gossip mill is rife.”
“Your friends, you mean?” I snapped back. “Funny how you’re trying to help me now when you sat there and let them rip me to shreds.”
“You have no idea what people in this industry are like, Hallie. They can be vicious.”
“Tell me something I don’t know, Jake.”
“People are out for Jasper, okay? I’m warning you to be safe,” he said again.
I narrowed my eyes on him. “Are you one of the people I have to look out for? Or is it just those two hags you keep hanging out with? Are they making threats against Jasper?” I rolled my eyes and went into full bitch mode. “Forgive me, Jake, but the company you keep, along with your family’s less than stellar reputation, doesn’t make you the kind of person I can trust.”
Jake laughed a humorless laugh. “Think what you want of me, but I don’t hurt people or horses.” I wasn’t sure whether that was true, so I didn’t reply. “Heed the warning or not. I was just giving you a friendly heads-up.”
“Then who?” I said, as he walked away. Jake turned around. “Who are his enemies? Give me names. Information, not hushed rumors and speculation. And the reason why.”
“Power? Jealousy? Take your pick. I have no idea who is after him,” Jake said, and his face did look earnest. “I just know someone is.” With that, he walked off.
I saw my team and Jasper waiting for me beyond the tunnel. I lifted my trophy over my head, dismissing Jake’s warning as jealousy, and they all cheered. Sage linked arms with me, and Atticus slung his arm over my shoulder.
“One glass of champagne is all you get in celebration,” Leon said, and Atticus rolled his eyes.
“Yes, Daddy,” Atticus joked.
“We have the team event tomorrow, and we want to win that too.” I smiled as my friends all celebrated around me. Looking over their shoulders, I met Jasper’s eyes.
“Love you,” he mouthed.
“Love you too,” I mouthed back.
This would be a day I would always remember. A dream came true; I had a newfound family that I adored and a man that I was madly in love with.
I wasn’t sure how I got so lucky, but one thing was for sure, I was never going to take it for granted.
Chapter Twenty
Jasper
The sun was hotter today, so hot that riders were allowed to ride without their jackets, and our team was clad all in white but for their boots. I stood beside Hallie, as always. She was the last to ride again today. Henry was stomping his feet, ready to go.
She pulled at her collar. “I’m boiling,” she said. But like she always did, she conducted her precompetition ritual: chin strap, girth, water. Mila handed her the water bottle. Hallie downed it in one. “That’s better,” she said, and smiled at me. It was normally just a sip, but today the weather clearly required more.
“Remember . . .” I said, but Hallie cut me off before I could finish.
“Lots of rein, hold him back on the triples, and lots of leg on the oxers.”
“Smart arse,” I said, smirking at my attitude. I leaned in closer. “Just for that, I’m going to make you wait to come tonight, Angel. Delayed gratification.”
“Sadist,” she sniped.
I shrugged. “Perhaps.”
Hallie swallowed her laugh, and Leon patted Henry’s neck, just as Dillon Matthews from Team USA came trotting out.
As he passed by, he said to Hallie, “Keep riding like this, Hallie, and you’ll be called up to Team USA in no time!”
“Thank you, Dillon!” she said, and beamed at me. My heart squeezed. She was getting all the acclaim she deserved, and she was amazing on Henry. I didn’t think I’d been prouder of anyone in my life.
The announcer called Hallie’s name, and she trotted out into the ring. Leon and I walked to the viewer’s plinth, Atticus and Sage coming too now that their rides were done.