Winning Isn’t Just About Ribbons
“Fourth place!” Janette pulled me into an excited hug, taking her turn after the dean did the same. It wasn’t a top three finish, but it was still a ribbon and all things considered, I was pretty darn proud of myself. We were at the reception after the Derby, where all the competitors got to sit around, eat snacks and hang out with other horse people. Of course, with it being a co-ed competition, there was a lot of flirting going on, although the females outnumbered the few males in the equestrian center club by something like four to one. What’s that old saying? Like shooting fish in a barrel. Though after everyone had competed, this barrel wasn’t the freshest-smelling thing.
Speaking of flirting: “Congratulations,” Brick said, arriving at my right side. He passed me a glass of something fizzy and I lifted a brow.
“Just sparkling cider,” he said, chuckling at my suspicion. “This is a school event, after all.”
“Of course,” I said, feeling stupid for even thinking for a second that it could be champagne. “And I should be congratulating you for taking first place.”
He shrugged, looking a little embarrassed and I wondered if winning these things was his standard operating procedure. Of course, it wasn’t exactly Olympic level or anything, but...
He leaned in close. “Want to go for a walk?” he asked, his voice a low rumble in my ear.
I looked up at him and his eyes widened. “Not for anything skeevy. Just, it’s loud in here and I don’t know about you, but I could use a bit of fresh air...” he wrinkled his nose and shrugged, his cheeks getting a little pink. It was pretty cute and made my stomach do a flip even though I was slightly worried that I was contributing to the air being not so fresh after doing the practicing and then competing hard.
Then I thought about Brady’s face from before when he’d walked away and how weird I’d felt about it. This guy was cute and it was fun just flirting, but the last thing I wanted to do was shove it in Brady’s face. And if I disappeared outside with Brick, it was definitely sending a message.
“I’d better not,” I said, casually sweeping my eyes around the big club room, trying subtly to find Brady. No luck.
“Who are you looking for?” Brick asked. So much for being subtle.
“Oh, uh...” I figured there was no point in lying. “Coach Fleming.”
“I saw him go out to the barn. Probably to go check on his horse. He’s stabled here, you know.”
“Oh really?” I asked, even though of course I did know.
“Yeah,” he nodded. “He’s such a good rider. Well he was; I don’t think he’s been on a horse since his injury...” he shook his head, seeming to feel sincerely bad for Brady. Which suddenly made me feel guilty for even talking to Brick, like somehow I was cheating on Brady. Which was stupid but I couldn’t help it.
“I’m sorry,” I said, putting the glass of cider down on the nearest table. “I need to go find him.”
“Right now?” Brick asked, looking a tiny bit hurt that I was about to ditch him.
“It’s important,” I assured him. And it was the truth; it was very important that I get away from this guy and go find Brady to tell him that while he and I couldn’t be together, I wasn’t looking to date anyone else. It felt imperative in that second he know that.
Brick nodded, but I hardly registered as I turned toward the door and slipped out into the sunshine and walked as quickly as I could toward the stables. Now that I’d cooled down, I was glad for my riding jacket; although it was a mild day for the season, it was still winter. I crossed my arms against the chilly air.
The big sliding door to the barn was still partially open so I made my way down the main aisle and around the corner toward where I knew Albatross was stabled. The hallway was empty, but I could hear voices.
I stopped in my tracks and listened, at first not wanting to interrupt and waiting for a natural break in the conversation. I recognized Brady’s voice and realized he must be in Albatross’s stall. I strained to hear who he was talking to, but after a moment, it became clear that he was talking to his horse. I smiled at that because it was about the cutest thing ever that this strong quiet guy who didn’t do a whole lot of talking at the best of times was having a (presumably one-sided) conversation with his horse.
I felt bad for eavesdropping, but not bad enough to leave. In fact, I’m ashamed to admit I sidled a bit closer.
“...don’t know what I was thinking. She kept telling me it wouldn’t work and we need to stop torturing ourselves.” There was a long pause. “She’s right. We really can’t be together.”
Oh, I thought. He’s talking about me. Us. I inched a bit closer still. It seemed like it was slightly less wrong to eavesdrop on your hot coach talking to his horse if you were the subject of his conversation. At least that’s what I told myself.
“I shouldn’t care if she’s flirting with some other guy. She should be happy. Coolidge is a good guy...” He sighed heavily. “So why is it killing me, Al?”
My heart thumped so hard in my chest at making him feel this way. That he wanted me to be happy even though it made him so conflicted just about killed me. That he still wanted me, undid me.
“It’s probably just as well I never found her in London.”
Wait. What?
“That would have been a complete disaster.”
I held my breath, but he didn’t say anything else. Albatross snorted and then I heard Brady mutter something I couldn’t quite make out.
I thought about London. About that one time when I’d been walking to Piccadilly Circus and I’d happened to glance into that pub window. I’d seen a guy that looked like he could have been Brady’s twin and thought I was losing my mind, conjuring him up half a world away. Had that been him? Had he followed me to London? Despite my suddenly dry mouth and my thumping heart, I had to know.
I took the few steps to bring me to the front of Albatross’s stall and watched quietly for a moment as Brady stood there, absently stroking his horse’s face, his back to me. I didn’t dare open the stall door, keeping it as a barrier between us.
The horse noticed me and bobbed his head up and down with a snort: his horsey greeting.
Brady turned and saw me, his face conflicted, like he didn’t want me there but at the same time wanted to see me more than anything. At least, that’s pretty much how I felt in that moment, so maybe I was projecting.
“Brooklyn,” he said.
That did it: I chickened out. I cleared my throat before I said, “You weren’t at the party,” I pointed my thumb over my shoulder back toward the club room. “Didn’t you want anything?”
He shrugged and turned his eyes toward Albatross. “I’m back in school and returning to coaching on Monday, so I thought I’d spend a bit more time with him now while I can.”
And avoiding me at the same time is just a bonus, I didn’t say. Though it made sense if he had seen Brick and I flirting. Ugh.
“Did you follow me to London?” I blurted out before I even realized what I was doing.
His eyes widened as his head snapped toward me. “How long have you been standing there?”
“Long enough to hear you talking about going to London.”
He exhaled, but kept his hand on the horse’s neck, absently scratching under his mane. He nodded once. “At Christmas.”
I unlatched the door to the stall and let myself in before closing it behind me. “I thought you were in California,” I said.
“I was,” he said, his hand stilling on the horse’s neck. “Via London.”
“Why?”
He shook his head, his lips pressed together tightly as he looked at me with his signature intense stare.
“Why, Brady?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
How could he say that? Flying seven hours and half a world away, spending God knows how much to do it, matters.
“It matters, Brady. It matters a lot.”
His jaw worked as I stepped closer
to him. I placed my hand lightly on Albatross’s face between his eyes and gave him a gentle pat as he chuffed at me. “Hi Albatross,” I said. “I bet you know why.”
Though of course, I had a feeling why, but I needed him to say it out loud.
“Brooklyn...”
I shifted my eyes back to his. “You flew halfway across the world for me. I think I deserve to know why.”
“I was ready.”
“For what?”
He exhaled. “To risk everything to be with you.”
My heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest. It felt so cliché, but it ached for him. It wanted him so badly. All of me wanted him so badly.
“You didn’t find me,” I said, feeling awful that no matter where he might try to follow me, he wouldn’t find me. Brooklyn Prescott didn’t really exist, though there was no way he could know that and I wasn’t about to tell him. Not right now.
He shook his head. “No.” Though he didn’t question why he never could find me. Someday we were going to have to have that conversation, but today wasn’t that day.
“I’m here now though,” I said. And then before he got the chance to say anything else, I put my hands on his face and pulled him forward until his lips were on mine.
If he was surprised, he didn’t show it. There was no preamble to this kiss. There was no easing into it. This was the culmination of all the want and need that had been building since that first day I’d seen him in the barn and had thought he was just a cute stable boy. We’d kissed before, but those times were nothing like this.
This wasn’t a stolen exploration, this was a promise.
Albatross snorted but at least it wasn’t a sneeze. I felt Brady smile against my mouth as I’m sure he thought the same thing, but thankfully, he didn’t pull away.
Our breathing got loud and heavy and his lips on mine were urgent, needy. His tongue found mine and I gripped my fingers into his hair in case he had any thought about pulling away.
I groaned into his mouth as his hands found my waist and pulled me against him. I couldn’t imagine anywhere I’d rather be than in the circle of his arms and against his muscular body.
“God, Brooklyn,” he said, pulling away from me, making me mourn the loss of his lips and want to grab him again. But then he pressed his forehead against mine and looked down at me. I forgave him for stopping the kiss, because his eyes were saying everything I was thinking at that moment.
“Is this happening?” he asked in a whisper.
In the back of my mind, I knew I should have said no, still not wanting to be the secret he kept from his mother. But that he’d followed me to London was overriding everything else and my brain was swimming in hormones; I just couldn’t bring myself to care about what I should do.
I swallowed and nodded. “Yes. I’m tired of fighting this thing between us. And more importantly, I don’t want to anymore,” I said, making his lips turn up right before they returned to mine, dragging me back down to where all I could do was feel and want more of him.
It was getting hot. No, hot isn’t the right word; incendiary is probably more accurate. I was pretty close to forcing myself to back up from him (just ten more seconds, I promised myself) when someone cleared their throat very loudly behind me.
We froze. A second later, he leaned back out of the kiss, his hands sliding up and around my upper arms, tightening to keep me where I was. I faced the back of the stall where the unaffected Albatross was munching on some hay. I knew I should turn around, but was frozen in place. My heart went from thudding in hormonal lust to thumping in panic as Brady muttered a curse in my ear.
Please, please, please don’t let it be...
“Mr. Fleming. And Ms. Prescott?”
Oh God. It was. The last person I wanted to catch us making out.
His mother.
Me Like Caveman
“She knows who I am,” Brady said to her, turning me and angling so he was in a protective stance between me and the dean. Not that his mother would have physically attacked me or anything, but it was kind of thrillingly cavemanish of him.
“Brady,” she said, in that tone that made me shrivel inside but somehow seemed to make him straighten his spine. “How long have you two been secretly dating behind my back?”
Officially? About four minutes if you count the beginning of that first kiss. But I wasn’t about to say any of that out loud. Luckily for me, Brady took charge of answering her.
“Not long,” he said. “Actually, only since today. I was going to come talk to you tonight about it.”
This made my heart very happy.
Her voice was steel. “We talked about this, Brady. We talked about you working at the school and how you couldn’t date students. You know how inappropriate this is, both for you as my son and as Rosewood faculty. You’ve just put me into a very precarious position.”
My heart was suddenly not so happy anymore.
“I know,” he said, grabbing my hand and twining his fingers into mine, squeezing me encouragingly, which went a long way. If he could handle this, so could I. “And I’m sorry. Really I am that it’s come to this. I...I never meant to date a student or jeopardize your position at Rosewood, but she...” he looked at me and his eyes softened. “She’s special.”
I squeezed his fingers back.
“Special,” the dean said.
“Yes,” he said. “Very special. She’s worth the risk. In fact...I’m...I’m in love with her.”
I didn’t even realize I’d gasped until he looked at me and nodded.
“If I have to quit my job, so be it,” he said, not taking his eyes off me.
“Brady,” she said and then sighed when he didn’t turn toward her. I was squirming on the inside that in that moment he was picking me over his mother and employer, but a small part of my awareness knew this whole situation was complicated for me, too. I was technically dating faculty. A very big no-no. Obviously.
“Brady,” she said again, louder this time. “I need you to come help load the horses. That’s why I came to find you. Please be in the lot in five minutes. We need to return to campus.”
“Fine,” he said. “Five minutes.”
“This conversation is not over,” she said. “We will be talking about this later.”
“I’m counting on it,” he said, smirking at me like this wasn’t a huge deal.
“Ms. Prescott, I need you outside as well.”
I swallowed and tore my eyes away from Brady to look at her. “Yes, ma’am. I’ll be right there.” As soon as your son lets go of my hand. Not that I was pulling away or anything.
“We will be speaking as well,” she assured me. Like there was any doubt.
We stood there listening to her footsteps as she walked away and I wondered how on earth we hadn’t heard her walk up. But then I looked at his mouth again and totally knew.
“You okay?” He asked, his big hands sliding around my waist to the small of my back, his touch comforting.
I nodded and put my arms over his shoulders, twining my fingers in the soft hair at his nape. “Yeah. You?”
“I’m actually relieved. That went much better than I might have expected.”
“It’s not over,” I said, looking at him sideways.
“No, but she wasn’t as mad as I thought she’d be. Especially catching us like that.”
My face heated as I thought about the dean catching us making out. But I understood his relief over her reaction. “She’s not horrible.”
“No, she’s not,” he agreed. “Though I’m not sure which one of us she’s angrier with. Me for taking advantage of a student or you for seducing her little boy.”
I snorted. “I seduced you?”
His eyes widened as he played the innocent. “Who kissed who here?”
“I think we’re even. You went to London to find me,” I said. Even as I said it and knew it to be true, I still couldn’t believe it.
He nodded.
“Did you mean
what you said?” I whispered.
He played with a fringe of my hair at my temple as he looked down at me. “That I’m in love with you?”
I swallowed and nodded, my heart doing flip-flops.
His eyes crinkled at the corners. “I hope so, since I just admitted it in front of my mother.”
I kind of felt like I should say it back, but was I in love with him? How would I know? This was completely new territory for me. And I’d been denying any feelings for him for so long that I really didn’t know how I felt about it. Other than I wanted to spend the next five days or so kissing him.
Before it got weird, but as though he read my mind, he leaned down and kissed me, just a brush of his lips across mine. “I meant it. I realized it at the airport when I was supposed to go to Sacramento and ended up going to London instead. I’ve just been too chicken to do anything about it since then.”
“You were serious about going to talk to her if she hadn’t just caught us?”
“Yeah. No more hiding. I’ve been stupid already, letting you walk away from me. Not again.”
“But you might lose your job.”
“Probably.” He shrugged. “I can get another job. Maybe Janette will hire me here for private lessons.”
“Speaking of which,” I said. “I was thinking that maybe she could train me for jumping. I’m starting to think that maybe dressage isn’t my sport.”
The corner of his mouth quirked and I wanted desperately to kiss him, but this was important.
“Are you sure?”
I leaned back so I could look at him more fully. “Am I sure that I suck at dressage? Uh, yeah I am.”
He smirked. “No, I meant are you sure you want to quit dressage? It’s not because of me, is it?”
I snorted. “If anything, I’ve stayed in training this long because of you.”
“But I haven’t been coaching since...”
I pressed my fingers to his mouth to stop him from talking. “Do you want to go over the particulars of my training or do you want to spend the last of our five minutes making out some more?”
His warm hands splayed at my sides and he pulled me against him as he looked down at me through his dark lashes. “Making out. Definitely making out.”
Hitting the Target Page 7