Be My Valentine by R.J. Groves

Author:R.J. Groves
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Escape Publishing
Published: 2020-12-23T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

‘I can’t believe you got us horses!’

Joey glanced at the huge animal walking beside him who stared back and snorted. He was starting to regret his rash decision, but Harley had seemed so excited when he’d found that brochure about beachside horseriding. It had sounded romantic at the time. Now, the thought of pulling himself up onto the back of this huge, black, snorting beast and riding it didn’t sound so appealing. The horse he was supposed to ride was called Bucky—not at all a reassuring name—and Harley’s slightly smaller brown horse was Bay.

‘Anything for my fiancée,’ he teased, catching a glimmer of amusement in her eyes. ‘I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself.’ He hazarded a pat on Bucky’s neck. The horse went for a nudge at Joey’s arm and he stepped just out of reach.

‘You okay?’ Harley said. He moved his head only slightly to see her better, still certain he couldn’t take his eyes of the conniving creature.

‘Ah, yeah. I’m good. You?’ He hoped that she hadn’t noticed his hesitation and rejoiced a little inside when it looked as though that was the case. She let out an excited squeak and Bucky paced beside him.

‘I haven’t ridden in so long. Nanna used to take me and Erin horseriding when we were little. I’ve only had the chance to ride maybe once or twice since.’

She turned to look at him fully, her horse completely out of her field of vision, he noticed. His heart pounded in his chest. This was a stupid idea. What on earth possessed him to think that trying to control two huge horses would be safe and fun? If Harley got hurt …

‘Have you ridden before?’ she said, her eyes flashing with excitement.

‘Me? Yeah. Of course. Heaps of times.’ Try never. Truth was, apart from those little ponies in the occasional petting zoo at markets, Joey had never even been near a horse before. Bucky deviated off course and pressed against him, making Joey’s heart pound even harder. This was a very, very bad idea.

‘Shall we hop on, then?’

‘We should probably keep warming them up,’ Joey said, putting some distance between him and Bucky again.

‘I think they’re warm enough,’ Harley said, her eyebrow lifting as she pulled to a stop. Bay moved in front of her so Harley was closer to the saddle. ‘Come on, don’t you want to feel the wind in your hair?’

‘Sure.’ He ran a hand through his short hair. He doubted he could feel the wind in his hair like she probably would. But if he could, riding a horse to feel it wasn’t a particularly appealing option.

But what choice did he have? He stopped walking and, unlike Bay, Bucky stopped where he was. By the time he’d moved closer to the saddle and glanced back at Harley to see how to mount a horse, she was already settling herself in the saddle. He sighed, put both his hands on top of the saddle, and jumped, attempting to pull himself up. Bucky moved sideways, and Joey landed back on the ground.

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