Page 32 of The Brave and the Reckless

Summer > Bravetown

To Do

Research horse noises

Appointments

Notes

I added a little horse emoji, just to make it more fun. When I closed the app again, some of the anxious flutter in my chest had subsided. Give a girl a good task-management app and her mood would improve tenfold.

Phone back in my pocket, I continued toward the stables.

The inside smelled even worse than the outside. One might think New York sewers in summer would have prepared me for the stench of horses– one might be wrong. At least the inside was partially lit by dimmed lamps above the doors. Horsey night-lights. Cute.

With the collar of my shirt pulled up over my nose, I passed the stable boxes until I found a plaque with a familiar name. He was barely visible in the shadows of his little wooden cubicle, but Tornado’s ears twitched when I stopped in front of his gate.

“Hi,” I whispered. I pulled the shirt off my face. Sure, this was a horse, but it still felt impolite to let him know that his home smelled like ass. “Sorry for dropping in unannounced.”

Tornado made a huffy noise and turned, walking over. He tilted his head, dark eyes staring right at me. I shifted my weight. I’d had a bunny as a kid, but when Flopsy had looked at me, he only saw a treat dispenser. Tornado saw me, my treat-less hands braced on top of his gate, and he waited and watched and breathed.

“You’re really scary, you know?”

Tornado let out a chuckling sound and shook his head. Apparently I was having a two-sided conversation with this horse. He disagreed.

“Yes, you are,” I muttered and lowered my chin to my hands, looking into the stable. “You’re tall. You’re the kind of horse people fall off and get hurt real bad. And I’m an expert in the getting-hurt department. I mean, even just sitting on you hurts.”

Tornado took another step toward me, and I forced myself to stay still. I’d come here to make peace with him before our first show, so I couldn’t run off just because he got too close. Maybe it was silly, but if I got hurt, I didn’t want it up for debate whether it was the horse’s fault. And that started with me making sure Tornado didn’t hate me.

“Anyways, I just wanted to tell you that whatever happens tomorrow, it’s not you, it’s me, okay? I’m the one who sucks.”

The horse tilted his head at me, nostrils flaring only inches from my face. Hot breath fluffed through my bangs. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to breathe through my mouth.

“Sorry for robbing you of a really cool stunt.”

Tornado huffed and nudged his nose against my elbow. Hard. My arm slid off the gate. I managed to catch my balance just in time for him to nuzzle his forehead into the hand that had dropped into his stable.

“Oh, you’re not subtle at all, are you?” I chuckled and ran my fingertips up and down the smooth hair on his forehead.

“He’s a shameless flirt.”

I screamed and jumped at the voice. Loud enough for Tornado and some of the other horses to join in, neighing and squeaking. Heart beating in my throat, hand clutched to my chest, I turned to see Noah standing a few feet away. That white streak in his jet-black hair had dropped down on to his forehead. His pearl snap had been untucked, and his sleeves were rolled down but still creased from being pushed up all day. He wasstillout here, while I was already in my fluffy PJ pants and a heart-print tank top.

“Are you stalking me?”

“I was here first, just about to close up,” he said, brows raised.

“So just eavesdropping?”

Noah sighed and reached past me, broad chest a few inches from my face, highlighting just how much height and muscle he had on me. A light inside the box flickered to life and Tornado’s door clicked open. “I justoverheardyou.”

“How much?”

“Apologizing for robbing him of a stunt. Why? Was there more? There’s a church in town if you need to confess in a more private setting, you know?” He had one hand on Tornado’s cheek, rubbing it while he held the gate open for me. “Come on.”

I glanced down at my sneakers. Formerly cute and white, they’d gotten layered in dust from the days spent in the park. Might as well get stable dirt on them.

Noah closed the gate behind me, then guided me with a hand between my shoulder blades to Tornado’s side. “Do you know how to braid?”

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