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Athena squeezed her thighs, but apparently it was a little too much. Beast bolted forward and Athena nearly fell from the back of the saddle. It wasn’t that Beast was skittish with her. She wouldn’t even say he was being bad.
If anything, he was too sensitive to her touch. She was so aware of his spirit—the way he wanted to connect with her.
“Easy!” Brielle called. “You need to focus.” She jumped out of the way just as Beast leaped past her.
“That’s what I’m trying to do,” Athena muttered through gritted teeth. “He’s not paying attention.” She gripped the reins tighter in her hands. “Come on, Beast, you’re making me look bad.”
“This is just as much about you as it is about him. You have to show him that he can trust you!” Brielle called out to her as she made another round in the paddock. “You’re not thinking this through.”
Athena shot a dark look at the woman. As far as she was concerned, Brielle didn’t have enough of a background to be bossing her around like this. She’d mentioned that she had competed in dressage when she was younger, but she wasn’t exactly young anymore.
Brielle matched Athena’s scowl with one of her own and then shot a look at Henry, who had somehow managed to show up out of nowhere. “She’s making this harder than it has to be. You said she wanted to do this.” She didn’t even try to prevent Athena from hearing her. Didn’t she understand that Athena had never ridden a horse before she showed up at the Keagan’s family ranch?
She let out a growl and pulled on the reins a little sharper than she probably should have. Beast reacted much like Athena would have expected him to. He tossed his head and pawed at the ground. He wasn’t going to put up with her attitude, and he was making it known.
Athena closed her eyes and breathed deeply. This wasn’t supposed to be that hard. She had felt so in tune with Beast before. The only thing that had changed was that now there was something on the line.
Harley had told her to have fun.
Well, if this was fun, then she wanted no part of it.
Unfortunately, not even her deep breathing was enough to mend her frayed nerves. She could already tell that she wasn’t going to be any help today. With eyes still closed, she shook her head. “I can’t do this.”
“What do you mean you can’t do this? You signed up for this, remember?”
“Brielle,” Henry said softly, drawing Athena’s attention, “Give her a minute, okay?” He gave his sister-in-law a pointed look and then jogged over to Athena. “Hey,” he said softly, placing a hand on her knee. The warmth from his touch had more of a calming effect than it probably should have. “You can do this, remember?”
She shook her head. “I can’t. I don’t know what I’m doing. This is our third practice, and I still can’t get him to do what Brielle is requesting.”
He laughed, but not in a way that made her feel mocked. “Three days? Sweetheart, three days isn’t enough. You have plenty of time to get ready for this competition. You’re going to be competing against other beginners. You have to learn to breathe.”
“I am breathing!” Her defenses shot up again. This was how it always went. Henry would find something he wanted her to improve and he’d point it out. Where was the guy who had told her that she was brave when they met? Better yet, where was the guy who could put her at ease with one look? She wanted that Henry back.
“It doesn’t look like it.” Henry chuckled again.
Athena leaned closer to him, her gaze more severe than before. “I told you I want you to stop trying to make me into something I’m not. If I say I can’t do this, then—”
He held up both hands and took a step back. “You’re right. I’m not going to push you.”
Her eyes widened as she watched him literally retreat. Suddenly, she was unsure of herself. Why did she now want him to return to her side and tell her what he was going to say? When did she become a person who cared so deeply about what someone thought? It wasn’t healthy—even she knew that.
She thrust those disappointing thoughts down where she wouldn’t be pushed around by them. Instead, she stared at him with her lips pressed tightly together. “I am breathing,” she said more evenly this time.
Henry nodded. “I see that. There’s only one thing I can think of that might help.”
“And what’s that?”
He lifted a brow. “You’re not going to bite off my head again, are you?
She gritted her teeth. “I can’t make any promises.” Taking advice seemed to be getting harder with each passing day. It was an acquired skill—one she hadn’t perfected—and one that Henry would probably lecture her about improving.
To his credit, he laughed. “Fair enough.” He moved closer to her, this time his hand wrapped around the one holding the reins. “Do you remember the night you showed up?”
She stiffened. “Yeah.” There were so many things about that night that she would never be able to forget—meeting Henry still being the highlight of it all.
“Do you remember when you first interacted with Beast?”
Athena glanced down at the horse, noting his ears flicking around. “Yeah,” she said softer this time.
