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Definitely not, although I knew everyone in Cottonwood Cove. When you grew up in a small town, you knew almost everyone.
So, there was no need to ever be nervous.
Until right fucking now.
“Presley, let’s go!” the man yelled from the small, fenced training area.
“I’ll be right there!” she shouted back and rolled her eyes again. “He’s not happy that I’m not competing this summer, either.”
She typed her number into my phone before handing it back to me. I quickly shot her a text so she’d have my number and tucked my phone into my back pocket.
She walked backward toward her coach. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Cage Reynolds.”
I held up a hand, and then I walked my bike slowly toward the driveway, taking my time watching her climb onto her horse. I heard the man lecturing her.
“I get it, but not everyone is as talented as you. You had a shot to win it all this summer. You’re ranked now. That’s nothing to take lightly,” he said, but his words weren’t laced with contempt.
He actually seemed like he was in awe of her.
“I know, but sometimes you just want to be a normal teenager. I’m burned out, Charlie. I want to have a summer like other kids my age.”
“I know. And you deserve that. But we can still work on things so you’ll be ready in the fall.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Her head turned, and her dark gaze locked with mine, and I just stood there gaping at her like a fucking idiot.
Because once she started riding, it was impossible to look away. She made jumping over the walls look like it was nothing.
She was moving fast toward the first hurdle. She leaned forward and moved over the first jump with complete ease. The sunlight was shining down on her, creating sparks of light as she jumped through the air, laser-focused on the next jump.
I’d just done a research paper at the end of the school year about ravens and the way they soared and glided with such ease. If Presley Duncan were an animal, she’d definitely be a raven.
I forced myself to look away and get on my bike just as she slowed a few feet from me, and I started pedaling.
“See you later, Cowboy,” she sang out and chuckled when her coach scolded her for not being focused.
I nodded and held up a hand.
See you later, Raven.
one
Presley
“What’s the saying?When life gives you lemons, make yourself a gin martini?” I asked my best friend Lola, who’d been here for all of thirty minutes, listening to me whine about the current state of my life.
“Ummm… You’re holding a bottle of vodka, and you’re making a lemon drop, my love. Clearly, Harvard Law didn’t teach bartending 101. It’s all that fancy wine you wealthy people drink that has you clueless about the good stuff.” Lola laughed as I handed her a glass, and we clinked them together. I wasn’t much of a drinker, but with my life being a complete shit show lately, I was open to trying new things.
“Ahhh… good to know. And it’s tasty.” I licked my lips after taking a long pull. “Thanks for coming over.”
“Are you kidding? I love coming to Chateau Country Duncan.” She and I both sat down on the couch, facing one another. My parents had purchased this ranch decades ago, and it actuallywasone of my favorite places in the world.
I’d met Lola in Cottonwood Cove the first summer I’d started coming here. I’d grown up in San Francisco but had fallen in love with spending summers in the small town. Lola had become the sister I’d always wanted.
She’d moved out to New York after college, and I’d been thrilled to have her nearby. But she’d missed home, and she was looking to simplify her life, so she’d left New York a few months ago to return to Cottonwood Cove.
I understood the appeal of this town.
I’d always loved it here, until the memories of this place had made it so that I never wanted to come back.
