In A Heartbeat (Rosewood River #5)

Prologue

. . .

Wren

He whistled as his back rested against the tall tree in the field, the one where we’d met every day since summer break had started. “Coming in hot, Horse Girl!”

I applied the slightest bit of pressure to the reins, and my thoroughbred, Wrax, slowed before coming to a stop in front of Axel.

He was wearing his signature cowboy hat, white tee, faded jeans, and worn boots.

“Hey,” I said, slightly breathless from my ride as I threw my stashed halter on Wrax and tied him to the tree beside his horse, Honey.

“It’s hot as hell out here. Why aren’t you wearing a hat?” he asked.

“Because I ran him hard before I came to meet you, and let’s just say I was moving too fast to keep a hat on my head.” I smirked before dropping to sit beside him.

He tossed me an apple, and I took a bite.

Axel Chadwick was my best friend, my favorite person on the planet, and my riding partner. He was two years older than me, and we’d been riding together since I was five years old.

My parents had gotten me a horse a little over a year ago for my fourteenth birthday, so I’d combined our names when I came up with his.

Wren and Axel.

Wrax.

“You ready for this weekend?” he asked after taking a bite of his apple. Axel was going to be a senior this year in high school, while I’d be starting my sophomore year.

“I’m ready.” I’d entered into my first eventing competition. I’d been training and competing in dressage and show jumping for the last few years, but now I was ready to add in the cross-country portion as well.

“Leave it to you to find a way to take out all the dudes.” He chuckled as he set his hat beside him on the ground.

His overgrown wavy light brown hair fell over his forehead.

A dusting of freckles covered his nose and cheeks, his golden skin kissed by the sun from hours of working on the ranch this summer.

“I’m hardly ‘taking out all the dudes.’” I rolled my eyes, even though we both knew that was exactly what I intended to do.

Eventing was a sport where men and women competed against one another. It was also an Olympic sport, one that my grandfather had competed in many years before. My father had big dreams of me being the next Waterstone to make the team someday.

“They’re going to shit their pants when you roll up, trust me.” He reached for his water bottle and took a sip. “Horse Girl is going to leave them in her dust.”

He’d given me the nickname when we’d first started riding together, and I supposed it had just stuck.

“We’ll see how it goes.” I shrugged. “How was your date last night?”

He groaned. “It was a shitshow.”

“What happened?”

“We went out to the bonfire, and let’s just say Gina started taking shots the minute we got there, and I ended up with vomit all over me and my truck.”

I shook my head and laughed.

“Shocking. Are you telling me that you didn’t have riveting conversation with Gina Carmella?”

Gina was also going to be a senior this coming year. Personally, I thought the girl was stuck up, and I wasn’t a fan. But Axel had crushed on her for a while. I knew it had more to do with the big boobs and the short skirts, because she wasn’t nice by nature. She’d always been rude to me.

“I don’t need to have riveting conversation with her. I’ve got you for that.” He bumped his shoulder against mine. “Is Jake coming to your competition?”

“I hope not. I’m not dating him. It’s not like that.” Jake Sanders worked on the ranch where I trained, and he’d asked me to go have ice cream a few times. He was nice enough, but I didn’t have time for boys.

I was busy riding Wrax, making straight A’s in school, and chasing my dreams.

Boys were a distraction. And I was not a girl who would be distracted.

“He literally sits out there watching you ride like a lovesick puppy.” He laughed. “I think he’s jealous that you named your horse after me.”

I turned and smacked the top of his muscled arm. “Don’t get a big head. Wrax is named after both of us. And Jake is not jealous, nor is he a lovesick puppy.”

“So are you going out with him again?”

“I said I’d go get ice cream with him again. It’s not a big deal.” I glanced down at our legs stretched out beside one another, Axel’s in faded denim and mine covered in my new half chaps, chuckling at how much longer his legs were compared to mine.

“He’s going to go for the kiss, Wren. So you best pucker up,” he said, teasing.

“He hasn’t tried yet.”

He turned to look at me, the sun shining down on him as pops of amber and gold sparked in his green eyes. “You don’t need to be afraid. Kissing is fan-fucking-tastic. You want me to kiss you to show you how to do it?”

I gaped at him. “I’m not afraid of kissing him. I just don’t know if I want to.”

Before I could stop him, Axel lunged forward, tipping me on my back, as he hovered above me with a goofy grin spread across his face. “You want me to show you how to kiss him, Horse Girl?”

Why is my heart pounding in my chest?

His tongue slid across his bottom lip, and I squeezed my thighs together to stop the weird ache that was there.

I’d never kissed a boy. I hadn’t cared to.

“It’s not a big deal, I promise,” he said.

“I’m not afraid of kissing him.” I pushed at his chest, and he pulled back before sitting back down on his butt with a smirk on his face.

“I think you’re afraid, and I’m just saying, I can help you. Show you how to do it. That’s what best friends are for, right?”

I was the one to catch him off guard this time. I moved quick, shifting onto his lap, one leg falling on each side of his hips, as I wrapped my hand around his neck. “I’m not afraid of anything, Cowboy.”

I leaned forward, my lips crashing into his. His hand moved to the back of my head and wrapped around my long ponytail, and my lips parted as his tongue slipped inside.

The ache between my legs grew stronger.

His lips were soft, his tongue was warm, and my hips started rocking against him as I felt his thick length beneath me.

I abruptly pulled back.

I used the back of my hand to wipe my mouth, and I tilted my head to the side. “See. Not afraid of anything. No big deal.”

Why am I breathing so heavy?

I slipped off his lap, and he laughed. “Well, I’ve kissed plenty of girls, and that was some kiss, Wren.”

“I told you not to worry.” I made a conscious effort to calm my breathing, because kissing my best friend wasn’t a good idea.

Liking it was an even worse idea.

Every girl at our high school fawned all over him, and I would not be one of them.

He handed me his water bottle, and I took a sip.

“Where’d you learn to kiss like that?” He raised a brow in that charming, smartass way he always did.

“I’ve seen my brother and Emerson making out more times than I can count. Plus I watch movies.” I shrugged. My brother dated his cousin Emerson, and she and I were very close.

He chuckled. “Is there anything that you don’t do well?”

“Well, I’m not a good writer like you are. You’re always writing those songs for me.” I handed him the water bottle back. “Speaking of which, you promised to write me a new one for my competition this weekend.”

He did a slow nod, the corners of his lips turning up. “I wrote it. You want to hear it?”

“Of course I do.” I moved to sit up on my knees and faced him.

He pulled his phone from his pocket and opened his notes app. “This is going to be your good luck song from now on. You sing it in your head before every competition, and then you go out there and kick everyone’s ass.”

“This must be some song.” I bounced up and down, anxious to hear it.

“‘That’s my Horse Girl, sitting up high. She shines brighter than all the stars in the sky. Soaring through the air, with strength and grace. Try to catch her, and she’ll put you in your place. She’s got big dreams, just watch her fly. In a heartbeat, she’ll pass you by.’”

“Best one yet. And you tied in our saying.” I dove forward and hugged him. Axel and I had made a pact many years ago that, if either of us ever needed the other, we’d always be there. We were best friends, after all.

“In a heartbeat,” we’d always say.

“I’m going to memorize it and say it in my head anytime I have doubts.” I shrugged.

“You don’t need to ever doubt yourself, Wren. I saw your talent the first time I saw you on a horse.”

I pulled back and settled beside him. “Well, you’re still faster than me.”

“Not for long.” He stood and reached for my hand. “Should we ride?”

“Always. Let’s go, Cowboy.”

He tossed his hat on his head, and we both climbed onto our horses and took off racing one another, just like we always did.