She looked at me like I grew a third eye and then let go of my wrist fast, like she was dropping a nasty piece of trash.
I walked past her and found Riley and Athena where the competitors waited for the rides to finish and the scores to be announced.
“You did great,” I said to Riley and gave him a kiss. Then I turned to Athena. “I know, you did all the hard work.”
I rubbed her neck in large circles.
After all the riders were done, the winner was announced. Riley and Athena had won the $2,000 grand prize. We celebrated, jumping up and down. Riley had his photo taken with Athena by some newspapers. We returned Athena to her temporary stall, giving her the rest she deserved. Riley and I walked around the fairgrounds, enjoying the other aspects of the rodeo.
Riley checked his phone and then smiled, passing it my way. He had a text message from Marly.
Marly: Check your girlfriend.
“What did you do?” he asked me with a teasing smile.
“She saw your race and wanted to buy Athena. I told her no, and she got pushy. I may have then thrown it in her face that we were together and told her I had better things to do.”
My face turned red when I heard the innuendo in my statement.
“I meant go congratulate you two,” I added.
“If you want to do me, all you have to do is ask,” he said with a wink. His arm snaked around my shoulders, and he hooked his finger through my belt loop.
Suddenly, someone blocked our path. We had been looking at each other and didn’t see the human obstacle until it was almost too late. Riley stopped my momentum before I crashed face first into Jared.
“Hello, love birds,” Jared cooed.
“What do you want?” Riley asked Jared.
He puffed his chest up in a show of dominance.
“That horse of yours,” he said. “I want her.”
He was looking right at Riley, like I wasn’t even there.
“Well, that’s too bad,” Riley said. “Athena belongs to my girlfriend. Emma has made it perfectly clear to Marly, who I know you put up to harassing Emma, that Athena is not for sale.”
Jared looked over to me, as if confirming what Riley said was true. I narrowed a glance at him.
“Athena is mine. Do not ask me about her again,” I said.
I pulled Riley’s arm off my shoulder and then squared my shoulders up like I was about to hit Jared. I took a step forward to intimidate him.
“I have a dead mountain lion at Golden Reys Farm that wanted Athena. You are welcome to come ask it how that turned out for it. Although you will have to excuse the shotgun slug centered between its eyes,” I threatened Jared, and it felt good.
He stood there slack jawed.
“I recommend not inquiring about my horse again,” I said, waiting for Jared’s reaction.
He sneered, clearly embarrassed. A crowd had formed around us when I looked like I was about to throw a fist his way.
“Whatever, white trash. Your horse isn’t even that special anyways,” he said, wanting the last word.
“You piece of shit!” I called out as I moved to tackle him to the ground.
Riley caught me in midair before I could touch Jared.
“He’s not worth the community service hours,” Riley told me, and he pulled me back against his body.
