Carry On (Book 1)

Chapter 27:

Ariels POV:

" ...I don't feel too good about this... " I expressed my distaste for Maddy's plan for the third time since she had suggested it.

Maddy shook her head. " I'm just asking you to distract Jack, not murder him "

It was meant to be a funny comment, but Maddy's tone was far from humorous. We walked, arms linked, into the barn, ready to get our horses ready for our cross country rounds. I was up first and Maddy and Jack were both riding after the rest of the riders in my group.

After our disaster of a dressage round, I felt more nervous about cross country than I had when we had first arrived.

" I just need you to buy me and Koda a few minutes... " Maddy pleaded. " Please, I have a feeling here that Jack may be behind everything... "

I lowered my voice. " And you think getting his phone will prove that? What if he's innocent? " Jack had seemed so nice, if a bit harsh at times, it was hard to believe that he would do something as awful as threaten Storm and me.

" Then I'll just tell him I found his phone dropped on the ground. No real harm done... " Maddy explained.

I sighed and nodded. " Okay, Okay, fine... " I peered into Storms stall, where he was swaying back and forth. Stall weaving. I hadn't seen him do that since he had first arrived at my barn back home. Being back in the show environment and having such a rough start wasn't doing him any favors. Koda, on the other hand, was calmly napping as he laid down in his stall. Storm and Koda were polar opposites in this case.

I flinched as I felt Maddy's elbow collide with my side. I was about to call her out on it when I caught Jack walking towards us.

He nodded and smiled when he saw us. " Hey! "

" Hey, " Maddy and I replied in unison.

" Listen, Ariel, I'm sorry to hear that your dressage didn't go as planned... " His tone sounded sincere, but there was something else in it that I couldn't quite place.

I shrugged. " It wasn't our best, but Storm and I should be good for cross country if I let him do what he wants... "

Jack chuckled. " let's hope so... "

I felt Maddy elbow my side again as she shifted her weight on her feet from one to the other.

I cleared my throat and took a step forward. " Could you, maybe help me? Help me get Storm ready and watch our warm up? I want to make sure we don't get faults because of my poor positioning... "

Jack raised a brow but nodded. " Ya, sure, I can spare a few minutes "

I opened the stall door and nodded at Maddy once Jack was inside. I watched as she made her way to Bullets stall, which was beside Kodas and started rummaging through Jacks tack box.

" What do you want to start with? " Jack asked as he looked at me from under Storms neck.

I giggled. " You're the expert, you tell me "

He laughed. " Curry combing then... " he walked towards the stall door. " I'll grab my brushes... "

Not good! I needed to think of a distraction and fast. Backing up against Storm, I tapped his leg with my boot. In a few seconds, he was down on the ground of his stall. He pushed me forward as he rolled and I fell into Jacks' arms.

" Sorry! " I spoke quickly as he struggled to get back upright. I saw Maddy nod to me out of the corner of my eye.

Jack helped me stand as Storm stood back up. " No worries. What's up with Storm? Still on edge after the incident this morning? "

I nodded. " Must be... "

I opened the stall door. " We can use my brushes since Storm seems to have gone and gotten himself dirty, I wouldn't want that to rub from your brushes onto Bullet " I made up excuse after excuse as we worked through brushing and tacking up Storm.

" Alright, let's go... " Jack opened the stall door. I could see that Maddy was still rummaging through the tack box, looking for the phone. If it wasn't in the box, it had to be on Jack...maybe in his pocket? "

Before Jack could take a step out of the stall, I tapped Storms shoulder. He pawed at the ground with his foreleg, smacking his hoof against the door, creating a loud banging noise.

Maddy stood up immediately and opened Koda's stall door just as Jack emerged. Koda stuck his head out of the stall s Maddy clipped a lead rope to his halter.

" ...Mind if we watch the warm up? " She asked, giving me a look when Jack turned away.

Then we saw it. Jack pulled his phone from his pocket, checking the time...probably...

I bit my lip. It would take more than a small distraction to get the phone from him. Then I remembered Koda's little party trick from before. If I could get the phone from Jacks pocket, I could let Koda take it from me and give it to Maddy.

Jack and I walked side by side as Maddy and Koda followed behind us, just as we left the barn, I threw my arms around Jack in a hug. He seemed caught off guard at first, but then slowly started to hug me back.

" What's this for? " He asked.

I caught eyes with Maddy before I pulled away from him. " Just a thank you...for everything...you were really there for me these past few weeks...even though I'm not as experienced as you in eventing... "

Jack smiled. " It's nothing, really, I'm happy to help... "

I bit my lip as I slowly moved my hands to his hoodie pocket. I needed a bigger distraction, something...

Then it hit me...

" Could you...help me with one more thing...? " I stepped closer to him and he did the same, moving his hands to the sides of my face.

" ...Name it... "

Closing my eyes, I leaned in and kissed him gently. It was my first kiss and wasn't at all how I thought it would be like, but it worked in distracting Jack long enough for me to grab the phone from his pocket and hold it behind him. Maddy let Koda stretch his neck out and he grabbed the phone gently between his teeth before turning to Maddy and letting her take it from him.

Jack and I pulled away ad we smiled at each other. It was hard for me to smile after knowing the reason behind the kiss, I just hoped that Maddy was right about this...

I took Jacks hand. " Come on, help Storm and I warm up... "

Jack smirked and nodded. " How can I say no after that? "

As we walked away, I peered over my shoulder at Maddy. I knew she would probably hate me a bit for kissing her crush, but if she was right about Jack being the person who threatened us...

Jack didn't deserve to be liked by anyone, especially a great girl like Maddy...