Broken Trouble (Broken Storm Series Book 1)

Chapter 10

I rode Brooks until Polly rang the dinner bell, Wyatt giving me instructions from the sidelines every so often. I directed Brooks towards Wyatt. When he got to him, he ambled to a stop, letting out a long sigh as Wyatt patting his neck.

"You did good. I'll put him up and you can head inside," Wyatt praised me with a nod, holding Brooks' reins and waiting for me to dismount.

Except I had no clue how to do get off of a horse. So, I thought about how I would climb down off of a wall. Considering it had worked so well for climbing on, I decided to give it a shot. I moved one leg over Brooks neck, making sure not to hit him with my boot, then sat on top of him with my legs hanging over his side. I pushed myself forward and dropped down, my feet landing hard on the ground.

I did it!

I turned to Wyatt with smirk that said, 'Ha, I did it all by myself' only to find him grinning so wide that it was almost a smile, his shoulders shaking slightly.

He was laughing at me!

"What?" I snapped, narrowing my eyes at him. This was just great, I thought I could make it through the lesson without someone laughing at me, but there was Wyatt, doing exactly that.

His eyes landed on me and he pulled his emotions back until his grin turned amused. "Nothing."

"It wasn't nothing, you were laughing at me. I thought I did pretty good without any instructions," I remarked, crossing my arms.

Wyatt loosened Brooks' girth, then slid the saddle off and swung it back on his shoulder to carry it, sliding the reins from Brooks' neck. He looked over at me, his blue eyes meeting mine. "Just watching you, cowgirl," he said, then led Brooks away, not saying anything else.

I sighed heavily, knowing Wyatt wouldn't say anything else unless he wanted to. I walked towards the house and saw the other boys emerging from different places on the ranch as they headed towards the ranch house too. I was relieved that they had stayed hidden while I rode and hoped Wyatt wouldn't tell them about my embarrassing mount up. That's all I needed; Gavin reminding me about how lame I was and making fun of me.

I don't think Gavin really understood what it took to live out in the city. I'd like to see him walk the dark alleys of Los Angeles late at night and see how he'd come out of it. I smirked, thinking of how Gavin would react to all of the 'city slickers' partying or trying to rob him. Maybe if he was robbed and got the beat up by gang members a couple times then he'd be more understanding, though I doubt even that would get him to hold any kind of respect for me. Even now, he had his eyes narrowed at me with his jaw clenched as if just the sight of me was enough to tick him off.

Landon ran up from behind me and yanked me off my feet, my thoughts of Gavin whooshing out of me along with my breath as he carried me up the steps. I growled as I bounced, trying to pull myself up so my face wouldn't smack into his back from his bounding steps.

"Put me down!" I demanded, trying to put as much force behind my words as I could. I was glad I was wearing shorts and not a skirt like I used to wear in the city. It was hard enough keeping the guys' eyes off of me, let alone in a compromising position like this one with my butt up high in the air. I tried to think of a good way to get out of his hold. I had been in fights before, but I didn't want to actually hurt Landon, just show him I wasn't the kind of girl he could heave over his shoulder whenever he wanted.

A memory flashed in my mind of the last time I had been slung over someone's shoulder, causing me to shiver. There was nothing I could do as the memory yanked me in. It was like I was back in that moment all over again, the sight of my own blood dripping onto the floor. My body had been limp as my vision blurred in and out, I had barely kept myself from passing out then. But now, I wasn't too weak to fight back.