Page 51 of Ace of Spades
“I do. Storms remind me of cozy nights camping out in the living room with my mom and Kota. They remind me of Kota at the age of five, begging me to come dance with her out in the pouring rain.”
I stay silent, letting my racing heartbeat calm down at his words.
“You just have to look at it differently, that’s all,” he tells me. “Now, what do you say we race back to the stables?”
“Are you crazy?” I ask, my head whipping towards him.
“The sooner we get back, the sooner we can be out of this rain,” he tells me as the rain comes down even harder, the wind blowing it in every direction as it runs off of the brim of his cowboy hat.
“I don’t know, Wes,” I say, going back and forth in my head.
“Suit yourself,” he responds. “Me and Lark probably would’ve smoked you guys anyways, and I wouldn’t want to leave you in here by yourself.”
My head whips towards him, taking in the smug look on his face. I don’t even give him a warning before I kick Casino forward, leaning forward in the saddle as we take off.
We zig-zag through the trees and brush, racing at full speed through the forest ahead. Her hooves beat against the softground below, my smile widening as the wind and water slap me in the face, a liberating feeling flowing through my veins.
I was wrong about one thing—I had never thought about the movies where epic things happen during the storm. Where battles are won, and heroes are made. In this moment, I wasn’t thinking of the gloom that came with the rain, I was thinking about how amazing it felt to run through it, how wild and free I was.
A laugh bubbles out of my chest as I throw a glance over my shoulder, finding Weston and Lark right on our tail.
“Eat my dust, Langford!” I yell back at him, urging Casino to kick it up a gear.
I reach the stables first, Weston right behind me as we slide off of the horses, both of us laughing as we run into the stables.
“Not too shabby,” he tells me. “I almost had you there at the end.”
“No way!” I argue, shoving him playfully. “You guys weren’t even close.”
We put the horses away, setting the saddles out to dry as we make our way to the entrance of the barn, rain now pouring down, causing puddles to form throughout the dirt trail leading back to the house.
I look up at Weston, finding him already studying me.
“You did that on purpose, didn’t you? Distracting me?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
A dimple forms over his features as he offers me a tooth-eating grin.
“Thanks,” I tell him after a moment, my tone genuine.
“Anytime. Now, are you ready to run?”
I look out through the cords of rain curtaining the barn entrance and the storm beyond, the faint echo of thunder rumbling in the distance.
“I guess,” I say, my nerves threatening to make an appearance once more.
“I’ll race you back to the house?”
“Oh, please–that’s not going to work on me twice.”
“Go!” he yells, taking off ahead of me.
“Weston!” I exclaim, breaking into a sprint behind him.
I catch up in no time, surpassing him as we take the turn down the dirt road leading to his house and my camper, rain soaking every inch of us as we both sprint down his driveway. I see him catching up in my peripheral, and I attempt to swerve in front of him and cut him off at the last minute, but I slip through the mud and cause us to collide instead.
Weston’s arms wrap around me as we come down, spinning me so he takes the brunt of the impact and I land directly on top of him, both of us landing in the mud with a grunt.
