Gypsy Girl and Horse Lovin' Boys Read Online Free PDF Page A

whispered, feeling completely ridiculous.
    Noah moved me forward another step. “Again.”
    “I will be fine,” I said with a little more confidence.
    “Spread your palm and fingers out flat.”
    The horse was so close, I started to whimper.
    “Shhh … Close your eyes or look away. You’ll feel something soft and velvety.” He took another step.
    I tried to pull my hand away when Ezra’s muzzle touched my hand. Noah controlled my movement.
    “Let me help you.” Noah eased my hand away and slowly brought it back to the muzzle. “Feel the velvet tickle on your hand? It really does tickle. There’s no pain.”
    I pressed my eyes closed. The velvet
did
tickle. Ezra’s lip twitched and a couple of fine whiskers brushed against my palm. My whimpers turned to giggles.
    Cessie clapped.
    Noah’s mouth was right by my ear. “You did it. You touched a horse.”
    His breath gave me chills and my knees weakened. I would almost do anything to have his lips close to my ear again. I might even touch the horse between the eyes.
    “You want to feed her a carrot?” he asked.
    “Umm … no thank you.” Maybe not anything. I wasn’t ready for that yet.
    Noah whispered in my ear again. “I’ll help you.”
    I needed him to hold me up. “I’m sure there are some really big teeth in there. Just help me touch her between the eyes.”
    Noah laughed and held my waist even tighter. I held onto his arm because I was melting into him. His laugh was the best. I needed to stop liking him so much.
    “You can do it, Sera,” Cessie said.
    I clenched my jaw. My own little sister was cheering me on. How pathetic I must look. I needed to hurry and get over being scared.
    “Yes, I can.” I reached out for the white stripe on Ezra’s snout. The horse moved and nickered again. I jerked my hand back.
    “Hey, Noah.” Rachel was on her horse on the path, way too close. “We have permission to take the horses in the arena. I’m headed over now. Are you coming?”
    Rachel turned her horse towards me and I tried to back away. Noah wouldn’t let me move much. I closed my eyes and turned my head.
    “Rachel, back your horse up,” Noah said.
    “Is she scared or something?”
    I begged him silently not to tell even though it had to be obvious I was terrified.
    “She’s just not use to them yet.” He continued to hold me against his chest.
    I sighed in relief and opened my eyes.
    “Oh. Well, are you coming?” Rachel eyed me suspiciously.
    “Do you think they’ll let us again later?” he asked.
    “We don’t know. You should come.”
    Noah didn’t answer right away. I felt tension in his shoulders build and he relaxed his grip around my waist.
    “You can go if you want,” I said.
    Cessie’s face fell.
    “We will have lots of time to play with the horses, Cessie.” I furrowed my brow at her.
    “You guys could come watch.” Noah unwound the lead rope from the fence rail. “We don’t compete until Monday, but we need to get familiar with the set up out here before then. The opportunities are tight with our volunteering obligations to the other groups.”
    “We understand.” I gave Cessie a death stare so she’d agree.
    “Thank you so much. I need to saddle up Ezra. If you follow Rachel, you will find the arena and the stands where you can watch.”
    “Follow the horse. Right.” I wrung my hands.
    “You won’t get lost if you walk really far away from the horse, you know.” Noah rubbed the smile off his face. “I promise you won’t be scared of horses by the end of the week. I think it would be the coolest thing if you were brave enough to ride with me before I leave.”
    I nodded politely, but seriously doubted that would ever happen.

6
    With a huge distance between us, I followed Rachel’s horse to the arena. I had never been more relieved once I made it to the metal bleachers with Cessie. We watched Kelly, Bree, and Rachel ride their horses around the arena. The three girls chatted more than they practiced. Josh