An Accident

Briana froze. It took her a moment to understand Joe's words. There was no way Joe could have said it that easily.

"Are you kidding me?" Briana smiled widely, and looked mischievous.

Joe shook his head, then walked over to Briana. His hand reached out, grabbing Briana's hair, which had slipped out of its bun and was swept away by the wind. He gently kissed Briana lightly on the lips.

"I mean it. You can trust my word." Joe pulled back his head, then looked at Briana intently without blinking for a second.

"Why did you change your mind?" Briana still doubted Joe's words. The man couldn't have changed his mind that quickly.

"I've seen for myself what you've become over the past few days," Joe replied.

Briana's eyes grew wide. Her lips spread into a faint smile. She didn't expect Joe to say that at all. It was very different from what Joe had said the other day.

"Thank you, Joe."

Briana jumped up and down with excitement. Her heart was now bursting after Joe gave her permission to join the tournament. She then hugged Joe's body tightly.

***

"You know, Hero. You can definitely feel it." The stallion gave a soft, appreciative whinny as he accepted the carrot from Briana's hand. Briana rubbed his nose, then patted his back lightly.

Tonight, for the first time in days, Briana felt at peace, even as her body ached with the pain of holding back from expressing her true desires while riding the stallion. Briana had to restrain herself, and could not freely ride the horse after Joe had forbidden her outright.

"What are you doing here?"

Briana jumped in surprise. Her body bounced back slightly. Her heartbeat felt very fast. She turned around and saw Joe standing not far from her with his arms crossed.

"I was chatting with Hero," Briana replied, then looked briefly at the horse.

Joe now moved closer before Briana could breathe. He reached out and touched Briana's slender neck. Joe rested his forehead against Briana's. Their eyes bore into each other, sending flames of love between them.

"Why don't you talk to me?"

Briana laughed widely after hearing Joe's question. "I can't because right now I want to build chemistry with Hero," Briana replied shyly. "She's my partner in the tournament. So we need to have a strong bond with each other."

Joe opened the door to his room wide. Briana was hesitant to go in there. But, when Joe looked at her intently, asking her to come inside Joe's room, Briana gave in. After they had slept separately for several days, tonight she would sleep with Joe in this room.

***

The long-awaited day had finally arrived. Briana looked very enthusiastic as she got off the truck that had brought her from Joe's house to this place tens of kilometers away. She saw the other jockeys gathering and chatting with each other, not really paying much attention to her arrival there. Then she realized something. She was the only female jockey in the tournament.

However, Briana quickly dismissed her bad thoughts. It didn't matter that she was the only girl. As long as she could compete well, it was no big deal.

"Joe will follow you here later."

Briana turned around, seeing Pascal behind her. The man was trying to get Hero out of the back of the truck. Hero landed on the ground smoothly.

"I'm glad to hear that," Briana said, then approached Pascal who was carrying Hero to the stake.

Pascal tied Hero's rope to the pole quickly. After making sure she was safe there, he walked away as he didn't want to disturb others who were doing the same to their horses. The place looked very crowded and was packed with people from all walks of life.

"I'm so nervous," Briana said after they had been silent for a while.

"Calm yourself down. I believe you can get through today's tournament well," Pascal said soothingly.

"Look over there." Briana pointed at some of the horse jockeys she'd seen earlier. "They look really good and experienced."

"Maybe one day you can be like them. Think of today as your first lesson in success," Pascal said encouragingly.

Briana smiled widely after hearing Pascal's words. "Thank you for your advice."

"No big deal," Pascal said modestly.

Then came the sound of an announcement from the organizing committee. All tournament participants must immediately gather near the stage to listen to all the directions they have to do later when the tournament starts. Briana ran fast to get there because she didn't want to miss the information they gave.

Half an hour later Briana was at the starting line riding Hero. She was in the center among the other jockeys. To be honest, she felt scared to be in the middle of them. But, she quickly pushed those bad thoughts away.

"Don't be afraid Hero, I'm with you," Briana shouted as she gently patted the horse's neck.

The horse whinnied softly as if it understood Briana's words. Briana concentrated on the runway they were about to cross. Although it looked very difficult, she believed she could make it to the finish line.

Meanwhile, Joe had just arrived at the venue. He walked hurriedly towards the stands. He nimbly passed several rows of seats that had been filled with spectators. He deliberately passed them because he wanted to sit in the seats in the front row. That way he could see Briana quite closely.

It turned out that the tournament had started a few minutes ago. Joe could see Briana with Hero in row number three. Briana looked like a professional jockey who had been involved in horse racing for a long time. Briana didn't feel intimidated. She was very tough among the other participants.

Then something happened unexpectedly. Something happened to Briana's horse. The horse suddenly went berserk and kicked several other horses to the ground. Briana seemed to have trouble controlling her horse. Then Briana lost her balance and fell off her horse as it lifted its leg high.

"Briana ...." Joe shouted loudly.