Read My Favorite Mistake for Free Online

you.”
    Zara bit her tongue—literally—to stop herself from snapping out a rude reply. Sure, Summer was a pain in the ass. But she wasn’t really the one who was making Zara feel like crap. Nope, that honor belonged to her own father, the guy who barely noticed where she went or what she did—and yet suddenly seemed to think she needed to be treated like a five-year-old.
    â€œWhatever,” she muttered as Summer hurried off down the barn aisle shouting for Miguel.
    Zara turned toward Ellie’s stall. The mare was cross-tied in the aisle, with Zara’s saddle already neatly positioned atop a spotless Mattes pad. Javier was bent over the horse’s front legs fiddling with her sheepskin-lined Eskadron boots.
    When she saw the young groom, Zara’s stomach twisted as she instantly flashed back to the Hounds Hollow showgrounds. The drunken crash. The injured horse. Her desperate threat to turn Javier in, tell Jamie he was illegal. How long had it taken for someone to tell Javier about that? Whatever, he had to know all about it by now. All about how she’d almost ruined his life.
    One of the barn dogs, Hugo, was sitting nearby chewing on a stray bit of hoof the farrier must’ve tossed him. The dog wagged his tail and jumped to his feet when he noticed Zara coming, which made Javier look up as well.
    â€œHi, Miss Trask,” the groom said politely, his dark eyes unreadable behind their long lashes. “She’s almost ready for you.”
    â€œThanks,” Zara muttered, not quite meeting his gaze.
    He finished adjusting the boot and stood. “Are you ready?” he asked. “I’ll bridle her for you now if you like.”
    â€œSure, thanks.”
    Javier hurried off toward the tack room with Hugo right behind him, leaving Zara standing there feeling guilty and unsettled as she wondered what the young groom was thinking about her right now. Ugh. And this was supposed to be her refuge from the annoyances of home?
    Just then Fitz wandered into view at the end of the aisle. Great. Another person she definitely didn’t feel like dealing with right now. She’d barely seen him since the end of the show, mostly because his parents had banned him from the barn for a week once they heard what had happened. Well, what had
supposedly
happened.
    Zara still couldn’t believe he’d jumped in to cover for her. The weirdest part was that he hadn’t even done it to try to get in her pants. That would have been better, actually. She would’ve known how to handle that.
    This? Not so much. She didn’t like owing anyone anything.
    â€œHey, good lookin’. What’s cookin’?” Fitz quipped when he got closer. “Didn’t know you were here today.”
    â€œSorry, guess I forgot to alert the media,” she muttered.
    It came out sounding more sour than funny, but Fitz laughed anyway. “How’s Ellie today?” he asked, stepping over to give the mare a scratch on the withers. She turned her head as far as the cross-ties would allow, nuzzling him in obvious hope of scoring a treat.
    Zara didn’t answer. Javier had just returned with her bridle. He expertly slipped it on, then handed over the reins.
    â€œDo you need anything else, Miss Trask?” he asked in his soft voice.
    â€œNo, I’m good.” Zara forced a smile. “Thanks.”
    â€œSee you, Javier,” Fitz said. As soon as the groom disappeared around the corner, he glanced at Zara. “Hey, guess what?”
    â€œDo I have to?” Zara jammed her helmet on and clicked the throat snap shut.
    â€œWhat? No, seriously.” Fitz lowered his voice. “I was talking to Max, and he said nobody ever told Javier what happened that night. You know—what you said about him.”
    Zara spun around to face him. “Wait, for real?” she said. “Come on. This place is gossip central. How could he not know?”
    Fitz lifted one