By Heart Page 4

  “Not from idiots,” she replied. “God, where would you be without me? I’m surprised you haven’t starved to death yet.”

  Dustin guided Vince to the kitchen table. “I make sure he eats,” he assured Jane. “I don’t want him to starve to death either.”

  “Good,” Jane replied.

  “At least someone loves me,” Vince declared.

  Chapter Six

  VINCE WASN’T surprised to have no information about whether his placings in his first two selection events were good enough to get him on the team by the time he got to the third show. He had no idea if he was doing fine so far or if he needed to win to stay in consideration. He could only assume they waited until everyone had finished their designated selection events before letting on about who had made it and who had no chance.

  It took them three days of driving to get to the final show. He was all the more happy to have purchased a trailer with a living compartment, as they spent their nights at truck stops during such trips. It was comfortable but very tiny. The shower was claustrophobia-inducing, and the kitchen was a small counter with only space for a toaster, microwave, and coffee maker. At least the bed was a full queen-sized mattress in the gooseneck part of the trailer that hung over the bed of the truck. As usual, they arrived early, and Vince had a day to work with Xander before his class. It was a typical show despite Vince’s inevitable nerves from not knowing how close he was to making the team.

  Or it was a typical show until, just as he was getting out of the mandated drug testing, his phone rang. The name on the screen was Dustin’s, and that put him in a panic. Dustin knew where he was and would typically have texted if he needed something before Vince got back to the barn.

  When he answered, he heard loud, angry voices in the background, and the panicked feelings grew that much stronger.

  “What’s going on?” Vince demanded, picking up his pace back to the barns.

  “Get back here as quick as you can,” Dustin replied, sounding mildly out of breath.

  Vince was trying to process what could possibly be happening. “Is Xander okay? Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine,” Dustin replied. “I think Xander is fine, but he is a little wound up. I found Harold Becket trying to give him something. I don’t think he got close enough to do it, though. Just get back here as soon as you can.”

  “Did you get an official?”

  “Yeah, someone got one. And a vet. They just got here. I need to go.”

  “I’m coming,” Vince assured him. He didn’t even put his phone back into his pocket before speeding up to a run, not caring if he alarmed anyone. He only slowed to a fast walk when he got near the barns, and a lifetime of warnings about running near horses kicked in.

  When he turned down Xander’s row, he was hit by the size of the crowd that was there. At least a dozen people were gathered. Someone was holding Harold Becket down on a tack box. He was yelling at three men in suits. Tally was growling, but someone Vince recognized as a groom who Dustin was friends with was holding her leash.

  “He’s lying!” Harold insisted. “I’m the one who saw him drugging the horse! If that horse has any drugs in its system, it’s because the fags can’t blow their way to the top anymore.”

  Vince hurried over in time for one of the officials to reply with, “Well, we’ll just have to see what the surveillance cameras have to say.”

  “What did he do to my horse?” Vince demanded. He was so close to losing control that he had to clench his fists around his phone so he didn’t punch Harold in the face. The bastard had tried to hurt Xander, and that was one of the worst things anyone could do to Vince.

  One of the officials took him by the arm to guide him away. It was all Vince could do not to rip his arm out of the older man’s grip. He looked toward Xander’s stall and saw Dustin holding Xander’s halter while a show-sponsored vet checked him over. Xander stood with wide eyes, nostrils flared, ears flicking back and forth as Dustin spoke to him.

  “Your groom claims he saw Mr. Becket attempting to gain entry to your horse’s stall,” the official explained calmly. “Several other grooms support him, and Mr. Becket did have a syringe of something he won’t identify. We don’t know yet if he managed to get any of the drug into him. Mr. Becket claims your groom had the syringe, but he doesn’t know what is in it, so we have our doubts. We’ll confirm with the cameras.”

  “And if it was something to harm or kill my horse?” Vince demanded.

  The official nodded complacently. “That’s why the vet is here.”

  Vince’s panic and anger were fading into fear. What if Xander dropped dead because of the bastard, despite the vet being there? With a tiny amount of whatever was in the syringe? He couldn’t imagine life without competing on Xander. No other horse could make up for his loss, even if Vince had been planning to retire him for younger horses eventually. To suddenly lose him might as well be a death sentence to Vince himself.

  Vince stepped around the official and went to Xander’s stall. Dustin gave him a shaky smile and continued murmuring soothing words to Xander as the vet checked his temperature. As soon as he saw Vince, Xander’s eyes were trained on him. Vince slipped into the stall and put a hand on Xander’s neck, stroking lightly. Xander started to become marginally less upset.

  “Nothing seems out of the ordinary for the moment,” the vet declared, stepping toward the door. “Obviously he’s showing signs of stress, but not more than usual for such a situation. Watch him. I’ll stick around for an hour or so. If he doesn’t relax or he gets worse, we’ll check him out again.”

  “Thank you,” Vince told her, taking a deep breath.

  She nodded and left the stall.

  “God, I don’t know how this happened,” Dustin muttered, loosening his hold on Xander’s halter. “All I did was go to the bathroom. I came back and he was right in front of Xander’s stall. I asked if I could help him with anything, and I saw him throw the syringe behind him when he turned toward me. I asked what the hell he was doing, and the other people around started reacting. He said he was admiring Xander, and I asked what was in the syringe. Someone picked it up, and someone else stopped him when he tried to leave. Then someone ran for the officials. Xander was pacing and snorting. I didn’t know if he was freaked out over me confronting Harold, or if Harold had tried to hurt him. I didn’t know anything. I just called you.”

  Vince put his free hand on Dustin’s back. “Thank you for confronting him.”

  “If he got drugged with something, I’m so sorry,” Dustin whispered.

  “Hey, it’s not your fault, Dust,” Vince assured him. “You didn’t do anything wrong. You didn’t ask him to drug Xander.”

  Dustin nodded. “I’m just worried.”

  “So am I.” Vince gave Xander a final loving pat, then nodded to the door. “Let’s let him relax for now.”

  Dustin followed him out into the aisle of the barn. Everyone was oddly quiet, waiting for something. Even Harold was silent. He sat staring at the ground in front of him, flanked by the officials.

  Movement at the end of the barn had Vince turning to look. Two rather large men in all black walked in with another suited official and Greg Dugan. As they got closer, Vince read the word “Security” in yellow print over the left breast of each of the large men. The group approached Harold, though Greg lingered back by Vince.

  “Mr. Becket,” the new official began, “we are here to escort you off the property. Upon watching the security footage from the incident, we have concluded that you acted with malicious intent against a competitor and his horse. You will have the chance to argue your case against fines or a ban from the sport—whatever is decided you should face for this action—but at this time, you are removed from this competition.”

  “But my students—”

  “Can either withdraw or compete without you,” the official cut in. “We will allow you time to confer with them, under supervision. Now, the extent of the action taken against you from th
is point forward will be affected by what was in the syringe.”

  “The camera proved he never injected your horse with anything,” Greg quietly assured Vince.

  Vince felt his legs nearly give out from under him. “Thank you.”

  Greg nodded and patted his shoulder.

  Harold gestured aggressively. To whom, Vince wasn’t entirely sure.

  “It was just a sedative!” Harold exclaimed. “And no, not enough to do any harm, just enough to make the worthless nag lazy and slow. Thought maybe he would take out some rails tomorrow that way.”

  A sedative that would last twenty-four hours? Vince wasn’t sure that could be.

  “Something that would cause a positive test result?” the official questioned.

  The glare on Harold’s face was answer enough. So it wasn’t about damaging performance; it was about knocking Vince completely out of the competition. And out of the competition would likely have meant out of the running for the Olympic team qualification.

  “Well, come with us, then,” the official said, motioning for Harold to stand, which he did.

  The security guards flanked him while the official led him out of the barn. Vince watched him go, and when Harold met his gaze with a glare as he walked by, Vince didn’t let his expression change. He refused to let Harold bother him any more than he already had.

  “If you want to pull out tomorrow,” Greg said after clearing his throat, “I have been told your consideration can be made on two events instead of three, taking this into account. You both appeared in good form when you worked him today.”

  Vince nodded, then glanced back at Xander. “I’m going to wait and make that call tomorrow. Is that okay?”

  “Of course,” Greg assured him. “He might be calmed down by morning.”

  “I’m hoping he will be shortly,” Vince replied.

  “And how are you?” Greg questioned.

  Vince took a deep breath. “Pissed, honestly. He verbally harasses me when he sees me, then tries to drug my horse. That’s not okay.”

  “Absolutely not,” Greg agreed. “Do you want to lodge an official complaint along with the mandatory one that will be made by the show official?”

  Vince thought about it for a moment. Was it worth it? Sure, he wanted Harold to know doing this was far from acceptable and that he would fight for his horse, but how many hoops would Harold wiggle through? He felt Dustin slip his arm around his waist and leaned into the touch as much as he could.

  “What will he face if I don’t?” he finally asked.

  “A monetary fine and a suspension of at least six months,” Greg replied. “Most likely more than that, but that is the minimum that he can’t get out of with the video evidence.”

  Vince nodded. “Since he didn’t succeed in the drugging, I’m not going to put myself through more of his shit. I’ll give whatever statement I need to make, but I’m not doing anything more. He would probably get away with it anyway.”

  “That’s your decision, and I respect it,” Greg said.

  “Thank you,” Vince replied.

  The crowd had mostly dispersed, but the officials approached him.

  “Mr. Anderson, we regret that this happened at one of our shows,” one of them said solemnly.

  Vince nodded to them. “It could have happened anywhere. Thank you for responding so quickly.”

  “We hope the rest of your weekend goes much better. Once again, we are very sorry about this. This is why we have cameras on at all times. Some people just aren’t honest competitors.”

  “Very true. Still, thank you. I’m not upset with the show staff or the venue. As I said, I appreciate your work.”

  “They don’t want a smudge against this show,” Greg muttered when the officials left moments later. “It would have a negative impact on next year’s entries.”

  “Understandable,” Vince agreed. “I meant what I told them.”

  “I’ll be sure we have good things to say when we make our statement online,” Dustin assured him. “Once the news breaks,” he added.

  Greg smiled faintly. “Oh, I have a feeling it will break soon enough. You have a dozen witnesses here, plus whoever sees Harold with his students later.”

  Vince turned back to Xander, who was much more settled, though still not relaxed. “Good.”

  Chapter Seven

  “OH YEAH, it’s all over the internet.”

  Vince flopped down next to Dustin on the trailer mattress. Tally wagged her tail and moved from Dustin’s other side to lie down between them. Vince smiled and rubbed her velvety ears.

  “It is?”

  Dustin held up his phone. “One of his students posted all about it, how she finally has an excuse to find a new trainer because hers was caught attempting to drug another rider’s horse. I’ve been talking to Cade about the best kind of press release we can write. He emailed you the draft so you can say if it’s good or not.”

  Vince pulled the light blanket over him against the chill of the fan. It wasn’t an overly warm night for June, but it was warm enough to justify it for comfort for all three of them.

  “I’ll read it first thing in the morning,” Vince replied. “We’ll all be up early.”

  Dustin nodded and set his phone on the little shelf along the wall. “True. We had nothing but good things to say about the show officials.”

  “Good.” Vince edged closer, and Tally sighed before getting up and moving to her corner of the mattress. “Thank you. For being my social media manager and for keeping the bastard’s hands off Xander.”

  Dustin smiled. “Just doing my part. Or my job, technically.”

  “Still, thank you.” Vince leaned in and pressed a light kiss to Dustin’s lips. “And I love you.”

  “I love you too,” Dustin murmured, his lips brushing Vince’s as he spoke.

  Vince smiled and pulled him closer. “I also really like this bed.”

  Dustin chuckled. “Why is that?”

  “Because this is where you agreed to marry me.”

  Dustin’s smile softened. “That’s one of my favorite memories from any show we’ve been at.”

  “Mine too,” Vince breathed.

  “Even above winning a million-dollar class?” Dustin asked.

  “Hell yes,” Vince replied. “You mean a hell of a lot more to me than money or popularity.”

  “Glad to hear it, because I have another proposal for you,” Dustin said, moving closer and making it very clear what he meant.

  Vince pretended to think about it for a moment. “Hm, I guess I could make that sacrifice for you.”

  Dustin chuckled. “Glad I’m worth it.”

  “Hell yes,” Vince said again before kissing him.

  IN THE end Vince decided Xander had recovered from his near encounter with Harold enough to handle competition. Plus he wasn’t going to let Harold or any of his supporters think he would back down so easily.

  Xander felt like himself in the warm-up ring and in the arena, his every move eager but not too much so. He was flawless in the first round and the jump-off, churning the ground between jumps and snapping his legs up neatly to avoid every rail. The crowd sounded especially supportive, cheering for every clear jump even more than usual. Vince couldn’t help but be relieved to have so many people on his side instead of Harold’s, because he knew there were some people who did support Harold and who would say he was being wrongly accused, even with the video. Vince received so many more congratulations after the win too, from other competitors as well as fans and horse owners. He made sure to thank everyone genuinely and with a smile. Greg also shook his hand with a bright grin. Vince hoped that was a good sign with regards to his chance of making the Olympic team.

  IT WOULD be more than two weeks before the team announcement was officially made, so Vince and Dustin headed back to Anderson Stables, and Vince did his best not to think about it. There was still a lot of talk on social media about Harold and what the incident could mean for Vince’s chances, but Vinc
e tried to ignore it. He knew Dustin was keeping an eye on the online activities, but Dustin didn’t tell him much unless it was something he found entertaining.

  Like the one night when Vince came out of the bathroom to find Dustin at his laptop, sitting cross-legged on the bed, laughing. Tally was watching him with a tilted head.

  “What’s going on now?” Vince asked.

  Dustin got his laughter under control and wiped his eyes. “Someone thinks I’m cheating on you with another groom, Emily. She works for a couple different Canadian riders.”

  Vince sat down on the bed and gave him a curious look. “Why are they saying that?”

  “She gave me a hug after the Harold Becket fiasco, and someone took a picture. Which is weird, but also really amusing.”

  “That is really weird,” Vince commented. “Hopefully it’s not someone with a grudge for some reason.”

  “Like one of Harold’s students?” Dustin suggested.

  Vince shrugged. “That’s possible.”

  Dustin put his laptop down and moved closer. “Let’s take a picture to prove them wrong. Sound fun?”

  “As long as we’re not naked,” Vince answered, smiling.

  “Of course not,” Dustin replied. He made Vince pose leaning back against the headboard with him in such a way that made their engagement rings visible. “Now make a skeptical face. Yes, like that.” Dustin took the picture. “Perfect. I am going to say that we think the post is very entertaining.”

  Vince chuckled. “This will be fun. We’ve never shared that we got each other rings.”

  Dustin grinned. “Exactly.”

  IT ACTUALLY was fun to see the way the internet reacted to the apparent news that Vince and Dustin were, it was assumed, now married. Dustin, however, made sure to explain the truth: they were planning to have their wedding in October but had wanted to give each other a symbol of love. That just got people all riled up over how sweet and adorable that was.