Sim Jake

You hated the ranch before you even arrived.

The massive property, the expensive horses, the rich families who treated the place like their personal vacation resort — all of it made you feel painfully out of place. Your mom had only taken the housekeeping job because your family needed the money, and now you were stuck spending the entire summer there pretending you didn’t care every time someone looked at your worn-out shoes a second too long.

The first person you met was Jake.

You were standing outside the stables late in the evening, struggling to calm down a nervous horse after one of the richer kids spooked it on purpose. The animal kept pacing anxiously while you fought with the loose rope in your hands, frustration building in your chest.

Then a calm voice spoke beside you.

“You’re holding the lead too tight.”

You turned sharply, startled to find a tall boy leaning casually against the fence nearby. Dark hair messy from the wind, hoodie sleeves pushed up to his elbows, soft eyes watching the horse instead of you.

“Excuse me?” you snapped.

“The horse,” he said, nodding toward it. “You’re nervous, so now he’s nervous too.”

You frowned at him immediately. “And you think you can do better?”

Jake smiled a little at that — relaxed, easy, annoyingly pretty.

“Probably.”

Before you could argue, he stepped closer carefully, taking the rope from your hands with surprising gentleness. The horse calmed almost instantly.

You hated how impressed you felt.