On the Fence

Chapter 31

I heaved a sigh, taking in Aiden's darkened look. He turned back to Jeff and finished what he was saying as Tyler swung his leg over the back of Pearl and dismounted. He reached out and helped me down with a smile.

We walked over to the hitching post, where I slung Pearl's reigns over the pole. We turned back and walked across the open yard area, waiting at the bottom of the ranch house steps for Aiden and Jeff to finish talking. The two of them walked down the steps, and I smiled at Aiden and Jeff.

Turning, I introduced Tyler, "This is my friend Tyler. Tyler, this is Aiden and Jeff."

They all shook hands, and Jeff turned to Aiden, "I'll get on that right now, but they may still want you to come out and take a look."

"Sure thing, Jeff," Aiden said with a smile for Jeff. Jeff gave Tyler and me one last smile before he headed over to the hitching post and mounted up on a horse, taking off toward the far pastures. I watched him go for a moment and turned to smile at Aiden.

He smiled back at me and glanced at Tyler, "Would you both like to come in?" I nodded at him and smiled.

He turned to walk into the house, and I naturally reached for his hand, slipping mine into his. He turned to give me another smile as we ascended the steps into the ranch house, squeezing my hand. He seemed pleased that I had taken his hand. Did he think I was afraid to touch him in front of Tyler? Or maybe he had thought Tyler would be one of the guys who liked me? We walked up the steps with Tyler and entered the house, heading to the kitchen.

"What will you have, Tyler?" Aiden asked, looking at him.

"Whatever you are, Mr. Patterson," Tyler answered. Aiden laughed into the opened fridge from which he was fishing a couple of beers.

He uncapped them and handed one to Tyler, saying, "And you can call me Aiden, Tyler." Tyler smiled at him and took a drink from his bottle. "What about you, Taylor? Some cider?" Aiden asked, raising his eyebrow, teasing me. I blushed and nodded, biting my lip as our eyes met.

He turned to get me a glass, and Tyler caught my eye with a deep, teasing smirk of his own as he observed my reaction to Aiden. I usually would have goaded him back for giving me that look, but because it was about Aiden, I could do nothing but blush more and clear my throat.

Tyler's smirk deepened with devilish delight; he had found my weak spot and knew it. He chuckled a little at my growing blush, so I bit my lip and elbowed him for his teasing, digging it into his side.

This only made him chuckle more, drawing Aiden's gaze. His dark blue eyes took in my growing blush and Tyler's smirk, along with the elbowing. A slight smirk of his own crept on Aiden's face as he stepped back up to me and handed me my glass of cider. It was obvious that Tyler was teasing me about him, and I saw that twinkle in Aiden's eyes that hinted at mischief.

He stepped up close to me, looking down at me, as he handed me my cider wearing his smirk; he was clearly trying to make me blush even more with his own teasing, so I glared at him.

"So, how did you get roped up into this, Tyler?" Aiden asked, still looking at me for a second, before turning his head toward Tyler.

Tyler grinned at him, looking down at me with teasing affection, before meeting Aiden's eye again, saying, "I sorta saw your 'goodbye' last night and then twisted Taylor's arm to explain things to me." I laughed at him, blushing again.

"You're playing a dangerous game, coming over here," Aiden half-teased, still wearing his smirk. "If Zeke catches either of you, game over."

Tyler grinned, "Yeah, well, it's a good thing we're going to be double teaming then, huh? She's got to have someone helping her sneak off, covering for her, or the game will be over sooner than she wants." He shot me a wink before continuing, "Besides, she said she'd put in a good word with you for when Bailey fires me for taking her side!" Aiden looked at him and started laughing, turning an affectionate smile down on me, reaching out to cup my face with a hand.