On the Fence

Chapter 2

I stood unwavering under the gaze of the men that filled the room, taking in the various reactions to my presence. There was a lot of confusion, curiosity, and disbelief on the faces.

"That your girl, Brant? Come to visit where you work or what?" One of the guys questioned, obviously teasing Brant but still curious about what he would say. I caught a wicked smirk cross Brant's face from the corner of my eye, and I turned to smirk at him myself.

"And what if I said 'yes,' Tyler?" Brant taunted.

"Then I'd say I'm going to move in on your territory!" Laughter filled the mess hall as the guys smacked each other and got goofy grins on their faces, enjoying the interlude. There was more jeering and chiming in from the other guys about trying their luck.

"Alright, you unruly lot!" Brant laughed, getting them to quiet down. "This is Taylor Lundsen, newest ranch hand to Bridlewood," Brant finished.

All joking smiles and grins faded from the men's faces as their eyes slid over to me, taking me in with this new information. I couldn't stop the challenge that crossed my face as an eyebrow shot up while I took in their shock and surprise. Their faces slowly melted from shock into various expressions from irritation to open perusal of me.

"Seriously?" One of the guys asked.

The man called Tyler started openly laughing at him and jeered, "You're just upset because that means you can't streak anymore to the showers!" More laughter at the man's expense.

"Shit, is she staying in the bunk house, too?!" another guy asked. It was my turn to laugh; faces turned to me, to take me in after my laugh.

I turned to Brant and teased, "You were right! They're scared shitless already; almost like they've never seen a woman before!"

Brant turned his green eyes on me as he laughed and whapped me on the shoulder again, his eyes sparkling with mischief that I returned with a smirk and a wink. A bunch of the guys started laughing at my remark and mischievously grinned as they watched my easy interactions with Brant.

"What the hell was Zeke thinking, bringing a woman in here?" another shouted out.

Before Brant could pipe in with me being a mistake, I shot back, "Apparently, my name is male enough to work here, and since I can buck a bale as good as the rest, there shouldn't be a problem." More laughter and delight at my retort filled the mess hall.

"That so?" The man shot back at me in challenge, his chin shooting up in defiance.

I looked him square in the face, answering, "That's right, and I can probably out-shoot you too, Ranger Rick, so watch yourself." My eyebrow shot up as I answered the man.

More laughter rang out, and I caught the interest level in the group going up a noticeable degree. Brant turned and looked at me with an appreciative smile, our earlier conversation of me being Northwest born and bred making him smile.

"Yeah, but can you handle the heat of hanging with the guys?" the same guy challenged back.

I snarked back, "What? You think you have something I've never seen before? Or were you worried about your potty mouth making me blush?" It was his turn to go a little red as more laughter rang out, mainly aimed at him, in enjoyment of my retort. I caught a few of the guys openly looking at me with a little heat in their gaze.

Brant was laughing with them through a broad smile and turned to smile at me, the smile reaching his striking green eyes. I couldn't help smiling back at him and laughing as well. He was enjoying watching me take them all on unwavering, it seemed. Before any more snark could be exchanged, the mess hall window came up, making the guys shove their chairs back to line up.