On the Fence

Chapter 7

Brant helped me out of the truck with his hands on my waist.

"Hey, you got a sec?" He asked me. The rest of the guys were piling out of the trucks, laughing and jostling each other again.

"Yeah, sure," I smiled at him. I walked out into the yard area.

Tyler's arms came around me from behind, and he planted a kiss on my cheek, saying, "Night, darlin!" I laughed and leaned my head against his. He released me and joined the horde of guys wishing me good night before heading off to the bunkhouse.

I turned and saw Brant looking at me, admiring me? I blushed under his kind scrutiny. He walked up with a smirk and offered me his arm. I took it, and he walked me towards the barn, pulling us to a stop just outside the barn doors so we were still out in the open but had some privacy to talk.

"Something the matter, Brant?" He suddenly looked nervous for the first time.

"I should probably warn you about Aiden." My eyebrows crinkled as I looked at him, feeling confused but curious at the same time.

"What do you mean, Brant?"

"There's a reason I said not to go on Thunderbird land. Zeke and Aiden are," he paused and sighed, rubbing a hand on his neck. "Well, it's complicated. Those two are not on good terms with one another. You could call them rivals at best and enemies at worst. Not that there's active feuding or anything like that, but you should probably stay away from Aiden or risk getting Zeke mad. He doesn't like his people associating with Aiden or his."

"But why? I mean, why do they dislike each other so much?"

He shook his head, saying, "They don't openly talk about it, and I wouldn't ask if I were you."

I still felt perplexed by it, but I nodded and said, "Thanks for the heads up. And thanks for the fun evening, Brant." He smiled at me, his green eyes looking into mine with intense affection.

Slowly he reached up and caressed my cheek, still looking into my eyes, "Night, Taylor." I smiled at him. I stepped into him and hugged him. He seemed surprised, but after a moment's hesitation, he wrapped his arms around me in a hug.

"Night, Brant." I pulled out of the hug and flashed him one more smile before I turned and headed into the stables to head to my apartment.

My heart was on a cloud, and my mind was going a million miles an hour, thinking about all that had happened that day; the morning in the stall, Aiden in the pasture, dancing at the bar with Brant and Aiden, kissing Brant. My heart was fluttering from it all.

The following morning, I mucked out the stalls and headed out to work the fence like usual. By mid-afternoon, I was bathed in sweat and grimy, the sun beating down from overhead.

I heard someone coming on a horse and looked up, holding up my hat at the sun and squinting to see who was riding up on me. I strategically placed myself behind the ATV and waited.

At last, Brant came into view, and I gawked at his horse. I had never seen him ride up to that point, but my mouth fell open at the sight of him riding up on one of the most gorgeous black and white paints I had ever laid eyes on.

"Hey, Taylor! What are you doing out here?"

I scowled at him, "What do you mean? I'm working!" He laughed and rode closer.

"It's Saturday, girl! Half-day, minus must-do chores and work. Come on, all of us were going to head over to the watering hole for the afternoon to cool off. Wanna join us?"

"Umm," I didn't know.

"You have a swimsuit? I mean, shorts and a shirt work fine too," he offered. I sat for a moment thinking about it.