Baby

23

"All right" Baby began "so here's what we're gonna do. This is a friendly game" placing a magazine into a beretta "highest score wins. Loser buys dinner" looking at Ryan

"Oh, you're on" he smirked

For their second date, Baby surprised him by bringing him to a shooting range. He grabbed his own gun, getting it ready just as she put on some safety glasses that were required for the range, and she was even offered a pair of headphones to muffle the sound of the weapons, but she had already been used to it since she was a kid. Shooting a gun may not happened every single day at Yellowstone, but she was still used to the sound. Baby aimed her gun at the target in front of her, not yet placing her finger on the trigger in case she needed to adjust her grip, something Ryan noticed. Yes, she is an excellent shot, but when she's practicing, she wants to have her grip just right so she's not uncomfortable while holding a loaded weapon.

Her finger moved to the trigger, squeezing it and causing a slug to emit from the barrel with a bang, the shell exiting. A hole appeared in the center of the paper about twenty feet away, Ryan firing his own gun, which caused a hole to appear in the shoulder of his own. His shot cause her eyebrows to furrow slightly, knowing she had seen him shoot a gun before, and also knowing that he never missed, especially since he was also a livestock agent. But she brushed it off, shooting her gun a few more times, watching as more holes appeared in the paper. She booked their booth for about an hour, which was more than enough time to see who got the highest score. As Baby lowered her gun slightly, watching as Ryan's paper had more holes outside of the target, a chuckle emitting from her, realizing that he was missing his target in purpose.

Ryan was a gentleman, he may have had no choice when it came to the first half of their date, but he wasn't going to let her pay for dinner, even though she had more than enough money from her books and from her father. He also didn't care about money. While most men flirted with Baby in order to get into her father's ranch, that's all they cared about. It didn't matter to them if the youngest Dutton was hurt in the process of attempting to access the money. But she knew Ryan was very different compared to other men. He would try to make her laugh at least once every day, which now normally included bullying Jimmy. He always talked to her sometime during the day, wanting to know how she was and if she was okay, or if something had happened. Ryan knew what happened in her last relationship, and he tried his best to not make her scared of him in any way, but he didn't know that she was assured about him. That he wouldn't hurt her. John, Lee and Rip were right about Ryan, it just took some time for her to see that.

∆

"You missed on purpose" she said, looking at the paper he had shot

"I don't know what your talking about, darlin" Ryan smiled as he drove a Yellowstone truck back to the ranch

"Yeah, okay" heavy sarcasm in her voice

The smile never left his lips as he reached out, gently grasping her left hand and lacing their fingers together, a smile forming on her own lips as she lowered the paper to her lap, rolling it up with her free hand and putting it on the floor of the truck. Their hands rested on the center console, Baby reaching up and removing her hat, placing it on her lap so she could be more comfortable,

"Horror movie for our next date?" He asked

"Eh . ." she replied with a small shrug

"Too scared?" smirking lightly

"Too predictable" looking at him "I love a good horror movie, believe me. But I find them predictable. In a slasher, the dumb blonde trips over air and gets caught by the killer -- and I don't mean this in a bad way -- but African Americans normally die first. In a paranormal, it's always someone close to you getting possessed, a picture moves, and the supposed jump scares. And don't even get me started on Hellraiser. But, science fiction horror, those ones are good. I could watch those every day"

"Okay, favorite science fiction horror movie or franchise" he said

"Alien franchise with Sigourney Weaver and Predator franchise" her immediate response

"What?" looking at her

"Eyes on the road" she teased

"You like Aliens and Predator?" looking back to the road

"Should I have a disclaimer that says I'm a fucking nerd?" amusement in her voice

"Yes!" He replied

But by his smile, Baby knew he was joking, which caused a chuckle to emit from her, shaking her head slightly,

"So if you don't want to go to a movie, what do you want to do?" He asked

"Well, I do have a projector and the entire Alien and Predator franchise downloaded on my laptop . . " she informed, turning her head and looking back at him with a smile

"I will binge watch the entire Alien franchise with you, but only if we binge watch Nightmare on Elm Street" he said

"Oh, God, you're a slasher fan!" she groaned

"Do not knock it until you try it, darlin" he smiled

"Nightmare on Elm Street, I don't mind" honesty in her voice "other slashers like Scream or Child's Play, is just . . a hard hell no"

"Okay, that is understandable" nodding slightly "Scream has different people playing the same killer for their own reasons, and Child's Play is about a murderer who's soul moved into a doll as he died. So I can't blame you for not liking those ones"

"And plus, if we go to a movie, we'd be spending more money on snacks that we can get at any other store" she added

"That is also true" agreeing with her "next date, Alien franchise"