Kidding

Jason leaned his face into Katie’s hand, just enjoying her gentle affection. He closed his eyes and sighed. Why did reality always have to ruin the best moments? He could sit here virtually forever. “Yeah… we do. But…” he opened his eyes again and gave her a squeeze as he smiled. “I think we should do something special for supper. Whatever you want. Whether it’s a motorcycle ride to the lake, an evening on my couch, Chinese or a fancy restaurant. Your pick.” 


Pete grinned and lifted his water glass to Ron. “I’ll do anything for pizza. Nikki’s working tonight so I’m bach’n it anyway. Just tell me where and when.” He finished up the last couple bites of his meat before being satisfied, and he glanced at his watch. “Guess we better get back to it…”

Once they were back to the Elite, Jason wasn’t around yet, so it was Sapphire’s turn. Stopping by her cubicle, Pete gave her a nod. “Hey. Got a few minutes?” 

Garret didn’t even give her time to reply as he glared up at the two men. “You’ve gotta be kidding me.” 

Pete frowned. “Not your place, Garret.” 

Garret’s glare didn’t subside. “I get you talking to me, but her? You’re out of your mind.”

“We have to cover all bases,” Pete reminded him. “Please, just let it go.” He looked back to Sapphire. “I’ll explain in the meeting room. We’re just following new protocol, that’s all.”


Ryan’s touch to his face sent tingles down Hunter’s neck, and he blinked as she kissed his nose, not even knowing how to react. He tried to keep convincing himself that all this would go away, but she was making it awfully hard for him to keep her at arm’s length as far as his heart was concerned. 

Gaining a new smile, he reached over and ruffled her hair. “Naw… I’m good. Maybe we can…” His voice trailed off as he heard the bell on the door and he spied Sparky and Dylan. 

Dylan gave Sparky’s arm a whack as they walked in their direction. “Stop it!” he hissed.

Sparky was laughing, and held up his arms in defense. “You protesteth too much, young fella.” 

“Jerk.” 

Hunter’s eyes widened as they approached. “Problems?” 

“No,” Dylan answered quickly. “I’m just ready to go, that’s all.”

Sparky was still grinning. “He just couldn’t handle Diane anymore.” 
Hunter’s eyebrows rose. “Diane?”

“Moron!” Dylan gave Sparky a shove, which only made him stumble a couple steps.

He started laughing again. “Yeah. New worker at the tack shop. Boy howdy did she have the hots for Dylan here. Followed him around like a puppy dog.”

“Shut up!” 

“He couldn’t get rid of the poor girl.” 

“And you didn’t help,” Dylan complained. “All you did was encourage her!” 

“I couldn’t help myself.” Sparky coughed and tried to stop laughing. “Sorry.”

Dylan crossed his arms with a huff. “No you’re not.” He looked to Hunter. “I was gonna try out some saddles, but there was no way I was staying any longer.”

Sparky let another snicker slip out. “She was all over him.” His eyes danced with humor as he spoke to Hunter and Ryan. “It really was funny.” 

Hunter bit his lip and tried not to laugh for Dylan’s sake. “And you ran away?”

“I didn’t run away!” Dylan threw up his arms. “I was… I didn’t… she…” Growling, he spun around and aimed for the door, which just put Sparky back in stitches. 

“I’ll make it up to him,” he promised. Sighing, he tilted his hat back to scratch his head. “I don’t care about hanging around longer if you guys aren’t done here. Just figured I’d let ya know we’d be back at the truck.”

Hunter glanced to Ryan. “Ready to head back to the ranch?”