Page 38 of Wilder Heart

“Time to go,” Cash said.

Yes, it was. Wilder swung up into the saddle as Cash went to Hexie. Blaze was vibrating with the urge to move by the time the other hands had fallen in behind Lain. He and Wilder were the last ones out of the barn, and Blaze blew past Annalise and Mary-Beth so fast he nearly lost his hat.

“Blaze!” he hollered as he drew even with Cash and Hexie. “Don’t be a dick!”

He heard Cash’s surprised bark of laughter as he pulled ahead of him.

Blaze settled into a more manageable pace once he found the middle of the pack, matching the speed of the others. That was lucky; the last thing he needed was for Blaze to burn himself out early in the morning when they still had a whole day of riding ahead of them.

The morning was a brisk one, and Wilder was thankful he hadn’t shed his outer shirt. Fluffy white clouds occasionally shielded them from the golden sunshine, adding to the chill. It would warm up as the sun rose higher, but for now it was brighter than it was warm.

When they reached the herd, the real action began. With whistles and shouts, they turned the herd south toward the ranch and got them moving. The riders fanned out, some flanking the herd’s sides and some riding behind to make sure none of the cattle broke away.

Truthfully, it was exhilarating. It had been a long time since Wilder had done something like this. Riding with a herd, watching for danger, trusting his fellow cowboys to take care of their sections. Blaze was a natural, chasing after any of the cattle that tried to separate from the main herd like it was a personal challenge not to let anything past him. He swooped around them like he had wings, darting around the cattle and guiding them back to the others.

The morning passed without incident. The sun climbed into the sky, warming the air around them, and soon Wilder was rolling up his sleeves and dabbing at the sweat on the back of his neck. Lain rode ahead to open the gate, and while the rest of them helped the herd funnel out of the fence and onto the narrow trail between fields, Wayne rode ahead to get the next gate open. They would pass through the second field and take the herd to the third field, which was closest to the house.

With the herd bottlenecked between the two fences on the trail—which was little more than tire treads worn into the grass—most of the riders hung back, trotting after the stragglers.

There, Wilder felt a presence at his side, and when he glanced over, he found Cash already looking at him, the brim of his hat shading the heat in his gaze. The weight of his attention felt like a physical thing, raking down his body, slipping under thebuttons of his shirt to splay on bare skin. His teeth sank into his lower lip, and a pang of heat billowed through him. If Cash kept looking at him like that, keeping his distance would be impossible.

“We’ll stop for lunch in the next field,” Lain announced, and Wilder jerked his attention away from Cash. His twin was riding just ahead of them, and there was no indication that he’d seen their heated looks.

Wilder turned away from Cash completely. If he didn’t look at him, he couldn’t get caught up in the wildfire of his own desire.

He came face to face with Billy, who was scowling at him.

Fuck.

CHAPTER 15

CASH

With the herd safely enclosed in field number two, Lain called a halt to the proceedings under a grove of trees where they could tie the horses and remove their halters to let them graze and rest. A creek bisected this field, so the cattle and horses alike would get a chance to have some water before they pressed on.

By unspoken agreement, they all gathered under the trees, stretching out in the grass with their lunchboxes and bottles of water in a loose circle. Lain sat across from Cash, and Wilder was a short distance away to Cash’s right, focusing on the lunchbox in his hands like it would save him from an awkward conversation.

“Sure was kind of Mary-Beth and Annalise to make lunch for us,” Cash said, pulling out a square sandwich bag and opening the plastic zipper. Turkey, bacon and cheese, with lettuce and tomato. Fantastic.

“It was,” Lain agreed. “It’s a matter of time before Annalise wants to start coming along on these trips.”

“She’s got the makings of a good rider,” Cash said. “Few more years of practice and she’ll make a great cowgirl.”

Lain chuckled. His eyes slid toward Wilder, who was hiding behind the brim of his hat as he dug into his own food. He had no idea he’d stolen Lain’s attention, and even Cash couldn’t read the uncertain frown on Lain’s face.

When the silence registered, Wilder lifted his head and met Lain’s eyes—an accident, Cash was sure, since he’d done his best to avoid him all morning. He froze under the attention, his eyes moving from Lain to Cash and back.

“I thought you hated tomato,” Lain blurted, followed by a wince.

Wilder looked at Cash again—for help? Cash didn’t have the slightest clue how to break this tension between them. Wilder started chewing again, slower, and looked down at his sandwich as though seeing it for the first time. With a lopsided shrug, he went back to eating.

Tastes changed as people grew. Cash used to hate bananas as a kid, but he had no problem with them now. Lain and Wilder had been apart for so long that they couldn’t rely on what they used to know about each other. It was as though they were meeting again for the very first time. The men they were today—especially in Wilder’s case, after the environment he’d been mired in—had to be worlds different than the boys they once were.

Or maybe it was simpler than that. Maybe the food in prison was so bad that Wilder just learned to eat anything, even if he didn’t care for the taste.

Lain reluctantly turned back to his own food, his lips pursed at the corners.

Cash wanted to yell at them both. Neither of them knew how to talk to the other anymore, and the rift between them only deepened the longer they left it alone.

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