Page 14 of Spurred On

The bitter wind glides across my cheeks as I climb up the stairs of their wrap-around porch and head to the large double doors of their cabin. Jack had done really well for himself and gave his wife Mabel the house of her dreams about ten years ago. Though the outside looks rugged, the interior has fresh finishes while keeping the mountain feel. Makes me want to buy a chunk of land and put my own house up. Jack always told me to let him know when I’m ready and he would sell me off a chunk. But the time isn’t right yet. Maybe someday, when I’m not on the road touring most of the year.

The smell of coffee and maple fills the air as I push open the door, making sure to wipe my boots on the rug. Lord knows Mable will have my ass if I drag mud through it.

“Morning,” I holler out. The house is nice and open. The living room sits in front of the door, the kitchen to the back right and dining room to the back left. It makes their house the perfect place for us all to gather.

I nod to Jack, who sits on the couch, going through the paper, his cup of coffee on the end table next to him. He barely peeks his head up at me, completely engulfed in the riveting events written in our small-town paper. Rhett already has his bearded face stuffed with pancakes, and I’m grateful he waves to me instead of trying to answer.

“About time you show up,” Weston says, bringing his cup of coffee to his lips. The rest of us have started to show our age, with smile lines around our eyes, but not Weston; he still looks exactly like he did when he turned twenty-one.

I pull my jacket off and hang it on the coat rack next to the door as I reply, “Hey, I got home five hours ago. You’re lucky I showed up to help you ungrateful shitheads.”

My nose follows the smell, and I walk into the kitchen. Grabbing a plate from the counter, I pile it high, full of eggs, bacon, and pancakes. The worst part about being on the road is that I’m always eating out. This fresh cooked food is half the reason why I dragged my ass out of bed this morning.

I sit down at the table next to Weston, and Mabel comes up behind me. “Here ya go, honey.” She pecks my cheek as she sets down a piping hot cup of black coffee—my lifeline at this point.

“Thanks, Mabel.” As usual, she has her long grey hair braided down her shoulder. Her blue eyes crinkle around the edges as she smiles at me before walking back to the kitchen.

I reposition in my chair, wincing as the muscles and bones in my back feel like they are on fire. My back has been screaming at me ever since my ride on Saturday. My first bull ran me right into the siding, probably would have crushed me to death if I hadn’t been able to get the fuck out of there. I’m lucky I got a re-ride out of that, but it cost me. Every day, something hurts a little worse than the day before. Some days, I wonder why the hell I still choose to get bucked off a bull for a living. But I’m chasing that double title. I can rest when the work is done and the title is won.

“How’s life over there with your new roomie?” Rhett asks as he takes a sip of coffee.

Really, it hasn’t been bad. She sticks to herself and has her nose in a book half the time. I should probably try to make her feel a little more comfortable. It’s still early spring, so it’s not warm enough for her to get a whole lot of fresh air, so the cabin fever is warranted.

“It’s alright. We don’t really talk a whole lot.”

“You too busy doing other things?” Rhett wags his bushy eyebrows at me and I roll my eyes.

“No, you fucking perv.” The comment doesn’t sit well with me, but I can’t put my finger on why. Probably because I’m wildly attracted to her and can’t do anything about it for a multitude of reasons.

His eyes widen at the bite in my tone. I’m usually the one making the jokes, but this whole situation has me all turned around. It doesn’t help that I can’t keep my damn eyes off her which makes living with her that much harder. I’ve never met anyone with a natural beauty likehers. I can absolutely see how I locked onto her the night of the NFR. I would have been crazy not to. But then again, look where it got us.

“Sorry,” he mutters, almost looking guilty, and now I feel like an ass.

Blowing out a breath, I shake my head, knowing the bite to my tone was unnecessary. “You’re fine. What do we have to get done today?”

Jack, who usually silently watches us be dipshits, chimes in, “We’ve got to fix a couple holes in the fence on the west pasture, and then bring some of the herd over that way. I want to have them all moved by the end of the month.”

The beginning of spring is always a busy time, moving cows, fixing shit that winter tore apart. But I love it. I can see how Jack devoted his whole life to this land. To his kids, Weston and Aspen. Shit, even Rhett and I, we aren’t his kids but you’d never know by how good he’s been to us while growing up. He’s always busted his ass to put food on the table and make sure everyone is taken care of. Running this place for so long has taken a toll on him. He’s always been tall and lean like Weston, but he’s thinned out more and more. His signature mustache has gone white, along with all his hair. Even with all that, the man is still tough as nails.

I scarf down every bite on my plate, knowing I am going to need as much energy as possible to get through this day. Plus, Mabels food is almost impossible to not inhale. She could probably make cardboard edible.

After finishing breakfast, Weston says, “Well, we better get to getting if we want to get that all done before the sun sets.” He pops out of his chair and heads to the door. We stop by our trucks to throw on our winter gear before we head out. Long johns hide under my Wranglers to keep my balls from freezing off. Not really sure if I want kids, but I’d like the opportunity to cross that bridge should the opportunityarise. I pull a gator over my face to protect me from the Wyoming wind and keep my ears from frostbite. Once my jacket and gloves are on, we make our way to the stalls. Walking into the covered barn area, each of our horses perks their heads up from their stalls.

My horse, Lucy, swishes her tail as I greet her. “Hey, girl. You ready to go to work?”

She responds with a whinny, letting me know she’s always ready. She’s been the best horse of my life, and I love days like today when we get to work together.

It takes us about twenty minutes of trotting before we find the broken fence. It will need a new post when it fully thaws out, but for now, we fix the hole and rerun the barbed wire to the next steady post. Even with all these layers, the wind racks through my coat, making my bones chill. I’m going to need a hot bath and heating pad tonight if I’m planning on walking tomorrow.

By three in the afternoon, we are loading up the last set of cattle. My mind has drifted to the pretty little blonde thing waiting for me at home more times than I care to admit. Something about her draws me in, it has since the second I laid eyes on her. She isn’t just pretty, she’s got a fire to her I can’t help but be enticed by. Spurring her on is far too fun and seeing the flush that creeps up her cheeks every time I’ve gotten under her skin, it’s addicting. But I’ve got to keep my head because our time will be over before I know it. Weston rides with Jack, just in case something should go wrong, but Rhett and I are officially relieved of duties.

“Alright, man, I will see you tomorrow,” I say, eager to get out of here and into the warmth of the cabin. I’ve got three ibuprofen and a heating pad with my name on them.

“Sounds good, Mav.”

My eyes start to feel heavy, and the day fully catches up to me by the time I make it back to my place. Lights stream out the covered window, reminding me I’m not walking into a quiet dark house. Even though we haven’t said a lot, having someone there when I get home has been nice. It takes off the loneliness of the silence. Makes it more comfortable.

I lose all sense of what I am supposed to be doing when I swing the door open and see Ava’s ass up in the air. A yoga video plays on the flatscreen, but all I can see is her perfect round ass. The way her little shorts hug her curves has my cock straining against the zipper. Not that I didn’t notice how hot she was before, but right now, I can see exactly how I ended up in this mess. I’d marry that ass again.

---