Page 40 of Cabins Cows Critics
We walk toward the large barn. It’s not far from our cabin, and I pass him one of the muffins I grabbed.
“Here, they’re really good.”
“Thanks,” he says, taking it, his fingers brushing against mine as he does and sending a rush of warmth through my arm. How does he do that? Everything about him is so warm. His touch, his smile, the way his eyes linger on mine for that moment longer than on anyone else, like he doesn’t want to stop looking.
“So how is Lulu?” I ask, not really sure what to say. Wen is within earshot, so I don’t think thanking him for the mind-blowing sex last night would be appropriate.
“She’s good. I dropped her off at the main house when I grabbed your tray. She’ll spend the day with Cuddles while we work.”
“I have to ask, why did Dean name him Cuddles? It just doesn’t seem like the kind of name a guy like Dean would pick, is all.”
He chuckles. “He didn’t pick it. He adopted him for me at first.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Well, I’ve wanted a pygmy goat for years, and so when Preston had one surrendered for adoption, Dean agreed to take him.”
“You didn’t like him?”
“I loved him. Little fucker only loved Dean. Would cry and try to get away from anyone else who even tried to hold him.”
“Seriously?” I wonder how anyone, animal or human, could not want to be up close to Connor. He smells delicious, like straw and leather.
“Yeah, he even wore him in a sling around his neck while he worked for weeks.”
“So, Cuddles?”
“Is what we voted to call him, seeing as that was all he wanted to do. Cuddle on Dean.”
“Ha. I love that. So is it like that with all the animals? You all get to name them?”
“Sometimes. Loki was Atlas’s idea. You know, because he plays dead throughout all the movies.”
“Until he actually dies.”
“Yeah, he didn’t know that at the time.”
“So you like Marvel movies?” I ask, and he nods.
“I was probably one of the few guys out here to have seen them all. I like action movies.”
“There’s a movie night at the ranch coming up, isn’t there?” I ask, remembering something on the itinerary.
“Yeah, the guys have it all planned. They’re showing two movies, I think, one for the kids and then one for the adults. Both Christmas movies.”
We reach the main barn, and Atlas steps out as Connor opens the gate for me and Wen to pass through. Wendy has stayed a step behind the whole way, but sidles up next to me now and links her arm with mine to lean in close to my ear.
“You should ask him to go with you,” she whispers.
“To what?” I ask.
“The movie night, you doofus. He’s clearly into you, and I don’t mean just a hookup. I think he really likes you.”
“You figured that out from watching us walk from the cabin to the barn?”
“Yes, actually, I figured that out from the way his whole face lights up when he looks at you.”
“I’m only here for another week, Wen.”
