Page 12 of Burned & Bound
“From now on, you don’t do shit on my ranch to my business without fucking telling me,” I clipped. “I run my business my way. I ain’t about to have you come in and try to change that. One year you’re mine. That means you do what I say when I fucking say it. I ain’t got a fucking problem telling the lawyers I can’t work you and then firing your ass.”
I wasn’t actually sure if I could fire his ass, but he didn’t know that.Definitely needed to ask Maggie about that one.
“No,” West said.So fucking close.His shoulders squared off as my eyes narrowed. “You ain’t the boss of me. Not with this.”
“The hell did you say?” I demanded, my temper flaring. I stepped up close and watched his entire body go rigid.
“You’ve done a shit job taking care of them. They’re animals,” he continued all too brazenly. “They deserve to be treated with respect and to be taken care of. They’re your horses. You’re fucking responsible for them, and until you get your head out of your goddamn ass and realize that, I ain’t taking orders from you.”
“You keep talking and I’ll put your ass on the ground,” I warned.
“Try it, and I promise you won’t get back up again,” West replied. There was an odd calmness to him as he chewed his stupid gum and stared me down. It was both unnerving and infuriating.
Intimidating him wouldn’t work. I had to switch tactics.
“You want to take care of the fucking horses, fine. They’re all yours since you’re so fucking keen on everything.” I gestured between the two stables. “All of this, my men ain’t helping you. You think you know better, then you figure it all out.”
“I will.”
“Good,” I told him with a smirk. He had no fucking clue what he was getting into. “Mickey’s horse is Annie, Peter’s horse is Checkers, and Jake’s horse is Lucky Luna. The three of them are here at five every fucking morning. The horses need to be fed, brushed out, saddled, and ready to go before they get here. Not a minute later. Javi’s horse is Ruby Rider, Tyler’s horse is Thunderstruck, Nicky’s horse is Noir, and Caleb’s horse is Pippa. They get here at five-thirty. I expect the same shit with their horses. And my horse is Zeus. I leave at six.”
“And I’m guessing you’re about to fucking tell me I can’t ask who or what to figure this shit out, is that right?” His gaze slid over the mingling herd of horses.
“You bet your ass that’s right. You want to fuck around on my ranch, you’ll find out I ain’t playing games.”
His jaw ticked as he simply nodded. I would’ve given anything to know what the fuck was going on inthat head of his.
But I knew one thing: I wasn’t letting him out of my sight. I strode back to my truck and dropped the tailgate. Making myself comfortable, I stayed silent as I watched West because I didn’t trust him to not fuck everything up. Mickey could run shit for me for the day. I knew he wouldn’t steer me wrong.But West?I didn’t trust him in the least.
CHAPTER 07
west
Cold water never feltso fucking good in my life. I didn’t care that it came from the stable hose or that I stood buck ass naked in my fucking boots. All I cared about was how damn good it felt to wash the grime and shit off my skin.
My muscles ached. I couldn’t remember the last time I worked so fucking hard in my life. After fighting with Jackson, I prioritized the ranch hand horses. That took way longer than needed because I couldn’t figure out who belonged to who. I damn near contemplated murder as I tried to sort the horses. Luckily, they seemed to know their stalls, and the stalls were labeled. I was fairly certain the small lot of them were tended to properly and ready to be saddled tomorrow.
I’d do the rest of the herd tomorrow. Still pissed me off that I even had to. They deserved better. They never did anything to anyone other than exist, and they weren’t being cared for right.
Unfortunately, as I tried to settle down for the night, my head wouldn’t stop buzzing, and my skin kept crawling. Clothes scraped uncomfortablyon my skin, and every fucking noise made me jump. Horses moving, grass rustling, an engine turning over somewhere.Everything.
There was no way in hell I’d get any sleep until I soothed my demons. Which was why I ended up unpacking my motorcycle from the bed of my truck and driving into town after dark. I took the long way, knowing the roads like the back of my hand. It was funny how some things were just fucking muscle memory, even after seventeen years. I liked the quiet and the dark that a night ride had to offer.
Wood Springs was the big kind of small town. The population was small, but it was all ranchers and farmers. Lots of land spread out between them. The downtown was a single road. That was it. One fucking road with the essentials needed to survive. Lots of residents made the big trek up to Eugene once a month to stock up on the things they couldn’t find in Wood Springs.
Thankfully, the only bar,Lucky Lenny, was still considered a town staple. It was small, dingy, and probably full of health code violations.But it’d do.That was all I fucking cared about as I walked in the door.
Of the five tables, one was occupied by two older guys talking and a party of three sat at another table. Two men also sat at the long bar, chatting with Lenny. When I walked in, all chatter stopped and eight heads turned in my direction.Fuck.
“They said you came back to town,” Lenny commented from the bar. I knew Lenny going way back. There’d been a few too many nights I’d illegally driven out here to peel my old man off the bar floor. I would’ve gone to a different bar if that was even a fucking option.
“They weren’t wrong. Beer, please. I don’t give a fuck what,” I said as I picked a lone spot at the bar that gave me a good view of the door and put no one at my back.
“Your father had a lot to say about you,” he continued without moving.
“I’m sure he fucking did,” I replied tightly. “Harrison McNamara always did have an opinion about everyone and everything.”
A loud fucking opinion.