For Him, I Would

Chapter Ten - How long are you going to stay mad at me?

Oakley was upset.

The group had been riding for about twenty minutes and no one had really said anything to her except for what Kayce had told her earlier. They were all liars and now so was she.

She was going to lie to the State of Montana for the Duttons. Could she really do that? Could she really go against everything she stood for?

Speaking of Kayce he was riding in front of her, so she had been able to glare at him this whole time. Imaginary darts came from her eyes and hit the back of his hat. One thing Kayce Dutton was good at was reading Oakley Dobson. He knew when to stay clear of her.

Thanks to his displays earlier she was now questioning everything that took place between them in the last twenty-four hours. Did he really try and distract her while his father crafted their way out of dealing with any of the consequences? He couldn't have...could he?

"Oakley," Rip came up beside her, causing her to look over at the cowboy. "Kayce told you the story?"

"Yes," Oakley muttered, frowning.

"And you don't like it?" Rip guessed.

"Do you?" Oakley asked, already knowing the answer.

"It comes with the territory," He shrugged. "It protects the ranch."

Oakley glanced down at his jacket and saw the Yellowstone brand embroidered in yellow. It was over the left side of his chest, right where Kayce's brand had been when she saw it.

"Rip?" Oakley's eyes narrowed. "Why does Kayce have the Yellowstone brand on his chest?"

Rip looked over at Oakley for a moment, his glasses hiding any sort of feeling he might be having and giving Oakley nothing to go off of.

"I don't know," Rip said. "Probably him being an idiot when he was young."

Oakley stared for a second, "I really wish the men on this ranch would stop lying to me."

Rip chuckled and then took his sunglasses off, looking at Oakley. "You seem to be doing just fine with all of us."

"What's the brand?" Oakley pushed again.

"Why don't you ask your lover boy?" Rip smirked.

"Because I'm mad at him," Oakley decided to be honest.

"Who isn't?" Rip shrugged.

"What's the brand?" Oakley snapped, suddenly feeling torn about her feelings towards Kayce but also defensive of Rip's feelings towards Kayce.

"I'll tell you when your older," Rip smiled and then pushed his horse forward, riding away from Oakley and up to where John was at the front.

There were only seven of them when they came upon the campsite. Oakley was unfortunately impressed, it did look like someone had just stepped away from it momentarily. There was still the smell of smoke from the campfire and everything looked untouched. They circled around one another, Oakley coming to stop next to Kayce who looked over at her.

"You talking to me yet?" He asked in a low tone. Oakley kept her face forward, staring at John.

"Alright," John cleared his throat. "Our tracks should be good enough, we need everyone to scatter about and get into the bushes. Walk around for about thirty minutes and keep your horse moving around. Make it look like we searched as far as we could before we realized we need more help."

Everyone nodded and turned their horses around except for Oakley and Kayce. He was still watching her.

"Oaks,"