Boots Up (Port Ranch Book #1)

Chapter 31

MITCH

“You can’t take a week off work and then be standing around daydreaming Pro Bowl.”

“I’m not daydreaming,” I flip Granger off. “I’m just waiting for your slow ass to get the rest of the cattle over.”

“Slow ass, huh? Those are some fighting words. I’ll send these damn cattle straight up your ass and let them trample you.”

“You’re such an idiot,” I grumbled.

“I fucking heard that! I need you to get over there and open the gate,” he juts his chin to the large cattle gate, not that I needed him to remind me.

“I know what I’m doing,” I yelled back. “I don’t need your bitching.”

“Clearly, you do.”

“Why are you so abnormally pissed off this morning?”

“I’m not, this is my normal pissed off-ness,” he quipped back. At least he acknowledges that he’s an asshole.

I gallop ahead on Chimney and open the gate with plenty of time for Granger and Seth to herd the cattle in. Brian wants to get one last weight on a group of them before they go to auction. The job is a huge pain in the ass, but Tracy promised us a pot roast dinner when we were all done today and apparently, food is my best motivator.

We’ve been working since 4 am and even though we’re just in mid-October, the last couple mornings have been frosted over which has kind of put a damper on the entire day. It’s really hard to be out when it is so fucking cold and dark. I also hate leaving my bed in the morning. Nothing like being curled up to a sexy woman to make me late for work. It’s a good thing we live in the ranch and it takes me five minutes to get to the barn.

After getting the third set of cattle in, Brian and a few other guys take over the weighing part, and Granger and I head out to the last group of cattle that need to be brought in.

“Seriously, what’s going on?” I ask Granger.

“Nothing,” he huffs.

“Don’t do that man, I thought we were friends.”

“Friends?” He asks as if he’s disgusted at the idea.

“Oh, come on!”

“Fine,” he grumbles, “but I don’t want to hear any shit from you.”

“I haven’t even said anything yet!” I throw my hands up.

“I know, but you’re an asshole and I know you’ll say something and it will probably just piss me off even more and I’ll regret ever telling you.”

“I promise I won’t give you shit,” I promise my friend, even if he doesn’t think we’re friends.

“Fine. So a little while back I made a profile on one of those dating app things.”

I turn over at him and open my mouth to say something, but he quickly reaches over and punches me in the arm. “Ouch.”

“Shut up,” he warns.

“I didn’t say…”

He cocks his fist again in warning, “You were going to.”

“I swear, I was just looking at you. Contonie with your story, I won’t say shit.”

“So I was talking with a few women and then ended up kind of just talking to one. She lives about an hour away, which was kind of enough to keep away the talk of us ever meeting. That was until a month ago when I was going to be picking some stuff up and asked if she wanted to meet for lunch.”