Page 64 of Claimed By the Cowboys

“I think that might be achievable,” Piper says

Brent smiles at her, and I feel myself smile, too. I still feel… disconnected. Tate and Brent are my family, and I was prepared to walk the fuck away… because of Piper.

I don’t know what to do with that. I’m grateful that she didn’t agree and send me packing to sleep in the barn, but I also don’t know what to do about the fact that my feelings run so deep for her, I was willing to walk away from my brothers over it. That feels unsettling.

As the four of us sit around the dinner table, Tate serves the food, and Piper starts to talk about the preparations for the Harvest Bash in a few months. June is fast slipping away, and when July comes around, she points out we’ll only be a month or so out.

“What we need,” Piper says, looking at the three of us after dinner is done, “is something to go viral.”

I blink. Piper, noticing my confusion, gives me a little nudge. “We need something to really climb the charts. We need to have people notice the farm, and we need it to get a lot of hype before we show off everything we’re offering at the Harvest Bash booth.”

“I thought we’ve been doing that?” Brent grumbles.

Piper shakes her head. “Our regular posts are getting pretty good reach. But we should look at the most recent ones and see which ones are getting the best, even if it’s not quite viral yet.”

All of this is starting to go over my head. I let my mind wander, thinking of different exercises to do with the mare tomorrow.

“Dalton. Did you hear that?”

I freeze. “What?”

Piper’s lips are smiling. “I think you’re the best bet to go viral.”

I look around, but everyone is staring at me. “Me?”

“Yeah. Watching you with the horses is kind of… magical. It’s like you speak the same language. I want to use that for a short video. I’ve already picked out the sound that it would go with, and I think that if we got you to do the horse thing, we’d be able to get a lot of traction toward building momentum at the Harvest Bash.”

In my mind, these words don’t make any sense. However, Piper’s staring at me like she’s waiting for my permission, so I give it to her.

“Okay.”

She grins. “Great! I’ll come get the footage in the morning, when the light is really nice in the back paddock.”

I frown. “How do you know that I’ve been working mostly in the back paddock?”

Piper gives me a look. “Because I follow you out there almost every day?”

“Do you?”

“I don’t always say hi, but I do. Because it’s cool,” she says.

I can’t believe that.

“I follow all of you around. Because you’re all part of this business, but also… you’re good at what you do. It’s sexy.”

My blood starts to heat.

“Sexy?” Brent repeats.

Piper nods. She bites her lip, looking at all three of us.

“I should probably let you know that I kissed Dalton.”

I look away, nervous about what is going to happen.

Tate whistles. “Damn, baby. Breaking all the rules and then some, I see.”

“Shut up, Tate,” Brent grumbles at him.

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