Page 28 of Red's Revenge

“He’s got you, Christopher,” Pa says from the open doorway, but my younger brother is as stubborn as a mule.

His body goes limp, and I push him away.

“That boy will never learn.” I stand and then bend in half, trying to catch my breath.

“Leave him there to cool off.” Pa turns back into the house as Colton approaches to help me lift Kit off the ground.

“In the snow?” Colton calls out, making Pa stop and spin around to face us.

“You heard your mother. Her floors are clean.” He shrugs, and I look at Kit.

“Barn?” Colton groans, and we both lift him up.

We manage to drop him into the hay bales so he doesn’t freeze to death in the snow, and the fucker curls up into a ball, letting out a loud snore like he did when he was little.

“Some things never change,” I laugh at Colton as I walk over to Jett’s stall.

My Friesian stallion neighs and chuffs as I open his door. His thick black coat shines almost blue as he moves under the overhead lights.

“Are we still on track to mate these two?” Colton’s voice has gone soft as he straddles his mare, Marigold.

We’ve discussed breeding his sorrel mare before, but Kit advised against it since she was still too young. I shrug and gently toss my saddle on Jett.

“She should be old enough now. We’ll discuss it with Stephan in the spring.” We work together in silence and mount up to head over to Clayton’s bar.

The Courthouse is a fifteen-minute ride through our family trails, but the snow slows us down. I wasn’t expecting there to be much activity, but the place is fucking packed.

“Snow must be good for business,” Clayton comments as we tie up our horses next to Clayton’s six-year-old Gypsy Vanner mare, Stella.

The Courthouse is standing-room only. We fight the crowd of bikers to the bar and watch Clayton pouring pitchers of local ale. He jerks his head towards the back of the bar where his office is.

“Head on back. I’ll grab a bottle and meet y’all back there as soon as I catch us up.” I snort, knowing we’re not seeing him for a while.

“Wanna tell me what had you in such a foul mood when you got home?” Clayton starts in on me as soon as the office door is over.

“I need a reason to beat on Kit?” I chuckle, knowing damn well that asshole earns every one of his licks.

“Well, no, but this wasn’t about him tonight.” I sigh and rub my jaw.

Fucker has caught me good and almost knocked me out. We’ve been going at it for years since the itching powder fiasco, but he’d never gotten as close to winning a fight as he did tonight. And we both know it’s because he pulls his punches. My little brother is no slouch in the ring.

“It’s that girl, isn’t it?” I glance up at Colton, who’s sporting a knowing look on his face.

“And if it is?” He chuckles at me.

“Well, I’ll be damned. You’re smitten, ain’t ya? The mighty Big Red has finally met his match. So where the hell is she then?” I pinch the bridge of my nose, wanting to keep my thoughts to myself, but they tumble out of their own accord.

“On a plane back to another man.” Colton hisses at my words.

“Fuck.” I couldn’t agree with him more.

“What y’all gonna do?” Now isn’t that a great fucking question.

“Drink,” I say as the office door opens.

Clayton passes out three tumblers and starts pouring the Johnny Walker Black label. I reach over to his desk and grab the TV remote. I need to watch the weather to see what I’m doing in the morning with the animals. I flip to the weather channel as Clay and Colt talk.

“This storm is fucking insane. It’s shut down the airport.” The remote falls from my hand as I tune into their conversation.

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