Page 35 of High Side
She grinned, but just nodded. She had no idea where she would be next summer. Maybe backpacking in Europe. Who knew?
“Anyway, good tips today, I imagine. You gonna take Ky some supper?”
“I’ll take her to supper. She’s in the office today.”
Joe rolled his eyes. “She just can’t rest, huh?”
“She’s a machine.” And a hot one. With a gorgeous mouth, amazing hands, and a bad ankle… Brittany tried not to think too hard on how much she liked Kylie. Which was a lot. Maybe too much for the amount of time she knew they had together.
“Well, make sure she eats. She gets a little surly when she’s not on the river.”
“Don’t we all?” She knew she would do something outdoorsy for her big grown-up job. She just had to figure out what that was going to be.
“Yeah. Yeah, but she’s worse.” He gave her a wink. “Don’t let her get to you.”
“That bad, huh?” She grinned. Ky had been a bit grumpy this morning when Brittany had headed into work, but not too awful.
“By the time she gets the boot off, she’ll be snarling at her dog. It’s a thing.”
“I’ll try to keep her happier than that.” She winked, and Joe hooted.
“Good luck, kiddo.” And he was off to grab another raft while she moved off to change her shoes and maybe grab a leftover box lunch from earlier. She was hungrier than a bag of chips or a cookie.
By the time they got back to the outfitters, and she collected her tips, Brittany wondered if she should even go spend the night at Kylie’s. She was in a pretty shit mood herself, tired and hot and just frazzled by her own thoughts.
“Hey.” Kylie caught her just outside the office, crutching over to her. “How did it go today?”
“Good. I mean, I’m tired.” She grimaced. “And I smell like a goat.”
“Nah. Goats have this tang…” Kylie winked. “Evie, you remember her from training week? She has goats.”
“I do. So I guess you know from goats. Are you guys friends?” Evie had seemed…older than Ky. Not that it was her business to worry about Kylie’s friends. Or want to meet them or anything.
“We are. We tend to lose touch in the summer because we’re both so busy. She has a ranch and does trail rides and glamping and stuff.” Kylie made a wry face. “I should see if she has time to have supper. You would like her a lot, I think.”
“Cool. I would love to meet her.” Now Brittany felt a little guilty wanting to go back to her dorm at the outfitters. “Can we head out, or do you want me to stay here, or…”
“I want you to come home with me.” Kylie crutched over to tip her out and then sign them both out. “Lupe is here to lock up. Let me text her that I’m leaving.”
“Coolios.” She wondered if hot tubs were allowed with sprains like the one Kylie had. She could so soak. Maybe they could just bag Kylie up and float her foot.
“You okay?” Kylie gave her a curious look.
“I’m just tired and grumpy, you know? I probably just need to eat more than a sandwich.”
“Sure. We can grab something on the way out of town if you want? Or I have the stuff to make a giant salad with some chicken…”
“That sounds great. Like, I’ve been eating tons of pizza and burgers, it seems like.” She always did in the summer. The river asked for carb loading, and weird hours meant grabbing not-so-great food.
So did dating someone new.
“You got it, then. Come on, and we’ll munch greens.” Kylie texted real quick, then crutched out to the truck.
Feeling better already, Brittany followed her, offering to drive.
“Sure. Unless you want your vehicle too.”
“Nah. I’m good.” She was. She’d just been in a mood.
