Page 81 of Fooling the Forward

He stands and stretches his hand out to me. “Come with me. I have something I want to show you.”

I let him pull me to my feet. “I’ve seen it all before,” I say, winking.

He laughs. “I like how you’re thinking, but I have a surprise for you that you’ve never seen before. I got you a ‘moving in’ gift.”

“Ryder! You’ve spoiled me so much already. I don’t need gifts from you. All I need is you.”

“You have me. And I can’t help spoiling you. It’s so much fun.”

He holds my hand as we walk down the driveway. He directs me to the barn and leads me inside.

“I was kidding earlier about cuddling with minis,” I say.

He laughs. “You might change your mind when you see your present.”

Now I’m really confused as to what the gift could be.

He leads me to a stall and covers my eyes before I see what’s inside. “No peeking yet,” he says.

I pout my lips. “That’s not fair, you meanie.”

“Your gift is something that fell into my lap unexpectedly. It wasn’t planned but the timing is perfect.”

“Okay already. I want to see. Please?” I press my hands together in a prayerful pose.

“What do you think?” he asks, slipping his hands from my eyes. There’s a baby blond mini cow standing in the stall.

I let out a tiny excited squeal. “Oh my God! He’s so cute.”

I walk slowly into the stall. I don’t want to scare the little guy. He stares up at me with his huge brown eyes, batting his long blond lashes at me as he chews a mouthful of hay.

“He’s beautiful. What’s his name?”

“He doesn’t have a name. That’s for you to decide.”

“I get to name him?”

“Baby, he’s yours. You can call him whatever you want.”

“He’s mine?” I ask, my eyes tearing up.

“I told you I had a gift for you. He’s all yours.”

I fall to my knees in front of my mini and scratch behind his ears. “Hey, handsome baby. I’m so happy you’re here.”

He sniffs my hand, then laps at my palm, making me laugh.

“Look at his pink nose,” I say. “So fucking cute.” I place a hand on my chest. “I can’t deal with how gorgeous he is. Can he live in the house with us?”

Ryder laughs. “He can visit, but I don’t think it would be fair to the other guys if he lived with us.”

“Then I’m really going to need a bed in the barn to cuddle with him.”

“I’ll see what I can do.” He chuckles as he watches me stroke my hands all over the little guy’s fluffy coat.

“Lis, we should let him eat.”

“I don’t want to leave him,” I say.

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