Page 22 of Fires Creek

“Get your ass over here, Peach. The cattle ain’t gonna muster themselves, baby,” I shout at River from the saddle of my mount.

Jonas’s deep chuckle rang through my ears as he trotted up behind me on his own horse.

Being a retired racehorse, Avalon was the tallest of our three horses.

He was also the only buckskin in Fires Creek.

He was a wild, free-spirited, young stallion, and boy did he remind Jonas of his youth every chance he got.

Funnily enough, our horses were complete opposites, kind of like us in a way.

“Nice boots, Red.” Jonas smirked and wiggled his eyebrows at River as he took his place next to me.

“Fuck off, you two,” she replied, as she stumbled out of the stables as she pulled her boots over her now well-worn jeans.

The Almighty Alex had taken one of the lead ropes off the work bench and somehow wrapped it, and himself around one of River’s legs.

The sight of her falling ass-over-tit on top of our dog was bloody hilarious.

She looked less than impressed as she untangled herself from him and scratched the sweet spot behind his ear.

River surprised everyone, mostly herself, I think.

She’d dived straight into the farm after her first night here, learning the ropes and contributing to the workload.

It was like she was the missing piece of our puzzle.

Jonas helped her brush up on her riding skills, in more ways than one, if you catch my drift .

She had become a brilliant little rider; she and Scout were made for each other.

Scout was the 15-year-old bay mare that we picked up a few months before River arrived – along with our surprise, bonus foal, Lenny – but she had met her match with River. They were two peas in one chaotic pod.

River wandered over to Scout, taking the reins, and lifting her foot into the stirrup before mounting in one fluid motion.

She straightened her shirt and sat herself comfortably in the saddle.

Nudging her heels into Scout’s withers, she pulled out onto the stock route with a content look on her face.

“Come on boys, let’s ride!’ she shouted, tipping her hat.

We motioned our own horses on and met River’s pace as we moved into a canter, making our way towards the cattle yards.

We had a 3-day muster ahead of us, our saddle bags were bursting at the seams. Alex followed closely behind us.

Despite his age, he still came on musters with us.

I dreaded the day when he stayed home, knowing it would likely be because he had decided his time was coming to an end.

He trotted wearily behind the horses, the spring in his step fading day by day.

The first few days after River’s arrival was spent lazily fucking, cooking, and dancing as we rode out the storm together and found our footing as a throuple.

None of us really discussed things, but it felt so right for us to all be together.

River melted us, and we succumbed to her every whim.

She allowed Jonas and me time to explore this new side of our relationship, and be – what it turns out – we’d both always wanted to be.

I’d been with men before, but it’d never been like this.

I’d never felt this way about anyone before.

Not until River arrived in Fires Creek and gave me the courage to take my shot.

River and Jonas were my soulmates, we loved each other, and that’s all I needed to know.

I watched my woman as she rode on ahead of me, edging the cattle and smiling back at us, meeting my gaze.“Stop staring at my ass, Theodore James!” she shouted behind a laugh as she rode off into the sunrise.

I smiled freely and watched as her hair flowed in the gentle breeze, and she had never looked so beautiful .