Page 3 of Saddle Studs (Rainbow Ranch #3)

BENNY

“Seriously? Frankie left Dennis to him ?”

“And a tiny strip of land near the barn,” Boone, my older and oddly smug brother, kindly pointed out.

“To Sam Fisher ?” I emphasized the last name as if that would clear things up and they’d say there was a big mistake.

“To Sam Fisher.” Billie, our sister and sibling-wrangler, cleared her throat. “I spoke with him on the phone. I don’t think he has any intention of selling Dennis or running off with him, but I do think he wants to stay the full ninety days then transfer full ownership back to us.”

I rubbed the bridge of my nose and sighed.

Sam buck-fuckin’-wild Fisher. I thought Robin Hood—the pot-bellied pig out back—would grow wings and take flight before I ever saw Sam again.

“Is this real? Like, is this legal?” Beau asked. He was Boone’s twin, and our masked rodeo star.

He was also asking the important questions. “Yeah,” I said, jumping in. “How did this even happen?”

“Frankie was ranch manager for eleven years before he stepped down. I’m surprised that’s all he had, if I’m being honest,” Billie said.

She tended to be a little blunter than my brothers and me.

She rolled up the sleeves of her blue plaid shirt.

“But maybe we should have a lawyer look over everything.”

“Have we not already done that?” Boone asked.

“I had Rachel’s husband’s cousin take a look at it. He has a firm in Philly,” Billie said.

I rubbed a hand over my face. This morning had turned out wilder than a rodeo full of coked-out clowns.

I didn’t have the bandwidth to deal with this pile of cow manure right now.

I had barns to muck, horses to reshoe, a new video game I wanted to play the hell out of, and—maybe most importantly—I had a date to get ready for tonight.

Dates were difficult to come by in Johnson Springs, Oklahoma.

Especially dates with someone who had all the same parts as me.

Our small town was surprisingly progressive for being hundreds of miles away from the nearest drag show, but the Grindr grid was as wide open as the field out back.

There were the handful of usual profiles I didn’t have much interest in interacting with, and then there were the few that would sprinkle in—either visiting family, traveling for work, or just driving through.

The particular gentleman caller I had connected with fell under the “visiting family” label.

He was a hot Latino guy who normally lived in Tampa, but had an uncle who owned the ranch on the other side of town from ours.

We had really good chemistry in our messages which was always a good sign.

It was also refreshing, being able to connect with another guy like this.

I tended to avoid any actual relationships, enjoying a quick pump-and-dump when I could get it and moving on, but this guy surprised me.

I found myself waking up and being excited to talk to him, which was…

weird. He was supposed to be here for a week—just long enough for me to get my fun in, and then figure out if we wanted to keep chatting even with the distance.

Plus, he had a thick and juicy and uncu?—

“Well? Benny?”

“Huh, what?” My sister rolled her eyes and pushed off the kitchen counter. Bacon grease still sizzled on the pan. The armadillo clock on the wall said it was well past eight. I’d have to rush cleaning the kitchen so I could get to the barns to feed the horses before they all started to riot.

“Are you okay with him staying at the ranch? I know you two have a past.”

“Pfft, of course I’m fine with it,” I said, trying to keep my expression as cool and neutral as possible.

My siblings saw right through it. Boone called me out first. “You can tell us the truth, Benny.”

“Seriously,” Beau added. “He can stay at an Airbnb. Or better yet, he can go kick rocks and leave us the hell alone.”

“You know that all of us here just want to look out for you,” Billie said, walking to where I sat and placing a gentle hand on my shoulder.

The warm glow of familial love filled the kitchen, mixing with the golden ambiance provided by the morning sunshine.

The melodic sounds of sparrows and robins and cardinals floated in through the open window.

For many, that’d be a relaxing soundtrack—but for me, it was slightly unnerving.

Birds scared the ever-living tits off me.

“I do know that. Thank y’all. I’d say something if it’d really bother me, but I’m over it. It was dumb teenage drama that I barely ever think about. I’ve had worse hangovers that’ve affected me more than Sam has.”

Alright, so maybe that part wasn’t exactly true, but somehow, I managed to slip it past my siblings’ “lying his balls off” radar.

Boone cocked his head to the side. “What ever happened between you two, anyway?” His beard was growing in, his smile worn a little more easily than ever before.

It was nice to see the change in him after Wylie entered his life—like he’d been a plant surviving on the bare minimum amount of water, when suddenly a weeks-long rainstorm quenched his thirst and made him bloom.

Yeah. Had to have been a nice feeling.

I stood up from my seat, and collected the empty plates at the table.

“Like I said, we were dumb boys. I was just coming to terms with my sexuality, and he was cementing his. One night we realized our friendship wasn’t really working and decided to stop talking.

He was leaving for college anyway, so it was easy. ”

If I were making a dish with this conversation, the ingredients would have been: two ounces of lies, three tablespoons of oversimplification, and an entire cup of Catholic guilt. Garnish with a dash of regret and make sure to spice to your liking.

Boone offered me a “hmm” but didn’t dig any further. I was scared Beau would use his twin senses and pick up where Boone left off, but was saved by a honk from out front.

“Ah shit, that must be Pris and Sky. They had supplies they needed to deliver. You two want to help me unload it?” Billie asked, glancing at my brothers while I busied myself with washing the dishes.

“Let’s get ’er done,” Boone said with a clap of his hands.

“Yeah. Benny, you good in here?” Beau asked.

“I’m good. I’ll clean up. Go feed the horses, maybe go for a ride into town.”

Beau gave me a brotherly elbow nudge as he walked past, following his twin into the hall. Billie leaned on the doorframe, arms crossed, big sister mode activated. “I’m being honest. If this Sam thing makes you the slightest bit uncomfortable, you tell me, okay? I’ll get it sorted.”

“Thanks, Billlie,” I said. “But I think it’ll be fine.”

She rapped a knuckle on the pale wood doorframe and disappeared, shouting after my brothers about being careful with the vase.

I finished cleaning up the kitchen, the warm and soapy water on my hands a welcome, grounding sensation.

I wasn’t sure what it was about cleaning that really spoke to me, but I always enjoyed doing it.

Sometimes I wondered if things would be different if were obsessed with, say, playing the stock market or coding apps that would make me millions instead of spending entire mornings making countertops shine.

But hey, I had to play the cards I’d been dealt.

My phone buzzed as I finished wiping down the sink, the scent of lemon and mint strong in the air. It was a message from my date. We still hadn’t taken our chats off the app, so I battled with three different glitches before I could actually read his message.

VisitingTop8: I’m excited for later.

He had sent a picture with his message. In it, he stood in front of a foggy bathroom mirror. The area around his crotch had been wiped clear, framing the massive cock jutting out between his thighs.

Cornfedbeef: Goddamn that’s a weapon of ASS destruction.

Hmm. That probably wasn’t what he was looking for. My sense of humor was sometimes a little too much—and admittedly a little basic—but I didn’t hide that from anyone, even hung and handsome men who could potentially become my boyfriend.

Cornfedbeef: Can’t wait to play with it later.

There. That was a little better.

Fuck, why was I so bad at this?

VisitingTop8—or Carlos, the name he gave me when I asked—read my message but didn’t reply. Probably busy getting ready. Or maybe he got caught up in something else. I closed out of our message chain before reopening it seconds later.

Cornfedbeef: I can host by the way. Just let me know.

VisitingTop8: Ok, I will.

Well, he wasn’t exactly a man of many words, but at least he was a man of many inches. I scrolled back up to the picture he sent. Damn, it was going to be difficult waiting until later to meet with him.

I rushed through the rest of my morning routine, trying to ignore the semi that wouldn’t go down.

I was just wrapping up when my phone buzzed again.

I pulled it out, expecting an ad for a new pair of underwear—you buy one jockstrap online, and suddenly you’re inundated with sexy men in colorful and heavily-discounted jocks—and instead saw a notification from Grindr.

I opened it and went directly to Carlos’ message.

VisitingTop8: Shit, man. I’m sorry but I have to leave town tonight. Work emergency. Flight leaves in an hour.

Fuuuuuuck. Fuck, fuck, fuckity, fuck fuck.

I let my head fall back onto the rough wooden door of the barn. I shut my eyes, blotting out the bright afternoon sunlight. I rubbed the bridge of my nose and clicked into problem solving mode.

Chores were done.

Truck had gas.

Traffic was a mythical creature in Johnson Springs.

Cornfedbeef: Drop your pin. Maybe I can get to you and we can meet before you leave. Just to say hi ;)

I was already walking—speed-walking, jogging… okay, flat-out running—to my truck, keys already in my pocket. If I only had half an hour at most with him, then you best believe I was going to try and make every second count.

VisitingTop8: Location Received.

VisitingTop8: Can you make it here in fifteen?