Home//YELLOWSTONE

1

River's pov

"Cmon Kayc I'm never gonna be the daughter he's always dreamed of, Beth has that job"

"River you and I both left, he resents me too" Kaycee says saddling up his horse.

"So did Beth you ever notice how Jamie is the only one who's stayed and he still is the most hated out of all 4 of us" I saddle up Rockstar.

He just looks at me and we lead our horses out of the barn to be met with all the wranglers saddled and ready to go.

"River you're calling the shots today" Rip says to me.

I look at him and chuckle and just shake my head "Oh Rip you've been calling the shots for the last 4 years, just tell me what my job is"

"We move the herd upstream, there's some fence that needs mending so Jimmie is on the quad, any questions"

"If River is going with us we probably should take a smoother trail" Jimmie mutters.

Kaycee looks at him then at Rip then at me "You've done it now dumbass"

I hop off my horse and walk over to Jimmie "Don't you ever doubt me again or I swear to god I will make a barrel bitch out of you"

I grab the back of his neck and he squirms.

"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry" Jimmie repeats.

"Matter of fact if I'm not cowboy enough I want you to hop on Rockstar and you tell me who isn't cowboy enough"

"Get on the horse Jimmie" Ryan yells

I look up at him and wink remembering last night.

"Okay fine fine" Jimmie walks over to my horse.

"Boys i say we wait and have ol' Jimmie here show us what he's made of in the arena" Rip laughs.

We all walk over to the fence and watch Jamie get on Rockstar.

"He won't move this lazy bastard" Jimmie kicks him.

"I wouldn't kick him if I were you" I say.

"And why's that" he gives me a challenging look.

"Alright then kick him again, this time like you mean it"

Jimmie kicks him a little too hard and Rockstar loses it.

"What the hell is that wrangler doin on your horse" I hear my dad bellow from behind me.

"He challenged me so I put him on em just a lesson that needed to be learned"

"Go get your fucken horse"

I chuckle and hop over the fence Rockstar sees it's me and runs over to me. Jimmie hops off and apologizes and just scurries away. I laugh and give my horse a kiss on his head and hop back up.

"I'm goin with you guys today" My father says.

"Yay us" Kaycee mutters beside me.

"Yeah well I'll be in front" I say to Rip.

We get to the herd and start movin them and then all of a sudden we hear barks and growls from the trees and out comes 4 wolves.

"Colby! Ryan! chase those wolves off. The herd is headed straight for the fence!" Rip yells.

"We're not losin all this money today Rockstar let's show em what we're made of. C'mon! Go!" I kiss at rockstar and squeeze my legs signaling to him that he needs to book it.

We run along side of 400 wild horses heading straight towards a barbed wire fence.

"River no! Stop!" Ryan yells running after me.

I laugh and push my horse faster.

"River pull back now!" My dad yells running alongside Ryan.

And just like that we cut the herd off and I wave my hat and they run the other way.

"Told ya I could do it" I say to my dad thinking he'd be proud.

"You're an idiot. You could've got trampled. Your horse killed. You killed. I can't fucken believe you." He yells then rides away.

I just sit there on my horse and Ryan rides up beside me.

"Don't say it"

"I don't have to baby I think you already know" he kisses me on the cheek.

We all ride back in silence and I head straight for the barn.

"River! River!" Kaycee yells after me.

I stop and stand there for a second then turn around walk towards the group leading my horse with me.

"I told you dad! I fucking told you that I don't belong here when you called and told me you needed my help! I. Told. You.!" I scream beating on his chest.

"River stop! Stop it now!" He grabbed my arms and held me there.

I fell into his grasp sobbing "Why don't you love me"

He just holds me there in silence.

Kaycee pov

"I told you dad it wasn't a good idea to take her away from rodeo"

"I know son but it was time to take her away from it" he shakes his head and sips his whiskey.

"I miss watching her do it ya know. She seemed so happy and free"

"And I just brought her back to prison" he stares at the fire.

Bunkhouse
Ryan's pov:

We all sit in silence while River is in the shower until Loyd breaks it.

"I've known that girl all 22 years of her life and not once have I seen her even shed a tear not even when her mom died"

"She just looked so broken" Colby shakes his head.

"We're all broken Colby but at least the people who broke us don't run our lives and sign our paychecks" Rip sighs.

River comes out in only a towel and she looks at all of us drops it.

"I let you guys see a lot of me today just not all of me, thought hell might as well get it over with" she stutters.

"River stop you were drinking in the bathroom" I run over and cover her up with my jacket.

"We'll let you two talk" Loyd says shooing everyone out.

"River what the fuck are you doin" I look down at her.

"Yell at me tomorrow just make love to me tonight" she grabs the back of my head and kisses me.

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