torched// kayce dutton

2

The following morning I woke to the sound of Rip's brazing voice yanking me from my slumber.

"Get your asses up, we got shit to do today." Rip declared to the bunkhouse.

I slowly rose from my bottom bunk, barely missing getting tackled by Jimmy as he leaped down from his top one.

"Jesus, Jimmy. Watch out next time, if I wanted to get stomped on I would have joined the rodeo."

Jimmy smiled sheepishly at me, while he rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry, Gabby. Not used to having a bunk buddy yet."

A shiver went through my body at the cringey term. "Please never call us that again Jimmy, like ever. Please, this isn't summer camp." I stated adding a hint of humor to my voice.

I pulled on my jeans and began buttoning up my flannel as I moved towards the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee.

I barely had enough time to take a sip and pull my hair into a loose braid before the wranglers began filing out towards the barn. I quickly grabbed my black suede cowboy hat, poured out my coffee, and began speed walking to catch up with them.

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By the time all of us were saddled up and had mounted our horses, the sun was beginning to peak through the mountains. We created a semi circle centered around Kayce and Rip as we waited for instruction on our daily tasks. Kayce and Rip were talking faintly to one another; discussing what needed to be completed and who would be best for the task.

I took the rare moment of quiet to truly appreciate Kayce's delicate features. Though he had to be coming into his mid-thirties, he still had an essence of boyishness to him. The golden light of the sun fell into the shadows of his face, making his sun kissed freckles more prominent and his fine lines melt away. His brown eyes refracted the light giving the appearance of a honey drizzle within them. As I took the image of him coated in the morning light in, he seemed to sense my stare as he shifted his focus from Rip to me.

However, the daylight didn't have the same veil of anonymity that neon lights did and I felt an overwhelming sense of shame go through me. I quickly adverted my gaze down to look at the reins in my hands. As I looked back up I found Kayce's eyes still on me. Apparently he didn't find the situation as intimate as I. Though his gaze felt warm, like he too was just drinking me in.
Kayce gave me a half smile before he nodded towards Rip as if signaling the moment of solace was gone and reality had to be faced again.

"We're gonna be pushing the herd from paster nine to paster thirteen today." Rip commanded, turning his head slightly as if giving side eye to Kayce, before returning his gaze to the wranglers, pausing briefly on me. "Teeter, Jimmy, and Lloyd y'all are in the back; watch out for any stragglers. Ryan and Colby y'all are riding on the left. Gabby and Walker-"At the mention of my name being paired with Walker, Kayce furrowed his brow and gave Rip a pointed look. "Y'all have the right. Kayce and I are upfront." Rip spoke with a sense of certainty.

As we all moved to ride towards paster nine, I heard Rip call my name. I pulled on my horse's reins and turned my head towards him. He allowed a beat of silence to pass before he spoke as to wait for the others to get out of hearing range.

"Gabby," Rip spoke looking conflicted on whether to continue speaking or not. "You could have a real place here, don't fuck it up messing around with Mr. Loverboy. You and I both know where he'll be back to in a month or so." Rip gave me a once over before letting out a sigh, "And Mr. Dutton already doesn't like girls being in the bunkhouse, don't give him anymore reason to not."

With that Rip moved to catch up with the others, leading me to believe that this was more so a command than a conversation and there was no room for negotiations.