Page 31 of Stables Spurs Suits
Nial is off helping the young Royal next door with his goats, so this morning I’ve been helping get the cows milked. It’s not my favorite thing to do on the ranch, but the cows are easy enough to get sorted. They make way too much milk for the young they have, so milking them is good for both them and us. When I first came to Beaker Brothers, I used to help all the time, so I’m just as quick at hooking them up and letting them go as the other guys, though it took me a second to figure out the tech they got them hooked up to that tracks the cows’ health, milk production, and whereabouts. If we had a bigger pasture set out for the horses, we’d use it for them too. They did hook up Gordon, the donkey, though. That’s what gave the RedTech guys the idea to test the tech on horses too. The stubborn mulejust had to be tagged like his momma and siblings. Yep, you heard that right, the thing thinks he’s a dairy cow. He’s about the strangest animal on Beaker Brothers. Well, him and Loki. Maybe that mutt too, or the pig that sleeps inside with the mutt.
Okay, so this place is kind of full of oddball animals.
“So how big is this party my brother’s planning?” Dean asks as we start unhooking the second round of girls, and I shrug.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You do, come on, my brother hasn’t been able to keep a secret since he was twelve.”
“It’s nothing, really. Just a few of us guys and a movie. One of those old ones you like.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Pretty sure, yeah.”
“Good, ’cause I don’t need anything big. We’ve got too much work to do around here without throwing in a big hoo har on account of me.”
“A hoo har? Does Preston know who he’s getting married to?”
“I couldn’t tell ya. I have no idea why that man loves me.”
“I don’t fully understand it either,” I laugh. “First you and Preston, now Connor and Hayden. The next thing you know, some girl will catch Nial’s eye, and you’ll all be paired up.”
“Feeling left out, are you?”
“No. I don’t know how you stand it.”
“Stand what?” he asks with a chuckle, like he thinks I’m joking.
“Being around another person all the time. Sleeping in the same bed, having them breathe in your ear every night. How do you do it?”
He shrugs. “I guess none of that bothers us. Preston complains when I snore, so I guess it does bother him a little,but it’s nothing in the grand scheme of things. We’d rather be together than apart, I guess.”
“It’s weird, that’s all.”
“Says the guy who’d be naked every minute of the day if I didn’t put a mandatory clothing rule in place out here.”
“Don’t knock it until you try it. I’ve got the suit halfway convinced it’s the way to live.”
“You got Matthew naked? When? How? Wait, I don’t want to know.”
“Seriously, you should give it a go, then you’ll see how great it is, and we can host a nudist weekend with horse riding, swimming, and stargazing.”
“Sorry, but I’m not convinced that having a naked anything out here is a good idea.”
“It can be your birthday present to me,” I offer, but he simply shakes his head and ignores the suggestion. I will get him to agree one of these days. I’ll wear him down. Maybe I’d have a better chance if I got Nial on my side first. He is the least stuffy out of these two Beaker Brothers.
“Speaking of gifts, what do you want this year?”
Preston pulls open the milking barn door, and Dean smiles in a way I’ve only really seen since they got together. It’s more… I don’t know how to describe it, really, other than happier. I guess it wouldn’t be so bad to have someone smile at you like that.
“I have everything I could ever want already,” Dean says.
“You’re still getting gifts for your birthday,” Preston says, and Dean chuckles.
“I seriously don’t need anything.”
“But there are things that would be nice to have. You were chasing Cuddles around the house just yesterday after he chewed through one of your Ugg boots.”
