Page 157 of Nothing Special X: The Last Stand

“Nothing, Amelia. Rid just thinks Furi would be fun to ride.” Fox cleared his throat. “I mean teach to ride.”

Bull cracked up so hard he had to set his thermos down.

Rid went red from his collar to his ears.

“Thanks for the offer,” Furi said smoothly, with his gaze on Rid. “But I believe I’m gonna to keep both feet on the ground. Maybe check out the petting zoo.”

Rid leapt up, “I can show you where it is.”

Dale stood too and caught him by the back of the collar. “The hell you will.”

Rid stumbled backward. “Dale.”

“You have a job to do, remember?” Dale said, dragging him toward the mudroom. “So if you’re done making me feel geriatric and inferior, it’s time to go.”

“Fine,” Rid said. “Furious, if you’re looking for me. I’ll be in Stable four.”

Dale stopped on his way out and gave Fox a hard scowl. “Any other friends you got dropping by for dinner tonight? Prince Harry? Or fucking Matt Damon for fuck’s sake.”

“Watch your mouth in my kitchen!” Amelia yelled.

“Sorry, Amelia,” Dale muttered.

The door shut behind them.

Beside him, Furi stole another potato before Amelia put his own plate in front of him.

An hour later, Amelia came around the counter with a brush and a hair tie. “Come on, baby. Before a goat makes a meal outta that hair.”

Furi stood, but before he moved away, he rubbed his fingers along the back of Syn’s hand. “Please be careful.”

Fox came to his side and tipped his chin toward the door. “Ready?”

Syn looked at Furi sitting obediently in Amelia’s chair while she gathered his hair with both hands, already complimenting him on the softness.

Syn pushed away from the table and got up.

“Yeah,” he told Fox, grabbing the borrowed hat from the counter. “Let’s go before my confidence wears off and common sense shows back up.”

Syn

Nimbus stood beneath Syn with the patience of a saint while Fox paced nearby with one hand hooked on his belt and the other holding a training line he claimed was ‘just for structure’.

Fox was trying to teach him how to stay on a horse.

Syn was trying to remember he was on one.

Two very different battles.

Because beyond the far fence, near the shaded petting area, Furi was on his knees in the grass with that long, thick braid Amelia had given him trailing down his back. She’d pulled the sides away from his face in smaller, tighter braids, leaving the rest swept back into one heavy plait.

It made him resemble a Viking prince. One who’d wandered off his land, found a baby goat, and decided to feed it.

A cluster of animals gathered around him, battling the dwarf goat for his lap. A woolly lamb nosed at his thigh, a miniature donkey stood close enough for Furi to rub between its ears, and a fat gray rabbit was being held carefully in the crook of one tattooed arm.

A potbellied pig snuffled at his boot while Furi laughed at something a little girl said, the sound carrying across the morning breeze and landing straight in the center of his chest.

He looked ridiculous…but beautiful. Peaceful.