Page 215 of Nothing Special X: The Last Stand

The ranch hands refused to be outdone and proved without mercy, that no one could party as hard as men who spent all day doing physical labor.

That was when they broke out the horses.

God still didn’t know who suggested racing, but he blamed Dale on principle. The men moved toward the pasture fence with fresh drinks and bad judgment. God and his men went crazy when Fox climbed onto Diablo. The black horse moved beneath him like liquid midnight. Dale was on his horse, Brandy, and was right on his ass. A few others followed but they weren’t near as fast.

“Damn,” Day exhaled.

God couldn’t argue. Seeing Fox on that black horse stole his breath away too.

Bull watched from the fence with pride. Syn rode too, but he wasn’t racing. He trotted along on a chestnut horse he called Nimbus, steady and comfortable, but careful.

The staff and a small crowd of people God learned were residents waved and encouraged him to ride faster. Syn waved them off, his smile growing wider.

It was obvious they liked him, and God couldn’t blame them. Syn was a damn good man. It’s why God made him his sergeant. This town was lucky they were getting him as their new sheriff.

Furi watched him from beside God with tenderness all over his face.

God glanced at Furi. “He looks good out there.”

Furi kept his gaze on Syn. “Yeah, he does. He’s really bonding with that horse.”

“You two seem good?”

Furi turned toward him then. “We are.”

God believed him.

The night stretched on.

Xander tapped out a little after midnight, claiming he wasn’t a partier, and not used to being up at that hour.

God shook his hand. “It was really cool you came all this way for Curtis. Thank you.”

Xander’s smile warmed. “He’s hard not to love.”

Cassidy shook God’s hand next. “You and Day heading west next week?”

“Yeah.”

Cassidy’s grip tightened once. “Good, we got a lotta shit to do.”

Xander addressed the group. “I also wanted to invite everyone to the premiere of What Remains After Silence in LA. I’ll have VIP passes for all of you.”

The reaction was immediate chaos.

Curtis wasn’t there to scream, so Vickie did it for him.

Someone toasted Curtis and Gen again even though they were gone.

Someone toasted the task force.

Someone toasted new beginnings.

By the time the hours crawled toward early morning, they were all damn near holding each other up.

Ruxs and Green laughing with Judge, Duke and Quick.

Tech tucked under Steele’s arm while Free argued with Hart about marketing the Hart Locator to NASA.