Page 25 of Out of Place

He chuckles under his breath before he opens the gate. Several goats come running up to us. I instinctively grab Landon’s arm and try to ignore the feel of his flexing bicep under my hand. It’s made easier when a goat nips at my pants.

“Why is it trying to eat me?” I shout.

Landon chuckles beside me. “Relax. They’re just excited.”

I let the goats sniff around me while staying glued to Landon. He bends down to pet one of the smaller ones.

“You know, as much as I love you hanging on me, we’re not going to get much done like this.”

I immediately let go of his arm and step away. I’d kinda forgotten I even grabbed it to begin with.

“What do I need to do with the goats?” I ask, hoping we can ignore the fact that I had attached myself to him.

“We’ve got to give them some food and check their water.” He points to one of the bigger goats on the other side of the area. “That one just gave birth last week, so she needs some extra food to keep up her milk supply.”

We walk through the pen with a hoard of goats trailing behind us. Landon grabs a bale of hay and tosses it in front of me, telling me to spread this out in the area. I lean down to grab some of it when a goat comes up and hits my leg with her head.

“She wants pets,” Landon explains.

Am I supposed to pet her? I look from him to the goat at my leg and slowly place my hand on her head. She better not fucking bite me.

She’s softer than I was expecting. I move my hand back and forth a few times before another goat comes up to me with an expectant look.

Oh fuck. They all want pets now. I sigh and squat down to drop the handful of hay I was holding. But when I get close to the goats, they both step forward, scaring me, and I end up falling back on my ass.

I yelp, but that doesn’t scare them off. One of them even starts licking my arm. “Ew, gross! They’re licking me, Landon. Help!”

I hear his amused laugh. Several other goats crowd around me until I’m stuck in the center of them.

“I think they like you,” Landon calls out. And when I look up, I see him standing in front of me with his phone out.

“Are you taking a picture of this?” I ask in disbelief. These goats are going to eat me, and he’s taking a freaking picture.

“The town newspaper needs a new headline for the week.”

“Are you kidding me?” That is the last thing I need right now. No one in this town likes me, and now I’ll be the butt of their jokes because I got attacked by some goats.

“Yes, I’m kidding. I wanted to document this for my own personal enjoyment.”

“Great.”

A small animal pushes through the bigger goats until he gets to me. He looks at me before climbing on my lap and sitting there. I freeze. A baby goat is sitting on my lap. What am I supposed to do with it?

“You can just stand up. They’re all very sweet and won’t hurt you,” Landon explains. Easier said than done. He’s not the one being held hostage right now.

“The baby is on me.” How could I possibly get up now? He’s actually kind of cute.

“Pick him up. You can hold him while you spread the hay.”

It feels wrong to disturb him, but I’ve quickly learned that the longer I mess around, the longer I have to work. So, I pick up the baby and hold him awkwardly as I attempt to stand. One of the goats knocks me with its head again, but I keep my balance this time.

Suddenly, they realize Landon is more exciting because he has the food, so they take off in his direction.

I watch as he gives them their food while taking the time to pet each one. It’s kind of sweet, not that I would ever tell him that after he laughed while they were attacking me.

I distribute the hay like Landon said to. Then we refill their water before I put the baby down by his mom.

“It was nice meeting you, little guy. Maybe I’ll see you again soon.” I pet his head before I turn to leave.