31. Maisie
maisie
. . .
THIRTY-ONE
Opening week has gone by in a blur. Roxy wasn’t kidding when she said it was fully booked.
New guests have been arriving at the ranch every day.
Roxy is totally in her element, cheesing up the guests and running around like a chicken with its head cut off.
She even let me help with a few excursions, a scenic kayaking tour and the new zipline.
Chesney even got me to ride it after we shut down for the day.
There’s one in particular I’m more excited for than the rest. Each member on the ranch has their own specialty, from horseshoe making to horseback riding.
Apparently, Grayson is an excellent teacher at milking cows.
After the other night, the way he played with my body so delicately, I’m not shocked in the slightest.
Living with Grayson has been smooth sailing so far.
We’ve gotten into a rhythm, both waking up extra early to have a cup of coffee—or energy drink, in my case—before our morning chores.
We work the ranch together each morning before the guests are up and moving.
It’s become my favorite time of the day.
I never used to be a morning person, but there’s something about waking up before the sun does and putting in some manual labor that’s good for the soul. Plus, the animals are so cute.
We’ve kept our boundaries up since that whiskey-induced truth or dare night, both on our best behavior.
I’m not afraid to go after what I want anymore since opening that letter from my mom.
Life is just too short, but I also don’t want to rush things.
We are in a rather weird circumstance, living under the same roof, and I don’t want to make things awkward.
No need to rush things like I did with crusty Carl.
We’ve been so busy, we’ve both crashed after dinner every night this week anyways.
That doesn’t mean I haven’t caught him staring at me every chance he gets, or that I haven’t fallen asleep to the thought of him ravishing my body again.
I’m making my way over to the cow barn when someone whistles for me from the main drive. “Hey, Sunshine. Think you can point a man in the right direction?”
I would recognize that voice anywhere. I’m turning around and sprinting into his arms before he’s even finished his sentence. I jump on him so hard, it knocks us both into his expensive car. If there’s one thing about my brother, it’s that he will always be riding in style.
“Fuck, I’ve missed you,” I whisper into his chest, a tear escaping.
“More than you know, Rae Rae,” he responds, hugging me tighter.
Someone grunts behind us. “Who the fuck are you?”
Shit.
“Who the fuck are you?” Oakland spits back, pulling me protectively into his side.
Grayson tracks the movement, and his jaw grinds. Is he jealous? Oh, this is too good. I kind of want to see how this would play out, but I’m pretty sure it would end in bruises and blood, and I’ve had enough of that for a while.
I slide out of Oakland's arm, glaring at Grayson. “Can you play nice, please?” I scold him.
His hands raise in surrender before grabbing my arm and pulling me next to him. “All I did was ask a question that has yet to be answered. Who are you, and why do you have your hands all over Maisie?”
I huff out a breath, knowing this is about to majorly blow up.
Lan doesn’t back down. He takes a step forward to grab me back. “I should be asking you the same thing, buddy. Who gives you authority over her?”
“Can you both just stop?” I sigh, but to no avail. They both step closer to one another, and I have to sandwich myself between them. “Stop already. Neither of you have authority over me, okay? Everyone needs to calm the fuck down.”
Grayson crosses his arms over his chest, not backing down.
Lan, however, softens his face when he looks down at me.
“You good?” he asks, concern on his face.
He knows everything I’ve been through and how much I hate fighting, so he eases back.
Grayson would defend my honor until he’s dead if he had to, which surprisingly doesn’t turn me off.
It’s kind of endearing, actually knowing the lengths he would go to keep me safe.
I walk back over to my brother's side, nudging him. “Oakland, meet Grayson. Grayson, this is my brother, Lan.” I gesture back to my smug brother, who is loving that I’m standing on his side, as if he’s won some silent battle.
Little does he know, it's so I can push him out of the way if Grayson pounces. It’s a fifty-fifty chance.
“Lan, right,” Grayson says, an edge to his tone. He takes my brother's outstretched hand, giving it a firm shake, and Lan winces.
“And you are?” my brother asks, gripping Grayson's hand back just as hard. They might as well just whip their dicks out and measure at this point. Gross.
“He’s the foreman on the ranch,” I interject, trying to calm the waters between them. “And he’s Chesney's best friend.”
Since the accident, Lan’s been extra protective of me, and this is already starting off on the wrong foot. Lan and Ches are like brothers, so Lan knowing Grayson is in Ches’ good graces is a good start.
Lan looks over Grayson with a predatory gaze, sussing him out. Little does he know the deep shit Gray’s currently in. I don’t even know the half of it. I won’t be telling my brother that, though. It would inevitably set him off, and he would try to convince me to come live with him on the road.
No, thank you.
The two stay in a standoff until Chesney breaks the tension, running from The Den. “Lan, my man. I didn’t know you were coming!” That big smile my brother’s famous for is back, Grayson forgotten about.
“You know I couldn’t let Rae Rae have all the fun without me,” he replies, pulling Chesney in for a half hug.
“Oh, she’s had plenty of fun.” Chesney winks at me over Lan’s shoulder. I roll my eyes, not feeding into his games. “You know they are living together, right?”
“Ches,” I scold at the same time Grayson sends him daggers with his eyes.
“Excuse you?” Lan chokes, looking around for someone to explain.
I huff and throw my arm over his tall shoulders. “Ches is exaggerating. C’mon, I’ll give you a tour.”
Lan leaves it for now, but the glint in his eye tells me this conversation isn’t over. “You act like I’ve never been here, little sis.” He rubs his knuckles against my head like old times, and I playfully push him away.
“Things have changed since we were little. Just wait until you hear about the zipline.” I smirk over at Chesney, who’s following behind us, Grayson right on his heels.
Chesney saddles up to Lan’s other side, slinging an arm around him too. “You showed up just in time. Grayson was about to teach us how to milk a cow.”
“Please tell me you’re kidding,” Lan groans.
“You wish, buddy. I’m sure you’ll be a pro, Mr. World Traveler. We’ll make a cowboy out of you yet,” Chesney teases.
“As if my day couldn’t get worse,” Lan sighs, but there’s a slight tilt to his lip. And now that I look closer, is that a hickey on his neck?
The bickering continues, and it feels like old times when we were little. It feels right.
“C’mon, it will be fun. How could your day possibly be bad if you’re here with us?” I ask, nudging my shoulder into him.
“My car broke down on the way into town, and I had to wait around until it was fixed. I wanted to surprise you this morning, but it seems fate had other plans.” He looks lost in thought.
My face pinches at that. “How long are you in town for?”
“I have to head out tonight, unfortunately, but I wanted to squeeze in as much time with you before I have to hit the road again.”
“Life of a superstar,” Chesney sings, dragging us towards the cow barn.
I look over my brother in his designer hoodie and expensive shoes. “Did you happen to bring anything less…fancy to wear?”
“No. Why?”
“Oh, this is going to be good,” Chesney laughs, opening the sliding barn door.
No one is in the barn yet for the class. We wanted to get here early to help Grayson set up. There aren’t a ton of dairy cows on the ranch, so the class will be small.
Grayson leads over each cow, tying them up at their station with a bucket to sit on next to them. He preps and cleans their teats. We all made sure to wash our hands after getting everything set up so we could use the milk we collect at The Den.
The handful of guests start to filter in, washing their hands and claiming a cow. Everyone looks eager to learn from Grayson, myself included. Lan looks ridiculous next to his cow in his expensive outfit. There is definitely animal shit on his shoe, and I giggle under my breath.
“Disrupting the class already, Miss Brooks,” Grayson whispers into my ear, approaching my back. I jump, caught off guard. “Do it again, and you may have to stay after class for detention,” he warns, a playful grin on his face as he walks by.
“Yes, teacher,” I giggle.
“Thank you all for joining us today,” Grayson begins, walking to the front of the barn to stand next to his cow. He rests his hand on its back. “Today, I’ll go over the basics on how to milk a teat properly.”
“That’s what he said,” Chesney mumbles under his breath, drawing a few laughs from guests and a scowl from Grayson.
Grayson ignores the chatter, sitting down on his bucket. “I’ve already prepped each cow, so today, I’ll teach you the technique on how to cause the least amount of discomfort to the cow while producing the most amount of milk.”
Grayson's hand grabs the teat closest to him, demonstrating. Lan and Ches make jokes the whole time. “It’s a misconception you have to pull in order to get milk out. It feels better on the cow if you use a squeezing motion instead, starting at the base and moving the pressure down. In order to get the milk flowing, it’s good to rub each teat down to get them stimulated.
Once you begin to milk, you should squeeze a little bit to drain away the milk that’s been sitting in the teat. ”