I shake my head. “No, that’s okay. They just freak me out a little bit. They won’t like… jump on me, will they?”
“Not if you don’t have food. They really love spaghetti. You got any spaghetti in your pocket?” Hunter tilts his head, a lopsided smile spreading across his face.
“Are you serious?” I ask, my jaw falling open.
Hunter winks. “I’m dead serious.”
I shake my head, patting my pockets. “Fresh out, thankfully.”
That makes his grin grow, and something about it warms my chest.
When he reaches up to open the coop, my heart does a little flip-flop, and when the door swings open and a shitload of chickens comes flying out, my stomach joins the party.
“Holy shit,” I breathe, watching them all scatter and start pecking at the ground.
Hunter laughs. “We can collect eggs later.”
“Oh. I guess that makes sense. They lay eggs.”
He turns to me with a bright smile. “Wow. You really are a city boy, huh? Where do you think eggs come from?”
My cheeks heat. He’s teasing me, even picking on me a little, and by all accounts it should make me feel bad. It doesn’t. For some reason, it makes me smile. “Well, I guess I just didn’t think about you having to collect eggs. Do you eat them?”
“Would be a waste not to,” Hunter says, still grinning. “We get more than we’ll ever eat, though, so we give a lot away.”
“You give them away? Couldn’t you sell them?”
He nods. “Sure, but we like to help folks where we can.”
A smile tugs at my lips. “That’s nice. I’ve never had farm-fresh chicken eggs.”
“Well, we’ll have to change that.” Hunter turns and starts walking away. “Come on. Let’s go get Molls.”
I follow Hunter, my feet crunching over the gravel and dirt, trying to ignore the flurry of chickens pecking and clucking behind me. We come to an older barn. It’s smaller than the first one, though not by much, and when he slides the door open, we’re met with a huff.
“Yeah, I know, girl, I’m late this morning.”
Holy shit. He has multiple horses. Not just Molls. But when he steps in front of what I’m assuming is Molls, I freeze in the doorway. “She’s big.”
He laughs. “She’s actually kinda small.”
He runs a hand over her brown coat. She’s so glossy, and her mane is dark and pretty. She leans into him, resting her forehead against his. “She’s really pretty. How are we both going to fit on her?”
“We’re not. You are.”
“What?” I’m already shaking my head. “I couldn’t.”
He smiles, turning to me. “Why not? She’s a great horse to start with.”
“Can’t they smell fear?”
Cocking his head, he blinks at me. “Are you afraid?”
I start to nod, but then stop because I’m actually… not. And what a strange thing to realize. “No, I guess not. Apprehensive, maybe.”
I move further into the barn, sidestepping past a much bigger black horse to stand beside Hunter in front of Molls. Lookingtoward Hunter, I raise a hand in the air. He nods at me, so I hold it out in front of her, and she noses at it.
“Holy shit,” I whisper.
