Page 79 of Ransom
linc:called it
cruz:since when?
linc:day one.
linc:ranger came back with his hat on backwards. nobody puts a hat on backwards by accident.
cruz:linc you're a SAGE
cruz:boss if u r reading this
cruz:and we know u r
cruz:congrats. the ranger is HOT.
mateo: daddy vibes for real
cruz: punch above ur weight. proud of u ??
coyote:ranger is not his daddy. Theyre not related.
linc: not what he meant Coyote. Not what he meant.
I locked the screen.
Winston was watching me with his head tipped sideways and his hat pushed back, the kind of look a man gets when he's already won and is just waiting for the other man to admit it.
"That bad?"
"Worse."
"They got a name for the chat?"
"Bunkhouse."
"They got a name for me?"
"They got a lot of names for you, Ranger. I'm not telling you any of them."
"Ransom—"
"No."
"Just one."
"No."
He grinned. We stood there a minute in the half-light of the barn with Galahad blowing slow breaths over the rail and the wind rattling the loose board on the south wall. Winston put his hat back on and adjusted the brim.
"So," he said. "I ain't ever been on a working horse ranch before. You got chores that need doin' or what?"
I smirked and went to the wall to grab a pair of shovels, handing one off to him.
He looked down at it with a frown before looking back at me. "What's this for?"
"Mucking stalls," I said and leaned on my shovel.
"And while I'm shovelin' shit you'll be…?"
