Free Dying Assassin by Joyee Flynn Page A

They have some incredible stock here at this thing, I'm impressed. I can't get over the range of mares to colts, to stallions to quarter horses; it's just very diverse. And I thought we'd have to make a road trip to get these kinds of bloodlines."
    "We take ranching and horses seriously around here, Luc," Molly said, joining us against the railings. I glanced past Luc to see she and her husband Mike had arrived. "Glad you boys made it and aren't just hiding at your house."
    "We don't do hiding." Ryder giggled, snuggling up to the other side of me, next to Luc.
    "I saw that nice punch." She chuckled, pounding it out with Ryder. "If you hadn't, I would have after his crack about gays and women."
    "I'd be proud to be a woman, if I was one," Ryder said firmly, giving her a nod.
    "There's not a girly thing about you, baby," I purred, kissing his cheek. "Personally, I'm glad about that."
    "Yeah, but I might look good with breasts," he replied, looking serious. Everyone was quiet for a few moments, until Ryder burst out laughing, then we all joined in.
    "You guys looking for a bunch of horses?" Molly asked after we all calmed back down.
    "Not a bunch," Luc answered, shooting me a nervous glance.
    "Five or six at least if Luc finds ones he feels are acceptable," I said, giving him a wink.
    "Spence, that's too…" Luc started to say.
    "Just say thank you and pick good ones," Molly said, putting her hand over Luc's mouth. "You're in Brookings now, each of you needs a horse of your own at least."
    "Molly, Mike, I forgot my manners." I shook my head, realizing we'd not introduced them to Ethan. "This is Ethan Beckman. He works for my company back on the east coast. And it looks like he may be joining our family."
    "Nice to meet you, Ethan," the both said, then Molly continued. "If I was young like you boys, I'd love the idea of my own harem but I can barely keep up with the man I have."
    "Bite your tongue, woman," Mike replied, giving her a smack on the ass. "You guys should sit with us. We'll give you any background we know on the ranches who own the horses you're interested in."
    "That would be great, thanks," Luc said, as we turned from the reviewing pen. Everyone headed towards the bleachers, taking up the seats in the third row. The first several rows were reserved for those bidding as opposed to the people that were there to just join in the fun. Luc sat down in between Molly and Mike, who were filling him in on the background of his favorite choices. Ryder sat next to Molly on the other side, then me, Ethan, and lastly Dean on the aisle.
    "This is so exciting," Ethan whispered to me after the announcer said they'd be starting in a few minutes. I placed my hand on his thigh, smiling when I saw Dean had his hand on Ethan's other leg.
    "You'll have to come over for dinner soon," Ryder was telling Molly. "You can see all the changes we made to the house, and I'd love to get my hands on some of the recipes you were telling me about."
    Right before the explosion, Molly had stopped over to bring us a housewarming present. Ryder and Molly had started talking about hunting season and all the things she could do with deer in her slow cooker. He had brought up the idea a few times to Dean and me, saying he liked the idea of his big men going out and hunting to bring home dinner. We'd laughed and thought he'd been teasing us, but now I started to wonder.
    "Looks like we might be going hunting soon," Dean leaned over and whispered to me. I gave him a nod as I watched him stop and kiss Ethan before sitting back up in his seat.
    "Do we even own a gun?" I asked, laughing when Dean shook his head. I turned back to Ryder and Molly. "We're going to have to get permits and guns, not to mention learn how to use them before you sign us up for hunting, Ryder."
    "We've got extra tags for turkey and deer hunting," Mike said, glancing over. "We had friends who were supposed to come in for the season but can't make it."
    "You mean like have a real, fresh