Wild Horses

Walking down the hall from her bedroom, Treva passed by the open door of Zach's room, glancing inside out of habit and doing a double take when she noticed he was sat at the edge of his bed, pulling on his boots. Stopping, Treva chanced a few steps into the room, capturing Zach's attention. He glanced up, his clear green eyes meeting Treva's crystalline blues, and smiled, earning one in return.

"Are you going somewhere?" Treva asked, her voice soft. Finished with lacing up his boots, Zach stood.

"Winter is coming," he said, coming to meet with Treva where she was stood just a few paces from the door. It had been only a few days since Zach had shown the wild horses to Treva, only a few days from the time they had kissed out in the field, away from everyone else. Neither of them had made mention of the event, but that didn't prevent neither Zach nor Treva from thinking about what had happened.

"My father and I are going hunting," Zach continued. "We need to get enough meat stored before it's too cold." Treva nodded, and without anything else being said between the two they filed out of the room, Zach leading the way down the stairs and into the kitchen. Crossing the room, the two exited the house and were greeted by James, who had two rifles out, ready and waiting.

"You ready to go, son?" he asked, looking up at the two teenagers as they came near. Zach nodded in affirmation, taking one of the rifles in hand. "Do you want to come too, Brian?"

Not knowing that the other young man was also out on the porch, Treva followed James's gaze. Brian was stood a little ways down the porch, a cigarette dangling from his lips as he leaned against the house. Treva hadn't even noticed him there, but she noticed now the way his gaze flashed over her like lightning before he looked away to Zach's father.

"No, I think I'll stay in this time," Brian's smooth voice answered, smoke gently rising from his mouth as he exhaled.

"Well, we should be back by noon," Zach said, his words aimed toward Treva, and she nodded as their gaze connected for the second time that morning. Zach wanted nothing more than to step up to her and kiss her goodbye, but he couldn't - not with both his father and Brian standing there, watching.

Zach went to turn away and follow James to the barn, where they would mount their horses and ride off into the vast expanse of the forest surrounding the ranch, but stopped when Treva spoke.

"Can you teach me how to shoot one of those? When you return?" she asked, quite eagerly. Not only did Treva want to learn how to shoot a rifle, but she hoped that it would give her and Zach some time alone together, with no one else to bother them. Feeling almost the exact same way as she, Zach opened his mouth to answer, but Brian beat him to it.

"I can teach you while they're gone, if you'd like," he offered, and Treva looked over at Brian. The offer seemed genuine, but when she glanced at Zach once more she saw a look in his eyes she couldn't quite comprehend - almost a look of silent anger and jealousy that caused the tension between the two males to climb.

Not wanting to seem rude, Treva turned back to Brian. "Okay," she said in acceptance, and when she looked at Zach her heart sank as his back was already turned and he was well on his way to the barn.

"Let me just finish this, and I'll go get a rifle from inside," Brian said, taking a few more drags of his cigarette before putting it out and heading back into the house. Only a few short moments later he returned, carrying a rifle and a few battered, rusty, tin cans.

"What are those for?" Treva asked, pointing at the cans.

"Targets. Gotta have something to shoot at," Brian responded, stepping off the porch and heading toward the pasture fence. "Come on."

Obeying, Treva followed a few paces behind Brian, stopping a few feet from the wooden fence where he was balancing the tin cans on the upright poles. Moving to his side when he backed up about thirty feet from the fence, Treva watched as Brian raised the rifle, holding the end against his shoulder. One eye squinting shut, Brian aimed for the first battered can he had set up, pulling the trigger. Startled by the sudden loud noise so close to her, Treva jumped in midair. Watching as the tin can was knocked off the post with ease, Brian smiled, then turning to Treva with a laugh.

"Scared you?" he asked, and Treva nodded, feeling her heartbeat slow down gradually back to normal. "Okay, now..." Brian started, handing the rifle to Treva who took it cautiously, "...it's your turn."

"But I don't kn-"

"Here, I'll help you," Brian cut in, his voice soft. Treva swallowed hard, taking in a breath as Brian stepped up behind her, his arms encircling her. Her back was pulled right up against Brian's chest, and Treva was reminded of the times she had ridden Bandit with him and they had been this close.

Brian smiled, knowing Treva couldn't see it, because he had wanted to get this close to her again, wanted to feel her small body pressed against his own. It was enough to send images running through his head of various scenarios, where Treva was underneath him, succumbing to the power of his body, her eyes shut tight and mouth open in a breathy gasp. It was enough to drive Brian insane. He wanted to have this girl.

"Hold it, just like this," Brian said, his mouth almost right up against Treva's ear as he placed his hands over hers on the rifle. He moved the butt of the rifle right against the crook of her shoulder, taking her one hand and placing it farther down the shaft of the barrel. The sight of her hand grasped around it so firmly sent other images through the forefronts of his mind, but he had to quickly push them back before he took this seemingly innocent girl right there in the grass. But despite his sexual nature, Brian would not take from a girl like that without asking.

Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes in a sigh, Brian controlled himself, taking Treva's other hand and placing it at the trigger; she knew where to go from there.

In the seconds before Treva pulled back on the trigger, she thought of how tightly Brian seemed to be pressed against her. Their closeness was making her feel uneasy - it was at that moment, in those quick few seconds, that she could understand how Brian felt for her and realize this was a tactic to get closer to her while Zach was gone. The boys were fighting over her to see who could win her. Unlucky for Brian, Treva thought. She'd already made her decision on Zach, and she would not let Brian's charm win her over. She was certain she wanted to be with Zach, and no one else.

Fingers squeezing, Treva pulled the trigger back. The butt of the rifle jerked into her, but with Brian there behind her she remained steady, hearing the loud bang of the gun's explosion ringing in her ears, and seeing the can on the fence fall to the ground.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Zach and his father returned at noon, just as they had predicted. While everyone else had been eating lunch, they hung their kill - a rather magnificent buck - in the empty stall in the barn, where Brian and Zach planned to skin and gut it. Hearing this, Treva decided she'd rather not join them, it being a gruesome task to begin with.

"So," Zach huffed as he dug the skinning knife just under the buck's hide, tearing downward in a clean sweep, "what'd you and Treva do this morning?"

Smirking once he thought back on how close he had gotten to Treva, Brian then concentrated on the deer and the task at hand.

"Taught her to shoot. She's actually not half bad, being her first time and all," he answered. "We, uh...we got pretty close while I was teaching her."

Zach was glad that he and Brian were working on opposite sides of the buck, so Brian couldn't see the look of anger that had flashed in his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Nothin'..." Brian shrugged off, smiling to himself, and for a moment the two young men grew silent. All that was heard was the tearing of skin as it was pulled off the deer between them.

"You like her, don't you?" Zach asked quietly. He hoped when Brian said he and Treva got "close", that they hadn't kissed. Or worse. Zach hadn't really had time upon his return to talk to Treva, and despite the fact that they had kissed a few days ago didn't mean that Treva was officially off-limits; though it should have. Zach wasn't usually a very possessive person, but there was no way he was going to share Treva - not even with someone he considered his brother.

"Sure, I guess," came Brian's reply as the two reached the last pieces of skin on the buck, tearing them off. "I mean...I have a hard time controlling myself when I'm around her, you know what I mean?" Hearing this only disgusted Zach further - he didn't want Brian thinking about Treva like that.

Zach sighed to himself, going around to the underside of the buck. Figuring it was a good way of getting out his frustration and anger toward Brian, Zach grabbed his hunting knife and dug into the stomach of the deer, dragging the blade down to the ribs in one smooth slice, exposing the pale blue organ underneath, surrounded by rich, red blood.

"Eww..." the boys heard from behind them. Turning, they were met with the wide eyes and wrinkled nose of Treva, who was looking on in both wonder and disgust.

"What, can't handle a little blood and guts?" Brian said with a laugh, stepping back from the red-fleshed body of the skinned deer.

"I guess not," Treva answered quietly, watching as Zach began to tear off pieces of flesh from the hindquarters of the small beast. He was being awfully quiet, and though Treva knew Zach was always like that in Brian's presence, especially when she was around, she couldn't help but wonder if something was wrong.

"Does that stuff even taste good?" Treva asked, breaking the silence that had fallen over the barn.

"Of course it tastes good! What do you think we've been eating half the time you've been here?" Brian asked playfully, and Treva blushed. She had never thought to ask what it was they ate. She just assumed it was always some sort of meat from the cattle, and that it just tasted funnier than it did back home.

"Oh..." she said, almost stuttering, and when Zach stepped out from behind the buck, wiping his blade clean on a cloth sticking out of his front pocket, Treva felt a little relieved. Standing under Brian's gaze made her feel more and more uneasy as the days passed by.

"I forgot to tell you this morning because I was on my way out," Zach said, "but I talked to my parents about taking you into town, to get some clothes that you'll need for living out here, and they said it was a good idea."

"Really?" Treva asked, her face lighting up. She was more excited about going into town and having a look around at the world of Montana beyond the ranch than she was at the prospect of getting new clothes. "When can we go?"

"Tomorrow, if you like," came Zach's reply, a smile appearing on his lips at the sight of her excited face. He liked seeing her happy. He wanted to be the one that made her glow like that all the time, and he was determined to make it happen.