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Fuck.The only pussy I had in my bed was demanding her breakfast, so I couldn’t wallow in how pathetic that was. This pity party would have to be postponed.
I grabbed the sheets off my bed and threw them in the laundry basket. After a thirty-second, freezing cold shower, I threw on a pair of sweats, tennis shoes, a T-shirt, and a baseball cap.
It wasn’t my typical Farm Strong “uniform,” which consisted of Wranglers and a sleeveless flannel topped off with cowboy boots and hat, but I hadn’t done laundry this week, so sweats were going to have to do.
I grabbed Dini on my way out of my room, and she cuddled against me. As I came down the stairs two at a time, Dini purred against my chest. By the time I made it to the kitchen, she was kneading her paws into my shoulder, which didn’t feel great considering she was not declawed.
Grandad was seated at the kitchen table, the same spot he’d sat at drinking his coffee every day of my life. After slurpingloudly, he slowly lowered his mug to the table as I bent over to set Dini down and grab her bowl to feed her.
“Nice of you to join us, grandson. Half the day’s gone.”
It was barely after five in the morning. But since my grandad was born and raised on this farm, he always ran on what he called “farm time.” Which meant he was up at three. Every day. Rain or shine. Summer or winter. Regardless if time had sprung forward or fallen back.
Three o’clock every morning. And he did it without ever using an alarm. His internal clock was truly astounding.
Despite being born and raised on the very same farm, I was not a morning person. Something that was a little inconvenient since my bootcamp classes ran from five to eleven in the morning. After that, I had actual farm work to do, which usually lasted four to six hours. Once I got done with maintenance and animal care, there were spreadsheets, financial reports, and a lot of other business-related stuff I was trying my best to handle, but if I was being honest with myself, I was drowning.
“No escapes today,” I instructed Dini, which was short for Houdini, as I petted her behind her ears.
Most of the animals I’d been raised with were outdoor pets, but not Dini. Every time she went outside, she got into trouble. There was the skunk, plus she’d already been hit by a car, and she’d gotten stuck up three trees. She’d lost all outdoor privileges, but she tried to escape every chance she got. She loved sunbathing in my next-door neighbor Miss Rhonda’s breakfast nook, which would be fine if Miss Rhonda wasn’t deathly allergic to cats.
“See ya in a bit!” I tipped my hat to Grandad and headed out.
The dirt area that I’d converted to a parking lot beside the barn was full, which meant I had a packed 5 a.m. class. I should be happy about that. Every single body that was there kept thelights on and the deed in the Mitchell name, but lately, every one of those cars just made me feel stuck.
All my life I’d wanted a family. I couldn’t wait to have a wife and kids who, like me, would be raised on this farm. Despite losing my mom when I was three and my dad when I was twelve, I had a good childhood. That was thanks to my grandparents and the farm, which taught me discipline, empathy, responsibility, and hard work. I couldn’t wait to pass those things on to my offspring. The problem was, my personal life was nonexistent, which made the chances of me starting a family in the near future slim to none.
As I rounded the corner to the barn, I saw that Weston, a nineteen-year-old college kid who was studying sports science at the junior college. I’d hired him last month to help with check-ins and paperwork. He had already split the class up into three groups. One group was doing the Feed Bag Carry, another group was doing the Tractor Tire Deadlifts, and the last group was doing the Hay Run.
“Everybody checked in?” I asked as I came to a stop beside him.
“Yep.” He nodded, and his shaggy blond hair bobbed up and down. “You okay? I was just about to text you.”
I shrugged. “Just overslept.”
He eyed my attire. “You sure you’re okay? I can run the classes this morning.”
“I’m good.” I grabbed the whistle from his hand and took over.
The next few hours passed in a blur until the final client’s car pulled out of the parking area. Every class was the same thing. Just like yesterday, the day before that, and the day before that. That’s what my life felt like, like I was living in a personal hell ofGroundhog’s Day.
“You sure everything’s okay, bro?” Weston’s concern clearly showed on his face as we reset the barn for the classes tomorrow.
“Yeah, man. I’m good.”
He nodded as he picked up the basket of used sweat towels. “Oh shit.”
“What?” I asked.
He bent over, and when he stood back up, he was holding an unopened box of Magnum BareSkin condoms. “These yours?” he asked.
That was the brand I used, but unfortunately, I hadn’t in quite a while.
“Nope.”
“You want ‘em?” He held out his arm toward me.
I wish I had a use for them. “Just toss ‘em in the first aid kit, and we’ll see if anyone asks for them.”
