Clothes Thief M7 ATF AU

Chris Larabee stood in the den of the Youth Ranch giving his six friends and team members a glare of promised retribution even as he struggled to rein in his annoyance and ignore the cat calls and clapping directed at him.

The handsome blond was currently attired in his trademark ebony cowboy boots and hat, which was a frequent occurrence, especially since Team Seven had volunteered to help out at the Sheriff's Youth Ranch with mending fences and repairing barn roofs that had been damaged in a recent windstorm.

What wasn't usual was what the well-built figure wore between the hats and boots- which was nothing except a striped towel wrapped around his lean hips! The wide bronzed shoulders and bare torso gleamed damply in the light and a stray water drop or two trickled down the toned chest and disappeared into the terry cloth at waist level.

The other members of the team sat on the edge of the desk, in deep armchairs, or in Ezra Standish's case in a padded office chair with lumbar support that had his eyes half closed in bliss. All six men, however, wore matching grins that only ratcheted up Larabee's ire.

"When I find out which one of you assholes stole my clothes while I was in the creek, I'm gonna shoot you!" growled the towel-clad form with a menacing sound low in his throat that resembled a big cat getting ready to pounce on its prey.

Vin Tanner gave a laugh from where he sat with a slim hip propped on one corner of the desk. A wink followed the chuckle.

"We know that, Cowboy. Why do ya think your gun disappeared too?"

The sniper's smile was wide since Chris' pistol was safely out of reach and Larabee wouldn't want to run the gauntlet of female volunteers who currently lined the walls of the room with avid and amorous looks on their faces.

Besides there was no way for Chris to know who….

Just then the leader's voice let out a bellowed "Tanner!" followed by another low feline growl.

The still dangerous figure lunged for Vin, not even noticing when one corner of the towel got caught on the desk.

Sky blue eyes got big, then the sniper turned to make a run for it while pandemonium broke out behind him.

Aww, hell! He'd forgotten three important things… 1- Chris could read him like a book, 2- the attractive leader wasn't shy, and 3-…Larabee didn't need a gun to kill him!

By DMA

A/N- For those of you who haven't seen Michael's movie The Ride, one scene in it inspired the story…