"Just follow this road for a long while until it forks," Burt instructed. "Then take the left fork until you come upon the ranch - you can't miss it."

Sweat was already beading Kurt's forehead from the humidity of the early morning. He mounted Charlie with ease – he figured a horse would be the most discreet way to travel - tipping his broad-rimmed hat to acknowledge his father's directions.

"Got it, Dad."

"Whatever you do, don't give yourself away. Keep a low profile at all costs. If there are any signs of trouble – any at all – head back straight away," Burt warned.

"Don't worry," Kurt waved off the warning. "I can handle it. You just worry about helping Finn and the others with the harvesting today so we can sell to the markets again soon."

"Go on," Burt slapped the horse's side, urging it forward. "Don't be too long, you hear?" he called as Kurt's horse began to trot away.

With one last wave back, Kurt snapped the reigns twice and tightened his knees against Charlie's sides. The horse went from a trot to a brisk one to a flat out sprint in a matter of seconds, kicking up plenty of dirt in their wake.


The unpaved road proved no problem at all and Kurt rode on for mile without meeting another soul. That was the advantage of living in the sticks – there was a lot of unoccupied land. It was peaceful.

After a long ride lasting most of the morning, Kurt came across the foreign ranch at last. He slowed down Charlie to a trot as the neared the borders. He didn't want to look tooeager.

He followed the dirt path past fields of green grass and tall crops and up towards a cluster of buildings. He didn't have to ride all the way to the main house when he spotted a group of men tending some crops in a nearby space of field.

The area was fenced off, so Kurt drew Charlie up to a post before dismounting. He looped the horse's reigns around the wooden post a few times just to be safe.

"I don't need you wandering off," Kurt explained, patting Charlie's mane.

He was partially shielded from view, so he took advantage of his privacy to duck down and dust off his brown leather boots. He was dressed to impress with dark blue jeans, a checkered short sleeve button-down, a brown belt with a shiny silver buckle and, of course, his trusty hat to finish off the look.

He straightened up, feeling confident in his outfit. Using one hand for leverage, he lithely hopped the fence and began walking. The workers were spread out through the rows, it seemed, as he sauntered forward.

As he passed, they paused in their work on by one. Kurt grew painfully aware that all these men were extremely attractive.

First was a tanned boy with blond hair sporting jeans cut off just above the knees and no shirt to speak of. The muscles on his arms glistened with a sheen of sweat and he had a piece of hay tucked behind one ear.

Kurt's eyes moved to the next guy who was using a tool to turn the dirt. He had dark brown hair and a bit of a dimple in his cheek as he smiled kindly as Kurt passed. He payed no attention to how Kurt let his eyes linger on that torso of his. The boy was wearing light jeans and a shirt unbuttoned all the way – without an undershirt beneath. Needless to say, his abs were…impressive. The brunette tipped his own hat towards Kurt, oblivious to his own good looks.

Kurt smiled back nervously, gulping at he saw not one, but two guys in the next row. One had short dark hair and looked to be of Asian decent. He worse a simple plain white shirt soaked through with sweat, the sleeves rolled a couple of times. The material was thin enough to see through, causing Kurt to blush deeply as he noticed the ripple of the boy's muscles through the fabric.

The other boy had rich, brown skin and a killer smile. He worse nothing but a jean vest on top, exposing plenty of skin, and some ripped up jeans on his lower half. Kurt tried not to stare at the gaping holes in the guy's pants, revealing his knees.

Kurt's own knees were buckling at the sight of so many devastatingly good looking men in one place. He swallowed hard and kept walking, looking for someone in charge.

He came to a halt when he saw the most gorgeous man of all. His heart stopped and he felt blood rushing to certain body parts just at the sight of him.

He wasn't as tall as some of the others, but he had a presence about him. He had black curly waves running uncontrolled atop his head; curls that glistened in the sun if he turned a certain way and that moved in the light breeze. He had washed out jeans coupled with an incredibly tight, grey shirt and black boots.

Kurt's breath skittered unevenly and his mouth fell open as he watched the boy reach down to grab the hem of that grey shirt and begin to tug it upwards. Kurt wet his lips as more and more light-toned skin was revealed. It was then that he realized just how low cut this boy's jeans were, revealing the "v"shape of his hips, the waistband of his underwear, and a wispy trail of dark hair from beneath said waistband up to his navel.

Kurt silently thanked every deity known to man that it was even hotter than yesterday.

He continued to look on as the strange boy pulled the shirt completely over his head, revealing a toned body. Kurt didn't even try to hide his immodest gaze, half-hoping the boy would catch him staring.

Kurt had been with other men before, but if there were any lingering doubts about his sexuality they were all gone now; driven away even further the more he admired the man standing before him now. More importantly, if he thought he'd been turned on before, he'd been wrong. It was nothing compared to how he was lusting now, admiring the shine of sweat in the crevices of this guy's impressive pectorals and forearms.

The boy ran a hand through his tangled curls before noticing Kurt for the first time.

"Can I help you?" he asked with a polite smile.

Kurt snapped his mouth shut and folded his hands in front his jeans. He hoped the boy wouldn't look down and see just how turned on he was.

"Hi!" he squeaked. Embarrassed, he cleared his throat before speaking in his normal tone of voice. "I mean, hello. I'm new here…"

The other boy beamed at Kurt and stuck out his hand.

"I'm Blaine. Blaine Anderson."

"Kurt…" he took Blaine's hand while he thought up a last name. "…Adams. I'm Kurt Adams." Everyone would know his last name.

"Adams, huh?" Blaine nodded as he believed Kurt. "There's an unfamiliar name."

"Like I said, I'm new to these parts and horribly desperate for work," Kurt fibbed. "Think you can help a guy out?"

"Well…" Blaine hesitated. "We're not exactly short-handed. Guys, come over here and meet the new kid!" he called.

All four guys Kurt saw earlier emerged from the stalks of plants and gathered round.

Kurt felt overwhelmed by their various stats of undress. In fact, he felt overdressed in their presences and overpowered again by their collective attractiveness.

Blaine pointed to each one as he said their names.

"Jeff, Nick, Wes, and David," he went down the line. They nodded and waved in turn. "And that's not the half of 'em. The others should be working on the other side of the ranch maybe. Like I said, we're not exactly in need of more hands."

"Aw, don't be so harsh, Blaine," Jeff said with a flick of his blond hair. "Give him a chance."

"Yeah," Nick agreed. "He looks like he's up to the job."

"He looks questionable to me," Wes said as he narrowed his eyes. "You should have him show you what he can do instead of hiring him on the spot."

Blaine laughed at his friends. "Thanks for the input, you guys, but I can take it from here. Get back to work, I'll be along in a minute."

The boys dispersed back to their tasks, leaving Kurt and Blaine alone again. As alone as they could be, at least.

"Wes has a point…what do you know about working on a ranch?"

"Well what kind of operation are you running here? Maybe if I knew I could tell you how I can be of service." He gave Blaine a dashing smile, determined not to let any man, no matter how blatantly sexy, distract him from his plan. "Are you strictly produce?" he prompted.

"No," Blaine answered, crossing his arms and only drawing more attention to his bare chest. Kurt watched as a droplet of sweat trailed down Blaine's neck and across his upper body, disappearing behind those folded arms; the tense muscles just below his elbows glistening in the early afternoon sun...Biting his lip, Kurt forced himself to listen.

"We produce pretty much everything here. Produce, dairy, we raise and breed animals – the works." He lowered his voice. "Word is, the Hurmal Ranch…"

"Hummel," Kurt corrected haughtily, almost blowing his cover.

"Right, Hummel Ranch has quite the empire around here. We decided there should be a new reign in town is all."

"Well, that's great," Kurt gave Blaine a tight-lipped smile, resisting the urge to slap the boy he just met across the face. "That's just great."

"Are you okay?" Blaine touched Kurt's arm lightly.

"Perfect," Kurt said quickly. "I'm fine."

"Is that your horse?" Blaine gestured to the animal as it tried, unsuccessfully, to pull its reigns free from the post and pawed the ground impatiently.

"Yeah, that's Charlie," Kurt answered with a smile. "He just doesn't like being confined to one spot."

"Well come on," Blaine started walking away. "You don't have to tie him up; we have a perfectly adequate barn, you know."

Kurt grinned to himself as he went to retrieve Charlie. He had no way to tell if he even had a chance with Blaine, but from the tone of his voice, it did sound like he was flirting…He felt smugly superior – besides his chiseled body, Blaine wasn't winning Kurt over. Right now he had the advantage over the enemy, and he liked it.

Blaine leapt over the low fence to join Kurt on the dirt path as they walked towards the barn together. The curly headed boy took a handkerchief out of his back pocket and wiped his forehead with it and letting the cloth linger against his skin.

"It's so hot lately," he commented, folding the rag back into a neat square. "Bad for the crops, but good for working on a tan."

"Ah, the optimist," Kurt smiled. "Well you all seem to have your own ways to deal with the rising temperatures." He looked pointedly at Blaine's exposed skin.

"What do you mean?" Blaine cocked his head to the side innocently, but Kurt got the feeling that he knew exactly what Kurt meant – he just wanted to get the satisfaction of it being said aloud. Well, he'd just have to live with disappointment.

As if to illustrate his point, two more sweaty guys came jogging up to Blaine. Kurt's eyes went wide when he saw how scarcely dressed they were as well.

"Blaine, we're glad we found you!" the nearest one said.

"Yeah," agreed the second one, hunching over to rest his hands on his knees. He looked up at Kurt. "Who's the new guy?"

"Kurt," Blaine pointed at him, "This is Thad…" He motioned towards the boy who was taking the baseball cap off of his head to run his fingers through the dark head of hair.

His hair was plastered against his forehead, but after a moment, Thad managed to straighten it up a bit. Kurt cringed as the boy wiped his sweaty hand on the front of his undershirt before extending it to him.

"Hey," he greeted. When Kurt didn't take his hand, he realized why and dropped it awkwardly.

"Yeah…" Blaine stifled a laugh. "And that's Flint," he nodded toward the second boy who had short, light brown hair.

Flint was currently balling up the shirt he had in his hand and dabbing his forehead with it. Unlike Thad, he made no attempt to shake Kurt's hand, choosing instead to continue to pat down his bare chest with the dirty fabric.

"What's up?" he offered.

"Nothing much," Kurt answered. "Blaine was just, uh, giving me the grand tour, I guess."

"Which we should really get back to." Blaine shot the two guys a look. "Unless it's urgent. Unless someone is dying," he emphasized.

Kurt raised his eyebrows. So Blaine wanted him alone? He must be doing something right.

"Umm…" the two boys exchanged confused looks. "I guess we could go find Jeff or Wes and ask them instead...?"

"Good choice," Blaine commended, patting them both on their shoulders. "Try not to burn anything down," he warned as he and Kurt continued past them and to the barn.

"We'll try not to," they told him before jogging off in the direction that Kurt and Blaine had come from.

Kurt tightened his grip on Charlie's reigns as they resumed their walk.

"Why didn't you answer their question?" he asked Blaine breezily. "Isn't that kind of your job?"

"Ah, those two have hundreds of questions to ask and hardly any work to show for it," Blaine explained. "I figure let someone else deal with them right now."

"I see…" Kurt rolled his eyes a bit. Yes, Blaine had a certain rustic charm about him and his flirting skills were above par, but he was also sounding like kind of a jerk. Pile that one top of the fact that he was Kurt's competition and Blaine was becoming less likeable by the second.

Or maybe Kurt was just falling victim to his short-temper. Either way, it was unsettling how he wanted to rip out his hair from frustration just as much as he wanted to know how good it would feel to touch Blaine – and it would feel good, that much he knew.

They finally reached the barn and Kurt tried to force himself not to look at Blaine's arms as he pushed open the door. He told himself not to stare at how the muscles in Blaine's back flexed and, above all, not to look at anything below the waist. He tried. He failed.

"Come on in," Blaine beckoned. "It's time you and I had a private word." His voice was like velvet and even if Kurt wanted to resist this time, he knew he wouldn't have stood a chance in hell.

"A private word?" Kurt became worried as he led Charlie to a nearby bucket of oats. "Is this some kind of test or something?"

"Test?" Blaine laughed. "Uh, no. You already failed the test, Kurt."

"I did?" Kurt was downright scared now. Had he blown his cover without realizing it?

"Do you really take me for someone stupid?" Blaine asked. His voice rang with an underlying tone of unmistakable anger. "Because I'll have you know that I can spot a liar from a mile away."

"What a talent," Kurt retorted. "Good luck putting that on your résumé." He decided being sarcastic might not be to his advantage, just like jumping to conclusions might not be either. "Anyways, I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about."

"Like hell you don't" Blaine scoffed. "Adams?" He crossed his arms. "Was that honestly the best you could come up with? I'm not an idiot…"

"Well you sure sound like one each time you mention your education level…" Kurt cut in, mentally kicking himself for giving in.

"I'm practical. I seek out the competition beforehand like a good entrepreneur. I don't go around wearing disguises and sneaking onto other people's property. I don't go around trying to pass myself off as a clueless out-of-towner just to dig up information. That's deceitful and unprofessional."

"Well if you were trying to convince me that you were above me, you've failed miserably," Kurt sing-songed. "Firstly," he punctuated the word with taking a step forward. "This isn't a disguise, this is how I dress. I'm sorry I missed your dress code, or lack thereof, ordering everyone to prance around half-naked. Secondly…" Another step closer. "I didn't sneak onto your property. I used the road which is – oh, I don't know - open for public use that leads right up to your ranch. You welcomed me here by choice. Thirdly," he was so close to Blaine that he could see how his thick eyelashes curled to touch his eyelids. "I'm not clueless, nor was I pretending to be. I could put your work ethics to shame. And fourthly," He was dangerously close now, an unsafe distance. "You're an ass."

He pressed his hand to Blaine's chest and pushed him backwards.

Kurt's felt the warmth of Blaine's skin beneath his hand and the thin hair there underneath his fingers. He curled his fingers against the hot patch of skin, losing his train of thought.

Blaine looked down at where Kurt's hand was making contact with his skin at about the same time Kurt realized he should've removed it a while ago. But he couldn't bring himself to take it away…

Before he could decide whether to apologize or shove Blaine again, the other boy had gripped his wrist and forcefully removed it.

Kurt's mouth fell open in shock, irritation reclaiming the forefront of his mind once again.

"You have a lot of nerve," Blaine said, walking around Kurt.

Kurt laughed in disbelief. "I have a lot of nerve? You're the one who moves here from who knows where and just decides that it might be good fun to try and take over someone else's business."

"Like you have some sort of right to it?" Blaine challenged. "This is an open market. Competition is how this country thrives. You're just mad because your shit excuse of a ranch doesn't even qualify as competition to us. We have better tools, more workers, and likeability. If you don't like it, maybe you should go try and do something about it."

"You're right about the tools, I'll give you that," Kurt huffed. "But your business will go under if you keep selling your product for less than its worth. Or maybe you think you're so rich that it won't be a problem."

"Because it won't," Blaine shot back. "You really think I care about how much money we make?"

"Well if you didn't know how to run a business properly then you shouldn't be here!" Kurt shouted.

"This is my business. My father paid his dues to bring him to the top of the corporate ladder and now he's set for the rest of his life. He decided its time I did the same – work my way from the very bottom to the top. I could've chosen any market to go into, but I chose this one."

"Well why did you do that?" Kurt threw up his hands in exasperation. "If you could have chosen any profession that you wanted why did you come to Ohio and choose this one? My father's spent years running our ranch, even when it was falling apart and even when it was dragging us into debt. But he turned that around for us and now we're on top. We were doing just fine until you came along." He shoved Blaine's shoulder, his hand slipping against the slight perspiration there, but still hard enough to send Blaine a few steps back.

"Look, Kurt," Blaine said his name with vehemence. "I'm not going to fight you on this. You have your ranch, I have mine. Whose is better? Well…that's open to interpretation."

"You're rude," Kurt burst out. "You're rude, you're uncouth, you're unprofessional, you're uneducated, and I hate you."

"Oh is that so?" Blaine took a step forward and pushed Kurt into a wooden post, his hand on Kurt's shoulder, holding him there. "Well I don't think you're any better. I think you came over here, you got your dirt, and you should probably leave."

He said that, but he didn't release Kurt from under his grasp. In fact, he took another step forward. Kurt gazed down at the other boy's lips which were now merely inches away from his own. But as always, his wit was faster than his blind lust.

"I'd settle for you leaving. Or dying…Whichever comes first," he told Blaine.

"And I'd settle for you shutting up," the other boy countered.

Kurt opened his mouth to rip into Blaine some more and tell him just what he could settle for, when Blaine was closing the distance between them.

Blaine's lips were intent against Kurt's, forcing his open and fully possessing them. Kurt blinked in surprise because the more Blaine kissed him the clearer it became that this obviously wasn't his first time doing this.

Kurt was pressed even harder into the wooden post as Blaine's tongue slid into his mouth and tantalizingly caressed the roof of his mouth. Kurt gasped and closed his eyes instinctively, wanting to savor the way Blaine tasted and the way it just felt so damn good. Blaine's tongue was skilled, moving in all the right places and flicking against his own in a suggestive manner.

Hesitantly, Kurt put his hands against Blaine's waist, allowing them to move across the wet skin there and daring to pull him even closer. He moaned into Blaine's mouth against his will as the other boy used his teeth to nip lightly at Kurt's upper lip.

Blaine pushed back Kurt's hat with his free hand and it landed with a soft thud on the floor, not that either of them took much notice of it. With it gone, the other boy let his hands wander to the back of Kurt's neck and massage circles into his scalp; which also, conveniently, brought them that much closer.

Kurt felt minor irritation at Blaine touching his hair, but he didn't want this to end just yet either. He settled for biting down on Blaine's lip hard to show that his invasiveness wasn't going to be tolerated. But Blaine just let out a wicked chuckle and grabbed a tuft of Kurt's hair and tugged it. Kurt shivered at the slight bit of pain and moved his hands upwards, letting his nails drag against Blaine's warm skin.

When Blaine's hands were on the topmost buttons of his shirt, Kurt realized this wasn't part of his plan at all. He used all the resolve he had left to put both hands to Blaine's chest and push him back.

"Blaine…" he panted. His lips were already swollen and cold without Blaine's over them. "What are you doing?"

Blaine didn't answer immediately, but instead pressed hot kisses to Kurt's jaw and neck, raking his teeth lightly against the sensitive skin.

"I'm getting you to be quiet," he answered simply, pausing only to suck on Kurt's throat and graze his tongue against the pressure point, causing Kurt to shudder. "And this seems to be the only way to do it."

"Yes, but…" Kurt found it difficult to speak when Blaine's tongue was dancing in patterns along the base of his throat. His sure fingers were undoing the buttons of Kurt's shirt again faster than lightning. Kurt didn't even notice him doing it until he felt the cool air meet his bare, heated torso. "But I don't like you…" he concluded, a lazy drag to his voice.

"And I don't like you either," Blaine agreed, tugging Kurt's shirt down just enough to expose his shoulders. "At all, in fact." He kissed the crook of Kurt's neck tenderly, slowly drawing him back into the moment as he moved lower. "But you want me." His eyes shined with excitement. "I can tell."

Kurt leaned back against the post, exposing more of his skin to Blaine as he struggled to keep his breathing quiet. His hands were pulling Blaine into him, silently begging for more – begging for it all. He knew he shouldn't be doing this; he knew that the only thing he should be doing was giving Blaine a swift kick where it counts and leaving. But he couldn't – he was too far gone. Blaine's mouth was working wonders on him like no other and Kurt wanted.

Oh, how Kurt wanted.

He wanted tongues, teeth, biting. He wanted fingertips and pulling, massaging, pinching. Above all, he wanted Blaine. He wanted every inch of him, every space, everything that could be taken, he wanted to take. Yes, he wanted to that more than anything.

Still, morality reared its ugly head and a voice in the back of his mind was shouting at him that he was better than Blaine Anderson; that he didn't need Blaine at all and he should leave while he still had some semblance of power. For the first time in a long while, Kurt began to doubt that voice.

"But…" he tried again. To his delight, Blaine cut him off again.

"But nothing. Shut up and enjoy this, Hummel…Because it'll probably never happen again."

The way he spoke, as if he were some sort of novelty prize that everyone fought over to win, as if there were people lined up at his door to have their turn with him, made Kurt feel strangely possessive. But he deemed Blaine's tone of voice deserved as the other boy resumed kissing and biting his neck slowly.

Kurt whined and dug his nails in Blaine's back, hoping that he would leave angry, half-mooned marks there for later. He stuck his fingers through the back loops of Blaine's jeans and brought him closer until their bare chests were flush against one another. Kurt's heart was pounding and he imagined that he could feel Blaine's racing pulse too.

Blaine moved his mouth back to Kurt's quickly - so fast that Kurt didn't know what was happening until Blaine's mouth was moving with his own again. Blaine drew Kurt's tongue into his own mouth and sucked on it gently. Kurt whimpered helplessly as Blaine continued to use his mouth to encompass it, seeming to mime what he was going to do to a very different part of Kurt's anatomy if he was lucky.

"Hmm…" Blaine grinned as he pulled back a bit. He trailed his hand slowly down Kurt's torso, across his chest, past his navel, straight over his hips and towards the most indecent part of Kurt's body at the moment. He pressed his palm to the denim, applying pressure to the hard bulge he found there. "That seems to have done the trick now, hasn't it?" he whispered.

"Mmmmph…" Kurt mumbled, trying not to think too hard about how this attractive practically stranger was touching him through his jeans. Most specifically, he tried not to think of what else he was capable of doing. He bit down on his lower lip, suppressing another groan.

Without any warning whatsoever, Blaine's hand went from on top of Kurt's jeans to beneath them. Kurt stiffened in a mixture of complete shock and splintering pleasure as he felt Blaine's confident fingers wrapping around his length.

"Oh," Kurt breathed. It was all he could manage before he was consumed with heat. Blaine had buried his head in Kurt's neck again and had taken it upon himself to do the filthiest things possible with that busy tongue of his as he moved his hand slowly. He moved it so slowly that it was almost physically painful. "Damn it," Kurt swore under his breath.

"Gee, I'm sorry," Blaine lifted his head ever so slightly. He bestowed an innocent smile to Kurt, acting as if he was oblivious to what was going on at all. "Is there something wrong?"

"There are…s-several things wrong," Kurt stammered. His vision was blurring a bit at the edges as he blinked several times.

"Well I thought you hated me," Blaine prompted.

Kurt took a deep breath. "I do. More now than ever, you fucking little…"

"Oh, you're talking about this…" Blaine gave Kurt a good squeeze, causing Kurt to stagger a bit and let out a gargled noise. "No problem, I'll just take care of that…"

Kurt nearly keeled over from surprise as Blaine knelt down. He unzipped Kurt's jeans swiftly and positioned his mouth closer. At the last second, Kurt decided to avert his eyes – staring into Blaine's hazel eyes during the act would be far too much to handle.

The anticipation was practically eating him alive and still he felt nothing. He chanced a look down to see Blaine readjusting his black boot. The other boy looked up at Kurt with a devilish grin.

"Oh, you thought I was going to…" He cut off the sentence with a short laugh. "Sorry to disappoint you, Kurt, but not right now." He straightened up and brushed the dirty patches on his knees. He turned to walk away.

"Wait…" Kurt called after him, still extremely unsettled.

Blaine turned back expectantly, but Kurt said nothing. They just both stared at each other, not sure what to expect from the other one.

He trudged back towards Kurt, hands shoved in his own back pockets.

He placed one last, lingering kiss on Kurt's lips, using his hands to brush back the lapels of Kurt's shirt and sweep across his uncovered skin. He rested his fingers on Kurt's stomach before grabbing the fabric of the shirt in his hands and forcing Kurt forward. The kiss took on a hungry edge as if Blaine was the one not ready to give it up yet.

They broke away abruptly, their breathing harsh.

"Tonight…" Blaine panted. "Meet me back here tonight at midnight. Otherwise forget it and don't bother ever coming back."

Kurt gasped for air and didn't bother answering. He couldn't do that, could he? No, he couldn't do that. But he said nothing aloud, choosing just to watch as Blaine turned away again and began unlatching the barn door.

"Now, if you'll excuse me…" Blaine said, shoving open the door. "Some of us actually have work to do, ranches to run, that kind of stuff." He walked backwards, letting his eyes remain on Kurt's for a moment longer. "You know, stuff you wouldn't know anything about."

He jogged off towards the field again, leaving Kurt to stare after him.

Kurt felt annoyance stinging at the edges of his mind again. That last comment brought him back to reality and reminded him why he hated Blaine and everything he stood for. He was filled with his loathing and disgust with himself for letting things get out of hand. No matter how dangerously seductive Blaine was, he couldn't allow himself to be taken with the boy. He was, after all, the enemy. But what was that expression about keeping your enemies close?

His brain was muddled and he was arguing with himself in circles. He let out frustrated sigh before zipping his pants back up and reaching for his hat where it lay on the ground. Dusting it off to the best of his ability, he slipped it back on his head and went over to retrieve Charlie.

"Come on, boy," he said, readjusting the reigns. "Let's get out of here."

As they exited the barn, Kurt couldn't help but wonder what exactly he'd gotten himself into.