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And then he does something he’s never done. He peeks up at me from beneath the brim of his hat, like he knew exactly where I was sitting. He winks at me. And then he nods, and the gates fly open.
“I’ll burn more bridges to take a kick at the can with you, Summer. Give me a shot.”
I sigh sleepily when he wraps the towel around my shoulders. But he doesn’t leave it at that. He gently dries me. My hair, my neck, my back. He kneels beside me and dries my legs with so much care. I think he dries me better than I usually dry myself.
“What are binary stars?” His finger tenderly swipes across the spot he’s talking about. “It’s two stars that look like one to us when we see them in the sky. But really, they’re two. Stuck together by a gravitational pull, always orbiting one another.” “Kind of like the two of us, stuck together,” he muses.
I give him a curious look as he watches me from the edge of the bed, and then I turn back to see what he’s written. He’s connected the freckles to say Mine.
“It never mattered whose eyes were on your mom. Because her eyes were always on me.”
Beau acts like a goof, but the fact of the matter is, you don’t get the level of clearance he has by being a doofus. Nah, he’s a hell of a lot smarter than he lets on. And sometimes I wonder if he’s a hell of a lot more fucked up than he lets on, too.
“No. Well, not really. I believe a few weeks ago her suggestion was that I should—how did she put it—ride you like a bucking bronco.” My dick twitches. I lean down to whisper something in her ear but can’t resist pressing a kiss there first. “I approve of this friendship.”
There’s something different about Jasper. Something quiet and introspective. Something sweet, but also something very removed. I can’t quite put my finger on him.
“Our dad had a heart attack.”
Winter’s eyes widen and she rears back. “He is my husband. The question is, what are you doing here?” “Hi, sweetheart.” Rob pecks Winter on the cheek, obviously unaffected by her rude comment.
“Preying on your teenaged patient wasn’t bad enough? You had to turn around and marry her older sister?”
“Okay, fine.” He steps in close, tipping my chin up, thumb taking one swipe just beneath my lower lip. “But I want to make one thing clear. I am not possessive. I am protective. And I’ll never stop protecting you. I’d hit that fucker again in a heartbeat if it meant keeping him from talking to you that way.”
“Of course, I know. Been helping that kid for over a decade now. He pisses me off because he’s a loose fucking cannon, but I like him. I knew you two would get along eventually.”
And that’s when it all goes to shit. The bull turns hard and fast, and Theo isn’t ready. He’s chucked forward onto the bull’s neck. His hat flies in one direction and his limp body in the other. I gasp, my hand coming up to cover my mouth as I shoot forward. When he hits the ground, dust floats up around him as he lies motionless.
I barely register what’s happening outside the ring, which is why I hardly see it coming. Rhett runs out from the left of the screen and throws himself on Theo’s body like a shield. Selfless and heroic and stupid. And just in time to bear the brunt of the bull’s charge. All I know is that I scream.
“Tell me what to do, Summer. Tell me, and I’ll do it. Was I unclear before? Because I want to be crystal clear now. I love you. I loved you the moment you walked into that boardroom and smirked at me like you knew something I didn’t. It bothered me, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Wanting to know what you know. I fixated on it, but I think I was just fixated on you.”
Willa waggles her eyebrows at me. She always jokes about liking my dad. I don’t actually know how much she’s joking, though, because she’s constantly checking out older men.
I let my eyes wander over the sponsor patches on my vest, taking each one in. I’ve worn them with such pride, but today I can’t help but wonder if risking my life to keep them is worth it. It’s a thought that has genuinely never crossed my mind before.
And for the first time in my eleven-year pro career, I feel it. Fear.
She offers me a small thumbs up, one that makes my chest ache at the memory of being on the road with her. All I can do is stare back. I’m always fucking staring at her. I want to spend the rest of my life staring at her. Then she mouths, I love you. My jaw clamps down and something snaps inside me. That fear hits me like a tidal wave, and I yank my hand out, reaching for the fencing to pull myself up. The fame. The buckle. None of it matters. Not one bit. All I want is to hear those words from her lips.
“Consider this my retirement notice. I’m out. That bull gets a night off.” And Theo wins his first world title. And I live to breathe another day.
“I love you too. And I don’t need to ride tonight. Or ever again. Hearing that from your lips is the biggest win of my life.” I take my hat, and I plunk it on her head. Just like I told myself I would. And then I kiss her.
Choosing each other. Finding each other. Showing up for each other. And everything about the moment is flawless.
But I think the new truck is worth it if only because it means that when I pull up to the newly constructed bungalow to see my girl sitting on the front steps next to . . . My old truck. But not my old truck. Because the one she’s sitting next to is painted the prettiest blue. A steely blue. The blue of my mom’s eyes in my favorite picture of her.
“Rhett?” She turns to glance over her shoulder now, but her eyes are less playful this time. More watery. “Did you just write what I think you did?” I shrug and grin at her. “Guess you’ll have to go look.” She shoots off the bed, and I watch her take quick steps across what is basically a construction zone, toward the bathroom. The creases under her ass, the lace framing it, and the words Will you marry me? written on her back.
