Before the Sunset (Cottonwood Cove, #4)

by Laura Pavlov

My chest squeezed because the thought of her hurting, and me not being there, didn’t sit well with me. She’d always been my ride or die. There wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do for her.

“You needed me,” I said, kissing the top of her head. “We made a deal years ago. I wasn’t about to break it now.” She tipped her head back to look at me. “You call. I come. And vice versa.”

“Hey, good boots are like a good man. They’re even better when you break them in.”

Because for the first time in my life, I realized I wanted a woman who didn’t want me back.

“It’s normal to want to feel good. There’s nothing to be ashamed of,” he whispered.

I don’t fucking leave, Miney. I’m not the one trying to make you into someone you’re not. I’ve always known who you are.”

I wasn’t sure how I’d gotten so lucky to call Finn Reynolds my best friend. But there’d never been a day that I hadn’t known how lucky I was. Because even when I felt lost… he always felt like home.

If I died right here, right now, my tombstone would read: Finnegan Charles Reynolds died eating the best pussy of his life.

“I’d eat your pussy over a sloppy joe every day of the week.”

There was just something about this gorgeous woman with the green eyes and the magic pussy and the perfect tits asking me for pointers on how to suck my dick that literally did it for me.

Gracie Reynolds was my spirit animal. Equal parts bougie princess and small-town cowgirl.

“Let’s take some home so I can cover your tits with icing and take my time cleaning you up,” he whispered close to my ear again.

Where’s the fire?” I said over my laughter. “The fire? It’s in my fucking pants, Miney. I need to be inside you right now. I can’t wait one more minute. And if you keep looking over at me with those gorgeous green eyes, I’ll pull this truck over and fuck you right here in the cab.

I remembered her saying that she’d only ever had missionary-style sex. That was like only eating vanilla ice cream your entire life. I was about to change that.

“You ready to ride me?” “I was born to ride you, Cowboy,”

Oh my God. I kicked him in the dick and punched him in the throat. I was definitely the worst fake girlfriend of all time.

“I doubted myself, too. But what I learned is, just because you’ve never done it before, doesn’t mean you can’t. It just means that you haven’t met someone worth going out on a limb for. Maybe you’ve been single because you’d already met the one you were meant to be with. You just didn’t know it. She’d been there the whole time.”

“You are already my every fantasy, Reese Murphy. But this… this is next level. Princess fucking Leia. Hell yes, I like it.”

He was right. I did look at Finn that way. Because Finn Reynolds was the center of my universe.

Exhaustion by orgasm. I was here for it.

“Loving people always comes with risk, Chewy.” I swiped at the tear rolling down my cheek. “That shouldn’t stop you from living. From loving.”

“So cocky,” I said as he handed me another cracker with jam and cheese on this one, and I took a bite and groaned. “This is so good.” “You can’t talk about my cock and then groan and say that the cracker is good.” His tongue swiped back and forth along his bottom lip. “I said you were cocky.”

We were having this baby, but I needed to know that he loved me either way. The way I wanted to be loved. The way I needed to be loved.

“It’s too early for all that. Plus, as your offspring, we don’t want to see that. It’s too much. Get into a fight or something. Eat some pistachios, Dad. The way you chew them always annoys Mom.”

There are no citrine flowers, so this is the best I can do. There are 29 daffodils and 29 roses (pending Janine at Cottonwood Blooms counted correctly). One of each flower for every year that I’ve been lucky enough to call you my best friend. You are that and so much more. I will love you forever, Miney. Xo, Chewy

I’m lying in bed right now, and I’m thinking about you. Thinking about the sound of your laugh. Do you know it’s my favorite sound in the world?

This will hold you over until I get home. Twenty-eight more days, Miney. I hope you still want to move back in with me, even though I was a stubborn ass. I will love you for the rest of my life, just like I always have.

So, at the end of the day, it just comes down to love and finding the person that fits. The person that knows you and loves you exactly for who you are.

It was my favorite sound. And she was my favorite girl. My only girl.

A photo of our son or daughter was on that page with a note that read: This is our future. Our baby. A perfect mix of you and me.

“There is nothing better in the world than what’s happening here between us. And now we get to bring this little human into the world and raise him or her together. Damn. You found the only thing that would be better than your naked body.”

Because once you realized that you’d found your forever, you wanted to start living it right now. And that was exactly what I planned to do.

Reese and I had never done anything by the book. We’d been the best of friends long before we were ever lovers. We didn’t become lovers until we were fake dating. She moved out of my house after she found out she was pregnant. And we were having a wedding that everyone thought was a Sunday dinner. Oh, yeah, and we were also going to announce that we were having a baby, too. Being conventional was boring.

“Finnegan Charles ‘Chewy’ Reynolds, you were my fairy tale before I even knew it. You have been my best friend and my ride or die for my entire life. You were there when I was delivered the worst news of my life and learned I had cancer.” Her voice shook, and a tear streamed down her cheek. A lump formed in my throat, but I squeezed her hands and nodded. Because together, we could and would get through anything. “And somehow, you made that awful day my most memorable New Year’s Eve. You have celebrated my wins and picked me up during my losses. You have cheered me on through every up and down in my life. You have shown me what real love is and that I should chase every dream that I have. But I’ve come to learn that the only thing I really want to chase is the cute boy in the baseball cap who rides horses like he was born to and then goes off and becomes a big movie star. You are my dream come true, Finn Reynolds. I have loved you since my earliest memory, and I will love you for as long as I’m on this earth.”

“Well, we’ve done just about everything backward, and I’ve got to say, backward is the new forward.” I chuckled. “I cannot recall a single day in my life that you weren’t in my thoughts. Not a single day where I didn’t love you fiercely. We started this relationship by lying to everyone and pretending that we were a couple when we weren’t. But you see”—I glanced out at our families with a big smirk on my face—“that was mistake number one. Try fake dating someone you’re already in love with. That poor bastard, Carl, didn’t stand a chance.”

“Because my heart has always been yours. You are my best friend, my confidant, and the love of my life.”

“It’s a sunset that I can have with me at all times.” Her voice shook. “There is no one who knows me the way that you do, Finn Reynolds.”

To a lifetime of sunsets with you.

“You ready for forever?” she whispered. “Absolutely, I am. Happy wedding day, Mrs. Reynolds.” She smiled, her eyes wet with emotion, and I dipped her back and kissed her again. Just before the sunset.