Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 112903 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 565(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112903 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 565(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
It’s a startling contrast to Cash’s stormy expression.
“How long?” he asks.
Wyatt grabs my hand. “How long have we been dating or—”
“How long have y’all been sneaking around behind our backs?”
I give him a look. “That’s unfair, Cash. We only started telling people today. And we’re telling y’all because we don’t want to go behind anyone’s back.”
“If you say so.” Glaring at me, Cash runs his tongue along the inside of his cheek before he turns to his brother. “And this is different from all your other flings because…”
Talk about awkward. Cash is putting Wyatt on the spot by making him confess his feelings for me all over again.
“Sally is my best friend. I know my history is working against me here, but people can change. Just look at you and Mollie. Y’all were hell-bent on hating each other in the beginning, but then you talked about your misunderstandings and realized y’all were more alike than different. Isn’t that how it went?”
I nod. “Y’all are so cute together.”
“Thanks,” Cash replies gruffly.
“If you can change, then I can too,” Wyatt continues. “I know you think I’m full of shit, but you have to give me a chance to prove you wrong.”
Cash takes a deep, aggravated inhale. “It’s my job to look after the ranch and everyone who works here. Y’all screw this up, y’all could screw us too.”
“You don’t know that.” My chest tightens. “You said you loved us. Show it. Give us the benefit of the doubt.”
A pained expression crosses Cash’s face. “I want to, Sally. But I also don’t want anybody gettin’ hurt. You understand how this puts me in a bind, don’t you?”
“It only puts you in a bind if you’re assuming the worst will happen,” I counter.
“Again, that’s kind of my job, Sally. Hope for the best, anticipate the worst. And the worst that could happen is pretty damn bad. Y’all break up, Wyatt’s devastated, you’re heartbroken, and your parents decide it’s time to retire because they fuckin’ hate our guts for destroyin’ their daughter. Aren’t you supposed to be moving to New York in, like, a week or something?”
“End of December,” I say.
“What’s the plan then?”
Wyatt clears his throat. “We’re getting there.”
“And your daddy?” Cash says to me. “What does he think about all this?”
It’s all I can do not to roll my eyes. “He’ll come around.”
Cash gives us a pointed look, as if to say, See? Y’all haven’t grown up.
Wyatt is silent. Cash puts his hands on his hips and looks out across the yard.
Time to bring out the big guns.
“You and Mollie happened fast,” I begin.
Cash kicks at the dirt. “Well, yeah. We had to work together a lot—”
“And y’all are total opposites.”
“Where are you going with this, Sally?”
“You two fooling around could’ve definitely ended in catastrophe. What if things had ended badly and she fired you as foreman? What if she’d fired all of us because we were friends with you?”
A muscle in Cash’s sharply cut jaw tics. He looks so much like Wyatt in that moment that it makes my heart hiccup. The genes these cowboys share are insane. Will their sons inherit that handsomeness too?
“Admit it, Cash. You risked more than just your heart when you hooked up with Mollie. But it paid off, didn’t it? No one would’ve believed you if you’d said the two of you were going to work out, but y’all did. You knew she was different, and you knew you could be different too. You guys coming together ended up being even better for the ranch and for us than anyone could’ve ever imagined. Extend us the same grace. Please, Cash.”
Cash’s shoulders rise and fall as he heaves out a breath. He looks at Wyatt. Looks at me.
“You and Mollie,” he says to me at last, shaking his head, “are so fuckin’ smart, it’s annoying sometimes.”
Glancing at Wyatt, I can’t help but smile when I take in the bunny ears on his head. He smiles back, and I feel a heady dose of that relief again.
Wyatt squeezes my hand. “You don’t need to give us your blessing. But you do need to give us a chance.”
More silence. A hawk glides low over the house, its shadow cutting across the yard. The warmth of the sun seeps through my jacket. My heart flutters inside my chest, light as air. I’m so happy, I could burst. This is happening. Wyatt and I are dating. Which I guess means he’s my boyfriend now, doesn’t it?
Not only is Wyatt my boyfriend. Everyone knows he’s my boyfriend. And so far, no one’s threatened to murder us yet.
So far, it looks like Cash is actually going to give us a shot to prove him wrong.
I get this floaty feeling inside my chest, like the hawk is soaring through my torso instead of the November sky. I get Wyatt, and I get to enjoy him out in the open.