“Doyouwant to?”
“Yes. No. I don’t know. I?—”
“And our groom!” The officiant interrupts, making the crowd lose their minds. “Ain’t he a fine specimen of a cowboy?”
Much louder cheering.
I feel Travis relax a little, like he’s resigned himself to this. “I just want you to know that?—”
“Now hold your horses, sweetheart!” the officiant says, wagging a finger at me. “The bride only speaks when spoken to. That’s tradition.”
“Excuse me?” I tense and rise up on my toes, ready to go to war.
“Kidding!” he bellows into the mic. “Mostly.” He shoots me a look. “But we do have a ceremony to get through.”
The crowd loses it.
“Now, let’s get this started.”
Travis raises a brow in question, his eyes pinning me.
“It’s not real,” I tell him. “It’s just a promo. It’s?—”
“Repeat after me, cowboy. I, Travis, promise to ride hard, love true, and never leave my bride stranded at the saloon.”
Is this for real?
Travis does as instructed, repeating the ridiculous words and sliding a simple band on my left hand. The crowd cheers wildly.
“Now you, bride.” He turns to me and puts a ring in my hand. “Repeat after me.” I swallow hard. “I, Maisey?—”
I hesitate, the ring a heavy weight in my hand. “I?—”
“—promise to stand by my cowboy,” he barrels on, not waiting for me to catch up, “through buckles, bar fights, and bad hangovers.”
“I—”
“—to support his rodeo dreams,” he continues, “and to look damn good doing it.”
The words tumble out of me before my brain can catch up, and I slide the band on his finger.
From somewhere in the audience, I hear Patty yell something, but I don’t quite catch it, which is probably for the best because I already know it won’t be supportive or encouraging.
The crowd explodes. Caught up in it all, I laugh and look at Travis. This whole thing is ridiculous and so far from real life.
“Now, by the powers vested in me, this bar, and the state of Nevada, I declare these two hitched.”
That’s it.
“Kiss your cowgirl, cowboy.”
Travis tugs on my hand, turning me so I’m facing him. Before I can protest, or even think, his hand comes up to my waist, warm and steady. He leans in.
When his lips meet mine, suddenly, nothing about this feels pretend.
Travis
She melts under my kiss.
