"I forgot my laptop at Emma's."
Madison laughs. "Guess we'd better go back and get it then."
"Guess we'd better. Tomorrow."
She kisses me again, soft and sweet, and in the background her phone keeps recording, keeps streaming, keeps broadcasting our happily-ever-after to anyone who wants to watch.
Let them watch.
This is the best thing that's ever happened to me, and I don't care who knows it.
Chapter 10
Madison
The drive back to Wylde Mountain feels like thirty minutes.
We're in Jake's truck. My food truck will stay parked at the rodeo grounds until tomorrow, when we'll figure out logistics. And my phone hasn't stopped buzzing since we pulled out of the parking lot.
"Your followers are very invested in our relationship," Jake observes, glancing at my screen as I scroll through the notifications.
"Apparently so." I laugh at another comment. "'If they don't post an update within 24 hours I'm filing a missing persons report.' These people don't mess around."
"Should I be concerned?"
"Probably." I shift in my seat to face him better, tucking one leg underneath me. "My account has never had this kind of engagement before. You might be good for business."
"Happy to help."
My phone buzzes again. And again. I post a quick story—just a shot of the dark highway ahead, captioned "Heading home" with a heart emoji—and the responses flood in immediately.
"'Home,'" Jake reads over my shoulder at a red light. "Interesting word choice."
"It feels right."
He reaches over and takes my hand, threading his fingers through mine. We stay like that for miles, connected across the center console while the dark Montana landscape rolls past outside.
My phone keeps buzzing.
"You're popular tonight," he says.
"I've never gone viral before. It's a lot."
"Do you want to turn it off?"
I consider this. "No. It's actually kind of fun. In a completely overwhelming way."
He laughs. "That's one way to put it."
I spend the next hour alternating between responding to comments and stealing glances at his profile in the darkness.
"I can't believe you drove this far to profess your love in front of thousands of strangers."
"I can't believe you were live streaming."
"I was making content! It's literally my job!"
"At 7pm on a Tuesday?"
