Rooster’s waiting, trying to look cool about it, but his jaw eases when Kristie finally walks over.
They talk for a minute, heads bent close, and then she’s wearing a helmet and swinging a leg over the bike.
The roar of engines fills the air as the club lines up to ride.
I step back, lift a hand, and wave.Dust rises behind them, sunlight catching the chrome until they disappear down the road.
The ranch is quiet again.Just the wind through the fences and the distant low of cattle.
I breathe out, slow and steady.
For the first time in forever, I’m not running.
When I turn toward the house, Sawyer’s standing by the porch, arms crossed, watching me.
There’s a question in his eyes, but there’s also something steady—something that says I don’t have to figure it all out today.
I start walking toward him, boots crunching on gravel.
Yeah, I think to myself.
Maybe I do belong here.
Chapter 13-Sawyer
Taking her in the shed the way I did was rough, spontaneous, and honest as hell.
No thinking.No planning.
Just two people crashing into each other like a match to dry grass.
But night’s fallen now, and the ranch has settled into its quiet rhythm.
Angie and Diego just grinned when I walked into the kitchen and announced Lil Bit was staying.
Angie patted my arm like she’d known it was coming all along.
Diego smirked and muttered something about “finally found a beauty to tame the beast.”
Alex looked a little put out, maybe chagrined.
Not my problem.
Benji and Micah didn’t even blink—just grabbed their bags and headed toward the bunkhouse.
Jersey Iron Ranch is sixty percent mine, forty percent theirs.
They’ve already staked out spots to build their own houses on the property, and it’s big enough that we’ll all have plenty of space.
When I asked where they were going, Micah rolled his eyes and Benji snorted.
“Like we wanna intrude on the Honeymoon or whatever this is,” he said.
I shook my head, but the truth?I’m glad.
I want Lil Bit to myself.
And now I have her.
