It’s all I can do not to grab Billie’s hand. Slip an arm around her waist and bury my nose in her hair. I know she’ll smell like peaches.
I imagine I’d be able to smell my aftershave on her too. Just a hint. I had my mouth all over her at five a.m. this morning—we slept in a little on account of it being the weekend—and she went so far as to accuse me of intentionally giving her beard burn on her thighs.
Guilty.
The pull between us is impossible to ignore. Shoving my hands in my pockets, I curl my fingers around my dad’s knife and head across the room.
“Hey, ladies.” I nod. “Billie.”
Is she blushing? “Hey, Ry. How’s it going?”
“Going all right. Looks like y’all had quite the party.”
Mollie gives me a knowing look. “We’re so glad Billie could make it. Ever since you sent her our way to get fitted for those boots, we’ve developed a bit of a girl crush on her.”
“Hard not to fall for a fellow free spirit,” Ava adds, a glimmer in her eyes.
They know.
Aw, hell, Billie definitely told them about us, didn’t she?
The thought makes me smile. Billie can’t keep it inside either. Why would she? What we have—what we’ve found—should be shared. Celebrated.
I’m gripped by the thought that one day our families will gather to celebrateourmilestones. The engagement and the wedding. The promotions and the babies.
The room is filled with familiar voices and the smell of something good—Patsy’s Tex-Mex, if I had to guess—and I fantasize that all those gifts by the fireplace are ours. Mine and Billie’s. Our baby is in her belly, and I’m taking her to our home.
Fucked up? Maybe.
But not as fucked up as keeping this from her brother.
I help the boys load up all the gifts in the back of Duke’s pickup truck. We give him and Wheeler a little sendoff, hollers and whistles filling the chill autumn air.
Everyone starts leaving in pairs. Mollie and Cash are going to relieve her mom, who left the shower early so she could stay with the baby while Cash helped us. Sally and Wyatt were last seen sneaking away on an ATV, passing a thermos between them of what I can only assume is her famous cider.
Junie and Ella insist on taking Dean back to their house for a playdate, which Colt agrees to only after the idea gets the stamp of approval from Ava and Sawyer.
John B comes to pick up Patsy, who tells us there’s leftover enchiladas in the fridge if we get hungry later before they head out too.
Then it’s just me and Billie and Colt standing in the driveway. My heart thumps. I look at Billie, who looks at me.
Now?
She nods.Now.
I get that seasick feeling again when I clear my throat.
“So, Colt. You got a minute?” Billie squints against the ardent late afternoon sunshine.
“Sure.” He puts his hands inside his front pockets. “What’s up?”
The sun catches on her eyes when she looks at me, turning them to pools of gold. My stomach dips hard.
She’s so fucking pretty.
We’re in so much fucking trouble.
Billie clears her throat too. “I’m not sure how else to say this, so I’m just going to, well, come out and say it.” Her eyes dart to her brother. “Colt, Ry and I—we’re together.”
