Then, suddenly, a chair scrapes against the dirt.
I glance up.
Bryce is standing.
He clears his throat slightly.
“Hey,” he says.
Everyone looks up.
“Can I steal everyone’s attention for a second?”
The circle goes quiet.
Beside him, Charli looks mildly confused. “What are you doing?” she asks.
Bryce reaches down and gently takes her hand. “Come here.”
She narrows her eyes suspiciously but lets him pull her to her feet.
The firelight flickers across both of them as they stand there together.
Bryce glances around the circle, suddenly looking a little nervous. Which is crazy. I’ve seen that man ride a bull the size of a truck without blinking.
But right now?
He looks like he might pass out.
He rubs the back of his neck.
“Well … first off,” he says, “I just wanted to say thank you.”
His voice carries easily in the quiet night.
“For today.”
He gestures toward the darkened ranch around us.
“For welcoming me onto your land … and into your lives.”
Charli tilts her head at him.
He keeps talking. “I’ve been a lot of places in my life. A lot of arenas. A lot of towns.”
He pauses as his eyes go to Charli.
“But nowhere has ever felt more like home than this place.”
Something warm blooms in my chest.
Bryce glances over at his mother and father, who are sitting together by Daddy.
He winces slightly. “Sorry, Mom.”
She laughs and waves him off. “Oh, hush,” she calls.
Everyone chuckles.
