Page 99 of Stay Wild Darlin’

His face softened, and his shoulders dropped as he stepped forward and put a hand on my shoulder, squeezing firmly. “You didn’t need blood to be worth showing up for,” he said. “You’ve been mine for a long time.”

I nodded, jaw tight, heart full in a way that felt unfamiliar.

“Go,” he said with a soft smile, letting go of my shoulder. “Get that girl before someone else realizes how perfect she is.”

“Thank you.”

As I walked down the hall, I heard the soft sound of laughter coming from the back. Cora’s babble, high-pitched and delighted, echoed faintly through the walls.

“No, that’s my lipstick, silly goose. You don’t even have lips big enough for this yet.”

She’d insisted earlier that Cora hang out with her while she got dressed—girl time, she’d called it.

I stopped outside the room, leaning against the wall for a second, the sound of them carrying through the quiet house.

Whatever this was—whatever we were becoming—I didn’t want to lose it.

“The girls are coming,” Poppy called out in a sing-song voice.

Papa Banks joined me as we walked to the front room and I grabbed my favorite black cowboy hat. The suit felt stiff, unfamiliar, but the hat? That was mine. At the end of the day, I was in a suit, sure—but I’d always be a cowboy and a bull rider first.

The door creaked open, and Poppy stepped out, holding Cora like she was presenting royalty.

I noticed Cora first, because how could I not?

She was drowning in layers of fluffy pink tulle, sparkles catching the light like glitter bombs had gone off around her. A sparkly headband with some kind of crown situation sat crooked on her curls.

It was ridiculous.

I laughed under my breath. “She looks like a cupcake.”

“She looks fabulous, thank you very much,” Poppy said, smirking as she handed Cora off to Papa Banks.

She turned to me, and I forgot how to fucking breathe.

The dress was black satin, cut within an inch of its life. It dipped low, low, straight down to where her navel barely hid behind the plunge. Cutouts framed her waist, exposing warm, bare skin that made my hands twitch with the urge to touch. The fabric clung to her hips.

Her big amber eyes caught the light like honey set on fire. Her brown hair was piled into a messy bun, loose strands falling around her face. Long gold earrings grazed her bare shoulders with every move she made.

“Well?” she asked, one hand cocked on her hip. “You gonna say something, cowboy, or stand there panting?”

I clenched my jaw and took one step toward her. “I’m trying to be respectful,” I said, my voice lower than I meant. “But that dress is making it real hard.”

Her lips curved into a slow smile. “Good. It was picked with disrespectful thoughts in mind.” She laughed before the mischief in her eyes dimmed into something softer. “Thank you for coming.”

I nodded once. “Wouldn’t be anywhere else.”

She turned to Papa Banks, who was bouncing Cora on his hip like a pro. “And thank you. Seriously.”

“You two go have a night. I’ve got this one covered.”

Cora babbled and drooled down his sleeve. He didn’t flinch.

I grabbed our bags from the floor and turned toward the door. Poppy slipped beside me. When I held open the door, she stepped through, heels clicking, that dress clinging to her with every step. She stepped out into the driveway, her heels crunching against the gravel as the night settled around us.

Her eyes landed on the bags in my hand, and she tilted her head. “Why do you have overnight bags?”

“They’re for us,” I said, pulling open the truck’s back door and tossing them in.