Epilogue
Reed
The Columbia River Finals. The big show. The wildest crowd on the circuit. The stands were deafening. The electric guitar of Brooks and Dunn’s “Rock My World (Little Country Girl)” blared through the stadium speakers while the announcer called each barrel horse and racer.
Lina sat on top of Mushu. His hooves danced with excitement. We both had to hold him back to keep him from plowing forward. She held her hat to her head, a big, bright smile on her face as she tipped her head up to bask in the glory of this moment. And she deserved to fucking bathe in it!
“Larsen, you’re on deck.”
Lina was next, and she turned her grin on me. “Can you have Penn meet us at the gate?”
I nodded, unable to keep myself from beaming back at her. “Chuck’s bringing her down now.”
She bit her lip, and I hoped she was remembering exactly how I sucked on it earlier.
“Don’t choke,” Paige snarked behind us.
Lina didn’t even turn in her saddle or dim the smile on her face. “Eat my dust, Paige.”
The other barrel racer before her raced in through the alley, her trainer catching her. Lina felt so confident, she didn’t even chance a glance at her time. Fuck, it was hot.
“Larsen’s up!”
She leaned down, dropping a soft kiss to my lips.
“Burn the breeze, sweetheart,” I said against her mouth.
I felt her lips tip back up before she straightened her seat.
With a flirty wink, she said, “I’m going to rock your world later, cowboy.”
“Is that a promise?” I called out to her as she started sidestepping Mushu.
“A guarantee!” she yelled before she let Mushu loose.
And they were off, Mushu dragging his butt around the barrels. The crowd roared. The announcer’s voice blared.
“We’re here, Daddy!” Penn yelled, skip-hopping to my side with Chuck wrapped around her little finger. “I got cotton candy!” A big, pink fluff was in her hand and her mouth was already sticky, but she had the happiest look on her face.
“I couldn’t say no.” Chuck shrugged, looking helpless.
I huffed a laugh. I’d probably be dealing with a sugar crash later. But today, of all days, it was worth it.
We barely had a chance to blink before Mushu and Lina were screaming back into the alley.
She pulled up on the reins, skidding to a stop, dirt kicking up on her opponents.
I had to press my lips together to keep from smiling.
I rushed to her side, grabbing high on Mushu’s reins to steady him.
She spun around in her saddle at the same time I looked at the time clocked.
She let out a scream, then said, “13.14 fucking seconds!” She slapped a hand to her mouth, tears springing to her eyes.
“That’s your best time ever!” Chuck cried, clapping for her. “I’m so proud of you, darlin’.”
“I did it!” Lina turned her glistening eyes on me. “I did it.”
“You fucking did it, baby!”
“Drinks all around!” Lina announced as soon as we stepped into the rodeo bar.
The bar erupted into cheers and applause.
With my hand on her lower back, I ducked to whisper in her ear, “Sweetheart, are you really going to pay for everyone’s drinks?”
She rolled her eyes at me, gesturing to herself. “Did I just win the fucking finals, or did I just win the fucking finals?”
I shook my head, chuckling.
Sage and Romy rushed her, drawing her into a group hug.
“You fucking crushed it!” Romy squealed.
“I’ve never seen Mushu run so fast!” Sage exclaimed.
Lina peeked over her shoulder, both of us remembering how fast Mushu had to run during the fire.
We still hadn’t returned to the ranch. Chuck was still waiting on the insurance company so we could begin smoke remediation on the properties.
The Riggses had been more than generous to let us stay while we waited.
“Come on, the guys are holding down a table for us,” Romy said, yanking her away from me.
Christian, Kale, and Jude were sitting back, drinking their beers. I pulled Lina’s chair out, and we all found our seats—except we were short one.
“Is there no chair for me?” Sage asked, turning to look to see if another chair was available to pull up to our round table.
“It’s right here, baby,” Christian said, gripping her hips and dragging her onto his lap.
“Christian!” she screeched, shoving off him.
“What?” he asked, looking innocent as she scrambled away from him and went to grab a chair.
As soon as she was free, we caught him adjusting himself.
“Pants too tight, bro?” Jude asked him, a lopsided grin on his face.
“Fuck you. You’re supposed to be on my side, but yeah, I pretty much have a semi around her all the time. It’s nothing new,” he grumbled.
“Maybe I didn’t need to know that,” Kale commented, taking a big gulp of beer.
Sage pulled up a chair, surprising us all when she positioned it right beside Christian. Almost everyone hid their smiles behind their drinks as we watched her scoot up to the table. It was a little bit of a tight fit, and they were nearly touching each other.
She glanced up, noticing all of us looking at her.
“What?” she asked, her brows knit together in confusion.
“Nothing,” we all muttered.
Lina leaned in, resting her hand on Sage’s. “Did y’all fuck?” she whispered, but it was loud enough for all of us to hear.
Sage’s eyes went wide. Even her tan couldn’t hide the blush on her cheeks. “What? No! Ew! Of course not!”
I looked over at Christian, who was gazing at her with hearts in his eyes and a crooked little smirk. But his gulp and body language were saying that maybe he wasn’t just dog-sitting anymore.