Epilogue
PAPER RINGS
Ryder
“Yeehaw!” Sticking my fingers in my mouth, I let out the loudest whistle I can muster. “Get it, girl!”
Beside me, Duke chuckles as he covers his ears. “Since when can you whistle that loud?”
“Since now. That’s her!” I elbow him and point to the gorgeous brunette making quick work of the cloverleaf in the arena. “That’s my cowgirl. Look! Look! She’s turning a damn fine barrel. Wow.”
Ava, who’s standing on my other side, leans her head on my shoulder and grins. “Of course she is. She’s incredible.”
“She’s also getting laid on a regular basis,” Mollie adds with a sly grin. “Helps keep the hips open, you know?”
I’m smiling so hard my face hurts. “She been bragging about me again?”
“Apparently there’s lots to brag about,” Sally replies.
I hold my breath as Billie rounds the second barrel. Her hair is flying everywhere. Her body moves gracefully in time to the horse’s movements, the two of them working together in coordinated, athletic rhythm.
Billie rounds the barrel with expert precision, and I realize a beat later that the joyful yell that fills the arena is hers.
Turning her head, she flashes me a smile as she dashes toward the third and final barrel, her horse kicking up sprays of bright brown earth.
Her smile. The happiness I see there, and the relief. The pride too.
The love.
She fucking did it.
Joy cracks open my chest. I holler like an idiot, my eyes stinging and my heart thundering. I give myself over to the thrill of the moment as Billie rounds the third barrel and finishes the race.
Not only did she finish. Her official time puts her in the top three.
Ava is sobbing. Duke curls an arm around my shoulders and pulls me in for a hug. Junie and Ella and Dean are somehow piling on too, and we’re all screaming, the arena breaking out in thunderous applause.
I feel a strong clap on my arm, and I glance over my shoulder to see Colt smiling down at me. He has tears in his eyes.
“She did good.” His words are barely audible over all the noise. “Congrats, brother.”
Before—when I came to see Billie race for the first time months ago—I would’ve put up a dam against the rush of emotion that courses through me.
I remember doing exactly that as I watched Billie ride that night like her life depended on it. Totally free. Totally fearless. She experienced it all, the exhilaration and the disappointment and the pain, but she didn’t let that stop her from doing what she needed—wanted—to do.
Turns out, my life depended on accessing that kind of courage. I was stuck in survival mode after my parents died, and while there was safety in living that way, there was none of this.
Joy.
Pride.
Disbelief that I took a chance, stopped numbing myself, and didn’t fall on my fucking face.
Billie didn’t fall this time either.
Instead, she’s on foot now, and she’s running around the curve of the arena. My heart hammers as I wonder if she’s coming for me.
Aw, yeah, she’s definitely coming for me.
“That’s not allowed,” Dean says as he watches her.
Wyatt chuckles. “Your aunt’s never really cared about what’s allowed and what’s not, huh?”
Dean shakes his head. “Nope. It’s pretty cool.”
“Very cool,” Cash adds. He’s got Daisy strapped to his chest again, although she’s bigger now, chunking up in a really fucking cute way. And again, she’s wearing those little pink headphones to protect her ears.
She smiles at me, all gums, and when she giggles, I just about die from cuteness overload.
I can’t imagine missing out on this kind of happiness.
Actually, I can, because I missed out on a lot of things before Billie and I got together. Now I can smile with this sweet baby and not hear warning bells going off in my head. I’m not trying to bottle anything up or hold myself back.
Instead, I give in.
I look around me. All happy couples. Sally and Wyatt are full-on making out.
Duke and Wheeler are looking at her phone, giggling over a picture of Robert and Maggie.
Her mom is babysitting tonight, and even though Billie and I assured my brother and his fiancée that they didn’t have to spend their first date night as parents at the rodeo, they insisted on joining us.
Cash and Mollie are kissing their baby’s cheeks.
Sawyer and Ava are knocking back their beers while the girls giggle with Dean over a bucket of popcorn.
I’m still not over the fact that I’m one half of a happy couple now too. Never let myself even consider the idea until, well, Billie bulldozed her way through my walls.
I am happy to report that life is a hell of a lot better when you get to spend it with your best friend. Bonus points if you get to fuck her on the regular too.
When Billie launches herself over the railings and into my arms, I plant a messy kiss on her mouth and yell for everyone to hear, “Goddamn, girl, I’m so proud of you. So fucking proud.”
“Swear jar!” one of the kids shouts back. “Five bucks for that one.”
Billie laughs, biting the edge of my lips. “You really are one lucky son of a bitch. I looked great out there, yeah?”
I laugh, a buzzy warmth filling my veins. Billie will always be Billie. Thank God for that.
“Better’n that. You looked amazing.”
“Can I give you mouth-to-mouth because you’ve gone into cardiac arrest from witnessing the perfection of my performance?”
“That’s not funny,” Mrs. Wallace says, but she’s smiling as she dabs at her eyes with a tissue. “I am so impressed, honey. Congratulations. You really do have so much to be proud of.”
“We’re proud of you, Billie.” That’s Mr. Wallace, who’s got his arm around his wife’s shoulders. “Always have been. We’re proud of what you’ve accomplished, and we’re proud of who you are. I hope you know that.”
Billie’s crying and laughing and hugging everyone now, and it’s only when we’re in my truck a little later that I get to catch up with her.
“So.” I hit the gas. “Tell me everything.”
She’s beaming as she turns to face me. “Ry, it was fucking incredible. I can’t even describe how it felt to just go for it.
I was nervous as hell, but once we made it around that second barrel, I knew we were gonna finish the race.
And when we did…” She giggles, covering her face with her hands.
“I thought I might explode with happiness.”
Putting my hand on her thigh, I give her a squeeze. “I know the feeling.”
“You really do, don’t you?” She reaches over to play with the hair on the nape of my neck. “Thanks for being my most obnoxious cheerleader. I didn’t see anyone clearing the area, but I did hear you, and that meant a lot.”
“Are you saying I’m the world’s best boyfriend?”
Her lips twitch. “For someone with zero experience, you truly are crushing it.”
“Night’s not over yet, darlin’.”
“Oh?” Her hand slips inside the V of my button-up.
I chuckle. “That’s gonna have to wait. I’m taking you out to celebrate.”
We grab a quick bite at the Homestead Hen. Then we head next door to the Rattler.
Her mouth falls open when she walks in and sees the place is lit up with pink lights. Bunches of pink balloons float over the bar, while Frisky Whiskey warms up with “Shake It Off.”
All of our family and friends—save the kids, of course—are here. They erupt into shouts and applause, making Billie burst into tears.
“Ry!” Her eyes are wide when they meet mine. “What the hell did you do?”
“I turned the Rattler into the Taylor Swift-themed bar of your dreams, obviously.”
She laughs, tears rolling down her cheeks. I wipe them away with my thumbs. I’m dizzy with joy.
Joy and pride.
“Why?” she asks.
I lift a shoulder. “Why not?”
In reply, she curls her arms around my neck and pulls me in for a hot, hard kiss. More whistles. The band is playing “Bejeweled” now.
“If you’re asking me to marry you,” she murmurs in my ear, “my answer’s yes.”
My heart pops around my chest as I dig into my front pocket. There, looped carefully around my dad’s pocketknife, I feel the paper ring I made.
Falling onto one knee, I hold out it to her. “Usually, I’d say assuming makes an ass out of you and me—”
“But you know me so well that rule no longer applies.” She takes my face in her hands and leans down to kiss me. “Yes! Yes, Ry, I’ll marry you with a paper ring.”
“Oh, phew. You got the Taylor reference—”
But before I can finish the thought, she’s kissing me again, and our people are shouting for us, and I’m slipping the ring onto the fourth finger of her left hand.
“Figure this way, you can come with me to the jeweler to pick out what you actually want,” I say to her.
She admires the ring on her hand. “I kinda like this.”
“I kinda wanna buy you a diamond.”
“Fine.” Her face splits into a smile. “’Cause you wanna make me yours forever?”
“Forever.”
She’s leaning in for another kiss. “Sounds like heaven. I’m in.”
The pole barn is old, a far departure from the Wallace’s newer, state-of-the-art facilities that they’ve built over the past few years. But you wouldn’t know it from the way Billie takes in a lungful of musty air and smiles.
Looking at me, she says, “Welcome to the Anne and Robbie Rivers Therapy and Rehabilitation Center.”
“Has a nice to ring to it.” I grab Billie’s hand. “Proud of you for making this happen.”
She starts to walk through the barn. “Don’t give me too much credit, because not much has actually happened yet.” Kicking at a busted floorboard, she sighs. “We have our work cut out for us.”
“Good thing your fiancé is handy.”
“Handy? Or handsy?”
I shamelessly reach up to cop a feel through her fleece jacket. “Both.”
But before we can follow that train of thought—or not—we both go still at a rustling sound.
It’s followed by a moan.
My stomach flips. Billie freezes, her eyes darting to meet mine.
Another moan. Then—
Thump thump thump.
It’s coming from overhead.
“The loft,” Billie whispers, her smile returning. “Somebody’s getting frisky up there.”
I chuckle. “We should probably—”
“Look at you,” a familiar voice grunts. “The perfect little princess, letting me fuck her in the hay and the dirt. You like it, don’t you, Dallas?”
“Fuck you,” a female voice replies. “I told you, don’t call me that.”
“You don’t like it? Why’re you about to come, then?”
Billie’s eyes go wide.
That’s definitely Colt. And he’s definitely upstairs, having sex with none other than his nemesis, Lainey Pearlman.
Dear God.
I meet Billie’s gaze. We both smile.
Interesting. And not at all surprising.