Chapter 41
Chapter forty-one
Ruth
“Come here.” His voice is a low rumble, his eyes molten metal. It’s thick with emotion, or maybe with something else. “I want to fuck my wife six ways ‘til Sunday.”
After looking at rings, we managed to sleep for a couple of hours before waking up again.
Warmth spreads through my limbs as moisture pools at the juncture of my thighs.
The effect he has on me, the way just the sound of his voice, the warmth in his tone, the look in his eyes…
it’s like nothing I’ve ever known. Nothing I’ve ever even imagined before.
It drives me crazy in the best kind of way, and I can’t get enough.
It’ll never be enough. I’m so greedy for this man, this hulking Adonis of a cowboy—my husband.
I cross the small room to him and launch myself into his arms. He catches me effortlessly, latching his lips onto mine and immediately pressing against the seam of my mouth with his tongue.
I open for him, savouring the rub of our tongues as they slide together.
He still tastes like coffee and the bacon we ate for our impromptu celebratory breakfast at a twenty-four hour diner on our way home.
He tastes like the earth, the sun, the stars, the sky.
He tastes like my heart and soul. Like mine.
He slows the pace of his kiss and here in this moment, I realise this isn’t Everett fucking me, no matter what he said. This is making love. I cling to him, one arm around his shoulders and the other cradling the nape of his neck, holding him to me.
“You’re fucking beautiful, Ruth,” he whispers. “I can’t believe you’re mine.”
“We’re gonna have to tell them, aren’t we?” I stretch my neck to steal a quick kiss, tangling my feet further with Everett’s.
“Yeah, baby girl, we’re gonna tell them. I’m not just callin’ you my wife in secret.” A thrill zings through my veins and settles low in my abdomen, fizzing with warmth. I wonder if it’ll happen every time Everett calls me his wife. Fuck, I hope it does. I hope we never lose this.
“They’re gonna be so pissed.”
“You snuck out at midnight and married a virtual stranger. Of course they’re gonna be pissed. Your brother’s probably gonna kick my ass.”
“You’re not a stranger. And don’t worry about Jay, you can take him.”
“Ruth, baby, have you seen him? He’s got at least three inches and a good fifty pounds on me. He could knock me out with a finger. I’ll go down like a sack of potatoes.”
“Oh honey, I’m sure you’ve got plenty of inches on him.
” I slide my legs around his, shifting my hips until I’m lying on top of him, straddling his thighs.
I lean down to kiss him again. And again.
God, I’m feral for this man—for my husband.
For the way he looks at me like I’m the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
For the way his hands bracket my hips, holding me like some precious jewel.
For the way he kisses me like he can’t get enough.
He taps my thigh with a large hand.
“Come on, baby girl. If we’re gonna face the music, we might as well do it now.”
We dress in record time, and by the time we arrive in the kitchen, hand in hand, our friends have already prepared food, and are sat around the breakfast bar.
“Wondered when you might join us!” Katy’s grin is like warm sunshine as she spots us first. Her arms are wrapped around Maisy’s waist as our goddaughter stuffs small triangles of buttered toast into her mouth. “Did you have a good night?”
“We, uh…” I begin, and then trail off. I squeeze Everett’s hand and he leads me deeper into the room, pulling out a stool for me, and then slides onto the one beside me. I catch his eye and nod, before he raises our joined hands to rest on top of the bar.
“We got hitched,” he announces. “This gorgeous woman made an honest man outta me last night.”
A wall of silence faces us as my friends stare at us, open-mouthed.
Everett flashes my pink wedding band around the room, before leaning across the breakfast bar to reach for a clean mug and the half-full pot of coffee.
Helplessly, I glance at Katy, whose eyes are filling with tears and blinking fast. She offers a watery smile before shaking her head lightly.
I look to my other friends. Cam is rubbing Amie’s back, whispering something in her ear as her face morphs from stony anger to weary betrayal. Lo’s blue eyes just hold sadness.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Katy asks quietly.
“I didn’t—we didn’t—”
“Don’t be mad at her,” Everett interrupts. “Don’t be mad at Ruth. It was a spur of the moment decision high on excitement at one in the morning. Y’all know she would’ve had you there in a heartbeat.”
“But she didn’t,” Katy whispers. “You didn’t.” She nuzzles her nose into Maisy’s curls.
I stare at my hands. They’re the only things not boring into me with disappointment right now.
Lo’s sadness, Katy’s betrayal, Amie’s anger.
I deserve it all, and more. But there’s one voice I haven’t heard yet.
I extricate my fingers from Everett’s and shove my stool back, wincing at the screeching noise as it scrapes against the hard tile floor.
Outside on the deck, I spot my brother pacing, hands behind his head.
I push past Cam and hop down the steps, barefoot.
“Jay.”
“Don’t say a fucking word, Ruth.”
“Jay, come on.”
“I mean it. I can’t talk to you right now.”
I grab his elbow and spin him around, forcing him to look at me. His face is like thunder, his brow furrowed, storms swirling in his eyes. A few steps away, Pup stands as tall as he can, sensing the unsettled emotions.
“What the fuck have you done, Ruth?” he asks quietly. The barest hint of a dry chuckle punctuates his question. “Do you even know the guy?”
“Yes, I know him,” I insist. “I love him.”
“Really? Because none of us know him. None of us have even fucking met him before. Your best friend gets engaged and—what, you have to one-up her? What the fuck is going on, Ruth? This isn’t you. You’re not like this.”
I hadn’t even thought about it like that. My stomach twists and my mouth feels warm. I might throw up.
“Maybe you don’t know what I’m like at all,” I whisper. Jay laughs. It’s harsh, mean, belittling. The anger in his eyes becomes maniacal.
“I know you better than anyone, Ruth. You know I do. You don’t go off and marry the first cowboy you meet. That’s not you. Does he even know you? What the fuck is going on? Is this because we—me and Katy—we didn’t tell you?”
“Jesus Christ, Jay, not everything is about you!” I yell. “Everett loves me. He loves me, Jay, is that so fucking hard to believe? That someone might actually love me?”
He exhales heavily, running a hand down the back of his head to his neck and turning away, before turning back to me.
“I love him,” I whisper. “And I married him because I wanted to. Because I love him. I want to be with him. And he loves me.”
“Ruth…”
“No, Jay, you don’t get to do this. Come and talk to me when you’re ready to be less of a fucking prick.”
I turn back towards the house to see Everett on the steps. Before I can run to him, Jay crosses the garden in a few long strides, rears back, and slams his fist into Everett’s nose. Everett stumbles and sways but stays on his feet, cradling his bleeding face with both hands.
“I deserved that,” he mumbles through a mouthful of blood as Cam rushes to his side.
“I’ll give you that hit.” Jay scowls as he storms back inside, Pup hot on his heels.
An ice block appears from somewhere and Everett presses it to his face, hurrying down the steps towards me and wrapping me up in his free arm.
“Are you okay?”
“Della’s done worse to me muckin’ out her stall.
Don’t you worry about me, baby girl.” The arm around my shoulders squeezes me into his chest. I’m surrounded by his scent and it feels like I can finally breathe again.
My friends gather together on the steps outside the house, and I glance up at them before Everett calls my eyes back to him.
“They’ll be okay. They’ll come around. They love you. And I love you, Ruth. Don’t ever forget that, okay? No matter what, you have me. All of me. For all my life.”
I stretch up on my tiptoes and kiss his cheek, mindful of his injured nose and the icepack.
“I love you, Cowboy.”
Everett squeezes me into his side, dropping his head to press a careful kiss into my hair with the uninjured side of his face.
“Come on,” he says. “Let’s get inside. It’s too fucking hot out here, and you can’t make up with your friends if you’re avoiding them.”
I huff out a breath, then take his hand and lead him back to the house. Everyone has dispersed and breakfast has been cleared away, save for two foil-wrapped plates and a pot of coffee mid-brew. There’s a folded piece of paper with my name scrawled on it sitting on top of two clean mugs.
I don’t understand, but I love you. K xo
Tears sting at my eyes as I refold the note carefully.
Everett unwraps the plates and microwaves the food while I pour coffee.
Maisy’s shrieks of laughter travel through the house, followed by thundering footsteps as she and Cam run amok.
In the next room, the TV murmurs quietly, and I peek through the door to see Amie in Lo’s arms, and Katy in Jay’s, with Pup laying at their feet.
Jay has an ice pack pressed to his knuckles.
“We fucked up, Ev,” I whisper. “I fucked up. I keep fucking up. And I don’t know how to fix it.”
“I need to talk to you.” I push into the lounge and stand between my friends and the TV. None of them are watching it, there are no subtitles, and the volume is so low they can’t decipher the words, but Lo makes a show of peering around me anyway.
“Okay. Talk,” Amie says, waving a hand at me.
“I know you’re all pissed,” I begin, searching for the words. Katy raises an eyebrow. “I know you all think I’m a selfish bitch.”