Chapter 36
thirty-six
Trouble
“Well,” Mama says, lowering herself beside me like she’s holding back a flood of tears, “you really outdid yourself this time. Nearly died and took your poor mama out with you. My heart just ain’t built for this kind of thing. Almost gave out.”
“I keep tellin’ y’all,” I say with a grin, “I only took the bullet ‘cause I heard it gets you outta ranch work.”
My nephew snorts from the foot of the bed, slurping his juice box like it’s popcorn night on Disney+. “You think you’ll get a cool scar? Like… pirate cool?”
“Not cooler than yours,” I tease, tapping him on his forehead where he got a stitch last summer.
Fisher’s eyes go wide, and his hand flies up to touch it. “I forgot I even had that scar.”
“What’d I tell you about scars?”
He grins with pride. “That they make us look cooler for the ladies.”
“Damn right.”
Mama smacks my arm—gently. “Lord help me, even with a hole in your chest, you’re still a cocky little shit.”
“Runs in the family.” I grin.
Fisher sits up straight like he’s been waiting for the perfect moment to stir the pot. “Speakin’ of our family… Does Sawyer know Charming’s the one who kissed her best friend yet?”
Mama’s head snaps his way. “And how do you know about this?”
“I see everything,” Fisher says, proud as can be. “I was just enjoying my popcorn at the fair, saw Trouble pay all that money to kiss Sawyer, saw Charming drop medium money to kiss her friend… but my money’s on the fact no one knows it was Charming.”
“Ain’t your piggybank about out yet?” Mama asks him, never surprised by the things he says anymore.
“I can’t disclose the amount,” he shrugs, finishin’ off that juice box of his.
Mama and I both laugh—and fuck, it hurts.
But then I glance toward the door. Then down at the little stuffed horse I won Sawyer at the fair—the same one I found in my arms when I came to. The grin slips right off my face.
“She comin’?” I ask, softer than I mean to.
Mama lifts her eyes, and there’s that little smile she gives when she knows something I don’t. “I’m sure she’ll be here any moment. She hasn’t left your side since they brought you in. Nurse said she only went home after they pressured her to get out for a bit, take a shower.”
“Where’s everyone else?” I ask, needing the distraction.
“They’ve been in and out. Danger and Knox are fixin’ the mess those Kennedy boys made. Got everything returned that was taken. And Knox…” She gives me a pointed look. “He’s been takin’ it hard.”
“As he should. He should’ve told me what was goin’ on.”
“He made a mistake. We all do sometimes. Maybe go a little easy on him.”
“We’ll see,” I exhale, not ready to make promises.
She gives me one of those soft looks only mamas have—like she’s known me since before I was tough. “Could be your brother-in-law one day, you know.”
I huff a breath through my nose, not quite a laugh. “Don’t start.”
But my heart’s already picking up speed, and it has nothing to do with Knox. I don’t know what I’ll say when I see her—hell, I don’t even know if she’ll want to see me.
And then the door opens.
Charming steps in first, grin stretching ear to ear. “Told you he’s fine.” He holds the door, and then—
There she is.
Sawyer.
She freezes like the breath’s been knocked clean outta her. Her eyes are wide, glassy. Her mouth parts, but no sound comes out.
“Sawyer,” I whisper.
She’s starin’ at me like I’m a ghost. Like she’s not sure whether to cry, faint, or slap me for scaring the shit outta her.
Out of the corner of my eye, I catch Mama giving Fisher a little nudge.
He raises a brow, then quietly follows her out, the door clicking shut behind them as they pull Charming with—leaving just the two of us and the storm of everything unsaid.
“You gonna stand there all day,” I say, “or you gonna come kiss me like you missed me?”
She moves quickly across the room in three long strides, fists knotting in my shirt like she’s afraid I’ll vanish if she lets go. My ribs ache, pain radiating through me from the shot, but I don’t care. Not when she’s here. Then her mouth crashes into mine.
It’s fierce. Desperate.
She tastes like rain and salt and all the things we never said.
She kisses me like she’s trying to make sure I’m real, and I kiss her back like I’m proving I ain’t goin’ anywhere.
When she finally pulls back, her breath trembles against my cheek. Her eyes are bright and wet. “How dare you,” she whispers, voice breaking in the middle. “I thought—” She swallows hard. “I thought I lost you. You’re such a… such a jerk.”
A slow smile pulls at my mouth. “Yeah,” I murmur, brushing my thumb across her damp cheek. “But I’m your jerk.”
“You can’t just—” Her voice cracks, and it almost kills me. “You can’t almost die on me and then—”
“Then what?” I ask, though my chest’s already tight like I know where she’s goin’.
And then she says it. Words spill out like she’s been holdin’ ’em back for years. “Then make me realize I love you. And I thought I was going to be regretting not telling you that for the rest of my life.”
“You love me,” I say, slowly, like I’m lettin’ the words settle into my bones, tryin’ ’em on because they feel too good to be real.
She rolls her eyes, but there’s no hidin’ the truth in ’em. “Yeah, cowboy. I love you.”
That’s all I can take. I pull her in with one arm—slow, like I’m bein’ real careful with her. “Then I reckon I better stick around for a while. Just to make sure you never regret it.”
Her fingers trace my jaw like she’s memorizing every line, and I feel her heart hammering. When she speaks, her voice is trembling, vulnerable in a way that’s more painful than anything I'm feelin’.
She looks up at me, a little tremble in her voice, but those eyes—God, those eyes—lock on mine. “Tristan… do you… do you want to be with me?”
I blink, caught off guard for a second. Then a slow grin spreads across my face. “You mean… do I want you to be my girlfriend?”
Her lips twitch in that victorious little smile. “You… said the word.”
I lean toward her, brushing my thumb across her cheek. “I’ll say it for you,” I say softly, the way I do when it’s just us. “I want you, Sawyer. All of you. You can be whatever you want to me.”
I can feel the weight of every word she’s about to say.
“Tristan… I need you to know that if you really want to do this, I’ll ride off into whatever sunset you want, on whatever horse you want.
I’ll stay in this town. I know I’ll be happy—but you have to promise me, if I’m all in, you’re all in too.
That you’ll never cheat, never almost leave me again… that you’ll be mine the way I’m yours.”
“Sugar… you had me the second I walked into that trailer and grabbed that perfect ass of yours. Cheat? Never gonna happen. I’m all in with you.
” She takes my hand, lacing her fingers through mine, holding on like she’s never letting go as I continue.
“You wanna be in my phone? I’ll set the lock as your face.
You don’t feel right with me doing something?
I swear, I won’t do it again—except bull ridin’.
That’s who I am, and I can’t lie about the possibility of me gettin’ hurt that way. ”
I tip her chin up to look at me. “But you… If you ever need me? I’ll drop everything.
I will never—ever—choose anything over you.
” My voice cracks a little, and I force it steady.
“Never thought I could love anyone… thought I was given abs instead of a heart. But if it’s there, it’s yours. Only yours.”
Her chest rises and falls against mine, and then I feel the tears fall, one by one. God, she’s beautiful. Fierce. Brave. And somehow, after everything, she’s choosing me.
I lean in and capture her lips, slow and endless, tasting everything I’ve been dying for. The storms, the bullets, the fights—none of it matters now. She’s mine. We’re ours.
And as I press my forehead to hers, I whisper, so soft I barely hear myself, “You’re stuck with me now, Sawyer. I love you.”
My heart’s hammering like it might break. So quiet I almost don’t hear it myself, I whisper, “Maybe I wasn’t afraid of loving anyone this whole time… maybe I was just waitin’ for someone to make me feel like you do.”
And God, Sawyer—you’ve got me. All of me. Never been anyone else. Never will be.
For the first time, I know exactly what it means to be all in.
I feel her relax into me, finally letting go, and I know—no matter what comes next, this right here is everything. Nothing else mattered before her. Now my whole world is in my arms.