Chapter 28
After the sex-fest in the truck, we have to go inside the apartment to clean up. But Will doesn’t let me shower.
“You wanted to be full of me,” he says with that sexy smirk that got me pregnant in the first place.
“Menace,” I mutter, slipping on a new pair of panties.
As we head out to Stonewater Ranch, I can’t deny the truth. I’m full of Will in every possible way. His touch still lingers on my skin, his words in my ears, his baby in my belly.
And I’m about to tell my brother.
Sam’s already outside, arms crossed and shoulders tight, standing like a one-man firing squad on the front porch. The minute we pull up, his eyes narrow.
Will doesn’t hesitate. He kills the engine, climbs out, and comes around to open my door. The moment our hands link, Sam’s jaw tics hard enough I can practically hear it. We walk toward him, hand-in-hand, like we’ve already made peace with the explosion that’s coming.
Sam doesn’t waste time. “How long has this been going on?”
I meet his eyes. “Since Liam’s wedding.”
His expression doesn’t change, but the muscle in his jaw flexes again. “Is it serious?”
Will’s voice is steady. “I’d say so.”
Sam takes a step forward, squaring up. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Before he can get any closer, I step between them, placing my free hand on Will’s chest. Not to hold him back, but to remind him I’m right here.
I look my brother dead in the eye. “It means we’re in love, Sam. And it means you’re going to be an uncle in six months or so.”
For a second, he just blinks. The words hang between us, too heavy to ignore.
His eyebrows shoot up, lips parting in shock but before he can say a word, the front door flies open behind him.
“Oh my god!” Charlie gasps, eyes wide. “I’m going to be an aunt!”
And just like that, the tension snaps, cut clean by the sound of joy barreling through it.
Will shifts beside me.
“I’ve been thinking,” he says, voice low.
He lets go of my hand and drops to one knee right there on the gravel drive.
My breath catches.
“Sam, I know this isn’t how you imagined finding out,” Will says, never taking his eyes off mine. “But the truth is, I love your sister. I’ve loved her longer than I’ve had the guts to admit. And now we’re building a life. Starting a family.”
His hand dips into his pocket, and then there it is. A ring. Simple, stunning, and glowing in the afternoon sun.
He looks up at me, voice unshakably steady. “Marry me, sugar. Not because we have to. But because I can’t imagine a single day of this life without you in it.”
Tears spring to my eyes.
Charlie gasps behind us. Sam mutters something that might be Jesus Christ.
But none of it matters. Not the audience. Not the timing.
Because it’s him. On one knee. Asking me to choose forever.
And I already have.
“Yes,” I whisper, then louder, stronger. “Yes.”
Will slips the ring onto my finger, rises to his feet, and kisses me like the world just stopped spinning. And maybe for a second it did.
We spend the rest of the day letting Sam get warmed up to the idea of us while Charlie practically plans our wedding. Just as the sun dips in the sky, Will catches my gaze and nods toward the door.
My heart spikes and I dip my head, letting him know I understand. We make our way outside, unnoticed by Sam and Charlie, and end up in the barn.
The warm scent of hay and old wood wraps around us the second we step into the barn, golden sunlight slanting through the gaps in the boards like it's blessing the moment. The horses are quiet, the only sounds the distant hum of cicadas and the soft shuffle of Will’s boots against the dirt floor.
He shuts the door behind us, slow and deliberate, then turns to me with eyes dark and full of something that steals the breath from my chest.
“You handled today like a damn queen,” he says, stepping close. “And I’ve been thinking about you all afternoon.”
My lips part, heart thudding. “Yeah?”
He nods, brushing a strand of hair behind my ear, voice low and molten. “Couldn’t stop imagining you back out here. Against the stall. Legs spread. Still full of me from this morning.”
A shiver runs down my spine. “We don’t have much time.”
“I don’t need much,” he says, dragging his hand down my side until it grips my hip. “Just enough to remind you what you do to me. What you mean to me.”
He kisses me then, all mouth and tongue and promise. There’s no rush in it, even though we’re stealing this moment. Just want. Need.
He turns me, backing me toward the stall wall until my spine meets cool wood. His hands slip under my shirt, mapping familiar territory with reverence and hunger.
“I’ve been holding back all day,” he whispers against my throat. “Playing nice. Smiling at your brother while knowing every step you took, you were still carrying me.”
“Will—” It’s breathy, desperate, all I can manage.
“You like knowing that, don’t you?” he murmurs, pressing his body flush against mine. “That you’re walking around with my baby in you. That your body’s already mine.”
I nod, moaning when he slips his thigh between mine, spreading me just enough. His hand dips under my skirt, fingers teasing, stroking, knowing exactly how to unravel me.
“You get wetter every time I talk about it,” he growls, eyes locked on mine. “Tell me.”
“I love it,” I whisper, hips bucking. “Love knowing I’m yours.”
“Forever,” he promises, kissing me hard. “And I’ll keep filling you up until you feel it every time you move.”
He makes quick work of the rest. Panties shoved down, hands guiding my leg around his waist, the slow, perfect press of him sliding into me again.
This round is different. Not frantic. Not wild. It’s worship.
He moves like he wants to memorize every sound I make.
Like he’s claiming me all over again, not with force but with heart.
With forever. And when we both come apart, me clinging to him, him buried deep and murmuring sweet things against my skin, I know one thing for sure.
This isn’t just about love or lust or the baby. This is home.
Will’s still deep inside me, one hand braced against the stall, the other gripping my thigh where it’s hooked around his waist. I’m breathless, skin flushed, lips parted, and caught in the soft aftershocks of everything he just gave me.
The barn door creaks open.
We both freeze.
“Oh, hell no.”
The voice hits like a bucket of ice water.
My head whips around, and sure enough there’s Sam, standing in the doorway, eyes wide with horror and hands already flying up to shield his face like he’s been personally attacked.
“Dammit! I didn’t need to see that!” he yells, spinning around so fast he nearly trips over his own boots. “The barn? Really? You couldn’t wait until, I don’t know, never?”
Will groans softly and drops his head against my shoulder, muffling a laugh. “Shit.”
I scramble to fix my clothes while trying not to laugh or die of embarrassment. “Sam, I’m sorry—”
“I don’t want to hear it!” he calls, voice half muffled now as he walks out of the barn. “I’m going to go clean out the garage and pretend this never happened.”
Will finally pulls back, face flushed, still breathless but grinning like he won the damn rodeo. “Well. That was...”
“Mortifying,” I finish, burying my face in his chest.
He wraps his arms around me, kissing the top of my head with a low chuckle. “Still worth it.”
And from outside, as he stomps away, Sam yells one last parting shot.
“Next time, lock the damn door!”
I yell back, “We won’t. ‘Cause that’s payback, brother!”
And then Will and I burst into laughter.